What will they think?.

Our girls don't know we exist.  I feel like I am on the edge of my seat waiting to find out that they have been told.  Because they are of age to understand what adoption means, the social workers in Ethiopia feel that it is best to wait to let them know until the time gets closer for us to come get them.  At first I was thinking "tell them!  Don't wait!" Now, however, I'm realizing why they choose to wait to let them know.

The process will take many months yet and if they know about us now, and we wait months and months to come get them, they will begin to loose trust in us already.  So...we wait to tell them.  Seems like the word "wait" appears often in adoption processes.  But, I totally understand this.  I have asked, if it seems appropriate, to video the social worker letting them know that they have a family and have been chosen! That someone loves them and wants them to be a part of their lives!  

How will they react?  Excited?  Scared?  Confused?  Probably all of the above. We've been told that all children at the orphanage see strangers arrive and take their friends and they know that those kids will now have families.  And, that every child wants it to be "their turn".  Although they don't know what all of this will exactly look like, they all want it to be for them.  

In our April update of the girls, "B" actually asked her social worker if they thought that someone would adopt "T" and herself together?  ....interesting question from her.  =)  Makes me wonder if they do know more than what we think they do.

I'm just so excited for both of them to have hope.  I see pictures of smiles on their faces and they seem to really being taken care of well.  However, at the end of the day, they are still in an orphanage.  I want them to have the hope of a future with a family that will love them forever.  I can not wait to look into their eyes, cup their face with my hands and say "YOU are now mine!"       

Our Sweeties

It has already been 2 months since we've been matched with our girls!  I realize we have months on wait ahead of us, but this seems to be going really fast.  Praying that our time apart continues to feel this same way.

I want so badly to post pictures of them and share details, we are, however, not allowed to do that at this point.  We can not share names or ages, but I will tell you that we are adopting out of birth order with both of them and I will refer to them as "T" and "B".  =) 

When we got their referrals, we were literally bombarded with all of their history.  Another thing I love about working with Bethany, they research and investigate all the children in their care.  Therefore, we have their history!  I received multiple 40+ page reports on each.  Literally hundreds of email update reports, pictures and videos.  I admit I scanned the writings and went straight to the pictures and videos!  Now, I have a chance to sit back and review our children's stories, look over medical reports, dream about what I'm told their personalities are like, etc.  I am falling so in love with these 2!!

For "T", English is her 3rd language.  She recently "ranked 2nd out of 45 students" at her school!  And is a "very smart student"!  She was awarded a diary for her accomplishments.  I am so proud of her!

"B" apparently is a chatter-box.  =)   She likes to be the center of attention.  Her friends have a nickname for her which means talkative and they say that "she will talk to a stone some day if there is no one around".  LOL!! Solomon is gonna have some competition over here!!
  
Both girls like to play with dolls, are social, are athletic and respectful.  LOVE hearing and reading about them.  Realizing that this will likely be full of challenges in every way, I am still super ready to travel to Ethiopia and bring them both home.  And, especially to give them a family, which every child on this planet deserves!  

God has lead us to them and we leave it all in His Mighty Authority about what lies ahead for all of us. 

Relying on my Heavenly Father in all things....that's a pretty great place to be! 

Tulip Time Fun

Posing for pictures during Tulip Time 2014.

Kyah really enjoyed wearing her Dutch costume this year.  Especially the wooden shoes!  

Love this girl!  She asks me to come see her baby-dolls that she set up.  Then, I notice one with a toy hand gun!  I removed it and she quickly put it back and said she was going bird hunting!  She's a girly-girl with a big splash of tom-boy!


We are at the wonderful part in the adoption journey called WAITING.  Things are in process and there's really nothing new to report.  We are in the part of the process when the US Embassy reviews our girls cases and basically makes sure everything about these adoptions are ethical.  Love working with Bethany Christian Services for this fact!  They have a great reputation with the Ethiopian government and make sure things are done properly and with the best interest of the children.

The absolute most asked question is:  "When will you bring them home?"  Well, I wish we knew!  We are told the process we are in is typically between 2 1/2 months to 4 months to complete.  Then, the parent/guardian court date a month from that, then our court date.  We will make 2 trips to Africa, just like for Kyah's adoption.  The 2nd trip should come quicker (less time in between the trips) due to the US Embassy reviewing the cases now, rather than in between the 2 trips.  I really don't like to put a time-frame on this since things in the adoption world change constantly.  God willing, there will be no hold-ups with paperwork, parent/guardian reviews, or more government slow-downs and we can get those cuties home!

