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!!