The Chosen Vessel

I found this poem today as I was cleaning out my books for a garage sale. I have kept it for the last 15 years and never get tired of reading it. It reminds me that when I am weak God is strong. He has a plan and I am useful to Him.

Chosen Vessel

The Master was searching for a vessel to use;
On the shelf there were many-which one would He choose?
"Take me," cried the gold one, "I'm shiny and bright.
I'm of great value and I do things just right,
My beauty and lustre will outshine the rest
And for someone like You, Master, gold would be best!"

The Master passed on with no word at all;
He looked as a silver urn, narrow and tall;
"I'll serve You, dear Master, I'll pour out Your wine
And I'll be at Your table whenever You dine,
My lines are so graceful, my carvings so true,
And my silver will always compliment You."

Unheeding the Master passed on to the brass,
It was widemouthed and shallow, and polished like glass.
"Here! Here!" cried the vessel, "I know I will do,
Place me on Your table for all men to view."

"Look at me," called the goblet of crystal so clear,
"My transparency shows my contents so dear,
Though fragile am I, I will serve You with pride,
And I'm sure I'll be happy in Your house to abide."

The Master came next to a vessel of wood,
Polished and carved, it solidly stood.
"You may use me, dear Master," the wooden bowl said,
"But I'd rather You used me for fruit, not for bread!"

Then the Master looked down and saw a vessel of clay,
Empty and broken it helplessly lay.
No hope had the vessel that the Master might choose,
To cleanse and make whole to fill and to use.

"Ah! This is the vessel I've been hoping to find,
I will mend and use it and make it all Mine."

"I need not the vessel with pride of its self;
Nor the one who is narrow to sit on the shelf;
Nor one who is bigmouthed and shallow and loud;
Nor one who displays his contents so proud;
Not the one who thinks he can do all things just right;
But this plain earthly vessel filled with My power and might."

Then gently He lifted the vessel of clay.
Mended and cleansed it and filled it that day.
Spoke to it kindly, "There's work you must do,
Just pour out to others as I pour into you."

Mrs. B.V Cornwall

A Short Update

Hi Everyone,
I have been thinking it has been a couple of weeks since we have updated everyone. On Friday it will be 7 weeks home! Much has changed since then. Isaiah speaks and understands a ton of English. He really has adjusted well to us and our home. Everyone enjoys meeting him and playing with him.

We were able to have some outside pictures taken over the weekend up north by our family friend Kim Way. She is completing our adoption announcements to be sent out soon. I have taken some pictures here at the house but have not gotten them printed out or up on my blog yet.

Isaiah was HEALTHY last week! Yes, that is amazing because it is the only week since we have been home. We were all excited.
Unfortunately, on Monday he started with the stomach flu and cramping again...Oh the laundry. The little guy has been miserable. He seemed to do better yesterday, but today the cramping and upset stomach came back.
Matt called the doctor today about re-treating the parasite. Today we start the 4th, yes 4th stool sample collecting. The lady at the lab was explaining everything to me and I said, "this is my fourth time, I know what I am doing." She said, "doesn't pay well does it?" I told her collecting was better than being on the receiving/testing end!!

We also have a name of an infectious disease doctor here in Grand Rapids. I am calling them tomorrow about seeing Isaiah. He has a cardiologist appointment coming up as well.

You may ask yourself, "is all of this exhausting and draining?" The answer is YES!!! Do I feel helpless and guilty sometimes, YES! I continue to ask God for wisdom and healing in our family.

Tomorrow I am either 29 or 30 weeks along. Depends on what dates you go by. I am asking God for a healthy baby boy to be delivered on June 12th! Isaac's birthday is May 12th and Isaiah's is August 12th. Sounds easy right?

I have to say THANK YOU to so many people who have helped us and prayed for us a long the way. Helping at the house, food, stopping at the grocery store, playing with the kids, taking Isaac, the list goes on and on. Of course I cannot forget laughing with us too.

