How The Journey To Jacob Began..Because I want to remember

We left our home on Friday October 31st around 10am after a whirlwind of a week.  We found out Tuesday morning first thing that the US Embassy had agreed on our appointment time and we needed to leave the upcoming Friday..so we had roughly four days to get all packed (for three people) and get our tickets, logistics and all the necessary arranemgnements done that you need to do when you leave the country.

I remember moments of that week feeling completely overwhelmed, wondering how we would ever get everything done.  Justin had a big youth event the Thursday night before we left that took up a lot of this time, so I needed to step it up and get all the things together. 

Let me tell you, packing for your son whom you've never met and still aren't sure of his size was not an easy task.  Also, packing when you're almost 30 weeks pregnant and nothing quite fits right isn't easy either. 

We used the nursery for our catch all spot, and so many friends stepped up and ran to the store for me for random last minute things I forgot to grab.  The piles grew and grew and I wondered how we would ever fit everyting in the 4 bags we were hoping to bring.  

We didn't fit everything. haha.  We decided to suck it up and just pay for another bag.  The funny thing was, on the way home we knew we'd each be allowed to check two bags with no fees, but on the way there, we were only allowed one bag each, but we returning as a family of 3, so you see the dilemma. 

In the midst of the craziness, some sweet friends dropped everything they were doing to take some time out of their busy schedules and pray over us and our trip.  It was so needed. We just took a break from the craziness that had filled our lives over the last few days and spent time together.  I remember leaving feeling at peace, and also anxious realizing that the next time we would see many of these people would be when we stepped foot back on American soil as a forever family.

We rode back home with a sparkler celebrating the end of the season of this wait in our lives...

We got everything packed and prayed the night before for a good nights sleep because we knew we had a few long travel days ahead, so off we drifted..the last night in our house without our little boy under the same roof.  Anxiety and excitement set in...the day was finally here...

So. Much. Paperwork. It was neatly packed, with multiple copies made and back-ups on flash drives. 

The Sacramento airport, I remember posting this picture with the title "See you in 10 days Sacramento!" 

Little did we know we would spend over three weeks in country when we were told to plan for a maximum of ten days.  We've been reflecting as a family a lot the last few weeks on that time in West Africa.  A time where our faith was tested beyond what we ever could imagine. 

That time in country was a sweet time, a time that we will always remember.  A time where we took many walks around the compound, met and said goodbye to missionaries that were forced to leave due to Ebola.  A time where we got a taste of missionary life and have a whole new respect for those who live it daily.  

It was a time where we lived on opposite time zones and treats of FaceTime before bed were one of the best times of our day.  We learned to cheer when the city power turned on, enjoy cold showers, get creative with washing laundry and fire our bread ;) 

And then we booked tickets back, against the advice of the embassy because no one really knew if the visa would get here when everyone thought it would (because West Africa.. ;) ) But we booked them and prayed, and watched that DHL tracking like no ones business. And then the day that we were supposed to leave at 6pm, we saw that the Visa had been delivered to the embassy..at noon! 

We picked it up on the way to the airport.  I remember watching out the window as we drove to the airport, trying to take mental pictures so one day we can tell Jacob about his birth country.  I remember trying to take in it all, the smells the sounds, the people, the way the warm humid breeze blew on my face as the window was rolled down.  

It was bittersweet as we said goodbye to what had been our home for over three weeks and Jacobs home for over 4 years. 

We bored the plane after our Ebola checks! ;) because one can't forget about all that.  And started the journey home, with Jacob. 

After over 30 hours of travel. We were home, and we took that coveted picture that all families dream of when they start their adoption process, the picture coming home as a family.

Jacob is home. 

And we were greeted by our village on that cold November night. 

This Year, for her.

Today is National Birth mothers Day.  I did not know it even existed until a few years ago when we started our adoption journey and I knew one day, we would celebrate a birth mother.  I did not realize how often I would think of her.  

When I found out last year I was pregnant with Charlotte, I thought about her even more. How did she learn she was pregnant? I knew she most likely did not have an ultrasound with a due date, and she probably did not get pictures of her tiny bean to hang on her fridge.  When I found out I was pregnant, I was nervous, excited, scared-was she too? Did she have morning sickened (or as I liked to call it ALL day sickness?) What about cravings, did she have them? Probably not like mine (taco bell burritos thankyouverymuch). 

Those first flutter kicks, did they bring excitement or fear of what was to come? As her belly grew, did she need to hide it? No one threw her a baby shower. 

