List is almost done...

Our lists are getting checked off. We're almost ready to go! We received word today that Judah passed his TB skin test, so we officially have the green light to travel.

Another family we are planning on traveling with had not so good news regarding their girl's tests. We're praying that their chest X Rays are negative, and that they can travel on time!

I promised a pic of Judah's room, and now that it's complete, here's the photo... All it needs now is a smiley little 3 year old boy!

Independence Day

Happy 4th of July to all my blogger friends! We've had a great weekend! We spent both Friday and Saturday on the boat with friends. This morning we had the annual Bush Beach Bash, complete with lots of yummy breakfast foods. We watched fireworks last night from the lake. We've roasted marshmallows, hot dogs, grilled burgers over charcoal, drank ice cold beer from the cooler ... summer in Michigan is the best!

With all the freedom in the air, on this the 4th of July, my mind naturally drifts to ... Africa. No surprise there! I'm putting the finishing touches on Judah's birth mom's photo album. We are going to be able to meet her while we're in the country. This is something I feel so blessed to be able to experience, and yet so overwhelmed by. I hardly dare even "go there" in my thoughts. How am I going to be able to sit with this incredible women? How am I going to be able to look her in the eyes, see the love for her son, and rationalize the injustice in this world. It is pretty safe to assume that life has not been kind to her. What does freedom look like to her? Surely she didn't ask to be born into a country where there is a 70% illiteracy rate. I can not imagine, if given the choice, she would live in a world where HIV is eliminating an entire generation of her family & friends. Surely she didn't ask to live in poverty the likes of which I've never even seen. Surely she didn't choose to give birth to a beautiful boy, with the hopes of relinquishing him to the care of an orphanage. Surely if she had even a little bit of freedom, she wouldn't be where she is right now. And so I think about her

with tears in my eyes

and pray that God will give me the words to express to her how sorry I am

that she doesn't have the choices I do

and pray that God will allow her to sense

just a little bit of how much I'll love this child

how much he'll be a part of our lives, our hearts, our hopes and our dreams

somehow ... someway ... I pray she'll get just a glimmer of hope in one of the choices she was able to make ... the choice to trust us to give him the best life we possibly can

A Picture is Worth...

This week has been filled with long "to do" lists. Coordinating the kid's schedules while we're traveling, getting the house "ready" for our live-in sitters, completing yet another round of paper work to get notarized for our Embassy Appointment, filling prescriptions for us and Judah, finishing up the 14 "required" gifts we need to bring with us, deciding what to pack; what not to pack, coordinating with the bank to get US currency dated 2004 or newer (strange, but at this point we don't ask questions), guessing on what size clothing & shoes to bring with (it's hard shopping for a child you've never seen before!), putting finishing touches on Judah's bedroom ... and the list goes on, and on, and on...

and then ... we get this new picture...

and I am reminded once again that this temporary "crazyiness" is soooo worth it ...

Time Ticks On...

There are 16 days left before we hop on a plane and pick up Judah. We are busy packing, getting the kid's schedule's arranged, finalizing paper work, finishing up gifts we need to bring, and lots of other "adoption related" stuff. In the midst of all that, summer is upon us in Michigan!

When we began this adoption process a wise friend told me ... "don't cancel your life" ... "continue to do the stuff you enjoy". While the adoption is forefront on all of our minds, we've been having a great summer, too. We've been swimming, boating, spending time with friends, having picnics, celebrating birthdays, eating delicious Michigan strawberries (while saving a few for jam!), the kid's have been involved in lots of sports ... swimming, baseball (All Star Game tonight!), cheerleading, ... and we've been enjoying these last few weeks as a family of four. All that being said ... we're ready for Judah to join in all the fun!

We have a son!

Sometime early this morning Felmeta Judah Hoekstra legally became our son. He's been ours in our hearts for quite awhile now, but as of today it's all official. We are rejoicing and giving thanks to God!

Hopeful...

We just received an update from our agency that of all the "additionally requested documents" have been prepared and delivered to the court in Ethiopia. Everything is "in order" for our court date on Wednesday. We are hopeful...