DTE!!!!!

To all you adoptive parents, you know what this means!  For you others, it means Dossier To Ethiopia!  Ironically we received an email that all our papers are being sent to Ethiopia today while we were in Chicago at the Christian Alliance for Orphans summit.  

Another step closer to bringing our girlies home!!

So, here it goes...

     As we shared before, we felt God prompting us to adopt again.  The questions facing us were; from where and how old.  As we began talking to God about it, He narrowed the options and made our path very clear that it would be from Ethiopia again.  Looking back on Kyah's adoption, we were very "safe".  We wanted young, less issues to deal with and not to disrupt our birth order.  For this adoption, we both felt we needed to completely place it all in God's hands.

     We are working with Bethany Christian Services again (in our opinion they are the best!) and they have what's called a "400 Campaign" which is basically 400 children who are waiting to be adopted.  They are children from all over the world and as we began looking at these children, God began to work.  These children are so beautiful, vulnerable, alone, and could be mine.  We felt any excuse we came up with was completely selfish.  It is not these children's fault they are orphaned and if we had faith that God was calling us to do this, than we needed to trust Him and leave it all to Him.

     Faith was needed here and a lot of it.  This could get real uncomfortable and messy.  Eventually we conceded and told God we would do whatever He asked and  wanted us to do.  By then, we had our eye on a girl from this waiting child list and began to think about how she would fit into our family and fell in love with her.  In several of her pictures, we  noticed  her with a specific friend.  When we looked at this friends profile, who was also in this "400 Campaign",  we would see "our" child in her pictures.  This began to really bother us.  How could we separate them?  We decided to ask about the other girl and were told from our social worker that because they were not biological siblings, their policy was that it needed to be 2 separate adoptions.  They would, however, check with the team in Ethiopia who knows these girls.

     We felt so strongly, right from the beginning, that they were to be together somehow, we began to pray about this situation.  If we couldn't adopt them together, we would pray someone from West Michigan would or we would get one child home and immediately begin the process of getting the other one home.  About a month went by and we heard nothing and decided that we would stick to our plan on getting one girl home and going back for the other.  Once again, God had other ideas.  I got a call from our social worker saying that it was recommended that the girls stay together and be adopted as "psychological siblings"!  Unbelievable.  Well, not really when God's in charge!  We are still a bit in shock and are humbled that God would call us to do this.


     Knowing with God that all things are possible, (such as this rare event of adopting non-bio siblings at the same time, getting a referral for 2 children so quickly, paper work going smoothly, changing immigration status from 1 to 2 children, etc., etc., ) I simply have confidence that God knows best and knows how to care for us and what each of us needs (which I admit I'm praying now that He doesn't think I need to drive a 15 passenger van!)

     As reality begins to set in, we are faced with challenges that go with this.  The adoption for one child is about $35,000  This is a bit of a stretch for us financially.   Now, with this amazing news of 2 children, the cost will be about $52,000.  Additionally, we will need to buy a larger vehicle (NO 15 passenger van please. ha!)  We know God will provide and He has so far.  We have applied for grants and are willing to borrow money to make this happen.  Since becoming debt free 4 years ago, borrowing money goes against everything we believe in, but will do whatever it takes to get these girls home and with our family!

     Living among this community of believers and having a strong sense that Todd and I need to do something about the global orphan crisis, I wanted to share all these details with everyone so you can get a better feel of all that God is doing here and all that still needs to be done.


  We are asking for your prayers with our adoption.  We know there are going to be many challenges ahead, so we covet your prayers!  We are getting as prepared and educated as we are able.  And, we want these girls home soon so they can leave the orphanage, have hope and join our forever family!  Join us in praying home our girls and our friends babies.  For Kerri, Carmen & Lisa who are desperately wanting their babies home and trusting  God will see this through.  Also, for those darlings still waiting on the "400 Campaign".

    Again, stepping out of our comfort zone, we are asking for help from whomever is willing and able.  Maybe your role isn't to adopt, but you can surround us while we do!   The cause of the orphan should be a priority.  God expects action from us, especially where orphans and widows are concerned.  What are we going to do about it?  I personally would love to be surrounded by the body of Christ and be supported in helping bring these 2 children into my family where they can belong.  We humbly ask you to help us with our adoption.  We are joining with a non-profit organization called Lifesong who has set up an account for us.