When the time came for him to be born, was she scared? Was anyone with her to hold her hand through the pain? She most likely did not deliver in a hospital, but where did she? How many days did she labor? Did he come early? Late? Right on time? 

I wonder if she knows where he is now, does she know he's safe? Does she know how loved he is? 

I will probably never meet her, but there I things I just know to be true.  I'm sure she loves to dance, how could she not?! Look how much Jacob loves to dance! I know she is strong, I can just tell. I am sure she is beautiful, inside and out. I know she is brave.  

This year, on birth mothers day, I am thankful for her.  For her strength.  I hope she knows in her heart how much we love the little boy she carried in her tummy. I pray she knows how much joy he brings us, and how silly he is.  I hope she knows, he is going to do bigs things.

So today for her, we'll play a little longer, we'll be silly and eat doughnuts for breakfast and have a picnic in the living room for lunch and we'll race "motos" outside.  And I'll think of her and smile and laugh for both of us. 

Using My Voice

Last August, I sat in a living room full of women, some I knew and some I had never met.  Some that had heard the Noonday story before and some who were there to hear it for the first time.  It was the night of Noonday Collection's first ever National Trunk Show. Women from around the United States (over 3500) were joining hands together one this one special night to hear about the #Styleforjustice trip that had taken place earlier in the summer.  If you aren't familiar with #Styleforjustice, last summer Noonday Collection partnered with International Justice Mission and traveled to Rwanda with a group of storytellers to hear stories of women who's lives had been changed because they had overcome injustice.  If you are not familiar with International Justice Mission (IJM) I encourage you to check them out and read more about the work that they do.

This night was even more special to me because two years ago I had the opportunity to travel to Rwanda and meet these precious artisans, and I remember standing before them and telling them how honored I was to share their stories back home in the states.  Seeing how far they'd come since I'd been there brought tears to my eyes. I saw sweet Charlotte who we traveled to the market with to look at fabric (she may or may not have had influence in the choice of our daughters name ;) )

Photo Credit Wurzbachfisher Photography

Since coming home with Jacob, I've struggled to find my voice again, navigating though this new world of parenting (to an almost 5 year old at that!) can be tricky, and now welcoming our Charlotte any day now, it can be so easy for me to feel sorry for myself, that my life looks different and that I can't do the "big" things that I once did, but the thing is I can and I will.  Just because I'm entering a new season doesn't mean that I can't use my voice for big things and doesn't mean that I can't make a global impact right here in Fairfield.  Because I can. God gave me a voice and a passion, and while it might look different now than it did over the past few years, I believe it's my job to teach my children about the realities of our world and the opportunities we have to use our voices for those who can't speak up for themselves.  

Noonday Collection is one way that I am using my voice and will continue to use my voice.  To speak up for the men and women around the world who haven't seen justice served.  For the widows, for the orphans for women who is HIV positive and doesn't have access to medical care, for the family that doesn't have clean water.  This is why I will continue to use my voice. 

Today, Noonday officially launched their Style For Justice collection and I am pumped! Back in August we voted to see which pieces we wanted to be created and now they are ready to be purchased! This is the perfect way to use your voice right where you're at and share the powerful stories of these women. The number of pieces that were made are limited, so be sure to shop quick! Which one will you choose, and how will you use your voice?  

 http://www.stephanienunes.noondaycollection.com/styleforjusticecollection

A New Kind of Thanksgiving

A week ago today, we were waiting in faith to hear that a very important packet had been delivered to the embassy of Jacob's birth country.  At 3 weeks in Africa (when we were told to expect to be there a week to ten days...) this last piece of the puzzle was what we were waiting on. We had heard that it had left it's departure place on it's way to us the previous Tuesday and it was expected to be there Thursday morning (providing there were no delays, which we experienced every delay you could think of and some  bet you couldn't even dream up...) you could hear the uncertainty in the consulars voice at the embassy when we told him we weren't planning on changing our flights, he wanted us to make sure we choose the safest route possible, meaning making sure we gave ourselves enough time if that "just in case" moment came and the packet didn't arrive when it was scheduled, but we didn't change the flights.

I think it's safe to say that those three weeks we spent in Africa we the hardest of our lives so far. And we're still processing from all we saw, heard and experienced while we were there.  But there are new kinds of thankful that  left with after being there.

