Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Loving with Abandon

Tonight I write to all of you reading who might be questioning adoption. I know you are wondering if it is for you or your family. Perhaps you are asking yourself if it is something you have the heart to endure or the patience to stomach. Maybe you are fearful of what lies ahead due to the many unknowns in the adoption journey. I write to you and wish I could jump through my computer screen and come over for a cup of coffee and hear your hearts and your fears. I wish I could listen to your concerns and answer your questions.  I think it would be a gift and a wonderful way to spend time, connecting with those couples who wish to adopt. But trust me when I tell you that after I gave you my full attention and my listening ear well I am fairly certain I would then do the following:
I would jump up and begin to shout at the top of my lungs the ever popular Nike phrase:
JUST DO IT! 
(repeatedly of course)
You would perhaps think me crazy but I would not care. I do crazy quite well thank you. :)

You see I have walked in your shoes. I have felt the ache your heart my feel, I have done all the research and talked until I am blue in the face about what country and the pros and cons of international 
versus domestic adoption.
I know the process and the soul searching you are going through feels so challenging... 
Sometimes you may even wish you could run the other way from the call to adopt. 
The calling is often frightening 
but I am hear to remind you today that 
God does not call the equipped: He equips the called!

Today was a big day in the life of our daughter.
Today Ava turned six months old! 
She is vibrant, smiley, demanding,
sitting up, communicative with her eyes and her smiles, sleeping well and rolling over like crazy.
Watching her all day today reminded me that I should help others to know that they too can take the crazy leap of faith into the world of adoption. Let our heart be softened and your prayer filled soul be your guide to the child of yur heart, wherever he or she is.
All children need us and perhaps there is one child who God intends especially for you and your family.

Today I am grateful for the joy of Ava. I am grateful for the challenge and the juggling she has created in our family. I am grateful for the bustle of our household as the boys nearly miss the bus becasue they have to say goodbye to Ava. I am grateful for the leaky bottles and the middle of the night feedings, for the fussy times when I must let go of my own needs so that I might better meet hers. 
These are all changes that God knew  I needed and our family needed.
Funny how one little can change so much.
JUST DO IT!

We believed we were simply growing our family but God had so much more in store when he showed us the way to Ava.
Happy half birthday sweet daughter of ours...
We love you with wild abandon!











7 comments:

Kelly Jo said...

Love this!! Ava is absolutely beautiful!! :)

Becca Harley said...

oh Melanie - she is breathtaking!! Cannot wait to have our little one home...

Rachel said...

I can't believe how much she has grown. Randy and I were just talking about you guys last night. Hope all is well and hope to see you in Feb.

Anonymous said...

this was such an encouragement to me tonight. we are in the process of adopting from ethiopia too, and today was one of those days where i felt worn down by the process...thank you for reminding me why it will all be worth it. i love seeing ava's pictures...she is so beautiful!

Unknown said...

Words can't express how beautiful she is...beautiful just doesn't cut it!!

And, yes, let go and let God! Let God provide and prove himself over and over again. The church needs to step up and believe that our God is capable!

Thanks for sharing!

Jenn said...

Oh Miss Ava...you are the most beautiful little girl! What a HUGE blessing you are to your family!!!

Summer said...

I SOOOO needed to hear this today. My husband and I are in the process of adopting from Russia and have been for a year now. We actually are in the process of switching agencies (which isn't at all what we ever hoped or expected we would have to do), but we were really struggling with how our original agency was conducting business. Today we actually went to an IA doctor in Houston to discuss a little boy- who could very well be our little boy, should we so choose. And I so badly want a doctor to look at me and say he looks great! No worries, go ahead and travel with confidence... but I know they can't do that. I am afraid, I guess you could say, of all the potential medical unknowns and risks we assume when we do adopt a child, but I also know that you assume unknowns and risks when you pursue getting pregnant. But like every mom, I want my child to be happy and healthy. I really, really want to have children, and I cannot think of a better way of having children, than by giving a child who already needs a home and family just that. It just seems like such a win-win situation, and I KNOW God is calling us to adopt- but I am scared of all the unknowns, and it makes me feel awful. And I am starting to worry that I am letting all the unknowns and what-ifs make it impossible for me to feel comfortable accepting any child- and I don't want that to be happening- I hate. fear. Thanks for letting me ramble, please pray God will give us peace, if this little boy is meant to be our child. Thanks again for this post, Summer Sims
www.what-faith-can-do.blogspot.com
summersims87@gmail.com

Into Our Arms Forever!

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welcome home ava! from melanie Strobel on Vimeo.

Meeting Ava during our first trip to Ethiopia

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Meeting Ava Ethiopia Trip July 2010 from melanie Strobel on Vimeo.

Korah- Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

During our recent visit to Ethiopia I felt very called to the village of Korah in Addis Ababa Ethiopia. There have been numerous rumblings lately about the tremendous need to help the children of Korah who are growing up in and around the local trash dump. The village was established 75 years ago as a place to send people with leprosy who were said to be cursed. Now there is a 3rd generation of people living in Korah with nearly 100,000 suffering from such things as leprosy, HIV, misc disease and of course malnutrition. There are many children of Korah who have been forced to live and work at the trash dump in hopes of finding food and possible items to sell in Korah's center of town. With the start of the Great Hope Church in Korah and the building of a shelter, along with the ministry of local Sammy Liben and Sumer Yates, there is now a feeding program and a sponsorship program in place to rescue the forgotten children of Korah and send them to boarding school where they can escape the horror of the conditions of living and working in a large trash dump. For more information please visit: www.help4korah.blogspot.com or www.p61.org where you can learn more about how you or your organization can help the people and the children of Korah. Please send me a message or email Erin Allen at erin@p61.org to request sponsorship information. I will soon be posting the photos of my day recently spent in Korah. I must tell you it was life changing and beyond anything I have ever done to stretch, change and rearrange myself. God helped me to help the people who I met. Much of what I could offer was nothing more than the snap of my camera or a warm touch or an inviting smile. The needs in Korah are beyond our wildest imagination yet God is over Korah and there is already amazing work being done. I invite you to view the following videos to learn more about the beauty and the needs of Korah's people.

CLICK HERE TO LEARN HOW TO SPONSOR A CHILD

P61 grab button

Love this...

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Hannah's Hope Orphanage- Ethiopia

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