One Month

I finally have a few minutes to sit down and update everyone on how our first month home is going.
I will start with all the positives. Isaiah is doing well in our home. He fits in, loves to play, is very inquisitive and smart. We are amazed. He says several English words including, ball, balloon, eyes, nose, Isaac, daddy, momma, sissy, Josh, water, and up. Sometimes it is a new word everyday. He has a good personality and likes to be tickled and laugh. Once adjusted to the time change his nap/nighttime sleep schedule was pretty predictable. He is a normal 2 year old in many ways.

I cannot say this month has been easy by any means. Isaiah came home with many infections that needed treatment. More recently he did not pass all of his hearing tests, probably due to his tubes being plugged with fluid.
Friday we discovered a double ear infection again and a good possibility he has round worm. If so, we will all need to be treated. We should know more by Monday. I will not say too much otherwise we may not have any friends left!!!! Can you imagine what this little boy will be like when all of these things are cleared up?
Today he has been vomiting and lethargic. So many critters came home with us from Ethiopia.
Isaac is being treated for a sinus infection and I am also being treated for an ear infection/sore throat and cough. What a draining week we have had.

I was really looking forward to church and eating lunch at my in-laws house but it looks like I will be staying home instead.
My mother-in-law has been great this month. She will stop by to play with the kids, do dishes or laundry and it allows me to get out to do some grocery shopping. I have slowly been working on organizing Isaac's room and was able to buy some new storage containers to make everything look much better. All of my nesting instincts are kicking in. Now to all get healthy and move on to getting things ready for the baby. I am am 26-27 weeks along.

Through all of this I have developed a great relationship with my OB/GYN and Isaiah's pediatrician. We have had many laughs together. What else can you do? I will continue to spare you many of the gory details. Here is a saying and verse I read this morning on my Joyce Meyer calender. If you had not heard she is coming to our church, Resurrection Life in Grandville at the end of April. Always an inspiration.

Joy and cheer give us the strength to carry on toward the goal that the Lord has set for us in life.
...And be not grieved and depressed, for the joy of the Lord is your strength and stronghold. Nehemiah 8:10

Last weekend I was dealing with the stomach flu. All night I prayed Psalm 51 "Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your loving kindness; According to the multitude of your tender mercies." I fought and fought it crying out to God all night. I was much better by morning and told Matt we won that victory!

Another verse I pray often for our family is Isaiah 45:2, "I will go before you and make the crooked places straight." I have a note in my bible that this verse was for Matt and I on 5/22/01 three months before we were married. It is a verse I have always stood on for us. It truly works too. Our doctor has said a few times how she is glad we pushed issues regarding Isaiah's health. I believe God is giving us wisdom and knowledge into things. I pray James 1:5, "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him." How many times this month have I asked God for wisdom? Too many to count. He always answers and is right on!

A dear friend of the family wrote me an email this week to encourage me. This is part of it:
You've been on my mind alot the last couple days and I've been praying for you! Early one morning a few weeks ago, I was praying for you when the Lord impressed this thought on me. I thought maybe that I should share it with you now. As I was praying for strength in all you were dealing with in bringing little Isaiah home, the Lord showed me that what you were going through was "labor" as before you deliver a baby. It is a something that every new Mother has to go through. Even though you did not go through "physical" labor, by going through "emotional" labor , it would make Isaiah more dear to you. Because when we labor for something, whether it be physical or mental, it becomes of much more value. Does this make any sense to you? But the Lord just showed me that everything you were going through, he had a reason for allowing it. I pray that the Holy Spirit comes down right now and you feel his presence in what I'm trying to explain! As a Mother who physically gives birth and loves her child even more for going through that to produce that child, so will you someday look back at this "emotionally draining" time in your life and it will make you love Isaiah all the more! The Holy Spirits words to me when I was praying for you that morning and asking God "why" were "I'm putting Andrea through labor".
When I read this email to Matt I said, "how about I ask the Holy Spirit for an epidural?" Well why not?:)