We spent time in a country where power isn't guaranteed.  You don't just "get" power like you do here in the states. You're lucky if you get a full 6 hours of power there (and it's typically not all at the same time..maybe from 7-9 and again a few hours after midnight..maybe..don't plan on it though.) One night we were sitting at the kitchen table in Africa and I heard the fans click on (which meant, power!) and then after we heard yells and cheers from the people outside the walls of the compound we were staying on.  Excited screams as power was on and people had lights and could see, families could cook without candle light and the streets weren't dark for a while.  As I listened to those screams I remembered when we would loose power here in the states for a few hours, and how frustrated I'd be because that meant the wifi didn't work, or that we'd have to reset everything because the power went off. My how our perspectives have changed since our time in Africa. It's amazing what a little bit of light in darkness can bring.

Now that we're home, I don't think I've ever been so thankful to drive around our town and see familiar sights.  To take a warm shower after three weeks of taking a cold one (side note, I appreciated the cold showers while there because they helped cool you down) but the feeling of having endless hot water is something many don't have.

Ice cubes, I've never been so thankful for ice cubes and cold drinks. To be able to safely drink water right out of the tap.

I'm thankful for the rough road that we had to walk to become a family of three.  For the stories we will tell our kids one day, to tell little baby girl how we traveled to Africa together while she was 7 months in the belly and came home with just 6 weeks shy of her due date, and how she got to come along on the adventure to pick up her brother. To tell Jacob stories of his birth country, and how different life is there.  To tell him all that happened in those three weeks and how it was absolutely nothing short of miracle after miracle that he came home when he did.

So today as we eat up our Thanksgiving meal until we feel like we'll burst, a piece of my heart will be with those friends we spent time with while away, new and old friends.  I'll be thinking of the bumpy roads they'll be driving down to get to their meal, the feeling of hot, humid air coming through the windows and praying that they get to experience a night full of city power while they enjoy their meal.


And we're super thankful for this kid right here, and for how far he's come just being with a family for almost a month now.  He's pretty special, and we can't wait to see what's in store for our family now that he's home with us.

One more Nunes, One less orphan

It's been quite a while since we've given you an adoption update! I'll do my best to share with you where we are, and where (and when) we're going :)

A few weeks ago, we found out that we had final judgement in our case, and that a little guy on the other side of the world had a new last name, his first last name (does that make sense??) We are finally the legally parents of our little guy, and are thrilled! 

We are now waiting to get word that his passport is finished and we can go bring him home! We are anxiously awaiting the news! 

Today, we sent off for our visas, that are required to enter his country.  We should have them back in about a week or two, and at that point, we hope to have a final travel date! 

We have been quite about fundraising for a while, and are so close to our goal! We are about $2,500 away from being fully funded! You may remember back when we began our #taghisbag fundraiser.  If you want to read more check out this post.  His bag is getting full of signatures! And we would love to add you if you want to come along to West Africa with us! We've started getting his clothes ready to fill up his bag, and it's been amazing to see all the names of family and friends that have journied with us.  

So with the last leg of this journey beginning, we'd like to extend the invitation again for you to come along with us! If you'd like to #taghisbag you can donate via paypal and we will add your name to his suitcase! 

Surprise!

Way back two years ago, we told you the exciting news that we were adopting from Ethiopia! We anxiously began the "paper pregnancy" as it's known the in the adoption world, a and long 4 months of paperwork,  fingerprints, medical exams, etc. We sent our dossier off to Ethiopia May 18th 2012 and that was a wonderful day filled with relief and anticipation of what God had tin store for our family.

Back in February last year we shared with you that we had seen our sons face for the first time! But that he wasn't in Ethiopia, he was in West Africa! And we began the process of two adoptions at the same time and prepared to bring our (then) 3 year old son home! (now he's 4).

Back in May, I wrote this post about it having been 479 days since we first saw our sons sweet face for the first time.  That was probably one of the darkest times in my life, our paperwork had been "misplaced" at the embassy and no one could find it, we couldn't really get a hold of anyone who could help us, or even knew where our paperwork had gone.  At that point I met a sweet friend who gave me some very valuable contact information for the consular at the embassy and within 2 days of emailing her our paperwork was found! And we were finally back on track.  The thing is, when you work with a country who is learning how to do adoptions, you hit bumps, and you're kind of like pioneers, and you have to be able to roll with the punches (of which, I'm not very good at).

Anyway, that post in May, like I had mentioned before, was at one of the darkest times in my life.  We had been given a estimated travel date, at that point which had come and gone. and I didn't know why God was doing what He was doing.  It made no sense!

Until one day...

