He is Risen!

Some pictures from Easter with the Reno fam.

Some "Purdy" great music (sorry I couldn't resist)

Chris and I just discovered Joe Purdy and we love his music. Go listen.

Are we playing freeze tag?

I was tagged by my (I am trying to think of a word that describes her) friend Meris to list 6 quirky things about myself. AH! I don't know. I have been putting off partly because it is Spring Break and my husband just finished his last paper for his Master's class (Praise God! - now onto the thesis). So it has been party time in the Reno house. Party time for us is being home together when Chris is not writing a paper and I am not doing any work on the computer or tutoring. On Monday, we watched an insane amount of Lost Season 1 (we are just getting started) and went out for Korean BBQ. Way too fun.

Here Chris is emailing his LAST paper to his professor...



And even now I am changing the subject - ok, 6 non-important things/habits/quirks things about myself...

(1) It takes me all day to finish my coffee. My husband home roasts coffee beans, so our coffee it pretty strong. It more or less lasts me all day, through my 2 hour tutoring sessions and right up until I start making dinner.

(2) Everytime my sweet husband compliments me, I repeat it back to him. I'm not sure why - maybe to make sure I heard it right? Or maybe to hear it again, although it definitely doesn't sound as nice coming out of my mouth.

(3) I am fanatical about making the bed in the morning. My life is chaos until the bed is made.

(4) My husband and I go on midnight runs to Taco Bell every once in awhile after he gets off of work. Yum.

(5) I love, love, love being home. I am the text book case of a homebody/introvert. I am convinced this is one of the reasons why God has me (a) married to a man who makes friends everywhere he goes (grocery stores, airplanes, public restrooms) and (b) living right next door to a very gregarious friend. They make me do things like go to the beach on a beautiful day like today.

(6) My favorite band is a non-band called Brother Down (he he aka my husband and husband's friend). I may sound like a broken record for those of you who visit my blog regularly, but go listen!

Anyway, I tag my mom, PaperPony (has she been tagged yet?), and Caleb, Becca and Sakari.

And here are the rules:
1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules.
3. Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.
4. Tag at least 3 people.
5. Make sure the people you tagged know you tagged them by commenting to them.

Kingdom growing

Go here. Our adoption agency is partnering with this agency. Exciting!

More t-shirts?

Would anyone be interested in purchasing a t-shirt if we did another round with a different design? Just curious...Go here to see what the design may look like. We would probably do navy or olive shirts.

Great Music

In the midst of our adoption business, I have neglected to mention that my husband's band, Brother Down, (sort of a band, they never really practice or have concerts because they have other jobs and are spread throughout the state of California) has a great cd out, To the Black Land. Check it out and let us know what you think. It was released back in 2003, and we still love it!

Also, our friend, Steven Hansen, who produced Brother Down's cd, just came out with one of his own, The Wounded Dog's Choir. He is an uber-talented produced and musician.

Fun with the kiddies

California Craziness

Oh the joys of living on the Left Coast...

Please pray for thousands of families in California who are homeschooling and doing an excellent job.

Update

We just received some updated information about the wait time for our adoption (thanks Kari!).
The wait time for an infant girl referral is 7-9 months (September-December for us) and for an infant boy is 5-7 months (July-September for us). And...the Ethiopian courts close August-September (or something like that). So even we do get a referral by the earliest possible date (July), we wouldn't have a court date until October and would travel (hopefully) by November. So, now we are hoping to get our little one by Christmas.

This is definitely turning out be much longer that we expected. I need to keep reminding myself that God's timing is perfect in every way.

"Wait for the Lord, be strong and take heart, and wait for Lord." Psalm 27:14

Dossier on its way

I'm not sure if you noticed our little ticker up above and our timeline to the right, but we sent our dossier to our agency on February 11th and all the paperwork we have been working on since April 07 has been approved. Praise God! Our dossier was sent via FedEx to Ethiopia on March 3rd (Monday). (I've been tracking it - its still in the states, Delaware to be exact.)

So now the real waiting begins - we probably will not hear anything for another 5-6 months. The next news we hear may be a phone call letting us know that they have a referral (match) for us.

Please be praying for us as we wait, the the little one God already has planned for us and for his/her birth mother.

Thank you for all of your prayers and kind words!

$1,000,000

On another note, I heard about Oprah giving $1,000,000 to people to give to others and I started thinking about how many children could be placed in a family with $1,000,000 - at least 40 (at $25,000 per adoption). So if you get a phone call from Oprah...

Oh right, patience

Many people have been asking me if it is hard to be patient as we wait for our little one. The first 8 days after submitting our dossier weren't so bad. I heard myself answering that it wasn't so bad, we trust God's timing. The latter part is still true 8 days later, but...have I mentioned how much we want to be parents? Those of you who know us well know this. Waiting 4 years, I know, is not that long, but at times, like now, it feels very long.