I have also been talking to God about Ethiopia. I have such negative feelings for the country because our time there was so difficult. Before going we were open to whatever God had planned for us. Matt even told people we may not come back if God wanted us to stay and work.
Can I tell you how bad that sound to me and just be honest? I told God I never wanted to go back. I hated it!
If we did have to return then he would have to give me a huge desire in my heart. I felt him say right away, "Andrea, you will go if I tell you too because you have to obey me." He reminded me of Moses when he came to him in the burning bush. Did Moses really want to return to Egypt and obey God? Didn't he complain and make excuses just like I am? You can read about it in Exodus 3-4. Though I do not think God is asking us to return now he may in the future. Is it not better to obey God and be in His will rather than be out of His will? All the lessons we are learning through this process. I still do not want to go back!
I need to attend to our little one who is looking miserable right now.
Thank you again for the prayers, support and laughs to uplift us!

Someone read my mind

I have been wondering how to write how I am feeling about adoption and all the changes. Then I read a dear mom's blog today who stayed with us at our guest house. It was like she read my mind!
Check it out on the left hand side of my blog page.

Deutschland
It's (not!) all about the kids

News

Today we found out the orphanage we adopted Isaiah from is not being used by Bethany anymore. It is no shock to us because we saw how the kids were living first hand. Believe me we were ushered in and out very quickly, wonder why? It was not a good situation. We are glad we were able to finish our adoption before there were more problems. We feel sad for those families who were in the process of adopting from this specific place and now have to wait weeks or months for their kids. I was honest with our adoption worker today about the conditions and our medical concerns that were not addressed in the country. She then told me they were ending the relationship with them. We received false information from the orphanage on a few different issues.

Isaiah is adjusting well and still has several doctor's appointments coming up. He is being treated for a rare parasite, which is NO FUN! I finally figured out how to get the medicine down him today. I would like to tell you it has been easy to transition home but it has been tough at times. Last night I went to bed in tears. I just have to take one day at a time. Sometimes I feel we are "reverse bonding" with him. So many trust issues to work out regarding feeding and care.
It can only get better from here on out!!

Tests

We have had good news regarding Isaiah's tests. Many things are coming back negative. He does have an ear infection/pneumonia, which is being treated. We have him on another type on inhaler for his lungs as well. Blood work is looking better than the doctor expected and we are waiting on the stool samples.
His heart looks mildly enlarged, but it may be nothing so not sure if we will see the cardiologist or not for a heart echo.
Pray for good sleep for all of us as we adjust back to normal time. Also for continued bonding to happen between us. It has been more difficult than I thought it would be!

Doctor's Appointment

We were able to see Isaiah's doctor today. She stayed late for us and we were thankful to talk with her.
She gave him a breathing treatment and did a full exam. Right now we have to do a scabies treatment tomorrow night at bedtime and start antibiotics for an ear infection and possible pneumonia. We also have an inhalor to help with breathing when he is upset. We have a lot of stool to collect for testing as well, not fun, but we are glad to have everything checked.
Tomorrow we will head to Spectrum for blood work, turn in our stool samples and get a chest ex-ray.
We will need to see a cardiologist due to the doctor's concern over his breathing/sweating issues.
We also will see a hearing specialist to check his hearing.
Later this week we will start vaccinations after the doctor feels his breathing is better.
I am exhausted and the boys are both sleeping so I better take advantage of this time. Just wanted to update everyone on today's appointment!
We are thankful for our friends and family who are supporting us so much.
Thank you for praying for us and all the adjustments.

We are Home!

Never have we been this happy to be home. What a long trip it was and thankfully we were able to come home a day early. We are dealing with lice for now. We will laugh about this some day, right? I have never seen so many bugs in a little guys hair and then of course crawling on me after we applied that lice shampoo last night. We had to take clippers to Yetagesu's hair and I don't think Matt will be making a living as a hair stylist anytime soon. It was quite traumatic for him so I pray he will grow to trust us.

