ENAT Launch

What a great weekend for orphans in Enat, Ethiopia!!! We have 91 orphans that have been sponsored, but 59 still need sponsors! Look at this face! If you would like to sponsor Kalkidan go to http://www.hopechest.org/community/enat/sponsor/ click on her photo and type in your bank account or credit card information. It only costs $34 a month to provide her with clean water, food, basic medical care, discipleship, and the knowledge that someone somewhere across the world cares about her!

Orphan Sunday This Sunday October 7th

We will be hosting Orphan Sunday a little early at our church this year since we are launching our carepoint in Ethiopia. Excited to have Wil (Children's Hope Chest Employee) coming tomorrow to make a weekend out of it. I am anxious to see what God does through this experience. Please come Sunday and check out the 150 precious orphans/highly destitute children that will be available for sponsorship at our care point. I will post again soon, with photos and information on available children for those of you unable to come and willing to sponsor! We will be traveling at least once a year to see our children as well! Not many organizations allow you to do that! Join us this Sunday October 7th, 9:30!

Updating Fingerprints

It is hard to believe that it has been 2 months since I last posted. As many of you know, I changed schools and grade levels. I am now teaching Kindergarten at DeQueen, big change from teaching 4th grade. I am enjoying it, but it has kept me very busy. I am now beginning to settle into a routine and have a moment to update. The kids are doing well adjusting to their new routines as well. Blake and Faith both seem to be enjoying their teachers and being in school. Adam is working on a new project at work in addition to all of his other accounting duties, so he has been busy as well. However, we are both squeezing in a little time to train. Adam will be running the half marathon at Dallas in December, and I will be running in the marathon relay with a few girl friends. We have been enjoying the training, as it is helping us better deal with our daily stresses. I finished filling out more adoption paperwork tonight. We have been in this process long enough to have to start updating all of our original documents. So, tonight we requested to be refingerprinted. I have been fingerprinted more than any criminal, I believe. 1. Texas State Fingerprints for teaching license,2. Arkansas State Fingerprints for Teaching license, 3. Federal Fingerprints for Adoption, 4. Update on Arkansas Fingerprints for teaching, 5. Update on Federal Fingerprints for Adoption. I just found out tonight that we are #41 on the waiting list. Since my hiatus from blogging, we celebrated being on the waiting list for 1 year and have now been on it for 13 months (20 months since we started). It seems like it is going by fast, until Faith makes a comment like, "Ty said, it sure does take a long time to get a baby sister. I told him we were getting her when I was in Kindergarten." They were at the same school then and now again this year in second grade....crazy! Kate Kate (my sweet neice) brought Blake, Faith, and Claire some bubbles tonight. It is sweet for her at 4 to already be thinking about the new cousin that she will one day have....hopefully sooner than later. Thanks for thinking of us! I promise to try to update moe often. Christin

11 Months Waiting

11 months waiting on THE list and 17 months since we started, but seeing fellow adoption families from America World come home gives us hope that one day our sweet girl will come home too.

45!!!!

Happy to say that we are still moving down! We moved to #45 today! Yay!!!

46

A happy day in the adoption world!! We moved down 4 spaces...whoop whoop. We are now 46!!!

Notes From An Orphan

I hated my life since the third grade when I was unmercifully beaten. I felt then that life is lost and death is looking for me. And my tears were telling me that life was nothing in comparion with death. I felt like a little cockroach, which (responds in) fear when seen. A bunch of American people came to our school. I thought these people wanted to laugh at us. But I was mistaken. They are people willing to give up the most precious gift a person can possess, love. (Their) intentions to share seemed strange as they had their own kids. But these people have such big hearts to give that there is still enough room even for us little cockroaches. Then I began to feel myself not a cockroach anymore which deserved to be killed, but a little human being. It is a wonderful feeling. Believe me. - From A Russian Orphan (taken from Fields of the Fatherless) While in Ethiopia, I found this to be true. They desperately need your love. Do you have love to spare? Someone in this world needs some!!! I choose to be His love.