But God is still good and His plan is still perfect and still for our good. Pray for us to remember this.

Our t-shirts in action

Go here for fun pics of the Johnson family sporting our Mission Threads t-shirts and some smooth moves by AJ and Co .

Yet Another Birthday "Bash"

Here's one from a couple of years ago. Chris' eyes are wild with enjoyment as he smashes fellow dean, Matthew Bradberry, with a tasty chocolate-cherry cake. I'm not sure how much Matt actually tasted. Resident student, Andrew Hwang, snapped this amazing photo.

A Typical Day at Work

Here is Chris enjoying the aftermath of Minsoo's birthday celebration. It's Korean tradition--at least in the dorm--to smash a cake in the birthday boy's face. The guys gather around to sing "Happy Birthday" usually in Korean, then they all cheer as the executioner charges with cake in hand to apply facial mask to said victim. It's quite a hoot. The dorm outlawed it for a while since so many guys were going head over heels--literally--from the smash. Chris enjoyed treating this "special" kid to a new complexion. Happy Birthday, Minsoo! We love you!

An Orphan's Ticket Home

Our adoption agency has started a fund raising campaign called An Orphan's Ticket Home, which is aimed at helping place more orphans with families.

You can provide a "Ticket Home" for over 5,000 children

It's the holiday season, a time when many of us buy a ticket home to see our families. But what if you had no way to purchase a ticket? Or even worse...what if you had no family to go home to? We need your help to purchase a ticket for children across this world to come "home" to see their "family". Your participation with us will determine whether many ever get that "ticket home."

We have embarked on a fundraising campaign to raise $1,000,000 to purchase "tickets home" for children. For some it simply means the initial stage of securing birth certificates and crucial legal documents that provide them with a legal identity that make the dream of a ticket to a loving home much more of a reality. For others it means a safe and clean transitional home where they can await adoption. And for others, it means a loving and adoptive home.

This $1,000,000 will give 5,100 children the opportunity for a ticket to a loving home.

If each America World family participates by purchasing one "ticket" at the cost of $300, we can meet and exceed this goal! Your ticket purchase will allow children "admission" to a system that would move them towards a permanent home. Would you please read ahead and see specific ways that you can join us in this effort?

Purchase an Orphan's "Ticket Home"

The kiddies...

Dress up time - Our beautiful princess niece, ferocious lion nephew #1 and nephew #2 (the Bee)...

I love this guy...

What we do...

Chris and I both work as "dorm parents" along with 7 other deans to 120 international students. No, we don't live in the dorms 24/7 - we live just across the street. Here are some of our students...

Our dossier is off!

Our dossier is finally finished! We received back all of our certifications on Thursday, made copies of everything (which took about an hour) and sent the whole things off today. This is what happens next:

Before America World can submit a family’s dossier to the Ethiopian government’s Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs, it must be sent through a careful process of certification and authentication in order for it to be used as a legal framework for adoption. Certification and authentication is a three-step procedure in which dossier documents visit their respective Secretaries of State, the U.S. Department of State, and Ethiopia’s Embassy in Washington, D.C. Family Coordinators will assist families through this process as well. The authentication process concludes the paper chase, and America World delivers the finished dossier to the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs. Once the dossier is in Ethiopia, it is translated, processed and examined by the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs. Our staff works with government officials and orphanages as a match is made between prospective parents and a child. Prospective parents typically wait 3-7 months before receiving a referral of a child from Ethiopia.

We don't really doing anything else, except pray and wait and go on about our life (like Chris working on his last paper and his thesis). Our agency does most everything else, until we receive a referral.

Waiting...and Surprises!

It has been an eventful 2 weeks...

the Waiting...for our Certifications to come back from the Secretary of State. It is supposed to take about 2 weeks and it has been at least 2 weeks...when we get all that paperwork back, we can finally send our dossier off to our adoption agency. Exciting! Then the real waiting begins. I also found out that we may not travel to pick our little Ethiopian Reno until Sept or Oct, which is fine. We are enjoying our time together before the baby comes, and Chris needs to finish his thesis for his Master's Degree by August. God's timing is perfect!

the not-so-fun Surprise...2 weeks ago Friday I pulled out of my driveway on the way to Staples and had not been driving for not even 5 minutes when someone came into my lane from the opposite direction and hit me head on. Not fun. Airbags went off, etc, etc. But praise God neither of us was injured, besides the usual back/neck pain (which I am getting physical therapy for). Praise God I was driving a Volvo! We are big believers in Volvos, especially now. Amazingly, my mother-in-law had been praying a couple of days before for God to protect the family from getting hurt in any car accidents. If you had seen our car after the accident, you would realize how graciously God answered her prayer. Since our car was totaled, we are currently on what seems like an unending quest to find the perfect Volvo in our price range. We are super meticulous and price conscious - a car salesmen’s' worst nightmare. Until we find our perfect car, our good and gracious friends, the Tarrs, are lending us their mighty blue Honda. Thank you, friends!

the very-amazing-and-totally-unexpected Surprise...today we received an unmarked envelope in the mail. Inside was this very cute unsigned card and a very generous cashier's check with "for your baby" written in the memo field.
Remember that we have already met our fund raising goal for
our adoption and were planning on saving every month for the very small amount that was left. I am usually pretty non-emotive but when I opened the card, I was so overcome with thankfulness and shock that I teared up. When I rushed to Chris' work to show him, he had the same reaction.
Our good God just keeps pouring blessing upon blessing. Thank you and God bless you to the Saint(s) who sent this. God must be working through you to prepare us for some unexpected expense down the road. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Happy Birthday to the Best Man I Know...