There are a couple ways to donate towards our adoption.  You can send a check, written out to "Lifesong" and 100% of what you send in will go directly into our account.  Send your check to:
                   
                     Lifesong for Orphans
                     PO Box 40
                     Gridley, IL  61744

* in the memo, please write:  Klaasen # 4410

Your gifts are tax-deductible and you may ask for a receipt for your taxes.  Lifesong is a 501 (c) 3 tax exempt organization.

Or, you may simply click the "PayPal" button on the top of this page.  Again, using "Klaasen #4410"  There is an administration fee of 2.9% that will be taken out of the donation when using PayPal.

                    Fund Raising Goal date is May 26, 2014.

Please consider this as part of your tax deductions for 2014.  It would really mean a lot to 2 girls who need a family.

Words can not express our gratitude to God and our friends for the support and prayers we have received and we humbly thank you!
  

Double the BLESSINGS!!

God has been working overtime on our adoption.  I will post all the details in future updates, but for today I want to share what God has been up to.  Many, many details are things that typically do not happen.  Many, many details are things that I would never have even dreamed of.  Many, many details are proving, once again that I am loved and a chosen child of my Heavenly Father.

On March 18 @ 10:10 a.m., I received a call, THE call, with a referral!  And, not just one referral...we received a referral for TWO girls from Ethiopia!  Oh, they are so beautiful and my heart is so full of joy!  Still trying to grasp the fact that we are chosen to raise 2 more precious children of God!  

Verses and Quotes

Faith and Deeds

14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? 15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.  James 2:14 - 17.

These were the verses focused on Sunday night at our Revolution service and they are hard to hear.  What are we doing in life if we don't ACT!?  We might say what others want to hear and make it all sound so sweet and good.  If we don't get up and even possibly out of our comfort zone and do something about it, we are dead.  I want to be the woman who both talks the talk AND walks the walk!!  Thank you Cory for making that so clear Sunday.

Live simply so others may simply live.  Mother Teresa

Simple and to the point, right?  And, complicated beyond anything that any of us can even imagine!  Check out these stats from 5/2013:

World Hunger Statistics
Total number of children that die every year from hunger	1.5 million
Percent of world population considered to be starving	33%
Time between deaths of people who die from hunger	3.6 seconds
Total number of people in the world who suffer from hunger and malnutrition	800 million
Total number of people who do not have enough to eat	936 million people
Total percentage who do not have enough to eat who live in developing countries	98%
Total percentage of world’s hungry that live in 7 countries	65%
Number of people who died of hunger today	20,864
Total number of people who will die of hunger this year	7,615,360
Total percentage of U.S. households that are at risk of hunger	11%

People, wake up!!  These are real people.  Real hurting people!  The majority of them children.  Children who didn't choose this kind of living situation or conditions, but find themselves in them.  Think about the children who find themselves in all alone and dealing with this.   

This one brings me to tears and I hope it does you too. 

The need is real and the need is urgent!  You can make up all the excuses you can think of.  In the meantime, children are dying. Don't think you could help? I guarantee if you could sponsor, foster or adopt a child in need that the blessings God will pour over you will be way more abundant than what you ever dreamed.

God doesn't call the equipped, He equips the called! 

Step up and ask God to use you.  You will amazed at what door He opens and what He can accomplish if you just say "Yes" to Him!!

We live in the affluent USA and basically have and get anything we desire.  If I want a tall, double shot, french vanilla latte with whip cream, I simply go get one.  When I want my family to get new clothes for Easter, I buy them.  When I don't feel like cooking dinner, I pick up something.  I am completely spoiled!  While 20,864 die every day from the basic necessity of food and clean water.  What would happen if I save the $ I would have spent on my latte, clothing and a dinner out, and donate it to World Vision, Compassion International or the like?  Or, what would happen if I actually get up, get going and do something about it and ACT!!

*Side Note:  Watch to see what Jordan & Jesse wear on Easter.  They came up with this all my themselves and I LOVE the idea!!!

Lord God, I thank you for the Holy Spirit that is working in my life and helping me to be aware of the work that needs to be done. 

And now the quote helps me realize why I am doing what I do:

"I always questioned if I was ready to adopt and then I realized - No child was ready to be an orphan".

Author Unknown

Tags:

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