I had to get one more vaccination to be ready for travel.  And I had this odd feeling that I should take a pregnancy test.  Trust me, I've taken thousands before so it really wasn't that foreign to me.  Although it was funny to be trying to hide the pregnancy test in the grocery store, worried someone might see me (what our pastor doesn't know is that I did see him and his son in the store that day, and totally hid the test! haha) Anyway, it was on the day of our church's second business meeting so I was already distracted and went home, took the test and watched two lines show up very quickly.  Screaming at Justin (not exactly how I every imagined this would happen) I had him come up, he quickly said "Um, I think you should take another test" and I downed some water and took it again, and low and behold, positive again.

Baby girl Nunes will be joining her big brother Jacob and Justin and I January 2015.  That's right, we found out yesterday this little lady will be joining her two big brothers (Jacob and our little Ethiopian!)


You might be wondering, how will this affect your adoptions?! The amazing part is, other than God knowing before time began that not only Jacob will be our son, He knew that Jacob needed a little sister, and He formed our family before time.  The fantastic part is, our agency is fully aware and very supportive and excited, I've been cleared to travel with little girl in tow, and we will be going to get Jacob soon! (we are not sharing dates right now, but please be praying things continue to move) And not only did God plan for Jacob to have a little sister, he knows that there is a little boy in Ethiopia who will need a family, and he knows who! (even though we don't yet ;) ).


So, if you've been keeping up with our tribe, we'll be finishing up one adoption very soon, having a baby, then waiting for a referral on our second adoption! Our house will be FULL! And we couldn't be more excited!

Please keep lifting up our adoption, God is moving in mighty ways and we have seen  His hand in every inch of our families story.  We are planning to go soon, and we would appreciate you keeping our entire family in your prayers!

479

We first saw our son's face 479 days ago.

We've been waiting for our last document before we can go to court for 30 days (this was supposed to take two weeks, obviously not the case)

We really thought he'd be here by now, a lot of other people did too.  But he's not.  He's still in Africa, and we're still here in America.

This week marks 2 years since we sent our dossier off to Ethiopia and became a "waiting family".  Six months before that, were filled with tons of paperwork, fingerprints, doctors visit, interviews, home visits, etc. A TON of stuff.  It has gone fast, but at the same time, it's gone slow.

Adoption is a lot of hurry up and wait.  Hurry up and fill out this paper and then wait a long time..get this done super fast, so it can sit on a desk somewhere.

Oddly, it reminds me of this big tree in our back yard.  It's my favorite tree, and we have no idea what kind of tree it is.  It shades the whole house in the summer time, and offers a nice place to stay cool when you're outside, I really want Justin to build me a swing on it, but we'll see ;)

Anyway, it's the kind of tree that slowly drops it's leaves all year long, we're forever having to rake up the yard no matter what time of the year it is, eventually around December, it's fully empty and it just sits for months..like it looks dead.  This year, I really thought it was dead, I thought California's "deep freeze of 2014" had killed it (all my mid west friends can laugh at that as we had about two weeks of "freezing" temps) but really, I thought it was dead.  Everyday I would check on it, seeing if it had sprouted any new life, and every day it seemed like it hadn't.  I remember thinking "Great, now we have a dead tree we're going to have to get rid of, it's going to be so expensive to remove and then it's going to be so hot not because it's dead and there will be no shade now."

Until one day...

It was full again. 

In college, my RA and I went on a walk, it was the winter and it was cold and rainy (it was Portland) and I was pretty depressed and missing the dry days.  She told me "You know, spring always comes.  It might feel like it is taking forever to get here, but it always comes." 

Spring always comes.  

He will come home. 

It's just the dark before the morning. 

"Be assured that from the first day we heard of you, we haven’t stopped praying for you, asking God to give you wise minds and spirits attuned to his will, and so acquire a thorough understanding of the ways in which God works. We pray that you’ll live well for the Master, making him proud of you as you work hard in his orchard. As you learn more and more how God works, you will learn how to do your work. We pray that you’ll have the strength to stick it out over the long haul—not the grim strength of gritting your teeth but the glory-strength God gives. It is strength that endures the unendurable and spills over into joy, thanking the Father who makes us strong enough to take part in everything bright and beautiful that he has for us" Colossians 1:9-12 The Message. 

Will you storm the gates of heaven with us tonight? In prayer that our final document will be issued and we can go to court? 

In which I learned a valuable lesson about adoption, while locked in the chicken coop...

I've been in a pretty grouchy mood. I've tried hard to keep my head up, but have started to grow weary.  This last leg in the adoption journey is probably the hardest yet.  Having absolutely no control, knowing we're so close to going, and waiting on others for documents.  Other's who operate in an entirely different way then we do here in the U.S of A.