Praise God for 33 years of faithfulness (well, actually 33 years and 9 months)! I am more thankful than words can describe for being able to spend these last 4 years with Chris. I love you, Husband!

Taking Dominion

I attacked our front garden area today. The temperature has been in the 60s the last couple of days, so my gardening itch started.

Our 171H form has arrived!

So I walked into the mail room at school yesterday and a dear, sweet lady named Arlene handed me an envelope with a USCIS return address. I had a little flip out session, dropped everything I had in my arms and ripped it open. We weren't expecting our 171H form for awhile, so this was a huge surprise - I love surprises! This was the last piece of paperwork that we needed for our file.
































In case you are wondering, the 171H form is kind of like permission from the Dept. of Homeland Security to bring a non-citizen into the country. Adoption pros - correct me if I'm wrong.

After being in waiting-for-paperwork mode, which basically consists of praying and surfing numerous adoption blogs, getting our 171H catapulted me into "do something!!" mode. So I decided to drive to San Francisco (a 1.5 hour drive one way) to get all of our documents certified at the Secretary of State's office. Long story short, they could only certify 5 of our 23 documents. Haha, funny joke. So, I reminded myself that God puts these minor setbacks (and it was indeed minor) in our path for a reason. I will be sending the remaining 18 documents along with a hefty check to the main Secretary of State's office in Sac. And THEN, after about 2 weeks we get those back nicely certified with the pretty, gold State of California seal, make 2 copies of the whole lovely batch and send it off to our wonderful family coordinator in Virginia, who takes care of the rest.

Then we go into waiting mode again, which is okay. Waiting is good.

Wait for the LORD, be strong and take heart, and wait for the LORD. Psalm 27:14

Extra t-shirts

We have some extra t-shirts if anyone is interested in purchasing one. We have the following sizes:

2 women's small
1 women's x-small
2 men's medium
1 men's small

If you would like to pay using a credit card, just click on "Buy Now."

Christmas at Anna's parents

Chris looks a little out of it because he woke up at 5:00am and had been fishing all day...

My brother and Chris modeling our t-shirts...

Just to refresh our geography in light of current events...

http://cache.eb.com/eb/image?id=62274&rendTypeId=4

Please see the previous post about Bridging the Gap and this website, Moriah Africa, to read about dear saints working in Africa.

Bridging the Gap

Go here.

Pray for Kenya

This is an email sent Wednesday, January 2nd from some dear friends who are living in Kenya:

Dear Friends,

I have recently received a few emails asking about the current situation here in Kenya, so I thought I would send out a general update. The following are my observations and opinions based on reliable information, sources and many years if following Kenya politics.

Here in Nairobi tension is very high and surreal. The rest of the country is ever worse. The thought that Kenya could be another Rwanda has never crossed my mind until the last few days. Ethnic killings have happened all over the country. Yesterday's massacre of those who were seeking refuge in an Eldoret church is reminiscent to the horror stories from the genocide in 1994 between the Hutus and Watutsi tribes. In Kenya, it is the Kikuyus against the Luos, Luyas and Kalegin tribes. It was mostly women and small children who were died in the burning church. Many who tried to escape the fire were killed by machetes. Some reports said that children who were trying to escape were thrown back into the infernal. A crippled grandmother in a wheel chair was brutally killed.

There is no doubt in anyone's mind that the election was blatantly rigged by the present government and president, who is of the Kikuyu tribe. EU electoral observers confirmed this. Corruption is rampant with the present government - and opposition. However, most of the power is controlled by a small group of elite Kikuyus. Yes, the economy has been improved for the elite, but poverty has increased as well. The bottom line is that the majority of the country is fed up with poverty and corruption and want change.

The opposition was leading in the voting by one million votes and the results continued to be delayed. And then all of a sudden, it changed and the president was declared the winner by the electoral commissioner and was sworn in thirty minutes later. Complaints and proof of vote rigging was presented to him, but he arrogantly ignored these petitions.

Tomorrow will be a defining moment in Kenya's history. The opposition leader Odinga has called for a protest rally of more than a million people here in Nairobi. Of course the government will not sanction this event and the people who show up will "face the full force of the law". Odinga has refused to meet with the president and will only do so if the president resigns which is not likely. It's a standoff and could turn very violent.

