Prayers for Kelley Williams in Ethiopia and a Few Neat Numbers

One of my best friends just landed during the night in the beautiful country of Ethiopia. She is traveling with Kelly Putty and the Ordinary Hero group on a mission trip to visit and advocate for orphans who don't yet have families. Most of you know, it was while listening to Kelly Putty's testimony and the mission of the Ordinary Hero Foundation that God spoke to us about adoption so this ministry holds a special place in our hearts.

While checking facebook for thier current status this morning I learned a few astounding numbers about their trip so far. There are 28 people going on the mission trip and they each brought around 100 lbs of donations with them (max allowable to check at the airport). They each carried their personal belongings as carry on baggage so that all their checked luggage could be things they could give to the children (toothbrushes, toys, clothes, etc). They had over 1300 lbs of donations! Wow - so awesome!

The next astounding number is that from Nashville to Ethiopia, they traveled nearly 7700 miles by plane! About a 16 hr flight. That's a lot of peanuts:-) Then after this long flight, they were held up at security for another 5 hours while all 1300 lbs. of donations were inspected. I bet that made for some crankiness :-)

We had hoped that Kelley would be able to visit our girls (and there still is a slim chance) but so far the itenerary doesn't include a visit to their orphanage. The main reason is their orphanage is a few hours away from where they are staying and all the children there have been matched with families already. OH's main mission is to visit and advocate for those kids who don't yet have families. We sent a few presents with Kelley just in case she gets to see them. We hope that it works out but totally understand if it doesn't. We would never want to take time away from them visiting with other kids and taking photos and information to bring back to the US so that other families might find their children.

Thank you Kelley and other OH travelers for giving your money and time so unselfishly to put action to God's work. Thank you for sitting on a plane for 7700 miles and 16 hours and for sitting in security for 5 hours and lugging around hundreds of pounds of stuff for these precious little kids. And that's just the first day :-) I know you will bless and be blessed for what you are doing. God is good. Here's a little quote that Kelley had on her blog (mytwosons-kelley.blogspot.com for those of you who want to visit it) and I cried when I read it because it is SO true. "It has been an absolute privilege for me to watch the hands and the feet come together and join with me on this trip. A trip that was born of a love for people that I don't even know. I asked Him to break my heart for what breaks His. And He has (or at least He has begun to.....I have this sneaky feeling that this is only the beginning)." I love you my sweet friend. Godspeed.

Blessings,
Valerie

A little more heartbreak

We were notified last night that Ethiopia has unexpectedly closed several orphanages in the south region. There is no known reason and no known outcome for what will happen to these children. Our daughter's orphanage has not been affected by these closings but this event is yet another disturbing piece of news in the unstable adoption process in Ethipia right now. Lots of tears in the Hulshof household last night. PLEASE continue to pray for Hannah and Abekeya and for the other children and families that are waiting to be united. We know God is in control and is bigger than all of this but our hearts are still heavy and it's difficult not to worry. Our court date is still on hold. We are praying to hear some good news soon. Thank you for your continued prayers.

Blessings,
Valerie

Thanks!

I wanted to send a special thank you to the Dressler family in Pennsylvania! They are adopting and came across my blog. They ordered Tshirts from us for their whole family and were kind enough to send a pic. Thank you Amy for your support in our adoption and for your willingness to follow God's call in your life. May God richly bless you and your family through your beautiful journey of adoption.

Waiting...

I can't discuss all the details, but many of you know that our adoption along with all the others at our agency and several other agencies that work with Ethiopia, are on hold right now while the US Embassy conducts a brief (we hope) investigation. Yet another road block :-( I know God's timing is perfect and His plan is SO beautiful but I hurt with all this waiting. I long to hold them and play with them and register them for school, etc.

We humans kid ourselves to think that we are ever really in control of anything as God is the only one who knows the future and what ours holds but the adoption process just reitterates this truth on an extremely magnified scale. Never have I felt so helpless. I'm a take charge kind of girl and I wish I could just hop on a plane and fly right over them and bring them home but alas I cannot...yet.

PLEASE join me in praying that this hold will be lifted VERY soon and we can get our court date so that Hannah and Abekeya can come home. We have wept many tears and this wait seems interminable for all of us. Yesterday I was particularly melancholy and Chris emailed me a few wonderful verses that helped to encourage me.

Psalm 40:1 "I waited patiently for the LORD, He turned to me and heard my cry."

Romans 12:12 "Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction and faithful in prayer."

Revelations 14:12 "This calls for patient endurance on the part of the saints who obey God's commandments and remain faithful to Jesus."