If you follow me on Instagram, or Facebook, you may have seen that I locked myself in the chicken coop today..like for real.

I wish I could have made this up, but nope, it happened.  Let me walk you through it.  The coop was smelly, and I needed to clean it and change the water, so I did.  After I brought in the water jug, I closed the door so the ladies wouldn't get out, got everything settled and turned around, and..the door was locked.

So I pulled out my phone (thank you Jesus for modern technology) and called my husband dreading his response when I ask him to run home and let me out of the chicken coop.  I'll save you the details but there was a long pause on his end, then lots of laughing and when he could finally contain himself, he told me he'd come home. 

So I sat there and waited, and waited and waited.  In the coop, with nothing to do but think. And wait.

Waiting has been such a big part of our lives over the last two and a half years in the adoption journey.  Waiting on people, waiting on documents, waiting on governments, etc. So this was ironically such a  reflection to where I was.  And quite humbling as I sat in the coop with chicken poop lingering. 

But here's the thing, I knew Justin would come eventually and I would get out and not be waiting anymore, I waited for him with expectation knowing he would come, just like I know eventually we'll meet our son and bring him home, even though it feels like forever. 

So that's my valuable lesson for the day, sometimes God teaches you things by forcing you to stop and think and pray, and wait...even if it's in the chicken coop. 

“She woke each morning with a glow of hope,
not because a new dream had been born,
but knowing the one she carried
inside her heart would last.”
-Jodi Hills

And hey! Our #taghisbag is still going on! And we're at $2,717!!! You can find out how you can come to Africa with us here! 

#Tag His Bag

To our village,

We're nearing the end of our journey. We're not done yet, but we're getting close.

We're awaiting our last document before we head to court and become a mom and a dad

We should know our court date in 2 weeks or so

Then, we will go and meet and bring home our son! 

We're inviting you to come along with us, all the way to Africa!!! 

Interested?! Check it out! 

Our plane tickets are about $1,900 each for our flight over to West Africa (for the two of us) 

Then about $1,000 each on the way back (times three)  

Then we have some on the ground expenses to cover, like lodging (we'll be staying in missionary guest houses, court documents and medical appointments) 

Donate any amount,  get "tagged" and come with us! 

Why I stay

***update: Giveaway closed, winner Lorna Carnahan*** congratulations!!!! 

I'm so excited to have you here today, because I've had the awesome opportunity to partner with several of my Noonday Collection sisters over the next few weeks to share our hearts behind Noonday Collection, and a bonus-each one of us is giving away something Noonday! So fun, right?!

Ok, so this is my second time on the Noonday blog train.  Last season I shared about my trip to Rwanda, and what an impact that had on my life (if you wanna check it out go here).  That time in Rwanda happened almost a year ago, and it's almost like I'm just now coming out of that time and beginning to process what happened there, and beginning to process what it was like meeting some of the women behind the look book pages.

So Noonday.  I've been asking myself recently, what is my Noonday story, what brought me to Noonday, what keeps me here.

I wish I could show you a picture of our little boy, but we can't just yet! But he's one of the reasons that keeps me here, him and millions other like him.

When I started with Noonday our dossier (ton of adoption paperwork) had just been sent off to Ethiopia.  I desperately wanted to be involved with Noonday but my husband told me we needed to get our adoption paperwork off and so I waited, but you better believe the day it went off, I emailed them.

I had my phone interview with Jessica (Noonday's founder) and just got off the phone so encouraged, talking with someone who actually gets it, get's what I was feeling and my desire to do more.

Little did I know the relationships that would be formed with other women over these two years who felt the exact same thing.

Over this past year and a half, I've realized the need for orphan prevention, and what needs to happen for that to take place, and honestly-it won't be all good until Jesus comes back, but we can make a dent in it, and sustainable income opportunities for the poorest of the poor is a huge start.

That's what keeps me here. I want to stay here for the mom who thinks her only option is to give up her child, for the girls who were just trafficked and exploited, for families who need help fundraising to bring their children home, for justice to be served.

I used to feel embarrassed, thinking that people would get mad at me for asking them over and over to host, over and over to purchase.  But honestly, I don't care anymore because I met some of the faces behind the look book and they're worth it. They're worth fighting for. I will continue to tell their stories, because I honestly know that is what God has called me to do, and that's really something that's taken a long time for me to admit, that it's more than just selling you a paper bead necklace (although they're awesome and you should buy one) it's me connecting you to another person on the other side of the world who you can directly impact and who you can provide hope to.