It's very sad. I have many friends from all tribes and have talked with them extensively concerning this. Just about everyone is in fear of their lives, particularly the ones who are intermixed tribally in the slums. We have told our Kenya friends that If things get worse and they need it, our home is open to them, even if we need to set up tents in our yard so that they will have a safe place of refuge.

What is going to happen? We don't know. What can we do? Pray. Pray for peace, reconciliation and justice. You who know me know that I'm not an alarmist and would normally say it's all going to be ok. However, this is not the case.

We will be fine as long as we don't get caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. We live near the U.S. Embassy, and if need be will go there. We do get regular updates from the embassy and our warden. Our concern is for innocent Kenyans; it’s always the poor who suffer the brunt of these horrific situations. Please pass this message along to those who may be interested, your church, etc....

Sincerely,

Harmon


J. Harmon Parker
Director, Bridging the Gap
P.O. Box 1116-00621
Nairobi, Kenya
011.254.20.712.0270
011.254.733.823.353
http://bridgingthegapafrica.org/

"Daraja ilokuvusha, usiitukane."

Don't insult the bridge that you crossed upon.

An African Proverb

Our update

...is that we don't really have an update. We are waiting on our 171H from the USCIS and then we will need to certify our documents (I will probably drive to SF to do that) and then send our dossier on its way. We have had many people ask when our little one will be home and the answer is that we just don't know for sure. We are hoping summertime, which would the best time to travel for us, but only God knows. His timing is perfect.

In the meantime, we have been enjoying watching other families in our agency who are adopting from Ethiopia receive referrals, successful court dates and get ready to travel. Very exciting!

Attention Coffee Drinkers!

If you enjoy coffee or know someone who does visit this blog post. This family made our t-shirts for us and is flying to Ethiopia pick their daughter at the end of January. Please support them if you are able and willing!

Praise God!

We just received news that the last family of the five who received referrals ("matches") in October had a successful court date. This means their children are officially theirs. Visit their blog. I got goosebumps reading their recent blog post. God willing, this will be us sometime in the next 6 months!

An Orphan's Ticket Home

Please visit this link: An Orphan's Ticket Home.

God bless you all!

Tomatoes and Christmas Trees

Because we live in one of most amazing growing areas in the country, I am still getting tomatoes from my garden...here are some...



Also, the pictures on my good friend Erin's blog of their beautiful albeit small Christmas tree inspired to me to try and convince my husband that we should get our first Christmas tree. It took some convincing, especially since he was pretty sleep deprived, but we found our own little tree at Rite Aid for $13.99. After we released it from it's twine-induced bondage and decorated, we were quite proud of it. Chris commented for several days afterward that we probably had the most perfect tree around (or something to that affect).

Good news!

We have been overcome by the generosity and kindness of so,so many people (family, friends, people we have never met before, anonymous saints). Through many, many generous gifts, we have enough money to fund our adoption. We are amazed at God's goodness!

Our Homestudy is finished!

This is very exciting...well, I know it may seem to the average person that we are always saying that we are still in the middle of paperwork, but trust me - this is huge! This means we are really almost done with paperwork. After we send our notarized homestudy to the USCIS, it is mostly a waiting game for the USCIS to send us the coveted 171H form which them completes our file to go to our adoption agency and then onto the Ethiopian government.

So....

Praise God!

Any Scrapbookers Out There? Part 2

Yet another very kind friend who sells also Creative Memories (scrapbooking
materials) is donating 100% of the profits to our adoption from any orders placed on her website during the months of November, December and January.

After you have placed your order, just click on "Contact your
consultant" and write "TeamReno Adoption Fundraiser" in the "Comments or Message" section.

Her website address is: www.mycmsite.com/lauraholtzclaw

You can also make some great Christmas gifts through the Creative Memories photo center such as: Christmas cards, calendars, mugs, totes, t-shirts, coasters, mouse pads, puzzles, and personal prints. The web address for the photo center is www.cmphotocenter.com.

When using the Creative Memories photo center site you will need to insert Laura's CM id #39747181 so the profits will go to the Reno Family.

Giving Fruit

I was telling Chris last night that whenever I try to picture our baby, I am inevitably brought to thinking about his/her birthmother. She more than likely knows that she is pregnant and is faced with hard, hard realities/questions that a pregnancy often brings. I have no idea what those are for her. All I know is that God has brought a little soul into fruition in another woman half across the world and this little soul will become ours. This thought causes many emotions - sadness, wonder, sometimes joys, although that will probably more present when we see our baby for the first time. I still have a hard time calling the child "our baby." Right now it is her baby. I still can't wrap my mind around what it is like to give your baby to someone else. How do you give a baby? Now I have worked in a crisis pregnancy center and have been confronted with the myriad of reasons/situations/etc that are behind women placing their babies for adoption, but this is real life so now that I am very much personally and emotionally involved, it is different...This might sound naive, trite or whatever...oh well...