One of the most played songs on my Ipod is Jeremy Camp's "Everlasting God". The chorus says "Strength will rise while we wait upon the Lord Our God. He reigns forever. Our hope. Our strong deliver. You are the everlasting God, You do not faint. You won't grow weary. You are defender of the weak. You comfort those in need. You lift us up on wings like eagles."

I know my God has a plan for us and I know He has a plan for our daughters. I know He is comforting them even now as they are likely weary of waiting too. As the song says, He is the defender of the weak and comforts those in need. Thank you God for your unfailing love and your mercies.

Blessings,
Valerie

New Ugandan Bead Earrings & Africa Shirts!

Thanks to all of you who helped or shopped at our yardsale. We raised over $1100! So far all of our fundraising efforts have raised over $10,000 but with two children, the total expenses will be between $35,000 - $40,000 so we still have much more to raise. We appreciate your continued support.

We have been selling the Ugandan beads for a while now but now we have a few lovely new additions. We have a limited number of beads in solid red in commeration of the Red Dirt Road that is heavily traveled in Uganda. These beads are identical to the traditional colored beads but they are completely red. They are beautiful and a bit more dressy - they'd go great with a business suit or dress.



In addition, we also have Ugandan Bead Earrings. These are colorful hoop earrings and they're incredibly light weight and match everything. They are a perfect match with the necklaces.



We are also taking orders for customized Africa shirts. We have a variety of material/patterns for you to pick from and you can choose your shirt size and color, short or long-sleeve, scoop or vneck style. Sizes range from 3-6 months to 3XL. Please email me at v_elaine@yahoo.com if you'd like a shirt and I can email a picture of the various available fabric choices and take down your specifications.

Please see the right blog column for prices on all these items. The best part is if you order 2 or more items, you can take $5 off your total. That means you can have the whole outfit including necklace, earrings, shirt and bracelet cuff for only $60 and all of your money goes towards two wonderful causes, our adoption fund and the people of Uganda in Africa. All of the earrings and necklaces come gift wrapped in a pretty bag with a bow and a tag that tells how they are made and the Ugandan story. These make perfect gifts!





Here are a few pictures of some of the shirts we've done thus far.

Flowers with Gray Background

Pokadots

Lime & Turquoise Paisley

Red

Stripes

Black & Gray Plaid

Peace Sign Print


Blessings,
Valerie

HUGE Yardsale to Benefit Our Adoption THIS WEEKEND May 14 8am-1pm

Please come out and shop at our neighborhood yardsale this Saturday. Our home is participating and we have some GREAT stuff! Just to name a few things, we have housewares, rugs, lamps, toys, clothes, children items, carseat, t.v. with built in DVD, stereo system with speakers, Air Hockey/Fussball table, Dora Castle Playhouse, and much much more.

Still no word on our court date yet but we know it's coming soon and we're trying to raise funds for our airfare so come shop til you drop :-)

Blessings,
Valerie

A Few Answered Prayers

I had mentioned in a previous post that our agency director was traveling to Ethiopia and she might be able to visit the girls and take presents. A few days later, we received about 15 pictures of them opening the gifts! It was so exciting to see their smiles over all their new goodies and I had a blast shopping for them. Chris said I'd never be able to get all that stuff in a 2 gallon ziplock as is required but I told him, where there's a Momma's Will, there's a way! They each got a new outfit, markers, books, coloring books, sidewalk chalk, cheeze-its, teddy grahams, starburst, lifesavers, plastic bracelets, rings, and necklace set, hair bows, toothbrush, toothpaste, comb, a babydoll with accessories, and most importantly a photo book with 36 pictures of our family, our dog and our home. In the pictures of them looking at the photos, they are smiling from ear to ear. It made my heart so happy to know that now across thousands of miles, my girls finally know what their Mommy and Daddy and siblings look like. They finally know the faces that pray daily and pine for them to come home soon. And they're smiling as we do when we look at their pictures too. Even Abekeya is smiling - these are the first pictures we've received of her smiling and what a knockout she is. It's amazing how transformed her little face is when she smiles. Abekeya is well too. It appears her pneumonia is now gone - Praise the Lord! I can hardly wait until those little faces and the faces of my other precious children can be captured all together in the same photos. How is it possible to love and miss someone so much when you've never met them? I really don't know but somehow God makes it so.

Here are a few photos to share (due to the kind of camera used, some of them won't rotate vertically - sorry). I can't wait until I don't have to hide those sweet smiles behinds hearts anymore.