Photos courtesy of Wurzbach Fisher Photography 

So I'm giving away a Market Tote from Rwanda.  I met the Rwandan artisans last year when some friends and I took a trip over, and recently my heart has ached to go back to the land of a thousand hills. So I thought I'd bring Rwanda to YOU! And give away a market tote! So go ahead and enter! I'll announce the winner on Friday!

And make sure you head over to Paige's blog for yesterday's giveaway and over to Baylors blog tomorrow for a giveaway too!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Well, here's a little update for you finally...

I sit down to write this post with my hands still shaking, still in awe of what the last week has brought.  I want to write it down so that I don't forget, because even though it's only been a week things kind of blend together already, and the things that happened are important for me to remember.

Last week started off as a hard week, we still had no idea when our paperwork would come, we were in such a state of limbo.  I felt like we just kept telling people "hopefully we'll hear something this week" over and over. and over.

Last Wednesday I prayed so hard that our paperwork would move. I had NO idea literally what to pray for but I knew that I needed to pray. So I did. I was pretty raw and kind of mad in my prayer, but I knew that I needed to be honest, so I was.

The next day (literally like 12 hours later) we got word that our money was requested.  Now, that wasn't a huge deal, we knew that they needed our money to release the documents but had to idea how long it would take after they got it to release them. So while that was a huge relief, we still really had no news, but any news in West Africa is good news, so even though it was small we took it!

So backtrack, Thursday our money was wired.

Then Monday, that was a hard day.  Our little guys birthday is coming up in a week, and so I prayed again, I prayed boldly that we could get our paperwork filed before his birthday.  I knew it was a long shot because we really had no timeline. But I prayed anyway.

Justin jokes with me that I just need to get mad, and get "at my whits end!" because that's when stuff usually happens.  When we feel like we're at the end.

Yesterday morning an email pops up "We have your documents! They came last night!"
I just started at the email, feeling like I couldn't breathe, and my hands were shaking. I remember calling Justin crying, so relieved.  The government in little mans country had approved us to be a family. 

So yesterday we signed our documents, and sent them off to USCIS (immigration) petition for "little man" to be recognized as our son and to start his visa application.  

And then we ran (almost literally) to the post office to get that baby sent off! 

Excuse the terrible picture quality, it was dark and rainy. And I couldn't sit still. 

So here's what's next! 

We wait for US approval, and once they issue that the US will issue our "Article 5 letter" which tells the country that we can go to court, and then we go to court. 

And then we GO! 

It will probably be a few months, maybe 2, two and a half. 

But it's close, much closer. 

The Race With a Never Ending Finish Line...

A year ago tomorrow we saw our son's face for the first time..a simple, innocent email that has drastically changed our lives.  I remember it so clearly..it was a Tuesday night and Justin had come back from playing basketball with his city league team like he does every Tuesday.  It was an ordinary day, much like any other I guess.  I remember it was later, maybe after 10pm.  This message popped up in my inbox from a friend, it was super basic and I definitely had no idea what to do with it.

I read it to Justin, we looked at some pictures of a sweet little boy on the other side of the world.  I didn't feel anything like I thought I'd feel when we would see our child's face, what I felt, felt normal, but not overly emotional, I can't really put into words what I felt..I definitely felt a tug to advocate for the little guy but I remember thinking "God what they heck are you doing? We aren't supposed to be adopting from ******, we're supposed to be adopting from Ethiopia.  We're doing what you asked, we widened our age, we widened our parameters, duh, we're doing what we're "supposed" to be doing.  We felt like we needed to be ready to fill a need. Now what am I supposed to do now that I've seen this little face..how do I advocate for him...is his country even open to adoption (and then I check the country stats on the US Adoption website) ok yes I see it's open and oh yes I see that about 10 adoptions have come out of there since 2002, now that's definitely going to be a tough thing to advocate.."

So I responded back, pretty basic, and shut the computer.  I literally had no idea where to start, google wasn't much help at all, and I remember thinking "what in the WORLD is God trying shake things up for?!"


...There's a little glimpse inside my head at this time last year.