Unexpected Gifts Part 3

We have much to be thankful for! We visited my (Anna's) dad and stepmom over Thanksgiving. One of my sisters and her husband and my brother were all there. It was so good to reconnect.

During Thanksgiving morning breakfast (yes, we were gluttons for punishment - we had a fairly large, yummy breakfast) my dad handed us an envelope. Inside was a check for a very large amount for our adoption. Everyone in my family had contributed - my dad and stepmom, my mom and stepdad, my sister and her husband, my brother, even my 13-year-old sister. We are so thankful to be so supported by both our families. Our cup is very much overflowing.

Needless to say, this relieves a fairly large burden. Between our savings, the t-shirt fund raiser and the amazingly generous gifts we have received, we are almost there!

Paperwork-wise, we are waiting for our home study to be complete. This is should happen sometime this week and then we are on to the next step (see previous posts for details on the process as a whole).

Any Scrapbookers Out There?

Another very kind friend who sells Creative Memories (scrapbooking
materials) is donating 100% of the profits to our adoption from any orders placed on
her website between now and midnight on Sunday, Nov 25th.

After you have placed your order, just click on "Contact your
consultant" and write "TeamReno Adoption Fundraiser" in the "Comments
or Message" section.


Her website address is: www.mycmsite.com/carolinekirchner

Another opportunity for Christmas Shopping

A very kind friend, Lauren Murray, who also happens to very gifted in creating beautiful crafty items is holding a Holiday Craft Faire. She has so kindly offered to donate part of the proceeds to our adoption. We are again so blessed. Now you have to realize that this will not be just any old craft faire. Lauren makes BEAUTIFUL things. This is a great opportunity to not only support our adoption, but also a super talented local artisan. If you are local, please stop by and do some Christmas shopping. The information is below. If you need more directions, please contact me.

Dear Friends,

I would like to invite you to my Holiday craft faire and bake sale taking place at the end of the month. I have been very busy assembling one-of-a-kind gifts and I am excited to share them with you.

I have many gifts for babies and children, vintage ornaments, one-of-a-kind stockings and stocking stuffers, beautiful jewelry, hair adornments, sachets, and much more. I will also be selling an assortment of yummy home-baked treats.

Best yet, my prices are very affordable, and some gifts and baked goods can be made to order and delivered to your door before your holiday gathering or Christmas Eve.

Please come say hello, drink some cider and shop. There will be face-painting for young ones and the young at heart.


Friday, November 30th & Sunday, December 2nd, 1pm to 6pm.

Pleasure Point Community Church

(On the corner of 26th & Portola, Look for the balloons.)

I look forward to seeing you!

Prayer

Please remember that prayer is as important (if not more!) as financial gifts. Your prayer will yield fruit in many ways, including the generous financial gifts we have received. God will bless faithful prayer.

We can also continue to pray for the families in our adoption agency who had court dates (this is when the agency rep represents the family in the Ethiopian courts and the child becomes legally the family's) last Wednesday. The court dates were postponed and they don't know yet when they will be rescheduled.

Unexpected Gifts Part 2

I am sure this is starting to sound repetitive, but we continue to be amazed by how God is pouring out answered prayer. We just received a hugely generous gift from Chris' parents towards our adoption...it just happened to be the exact amount I thought we would be short after using our savings and after exhausting our fund raisers(t-shirts, benefit concert, OneCause.com) and various grants (if we receive them). Our pastor was just speaking on Sunday about how we get to participate in giving praise and glory to God in part by showing His love to others. Thank you for everyone who has been participating in this "regiving." Chris is often saying how great to sit back and watch God work...because like our friend from Kenya said - God loves this sort of thing.

Register with OneCause.com and help us build our family!

Christmas is just around corner! This is an opportunity to help us earn funds towards our adoption just by doing your regular shopping (please note: you are not paying more for the products and services you purchase). Almost every online store you can imagine is available - Amazon, Gap, Target, Abebooks, J Crew, Pottery Barn, the list goes on.

Here's how it works:
1. Go to www.onecause.com and register as a OneCause member.

2. You will asked to enter an organization name. Enter "National Adoption Foundation." Then finish entering your name, password, etc.

3. Scroll down to find the "Dues Crediting" field at the bottom of the online registration screen. You will see a field called "Purchases Benefit." Enter our registered email address: teamreno@sbcglobal.net

3. Begin shopping at hundreds of OneCause merchants online, in stores, and through catalogs. You'll earn a merchant contribution on each purchase, a percentage of which will go toward our adoption credit.

4. Remember to begin all of your online shopping at OneCause so we earn credit!

T-shirt order #2....

I just heard back from the couple handling the t-shirt orders. They said if we can get another t-shirt order in before Thanksgiving, they can fill it. God willing, tomorrow the court date in Ethiopia will officially make little Sakari (the baby girl they were matched with) legally their own, so they will be traveling to Ethiopia to pick her up very soon. Hence, the hurry to turn in another t-shirt order.

