A Perfect Gift

What if you could save one of these little girls and revolutionize her life? What if you could lead her from poverty and malnutrition and give her a life of love and nurture?

That sad little girl on the far left is our Sitota, before we adopted her.

Her name means "a gift from God". And that is exactly what she is, a perfect gift.

This is Sitota today.

age 7

Recently, I received a disturbing email. It is about the conditions in some of the Ethiopian orphanages. You see, adoptions have slowed way down in Ethiopia over the past year. This means a decrease in funds for the orphanages at a time when the price of food has skyrocketed.

Just five years ago, Sitota was in one of those orphanages. I cannot imagine her being hungry, cold and alone. It is unthinkable to me. It is unthinkable to let that happen to other children. If you would like to make a donation to provide immediate relief to Sitota's former orphanage, you can do so by clicking here.

"Anyone who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, God will reward him for what he has done." Proverbs 19:17

A Child Waits

This next post is hard for me to write because it feels like I am offering up a piece of my heart. But if I keep this piece to myself, it could only be called selfish.

When I was in Burkina Faso adopting Therese, I met a boy.

This boy captured my heart with his sweet nature and his searching eyes and his life story. He was Therese's best friend. He cried when we left the orphanage. I thought it was because he would miss Therese so much. But he was actually crying because he wants a family so badly.

I wept as we pulled away and promised God I would do what I could to find him a family. I wish we could be his family and it is hard for me to understand why God seems to be shutting the door for us to adopt him.

If you think you might know a family who could love and cherish this boy, please contact me and I can give you all the information I have.

"But You see the trouble and the distress, and You will do something. The poor can count on You and so can orphans." Psalm 10:14

I Am a Disciple

Watch this video and hear my hottie husband tell our adoption story to our church family:

I Am a Disciple - Casey Solgos from Christ Community Church Video on Vimeo.

3 Months Home, Part II

I truly can't believe that three months have passed since our time in Burkina Faso. I think this is my favorite picture from our trip. These precious sisters bonded right from the start. They are walking to church- to worship the Lord together. The same Lord, who from the time He laid the foundations of the earth, knew that someday, they would be sisters.

Can you tell they swapped dresses that morning?

A sister is a gift to the heart,

a friend to the spirit,

a golden thread to the meaning of life.

-Isadora James

3 Months Home

Praise God- Therese has been home for 3 months! I hope you can read this sweet note Therese wrote one night when she was supposed to be sleeping (but I don't mind a bit!).

"God sets the lonely in families."

Psalm 68:6a

Oh yes, He does!

Adoption High

Wow- where to start?

I have been on a major adoption high the past month. If you thought I was psyched about the significance of adoption before, I am over the top now!

Therese is AMAZING. We love her with our whole hearts. She has added a whole new element of laughter and joy and dance and song into our family. There is NOTHING like hearing the sound of that girl singing her heart out or laughing her huge laugh. Or reminding us to pray that Jesus would be with her friends in Burkina Faso (we don't forget, but she makes sure). Or seeing her face when she received her new lunch box. Or excitedly yell "come!" to the squirrel in our backyard. Or fill her cup with as many ice cubes as her heart desires. Or luxuriate in the bath or shower multiple times a day. Or ask me for a kiss on the just so spot on the bridge of her forehead.

Adoption is supposed to be hard. It is suppose to be even harder if the child is "older". Call it a "honeymoon" if you must. But I know God has done something amazing here. This child is PRECIOUS in His sight and He is covering her and our family.

Therese started school this Monday and it has been precious. She is in the same class as Evelea and they sit next to each other. Evelea astounds me once again with her maturity and joy in helping her sister adjust. Her teacher is an amazing man. He has fully and joyfully embraced the challenge of incorporating Therese into his class. He even wrote a note to Evelea to let her know he was proud of her and the way she is helping guide her sister. Another student brought in a French/English dictionary from the library so she could talk to Therese. I have gone to the school each day to each lunch with my girls and check in on Therese. I am thrilled with the sweetness of these students who have a special place in their hearts for Therese and want to help her. I pity the child who got Therese "out" in dodge ball- the other children were mortified that anyone would get her "out", but Therese loved it!

My heart is overflowing with love for my children. God is gracing us in ways I don't understand. I am SO grateful. So grateful.

Adoption Flick

This adoption themed movie will be shown on Fox at 7pm CST this Saturday night. I don't want to miss this!

2:30 Change Of Plans Trailer from Moms4FamilyTV.com on Vimeo.

Another Happy Report

We received more good news today! Our wonderful nurse, Kathy, got Therese an appointment with our cardiologist. You can imagine the anticipation we have had for this appointment! We really had no idea what kind of heart defect Therese had.

Well, now we know she has Coarctation of the Aorta. This is a very treatable defect!

Next month, she will have a two hour MRI of her heart and blood vessels in her brain (sometimes this condition also effects the brain). This MRI will also determine what kind of surgery she will need. She will have life long blood pressure, but that is treatable.

We are SO SO grateful for this diagnosis. Our doctor said that this will be a "cakewalk" compared to what we have been through with Carter.

Our little girl has a hope and a future!

Drawn from the Water

I can't believe I haven't blogged in so long. It's almost like I am having so many emotions each hour, I don't know where to begin!

I am profoundly joyful to be bringing home our daughter. One less orphan in the world and one more spot filled in our family table. She is SO welcome here.