This verse popped into my head a lot during that time.. “Once our eyes are opened, we can’t pretend we don’t know what to do. God who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls, knows that we know and holds us responsible to act.”  Proverbs 24:12

I knew it wasn't by accident that we saw little mans face and began to learn his story.  I had no idea how to advocate for him, and so in my exploring on how adoption in his country works, it was obvious that WE were his family and WE were supposed to answer the call to fight for him.  And once we knew that, everything changed.  It just felt natural, and normal. We've looked at his pictures multiple times a day for the last 365 days. We've (ok me) may or may not have cried at the desk of the US State Department in Sacramento last summer when something was wrong with our paperwork and explained to the lady behind the counter that I will NOT leave until it's fixed because didn't she understand that's our son and every delay causes more of a delay?! (one day I'll go back up there with him and introduce them ;) ) 

God funded our Ethiopian adoption right before we saw our son (who was in a different country) so right when we wanted to take a deep breath and rest a little on the financial side God says.."Guess what?! It's time again!" And the provision poured in..through amazing ways..ask me about the email I messed up for a grant while we were in Rwanda, here's a little glimpse..I thought I blew it with this grant..I totally was typing this long email on my CELL phone in Africa (those of you who have been can laugh at that) then I sent it and realized my auto corrected totally messed up..which in turn sent an email to the organization that read this in the subject line "Grant HELL application" it was supposed to say "grant help application" and it was supposed to go to our social worker, but instead went to the grant organization reading hell. I died. 

But we got the grant..that covered almost HALF of our West Africa adoption expenses. The lady at the organization was so gracious and told me my slip up made her laugh after a long day..well I'm glad one of us laughed..

Whenever I felt at the end this year, alone and unsure of what was going to happen next..we got news..big or little, any news is good news in West Africa. It was like little reminders of God tapping us on the shoulder and saying "I never said it was going to be easy, but I told you I'd be here." And He was (and still is). Even when we forgot. 




...although there might not be lots of updates on here, things are progressing! Our paperwork is right where it needs to be right now, and we're (supposedly) waiting on one last letter to get our little guys docs sent over here and work on the US side. Slowly, but they are progressing none the less! It's like we're running a race with a finish line that gets pushed back further and futher as soon as we turn on what we think will be the last lap..but we're still running, dragging and gasping for breath at times, but we're still going. confident that God will finish what we started. 


This has been one of my favorite songs in this journey, when I'm bummed and feel defeated I turn on some good old SCC and it reminds me why we started, and that HE will finish what He started. 

Here's a link to an interview about what's behind the lyrics, so encouraging. 

On February 14th, our little guy will turn 4! We're hoping and praying to have big news by his birthday..will you pray with us? 

2 years later...

Almost two years ago, we made this announcement.

Two years.

24 months we've been on this crazy emotional roller coaster better known as international adoption.

I think back to two years ago, we were so different, so naive.  We were ready to open our home and our hearts to a little baby boy from Ethiopia who was between 0-12 months old.

Hold the phone! That's definitely not how things have worked out.

In two years we've traveled to Rwanda, to Ecuador.

We were totally rocked by  not only adoption but whole orphan care, which sometimes doesn't always equal adoption.  We went from thinking everyone should adopt (I know, I know) to beginning to fight for children to stay in their first families, because that's how God intended things, but sometimes that doesn't work out.

We saw our son's face for the first time..but SURPRISE he wasn't in Ethiopia, he was living in a tiny little country in West Africa.

So now, two years later, we wait to bring home our precious (now) 3 1/2 year old. And we continue to wait and pray for our sweet one in Ethiopia, who probably won't be 0-12 months anymore, from our original "plan."  We've learned that God has a totally different plan than ours (at least that's how it looks for us)

Sometimes people tell me they could never do what we're doing, and how we do it.  Well, I'll give you some pointers; some days outright suck.  Just being real.  Knowing your child's on the other side of the world is tough, it's freaking hard, but you know what? Some days are good, and we get updates, and we see pictures, and we see how he's growing!

Today I started thinking, if I knew now what I knew back when we started, would we still be here? I think yes. Definitely yes. Wouldn't change a thing, wouldn't take back the tears, wouldn't take back the anxiety of waiting on foreign countries, because that has totally changed us.

A little bit of honesty, and a little update!

These last six months have probably been some of the hardest of my life.

We started our adoption process almost 2 years ago.

2 years.

January 20th of this year we got information about a little boy who (we would have no idea at the time) God would orchestrate many many circumstances to show us he is our son.

He was about 2 1/2 when we first saw his face.  He's now 3 (we think) we're not 100% sure of his birthday, but we think he celebrated it this summer. :)

We hit so many walls with his paperwork. But we were not alone.  The families in this process with us also have hit many walls. We've cried tears together over others mistakes, and rejoiced over small progress.

A friend of mine suggested that I write a blessings journal, because let's face it. Sometimes it's really hard to find blessings when stuff seems to fall apart or you feel completely out of control.