I have 3 t-shirts ordered...our goal is 50...so 47 more before November 20th. If you don't mind, pass this on to whoever might be interested.

Unexpected Gifts, Anonymous and Otherwise

Yesterday after church, someone handed Chris an envelope marked "A Gift for Chris and Anna Reno." Inside were 5 $100 bills. Needless to say we were stunned and thankful beyond words. At the same time, we weren't surprised, because our church is like that - they give above and beyond, materially, emotionally, spiritually and physically, without asking for recognition.

To whoever you are....thank you and God bless you!

Also, thank you to everyone to has gifted us financially and through prayer. We are so thankful for the support we are receiving!

Every once in awhile I start thinking we are crazy for even attempting this adoption on an educator's income, but as one of our friends said in an email, "God loves this sort of thing." He loves making the impossible happen.

Some recent happenings with the Renos...

Chris' catch (I mean, besides his wife) - Fishing with family off the coast
























The catch on the grill with Soy Vay marinade, the day after...yum!

























My littlest sister came to visit, and guess what - we went fishing...

T-shirt order

We just sent in an order for 50 t-shirts. Thank you to everyone who ordered! The order should be delivered in about 2-3 weeks. We made about $500.00. Thank you!

If there is enough interest, I can start another order. I need at least 25 t-shirts orders to place an order. We have 2 so far.

The family who is making the shirts for us has their court date on Wednesday. Be praying for them this week.

Details...

For those of you who like details...

Detailed expenses of an international adoption from Ethiopia:

U.S EXPENSES
America World Application Fee $250
America World - Ethiopia Program Fee $4,100
USCIS Fee $685
Dossier Authentication $400
Home Study/Post Placement Fee $3,000
International Specialist Consultation Fee $250

FOREIGN EXPENSES
Dossier Translation and Authentication Fee $600
Ethiopian Visas (two adults) $60
Consul Fee for Child's Visa $380
International Program Fees (includes
child medical exams, orphanage donation,
child transition fees) $3,450

TRAVEL EXPENSES
Round-trip Airfare (two adults) $3,600
Airfare for Child (one-way) $700
In-Country Package (hotel, meals,
tour guides, translator, transportation) $1,775

TOTAL ESTIMATED EXPENSES $19,250

Also, being in education, one of my mantras for students is "Read carefully!" Of course, I didn't follow my own advice...I just learned something new about our adoption process. Forgive me if this is repetitive, but there is the next 3-7 months of our process:
(1) Wrap-up paperwork, send to Secretary of State for certification (next week).
(2) Send home study to USCIS. Wait for 171H.
(3) Send 171H to Secretary of State for certification.
(4) Send completed dossier (our paperwork) to our agency (American World Adoption - AWAA) in Virginia.
(5)AWAA sends it on to the U.S. Department of State and Ethiopia’s Embassy in Washington, D.C.
(6) The dossier than is sent to Ethiopia, where it is translated, processed and examined by the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs.
(7) Our agency works with Ethiopian government officials and orphanages to match us with a child. We requested an infant 0-8 months, boy or girl.
(8) #6 and #7 take about 3-7 months. During this time we are waiting, waiting, waiting for our "referral" which is a picture and medical records of the child we have been watched with.
(9) After we accept the referral, we wait for a court date to be scheduled in Ethiopia. An AWAA staff member represents us at this court appointment, where the child is declared legally ours. (!!) There will be a very excited post appearing on our blog when this happens. Those who live close by may hear shouts of joy coming from our home...
(10) We wait 4-6 weeks for travel to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to pick our baby.
(11) We stay in Addis Ababa for 1 week and return with a new Reno!

Don't forget...

...to look over there... to the right...lots of interesting info...

Misc...

Thank you for everyone who purchased t-shirts...I am sending in the order this week. Thank you, thank you, thank you for the support! I will send in another order if there are enough requests (I need at least 24).

We have everything completed for our Home Study, which is a HUGE blessing. I think we will probably receive the completed product from our Home Study agency sometime next week.

Still no denial letter from the USCIS, so as soon as I have our completed Home Study, I will send it to the USCIS. They will send us our 171H form, which is the last piece of the puzzle. Then everything goes to the Secretary of State to be certified and then off to our adoption agency in Virginia.

I have been working in the dorms on the weekends and tutoring after school. This schedule is perfect! I am bringing extra income to fund the adoption, I have time to get all of our adoption paperwork together, and I have the same days off as Chris. God has been so generous in answering our prayers...

Chris has been busy, busy, busy - working full time in the dorms, working on his Master's degree (including preparing for his thesis), and teaching at Cabrillo. It is a blessing that I am not as busy, because he is crazy busy. He could use your prayers...

Thank you all, again, for taking the time to keep up...

More provision...