I am profoundly sad to leave be leaving Sitota and Carter at home. I will miss them so much and I am worried about how they will do without me for so long. I reconcile this pain by remembering that the only reason I am leaving, is to spare another child from a lifetime of this kind of grief.

I am profoundly inspired to share with other families the message that they, too, can participate in the miracle of adoption. Really. Tell me what is holding you back- I can guarantee I have had that thought and may be able to help you through it. I'd like to share this beautiful video with you. Once you see it, you will be responsible. There are countless ways to help orphans. Countless. But don't rule out adoption. It is not for special families. It makes you special.

Please watch this.

"It Began with Bale" from Drawn From Water on Vimeo.

Early Christmas Present

Hallelujah! We have our travel date!!!

We (Evelea, my oldest daughter; Gail, my mother in law; and I) will be leaving on December 8th and returning with Therese on December 24th. That means one month from today, we'll be home!

Can you think of a better Christmas present?!

I have a LOT to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. I will be praising God for His wonderful provision. He has orchestrated this whole thing from the beginning and I am so thankful to be a part of His amazing plan.

I AM GOING TO GET MY DAUGHTER!!!!!!!!

Still Waiting

This waiting is killing me. I am usually a pretty patient person, but not today. You want to know how super impatient I am today? I'm not even happy that it is Friday because that means at least two more days of for sure not knowing when we can go get our girl. (insert foot stomp)

Last night I wrote her a letter and sent it to her via email. Someone will have to read it to her of course because she doesn't know English yet. I considered posting it here, but it feels a little too tender to me to have anyone else read it just yet. But I'll tell you it felt amazing to finally express my love to her. All these months I've been praying she could feel my love across the ocean. Today, she can see my photo and hear my words of love for her. Last night I fell asleep with my hand reaching out in her direction, asking God that He would allow her to feel my hand holding hers.

She's almost here. Really. Just a few more days.

Here's My Girl!

Adoption Fundraiser

Please consider supporting this family's adoption buy purchasing one of these cute pendants. They are inexpensive and $5 of each purchase goes toward the adoption costs!

www.etsy.com/shop/sarahstreasurebox

(Mention Grieshaber Adoption during the checkout so they get credit!)

The Fight

So, sadly, our adoption did not get approved in court yesterday. Why? I really don't know. It seems the judge removed the three adoption related cases off his docket and we just don't know why.

This makes me incredibly sad for my little girl who remains an orphan and must go on with her heart un-repaired, at least until the next court date- November 2nd.

One of my first thoughts after I heard this news was how to tell my girls. My girls who sat in our family room listening to our friends and family pouring out their requests to God on behalf of the orphan and, specifically, our case. Would this make them doubt the power of prayer and God's goodness?

Yesterday morning, before we knew we didn't pass, both girls remarked independently to me about how much they loved that prayer time. I admit it came as a surprise to me. It was long and full of words and concepts they didn't understand. Sitota asked when we could do it again. Evelea said she just loved the feeling.

After I told Sitota the bad news, she quickly said "well, can we do the prayer thing again, because I loved that". Wow.

Evelea said, "Let's think of three reasons why this is good". Wow.

In an effort to fight the darkness back, one of my best friends issued a challenge on her blog to sponsor all the waiting girls in Burkina Faso through Compassion International. Wow.

God challenged me this morning to combat my discouragement by writing letters of encouragement to friends who are facing difficult things.

My girls don't give up and neither do I.

Court Date- part Trois

Once again, tomorrow we have our court date in Burkina Faso. An attorney there will represent our case, and hopefully, tomorrow we will be announcing the name of our new daughter and posting her sweet picture.

Tonight, friends are gathering at our house to pray this little girl home. We are going to claim the promises of God over her life and our family and ask God to mercifully grant us a positive outcome to our court hearing. I can't tell you how it thrills me to think of our home full of people on their knees caring about what the Father cares about. If you drive past the house and it is shaking, I wouldn't be surprised! By the way, if you are local and want to come- please do!

We will also be praying for the other children in the orphanage to find families.

Psalm 68:6a

God sets the lonely in families.

Psalm 140:12

I know that the Lord secures justice for the poor and upholds the cause of the needy.

Psalm 10:17-18

You hear, O Lord, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry, defending the fatherless and the oppressed in order that man, who is of the earth, may terrify no more.

Do our hearts reflect the Father's? Is there something more we could be doing to defend the fatherless? We are His hands and feet. Let's move them as He would have us move them.

Why?

When people hear that we already have two biological kids, have adopted one and are in the processing of adoption another, a common phrase we hear is "you must really love kids". While this is true, that is not our primary motivation to adopt. The truth is, we really love Jesus. And we really want to obey Him. And His love for us, and His adoption of us, is our motivation to adopt.

Jesus loves children, so we love children. Jesus adopted us, and we want to model that in our family.

"We love because He first loved us."

I John 4:19

Radical Love

Nothing inspires me more than hearing a story from a family that is willing to be used by God.

Isaiah's Story from 31Films on Vimeo.

Our new court date is October 19th. Long day today!

Thanks for all your prayers- I know where our help comes from and I know it will arrive at the perfect time.

Big Fat Bummer

Well, the judge did not show up again today. This is seriously frustrating! No word yet on when our next court date might be rescheduled.

Adoption is not for the faint of heart!

Court Date- Part Deux

Hopefully tonight, while I am sleeping, I will become a mother to my fourth child. Hoping to hear GOOD NEWS in the morning!