A Dream :: "Orphan" Becomes Personal

This is a message I got from one of my oldest friends, Laura. We have been friends since 8th grade. Although we've only lived in the same city for 1 year, God's knit our hearts together and bound us together for over half our lives. We were bridesmaids in each other's weddings. She sent me this dream God gave her a couple weeks ago about her 2 daughters. I absolutely LOVE how God personalizes the plight of orphans and vulnerable children for his people...


Kate and Ella were on some adventure which involved catching large sea slugs [don't think that even exists] and all sorts of other mayhem, but Ella was being sneaky and brought one of the sea creatures into the large room that she and Kate were sleeping in. In that room were a bunch of bunk beds lined up. They had nothing in their possession, Kate only had some silly bands on her arm. A woman entered the room where they were sleeping and saw that Ella had disobeyed a rule by bringing in the sea creature [ok strange I know], upon seeing this she kicked Ella and Kate out. At that moment I realized they were orphans...I weep as I write this. I saw the sweet amazing eyes of my Kate and the tender gentle spirit of her big sis, and there they were- all alone in the world. And I woke up.

It was 4:30 this morning and all I could do was run into their room and lay my hands on my 2 oldest girls. In that moment, the plight of orphans went from my head, past my heart, directly into my GUT! I literally felt sick. I realized that in a different place in the world or a different set of circumstances, that could by the life my daughters faced. The image of my sweet little 2yr old, w/ her big brown eyes, all alone in the world, was more than I could handle. And I pray that if they were in that circumstance, someone would scoop them up and love them, someone would choose them, someone would spend whatever money, sacrifice whatever it took, travel any distance to rescue my little loves.

I wonder how God's made adoption personal to you. I LOVE the private conversations I've had with so many readers about how God's expanded your heart toward adoption. Please share. It's so encouraging to hear and see how God's mobilizing his people toward orphan care!

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April L. Diaz

April has been a visionary activist her entire life. She has made it her mission to lead high performing teams and develop leaders in the margins of society while caring for our bodies, mind, and spirit. Secretly, she’s a mix of a total girly girl and a tomboy, and is still crazy about her high school sweetheart, Brian. Together, they co-parent 3 fabulous kiddos and live in Orange County, CA.

Judah and Addise

More pictures because I can't help it...

Addise with the bear security blanket and pink blanket we brought to her...

Judah is super observant, absorbing everything around him. Sounds like his daddy...

"I love you so much"

This was the first day together. I wonder if anyone had ever held him as he's slept. Causes me to cry and long to have him home soon...

Daddy's got his hands full. Here we go...

Christmas card picture?

I know I'm biased, but I think these are two of the most beautiful children ever created. A family is formed.

Sing praises to God and to his name!
Sing loud praises to him who rides the clouds.
His name is the Lord
rejoice in his presence!

Father to the fatherless, defender of widows—
this is God, whose dwelling is holy.
God places the lonely in families

Psalm 68:4-6, NLT

Amen and amen.

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April L. Diaz

April has been a visionary activist her entire life. She has made it her mission to lead high performing teams and develop leaders in the margins of society while caring for our bodies, mind, and spirit. Secretly, she’s a mix of a total girly girl and a tomboy, and is still crazy about her high school sweetheart, Brian. Together, they co-parent 3 fabulous kiddos and live in Orange County, CA.

The Big Reveal...INTRODUCING...

I know y'all have been waiting for a long time, so your patience is finally paying off. I'm sure you're not even reading these few sentences, just scrolling down the page to see pics of our beautiful children. Well, here ya go...pictures first; names last.

OUR FIRST FAMILY PICTURE [none of the dozen pictures are all of us looking at the camera!]:
Brian and I with our SON! He has awesome chiclet teeth. Brian's wearing his "ah-by-ay - dad" t-shirt, and I'm wearing my "eh-my-ay - mama" t-shirt.
OUR DAUGHTER...those lips are irresistible! She LOVED it when I kissed them. Lucky for me :)

Kissing my DAUGHTER for the first time...Daddy with his little man and sleeping beauty. She slept like this for about an hour. It was the sweetest thing! He held on to his little monkey security blanket the whole time!
Brian held him for a couple hours like this. They read this photo book we made for them with the pictures of us, our family, and them. He couldn't stop "reading" the book and "studying" the pictures. I love how he's snuggled up with Brian here.
Our kids have no idea what's going on, but clearly we are happy. [This was right after I had bawled my eyes out after talking with their birth mothers, so I'm not exactly having the prettiest moment]
Ok, now that you've seen their faces, let me properly introduce you to our children: Judah Abebayehu and Addise Aster Tarike Diaz. Both of their names are FILLED with meaning! Names are VERY IMPORTANT in Ethiopia. In a country where there is not financial wealth, there is great pride in their names and where they come from.

JUDAH ABEBAYEHU: Judah is from the Old Testament [Genesis 29]: the tribe of the Lion of Judah, Jesus. His name means "praise". After such a season of grieving and loss for us, "praise" is what we give to God for the gift of our son. The Lion of Judah is also a primary metaphor in Ethiopia - rich in meaning for Ethiopians! We drove past the monument in downtown Addis Ababa. Brian has a tattoo of the Lion of Judah on his left forearm, a reminder of who Christ is to us. For years we've loved this name and had no idea what deep meaning it carried for our Ethiopian son. Abebayehu [ah-beh-BAH-u], Lil' A, is his birth name. In Amharic, his name means "my flower" and has a connection to the capital city of his birth country, Addis Abeba, by some spellings.

ADDISE ASTER TARIKE: Addise [ad-i-say] Aster is a name we've had picked out for over a year. It's Amharic. When we first discovered that name, we knew it would be our daughter's name. It was beautiful and perfect. And then we learned what it meant. Addise means "new life". I have a tattoo on my wrist that says "LIFE" in Greek. It's a daily reminder that Christ has come to bring us new life, to bring life from pain and death, to adopt us into a new life with him. Aster means "flowers" [remember Abebayehu's meaning!?!?!]. My name, April Lei, means "new life" and "flowers". God knew. Tarike [tur-eak-ay] is her birth name and it means "to make peace". What an supernatural meaning for a baby girl in need of a forever home! Someday she will need to make peace with her story. We pray we will be a central part of her healing journey.

Our heart overflows and LONGS to be united forever with Judah and Addise. Their names already speak of their destiny and calling. They will be a daily reminder of God's hand upon their life, even in their mother's womb.

We're so pleased to introduce you to our kiddos. We seriously can't wait for you to meet them!

** In the not so distant future I'll add some videos. The videos are where you see just how gorgeous they are, and how captivating their personalities are!
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April L. Diaz

April has been a visionary activist her entire life. She has made it her mission to lead high performing teams and develop leaders in the margins of society while caring for our bodies, mind, and spirit. Secretly, she’s a mix of a total girly girl and a tomboy, and is still crazy about her high school sweetheart, Brian. Together, they co-parent 3 fabulous kiddos and live in Orange County, CA.