8 Months and Still Waiting

Yesterday, Father's Day, marked 8 months on the wait list. My mom sent me this Scripture last week - framed! - because she knows that my soul is weary...

Psalm 62:5 [I chose a couple versions because the English language can't contain it all in one translation]
God, the one and only—
I'll wait as long as he says.
Everything I hope for comes from him,
so why not?
He's solid rock under my feet,
breathing room for my soul,
An impregnable castle:
I'm set for life. [The Message]

Let all that I am wait quietly before God,
for my hope is in him. [NLT]

Find rest, O my soul, in God alone;
my hope comes from him. [NIV]

Validation

Last Sunday we had our Student Ministries staff celebration. We have an amazing team of volunteers who serve in a variety of creative, inspirational, and courageous ways to our 12-18 year olds at Newsong. I adore watching them "love in action" and minister to our students and their families. One of the night's surprises was an 18-minute video that one of our high school girls who's also a small group leader in our middle school ministry made. Christie was actually one of girls in my first leadership group when she was in 7th-8th grade. Now, she skillfully shepherds a group of 8th grade girls with integrity [Psalm 78:72]. It's such a satisfying and rewarding picture of what 2 Timothy 2:2 envisions for us. The video Christie prepared was of countless students who were saying "thank you" to their leaders in ways that only 12-18 year olds can: Beautiful. Raw. Meaningful. Unedited. Unfiltered. Authentic.

When Mychel was saying "thank you" to me, something hit me in a new way: one of the gifts of infertility is that it's validated my ministry and personal relationship with God. Mychel was saying that she loves me because she's seen me go through really hard stuff in life and still love God. So that's validated the advice and counsel I've given to her over the years. My pain has produced validation to my words.

If I had a fairy-tale-only life, I'm not sure that my experience with Jesus would carry the same weight to the people I serve as they do now. The rubber of my faith has hit the road. The proverbial crap has hit the fan in my life, and I still believe Jesus is the best and truest thing going on. The God of Scripture has become more real in the pages of my life. For that, I am grateful for infertility.

Why Ethiopia?

The best answer for me is "why not?", but for those who'd like more. Here are a dozen or so reasons. Keep in mind that stats are variable. My brother loves to say, "56.7% of statistics are made up"...and that percentage varies every time he says it. Hahaha.

• There are approximately 5 million orphans in Ethiopia, including 1 million AIDS orphans. There are more orphans in Ethiopia than people in Norway!
  
• 1 in 10 children die before their 1st birthday. 1 in 6 children die before their 5th birthday.
• 44% of the population is under 15 years old.
• The median age in Ethiopia is 17.8 years old.
  
• 50 million people are living in abject poverty. The average Ethiopian makes about $300/year [less than $1/day]. With many mouths to feed, some families are forced to relinquish their children for economic reasons. They simply cannot feed them.
• 60% of children in Ethiopia are stunted because of malnutrition.
• 1.5 million people are infected with AIDS [6th highest in the world]
• Ethiopia receives less aid, per capita, than any country in Africa
• 50% of Ethiopian children will never attend school. 88% will never attend secondary school.
• Coffee prices [Ethiopia's only major export] declined 40-60% from 1998-2002. Buy GOBENA COFFEE for great, authentic, fair trade, organic coffee!
• Ethiopia's doctor to child ratio is 1 to 24,000. There are 59 OB/GYNs and 1,000 midwives for a population of 77 million.
• Severe drought struck country from 2000-2002 [1st year = no crops, 2nd year = no seeds, 3rd year = no animals]

I love how Jesus spoke to his disciples about the role of the Holy Spirit after he left earth. What a powerful image of his heart for belonging to a family...

I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. John 14:18

Spread the word about Ethiopian adoption. It's critical and life-changing for so many. And it certainly changes the trajectory of a child's life. To our babies, we are coming. As fast as we can!!! There's no where we wouldn't go to bring you home. You have our hearts and we love you implicitly.

SOURCES:
The Boddies' blog
Melissa Faye Green's Web Site
Poverty in Ethiopia
A Walk to Beautiful