Right now we are waiting to hear from our doctor's office. Do we need to bring the boys in today or not? Does Isaac need to continue antibiotics or not? We had to dump ours in New York.
Emotionally I feel like I had a baby, same type of hormones going on. Lots of tears and prayers in adjusting.
Yetagesu is playing and eating, we are learning a lot. We are skeptical of whether he has scabies or ringworm too. Also, his belly is very distended which could be malnutrition or some other problem. He goes to the bathroom a lot so maybe a parasite thing, plus his breath smells quite bad. Maybe a tooth issue? For sure we will bring him in for more tests on Monday.

Prayers

Would everyone keep our kids in prayer? Isaac has been running a fever and has cough and sore throat. We have contacted his doctor's office in Michigan and they would like us to start antibiotics. Yetagesu is already going to the hospital today for pneumonia. We need your prayers for strength, courage and favor. 

We have emailed our travel agent and asked if we could change our tickets to come home early. It is early morning here on Wednesday so we hope to hear later today.

Embassy Day

Today we had our embassy appointment. It was a VERY long day. We also found out new information about Yetagesu. The US doctor recently saw him before the appointment and determined he had pneumonia. We had no idea, although we suspected so last night. Poor little boy is grieving the loss of his old life and trying to adjust to the new life with us while not feeling good. 

Tomorrow we have to stay back from our site seeing to wait to hear from Bethany. They need to get a copy of the report and then have us take him to a hospital to get confirmation so he can start an antibiotic. Isaac is also coughing and my chest is hurting similar to the way it did last spring when I had bronchitis. The air is very polluted here and it is not helping. We are sad Yetagesu is not feeling well but glad we found out before we traveled. The embassy doctor recommended he see his US doctor right away. Bethany uses the two best hospitals in Addis, but they did not catch it. Sara (bethany staff) said they do not have to hold up to the same standards as US hospitals do. 

Yetagesu is sweet and has had a rough time. His orphanage was very sad and apparently not a good one. He sometimes smiles at us but does not like change and cries. Overall he is an easy, mellow kid and we are thankful. Him, Matt and Isaac are watching the Incredibles right now before bed. It is best if we can have stable time here at the guest house where he can warm up to us and the environment. When we leave he zones out and gets even quieter. 

He is great eater. He does not say anything, only a few whispered sounds. Very quiet and of course he is just trying to understand what we are saying. 

We are happy Sara from the Grand Rapids office is here for a few weeks. She was with us while we waited at the embassy and reassured us. There were two other families that did not receive good news at their appointments. All paperwork things that hopefully will be resolved by Thursday and will not delay their travel home. 

Tonight we pray and believe we will ALL sleep well. We gave him some medicine and will prop up his bed. 

thank you all for praying we need it! This trip has been an amazing journey and we are honored to be his parents. 

Our Little Boy

Yesterday we finally met Yetagesu! It was a very long and happy day. We went to the orphanage around 4:00 and spent about 10 minutes there. It was very rushed and I expected to stay longer. He was sleeping when we walked in and there were about 20 other little toddlers sitting on the floor just staring at us. Why could we not take them all home? 

His nanny was crying and that made me cry. The social worker and the nanny were saying, Thank you for taking him, I was saying, Thank you for letting us have him!!! 

I felt really bad. He made little eye contact at first but did not resist us taking him. 

Yetagesu is doing great. We actually got a few smiles yesterday and today he is even better. What a difficult time he has had since his birth. He is very quiet but warming up. We think he knows us as Momma, Daddy and Isaac. He easily goes to both Matt and I. People said that often they don't want anything to do with dad, but that is not the case. 

We found out his birthday is wrong, it is July 12 and even that is something they estimate. Guess we will see if we keep it or not after we get home. We also realized he was wearing a diaper when we picked him up!! No potty training has taken place after all. Matt and our guide Abel stopped at a few "stores" along side the road to finally find diapers. The nurse at Bethany said he has a "sweating problem." Not any disease or anything, he just sweats a lot. Matt told her he does too. She said, "well like father, like son!" 

Today we are heading to our embassy appointment. I also bought some beautiful jewelry from Birtukan.