And the list goes on...these blessings that I am about to share have happened within the past 2-3 weeks...

Almost as soon as we shared our news about starting this adoption journey, my mom and stepdad graciously contributed a large amount to our adoption...they are pretty excited about having grandchild #1...

My dad and stepmom (who are also excited about grandchild #1), after reading about how we would possibly have to refile with USCIS and pay the filing fee again, sent us a check to cover the refiling amount. This after we had just prayed and lifted the situation up to God to work as He pleased. (By the way, no denial letter from the USCIS yet - we are sending our marriage certificate and it will arrive Monday am...maybe we won't have to refile!)

This next blessing is financial, but also a huge help to Chris' career as a teacher. Last weekend Chris' boss was coaching a little kids' soccer team. The son of the Head of English Dept. at the local junior college plays on this team. So "randomly" the Dept. Head mentions to John (Chris' boss) that they are looking for someone to teach one of their English classes because the professor became ill or something. John says, oh by the way, I know a great English teacher (I am paraphrasing here). Phone numbers are exchanged and passed onto Chris. To make a long (but short, all of this happened in about 1 week) story short, Chris is now teaching an English class at Cabrillo College. For those of you who are familiar with teaching at the college level, these things don't happen like this. We are a bit stunned...it never crossed our minds that Chris would be teaching at the college level within the next couple of years, let alone within the next week.

There you have it...the Reno saga continues. Every life is a story that is being written by the Master Storyteller...more to come, I am sure...

Another choice

A man in our church kindly offered to connect with his sister who works in the Vital Statistics office, to try and help us in some way to get our marriage certificate. We were so blessed that these kind people offered to do what they could. The sister made some calls and was told that it wouldn't be ready until December.

A couple of days ago, when Chris and I read her email communicating this, we were faced with 2 choices. Either throw a fit and become depressed (which I admit, I did do for about 2 minutes) or choose to trust once again in God's perfect timing. Thankfully, God worked in our hearts and we chose the latter. So, no more excited trips to check the mail, at least until December. Maybe we would get a nice Christmas present.

So I was going to the mail today, thinking "why am I even checking the mail? Our certificate won't be here until December." Lo and behold, there were not one, but two amazing gifts in the mail. One - our marriage certificate! Ah! Crazy! Two - a gift of $100 from one of my good friends in Moscow, Idaho. Crazy! God is so, so good. I wonder if He enjoys giving huge surprises like this. I am sure He does.

Here are the t-shirts....

We are finally ready to start selling our t-shirts! Thank you to everyone who has expressed interest in purchasing one. They are brown with tan writing...the design is shown above.

This is how it works...
(1) Decide on a size.
(2) We are asking for a $20.00 minimum donation. You can pay with a credit card via Paypal (click on the "Add to Cart" link below, email us the size you would like), hand it to us in person or send it in the mail (please contact us via phone or email if you need our mailing address).
(3) After we have at least 25 shirts ordered we will send off the order to the wonderful family who is actually making the t-shirts and is also adopting from Ethiopia. It will take 2-3 weeks from the time we send the order off.

Please let us know if you have any questions. Thank you!!!

In the works...

Still waiting for our marriage certificate....I spent a long 1.5 hours on the phone trying to get a hold of the Vital Statistics Office to no avail. Everything is pretty much waiting on our marriage certificate...

But! Onto bigger and better things (sort of). We have entered fundraising mode! We are going to be selling t-shirts designed by a family also adopting from Ethiopia, who, by the way, just received their referral for a baby girl. Exciting! We are also planning a benefit concert, hopefully, when the Brownlees return. This is in the early, early planning stages - so early that we aren't quite sure if it will happen.

Much of this sudden spurt of creative activity and planning is due to a wonderful group of ladies from our church who I meet with every other week. I confessed my frustration with our various roadblocks, mostly financial, and they were so incredibly supportive and bursting with great ideas and tons of encouragement. I left that meeting feeling throughly rebuked (by our patient and gracious God) about doubting God's provision for this adoption. And I also didn't realize how eager our community is to help us and be a part of the process. Praise the Lord for excellent community!

Inching along...

The appointment that I needed much prayer about has come and gone and went great! At least as far as I can tell. I still don't want to go into a ton of detail, but thank you to all of you who were praying. Another little hurdle has surfaced (this is very common in adoptions, there is no such thing as a "perfect" adoption)...one of the first steps of the adoption process is filing with the USCIS (US Citizenship and Immigration Services) to demonstrate that we are financially able to support our child. They ask for lots of paperwork as evidence, including a marriage certificate, which (to make a long story short) we filed for back in May. We have to submit the marriage certificate to USCIS within the next week, but probably won't receive it from the Office of Vital Statistics until sometime in October. This means the USCIS denies our application and we have to refile and pay the $680 filing fee again. Our homestudy agency suggested contacting our Congressman (Sam Farr) to see if he could intervene in any way. I called his office in Santa Cruz this morning and left a message. So, nothing to despair about, except that finances are bit tight, so another $680 is kind of a big deal for us. Again, please pray! We know that God works all things out for the good of those who are His. Sorry if this is detail-overload, but I know some of you appreciate knowing what is going on. If you have a chance, visit some of the blogs of families that are also adopting from Ethiopia. They are heartwarming, enlightening and encouraging!

