Dossier

Dossier
This is the package that carried our hearts through Paris, Dubai, and on to Ethiopia :)

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Overwhelmed

I was just looking at pictures of my boys opening up the care package we sent them, and a tidal wave of emotion came over me. I just had to stop and say "Thank you, God". That was enough - God already knows what my heart is feeling! I thank Him for being sovereign, for having a much better plan for our lives than we had for ourselves, for giving us "blessings through raindrops", and for A and N who have already changed our lives forever!
They are BEAUTIFUL! They have the most amazing smiles and dimples. They have so much joy for two little guys who have been through so much. I wish that I could post pictures! Please pray for us as we travel to Ethiopia next week. Pray for safe travels, for us to stay healthy, that we will have an amazing time with our boys just being a family, and that we will pass court the first time. Only 50% of families pass the first time. The longer it takes us to pass, the longer we have to be away from our boys. Please also pray for their little hearts and minds - so much for them to process.
We will try to post while we are in Ethiopia next week - should have internet access where we are staying. Keep us in your prayers!

Monday, June 6, 2011

Court Date!

We got a call today from our travel coordinator...our court date is set for July 13th, 2011! We will get to officially meet our boys in around four weeks!!! *Sigh of relief.* To say that we are excited would be the understatement of the century. :) Will keep everyone updated as to when we will actually be leaving for Africa, etc.

This last week has held a lot of joy for us. Last Wednesday our friend and worship pastor, Jason, spoke in church about "holding on to the dreams that are holding on to you", and asked if we would share our story from beginning to now. I don't do public speaking, so Shane shared. He started from when we first decided we wanted to start a family, to infertility/treatment, to infant adoption, to now older child adoption. It was incredibly cleansing and freeing to hear our story out loud amongst those who love and support us at our church. At the end, Shane shared our great news about our boys, and then Pastor Danny had a special prayer for our boys and the adoption, as those closest to us laid hands on us. Praise the Lord! There were lots of tears and hugs. It was a special night that we will never forget!

We also joined our adoption agency's Yahoo chat group for families that are adopting from Ethiopia. We have heard from several families that have met and spent time with our sons when they have been over there with their children! It has been amazing to be connected with these families and hear cute little stories about our boys! Our oldest is apparently very good at soccer, has amazing dimples, and smiles all the time! Our littlest is a little trickster, loves to hold hands, and also smiles all the time. SO looking forward to having stories of our own to share next month. :)

We have been asked by a couple of people if there is a tax-deductible way that they can help financially. We are so incredibly grateful! We have an account set up at our church for the adoption. Any checks can be sent to:

Eastpoint Fellowship
15060 Old Cheney Hwy
Orlando, FL 32828

Please remember to mark in the memo line that it is for "Shane and Summer Somers-adoption."
Thank you so much!

Thursday, June 2, 2011

BIG news!

So if you read our last post from April, you would understand that our hearts were pretty sad. After the infertility battle and then so many changes with the adoption, it felt like we would never get good news! We knew in our hearts though that God had something so much greater for us as a family, and that good news had to be right around the bend!

Truth is, when I wrote that post, God was already working on something. He had started working on our hearts several weeks before and was asking us to do something big! We were just in the middle of praying and struggling - we wanted to make the right decision and not an emotional decision. The possibility was exciting and terrifying all at the same time! Were we to put the infant adoption (that seemed to get further and further away)on hold and pursue this new path of becoming parents?

In the end of March, we got an email from our adoption agency encouraging all families to take a look at the waiting children list. This list is password protected and holds pictures and bios of children who are older and less likely to be adopted. Shane and I were in different rooms when we got the email and looked at the list. We would later that day discover that God had tugged at both of our hearts with a certain picture/bio. I had immediately fallen in love, and asked God to please give them a good family right away if they weren't supposed to be a part of our family. I wanted more info, but was scared and confused at the prospect of changing our adoption from infant to older child. We decided we would pray and have our parents to pray with us for wisdom. We felt Him push us to take the next step. It took four weeks to get the info because our agency had some holes in their info and wanted to make sure everything was entire and accurate. They were at the mercy of the staff in Africa to get the updated information, and it took like what seemed an eternity! Once we got the information, we spent time pouring over it and having a doctor look at it. We spent more time in prayer and asking questions... and then we officially accepted the referral for two beautiful boys...elementary age, biological brothers,beautiful.

The week after we accepted the referral, our family coordinator sent us an email. She said that the boys had been sat down and told about us, and that they were "ecstatic". They took our pictures that had been cut out of our paperwork, and ran around the transition home showing everyone their new mommy and daddy! She said that they had waited so long. I'm sure they had had friends come and go with their new families, and wondered when it was their turn. Thank you Lord for setting the lonely in families! Thank you for choosing us to be their parents!

We couldn't be happier! My heart is so full, sometimes I feel like it could explode. Our days are spent now getting together a care package to send to our sons filled with outfits and 'Cars' flip flops and pictures and toys :) We are looking for bunk beds, and painting a room, and trying to figure what to do for school next year. Shane is on a Disney movie kick, making sure our boys have the movies that are out before "they go back in the vault"! :)We have soccer balls and nerf guns...but most of all we have SO MUCH love to give. We get to be parents...Praise the Lord.

I can't get a particular song out of my head by Laura Story. Some of the lyrics are as follows:
"We pray for wisdom
Your voice to hear
And we cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough
All the while, You hear each desperate plea
And long that we'd have faith to believe

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
And what if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise"

Amen.

Pray for us as we are waiting for a court date! Also pray that we will be able to raise the extra funds necessary to fly two boys home from Africa (estimated extra cost above what God has provided over the last year is $7,500). Pray that our boys will be safe and healthy, and that we will be able to bond quickly, even through our care package. We unfortunately cannot post names or pictures until we pass court, but we will keep everyone updated on travel, etc. through this blog.

Thank you for your prayers and support! We love you all!