Continue to pray for our health. The air here is not good and Isaac is coughing like allergy coughs. Yetagesu may need an antibiotic when we get home. Most kids here have a cough and are very congested. They say it is because it is rainy now. 

Sleep seems to escape us as well. We are very tired and up most of the night. I slept good for awhile last night and when I looked at the clock thinking it was 5:00 a.m. it was only 9:16 p.m.!!?? Crazy how jet lag affects you. 

Thankful for the other families here. Isaac gets along well with the other dads and one of the families brought their 22 year old daughter who is going to be a teacher. They live in Grand Rapids and Isaac easily draws and writes with her. He even stayed with her while we had our social work/nurse meeting yesterday. 

Pray for our kids health, I hate, hate hearing them cough. 

Can't wait to be home so you can meet our son. He is a cutie and so sweet:)

Day 2

Yesterday we experience a true Ethiopian church service. Not only did they have their regular service, but they also had a double wedding!! Something I have never been to in the US. 

When the people were worshiping I was choked up, I thought of Acts 16:25 when Paul and Silas were in prison and praising God and singing. I thought the roof of the church might blow off! I believe chains were broken and lives set free in that service. 

Today we meet our son after lunch. We did not sleep too well last night just anticipating this meeting. We also go to the main Bethany office and to another orphanage. 

Isaac woke up this morning and asked when we were coming back. I said, maybe never unless we adopt another child. He said, I want to come back when I am six!!! That is a good sign:)

He is loving being with mom and dad. One of the children of our host and hostess loves Isaac. He is older than him, but about the same size. Good thing soccer is a favorite game of Isaac's to play. 

We had pizza at a restaurant last night and met two more Bethany staff, one of them a lot of you will be familiar with, Sisay. 

The people who run this guest house help many children, 720 to be exact. What a ministry. After church Birtukan sat and talked with us over coffee about her vision and ministry. She could teach a class! 

The weather is beautiful during the day and cool in the evening and morning. It feels great to us. 

Tomorrow we will have news of our little Isaiah, I packed some clothes for him this morning. They look very little. 

We are about to eat breakfast so we will catch up again soon!

Love Andrea

Sunday in Ethiopia

We are just about ready to leave for church. We slept good until about 3:00 a.m. but finally were able to go back to sleep around 5:00. Isaac and Matt are outside playing soccer while I take some time on the internet. Matt is really sweating! It was about 80 degrees when we arrived yesterday. 

Michelle, we have had some good laughs here about your stay and the stories you have told me. I have passed on greetings from many of out to Birtukan and Nesibu. They say hi to their family back in the USA:) Beth, I have your letters ready for "Z", Jill, I have your bag ready to go to YM and Kim, I have your release and camera ready to go to Shalom if we go there tomorrow. 

Shadley they have fond memories of you and Esias. Nesibu said, you have never met her but you are such good friends?? He said, you just talk over the internet? So funny how our friends are all in our computer! 

The other family staying here mentioned Lori and Holly and how helpful they have been. The Bethany forum is such a great connection for us. 

We had a good breakfast of french toast and peanut butter toast. Thanks everyone for praying for us!!!! 

Keep up the prayers for our safety here. 

Love 

Matt, Andrea and Isaac. 

Ethiopia

Hi Everyone

We are in Ethiopia after a very long trip. We are all tired and looking forward to sleeping all night tonight. It is almost 7:00 pm here and we are getting ready for dinner. The people from Bethany and our guest house are wonderful. It puts my mind at ease. 

Isaac is doing good, just tired. He is quite a world traveler now. Emirates airlines was great and Dubai was amazing. Probably between there and Ethiopia we have had some of the best coffee in the world!!

The flight was long but it was interesting to fly over places like Turkey, Iraq, Kuwait and the Persian Golf. Today we went right over the Red Sea. 

We know we will be well taken care of at our guest house. They are great Christian people who have 4 children. Right away even though exhausted Isaac wanted to PLAY!