Rabbit trails & soap boxes...but not really

So I seem to wandering from the point...I have don't have any adoption news for you, but in the midst of filling out paperwork and dealing with red tape and jumping through hoops and the like, I read this post from a blog that Chris reads often. I thought it applied to my current mental/emotional state (just a little). It just reinforces in my mind that God's timing is perfect, His plan is perfect, and when I fail to realize and remember this, the complaining begins. When I cling to the truths that He is good AND He is in complete control AND He loves His children, peace and thankfulness take over...

What Happens When You Stop
Topic: Exhortation

The apostle Paul exhorts us to do all things "without murmuring or disputing." The result, he says, will be that we will be blameless and harmless, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, "among whom ye shine as lights in the world."

How do obedient Christians stand out? This is one of one of the central duties assigned to us. We are described as the light of the world. How should we then seek to have that light shine brightly? Well, not to put too fine a point on it—stop whining. Stop complaining. Stop murmuring. Stop muttering under your breath.

What is the backdrop of this? If we are to shine like stars, then what is the blackness against which we shine? What is the crooked and perverse blackness? It is the spirit of discontent, that of murmuring about everything. Whatever non-believers complain about without thinking, that is an opportunity for contrast.

All right, then, what do people complain about? They complain about their pay, their lack of recognition at work, their health, the weather, their kids, their parents, their husband, their wife, their lawn, the snow, their in-laws, their aches, their pains, the thermostat at the office, the president, the Congress, the Supreme Court, the city council, the potholes, the highway department, the rates at the swimming pool, the referees for Monday Night Football, their savings account, their sex life, their unmarried state and no sex life, their marriage overall, that they have a husband, that they don’t have a husband, that they have a wife, that they don’t have a wife, too hot, too cold, too tall, too short, too close to the window, not close enough to the window . . . you get the point.

This mentality is the air we breathe. It is difficult even to notice it. The one thing that makes it noticeable—starkly noticeable—is when somebody stops doing it. And so here is the exhortation from the apostle Paul—stop doing it.

Posted by Douglas Wilson - 9/9/2007 10:45:17 AM

"...work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. 14 Do all things without complaining and disputing, 15 that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, 16 holding fast the word of life..." Philippians 2:12-16

Prayer and Fresh Air

We have an appointment next week which may determine how the rest of our adoption will proceed. Please pray for God's favor and our peace of mind (especially Anna's).

During our reading time together this morning, we read Psalm 31:

1 In You, O LORD, I have taken refuge;
Let me never be ashamed;
In Your righteousness deliver me.
2 Incline Your ear to me, rescue me quickly;
Be to me a rock of strength,
A stronghold to save me.
3 For You are my rock and my fortress;
For Your name's sake You will lead me and guide me...

19 How great is Your goodness,
Which You have stored up for those who fear You,
Which You have wrought for those who take refuge in You,
Before the sons of men!
20You hide them in the secret place of Your presence from the conspiracies of man;
You keep them secretly in a shelter from the strife of tongues.
21 Blessed be the LORD,
For He has made marvelous His lovingkindness to me in a besieged city.
22 As for me, I said in my alarm,
"I am cut off from before Your eyes";
Nevertheless You heard the voice of my supplications
When I cried to You.
23 O love the LORD, all you His godly ones!
The LORD preserves the faithful
And fully recompenses the proud doer.
24 Be strong and let your heart take courage,
All you who hope in the LORD.

...like a breath of fresh air in a stale room...

Bumps

Well, reading about various adoption experiences, you usually come across the proverbial "hurdles" or "bumps in the road," basically little reminders to trust in God's perfect timing.

We have come across a couple of those during the past week. Our home study is not going as seamless as we would have liked. I don't want to go into too many details on the world wide web, except that prayer would be much appreciated.

One of those bumps (though not too serious) is our marriage certificate, which we are waiting for patiently (ha!). I am calling the Office of Vital Statistics tomorrow - oh wait - I just realized that tomorrow is Labor Day. I am calling on Tuesday!

We have to get MORE fingerprints done Wednesday for our state-level criminal background check. I am pretty sure there aren't going to be any surprises there.

Also, please continue to pray for finances!

Also, make sure and explore some of the adoptive family blogs...Chris and I have been SO encouraged reading about families who are steps ahead of us. Some have even brought their precious ones home! Most of you know that I am not super outwardly-emoting person, but reading through these blogs is making me one. Maybe it is part of becoming a mom...

So, this is month 4 of our paper pregnancy...let's see if we can finish in 9! (Pray for me to be patient!)