We have met one other family from Colorado who are adopting two kids. We will meet our children Monday morning. 

It has been such an experience in the country and we only drove from the airport to the guest house. The poverty is overwhelming and caught me off guard even though people said to be prepared. 

This trip is truly a "complete trusting in God experience." Several times I have had anxiety over things that normally would not bother me. I sing songs and quote scripture over and over in my head to bring peace. Jesus brings true peace!!

Well we want to share the internet time so we will write more soon.

Love from Ethiopia

Very Thankful

We have our new passport! What a relief.
This journey if filled with ups and downs. We are thankful Matt caught the passport issue before we left or the entire trip may have been postponed. We are thankful for a great hotel in Detroit last night and the people who issued Matt a new passport in the same day.
If you are traveling outside of the US, check what they require as far as passport expiration. We had never heard of a 6 month rule before. I just want future adoptive families to be sure and look into this.
So wasting a day and a half to fix something we should have known about a long time ago has set us behind!!! Tomorrow is a new day and no matter what everything will get done.

Needed Prayer for Travel!

We are asking you to pray for us today. Matt's passport expires in April 2010. Our travel agency knew that when they reserved our tickets last week.
Saturday while reading over some information they FedEx to us Matt saw he needed a valid passport 6 months from travel. Unfortunately, he did not sleep well Saturday night! The information we have states Dubai and Ethiopia adhere to this strict 6 month policy.

Matt called Emirates airlines on Sunday and the lady he spoke with said he would be able to board in New York because we were just having a short layover in Dubai but our destination was Ethiopia.

This morning the travel agent emailed us back and basically said she was unaware of his expiration date, which is not true because we have the email I sent them, and she thinks we should risk trying to board, but if we can Matt needs to get a new passport.
Matt called the airlines again today and this time the man he talked to said he would NOT be allowed to board in New York!
So...
This means we would have to go to Chicago and get an expedited passport sometime today, tomorrow or Wednesday.
PLEASE pray for Matt. He has work, meetings, things to finish before leaving and now a possible trip to Chicago.
He feels overwhelmed knowing he has to go because without him I could not bring Y home as he is the petitioner for adoption.
We never knew about any of this expiration stuff and it is something we should have known and would have been easy to take care of.
Pray things get worked out very quickly. We do not want to ask Ethiopia for an embassy date further out because they could already be full and who knows when we could go get our little boy.

Testing

Just testing out blogging from my email. Only 6 days left before we will be on our way!!

Leaving Soon

We are excited to announce our travel to Ethiopia will begin next Thursday! After over 2 years of being in the process of adoption we will meet our little boy.
Yesterday we confirmed our flight arrangements and guest house reservation. Now for more paperwork to get in order and more packing.
Since our son is going we can take 6 pieces of luggage. Two are stuffed with donations and at least two more have some donations and gifts in them. Another piece my mother-in-law and her friend are filling with donations. The last one will carry our clothes, which I will split up a bit in case something got lost.
We have several people who are taking care of things while we are gone, plowing the driveway, checking the furnace, taking care of our fish, getting groceries, cleaning our house, taking us to the airport, making meals etc, watering plants etc...
Thankful for everyone who is praying for us and supporting us through our journey!!

Passed Court!

We are excited to announce we passed court on January 1st. Here is what Bethany is telling us will be done now...

The next step for this family is to again….wait. Our staff in Ethiopia now
will work to get a new birth certificate (5 days minimum), passport (5 days
minimum) and other required medical tests, vaccinations, etc. Once these
documents are all in order, an application is made to the U.S. Embassy for
an appointment on the family’s behalf. A response from the Embassy for an
appointment takes a minimum of 14 days. Thus, your family can expect to
hear from us about their Embassy date (and an invitation to travel) in the
next 1-2 months. Family’s typically get 2 weeks notice of their Embassy
appointment (although there is no guarantee and notice times may be shorter
or longer).

Thanks for all your prayers. We will be first getting our donations together along with our gifts. It is a busy and fun time!