So I've started to write my blessings.

I've got a lot of them.

But it's pretty hard.  It's hard to see and study a face for so long and know you're missing things. It's hard knowing that things are completely out of our hands, we literally have no control over what happens from here on out and the time frame in which that happens. We don't have a "due date"  we can't just call up Africa and speed things up, it just doesn't work that way.

But....

Right now we do have an update though! Our paperwork finally went on it's way to our little West African country last week! This is big news because we can't officially get any of little man's official paperwork (known as the 'Article 16') until our paperwork was received by his country.  So, now that it's on it's way and should be there soon, we are praying that we get his Article 16 soon.

Will you pray with us? Pray that we can receive it soon.

Also, pray for the families in front of us specifically, there are two of them.  They are nearing the end  and are awaiting big documents too!

We're paying big and praying bold. Please join us! 

No News Fridays

So we've begun a little tradition in our house, and it's affectionately called "No News Fridays" or better described as "A spin on that sad sinking feeling you get in your gut when 5pm rolls around on a Friday night and you know you probably won't have any communication in regards to your adoption until Monday"...oh and it's worse it Monday is a holiday...

It's really not that bad. Or it is. It depends on how the week has gone up to that day really.

So, I LOVE Fridays, I really do.  There's just something about them,, sometimes I can't even sleep on Thursday night because I'm so excited Friday is almost here (it's weird I know).  But as of recently..I hate Fridays, well usually.  Because I know that usually by Friday around 4ish if you haven't heard anything big or exciting form our agency, it's going to be a loooonnng weekend of wondering. Two days of (usually, sometimes there's an exception) no emails or phone calls from our case worker (of whom I really love and am constantly badgering, so she really should get a few days free of my phone calls and emails)

But it's hard, it's hard knowing that another week has passed.

So, we have adopted 'No News Friday', where we'll put a spin on a usually hard day and do something fun to get our minds off of entering the weekend with no news.  Sometimes we plan something together, or sometimes if I'm entering the weekend on a sad note, Justin picks something fun.

I know we won't always have No News Fridays, and while I like the idea of them..I'm praying we don't have too many...

Here's to a fun twist of no news on Fridays!
Wanna join the fun?!

The time has come...to buy a book!

So yesterday I wrote and told you about an amzing donation we were given to our adoption, make sure you read the story here.  And I shared with you all that the time to purchase was coming...

And it's here!

It's time for you to get your own copy of The God Puzzle and support our adoption too!
All proceeds from this sale are going to our adoption costs thanks to our great friend (and author of this book, Val Ackermann!)

So here's the deal, we have a whole box (that's 21 books!) to sell! They're being sold on a first come first serve basis!

So now's your chance! You don't wanna miss it!

Click the link below to purchase!

And make sure you check out the God Puzzle on Facebook! 

Remember how yesterday I told you to think of it as black Friday..well..pretend we just opened the doors and you're running to buy a book! ;) 

Just telling mountains to move...

Oh hey there, it's me again. You guys, I wish you could have been inside my head this past week (maybe you don't wish you could have been inside my head, but I do) So many insane things happened. 

First I broke my toe, then I slammed my head in the car door (don't even ask..) 

But in between those events, some major mountains fell to the ground. We pretty much have been telling them to move, and well, they're moving. 

So we held our "little" cookie fundraiser, which we kinda thought might bring in a few hundred if we were lucky..but guys..people donated over $1400 to our little cookie fundraiser...

Mountain gone. 

But wait, there's more.

Justin got a call last week about a sweet couple at our church who wanted to have their neighborhood yard sale benefit our adoption...WHAT?! 

And you know, yard sales are awesome. We've had one for each of our adoptions and they're super successful, but they're a lot of work, but this one? These sweet people are just raining blessings on us and they're storing, pricing, setting up..I mean..like..they're awesome. It's this Saturday, if you're local-I can give you the deets. 

But wait..I'm not done. 

So yesterday I get this text from my friend Val. And Val, she's modest and wouldn't tell you this herself, but she wrote an amazing book this past year (years).  She's the Children's Ministry Director at our church, and desired a Bible study that any parent could do with their child, that is deep-not watered down like some children's bible studies, that teaches the Bible as a story and keeps children engaged.  

This book is the bomb.com.  (I've seen it, so I definitely know ;) ) 

Here's what those more educated than me are saying about her book :) 

"Valerie Ackermann provides a user friendly children’s workbook that will enable parents to teach the life-changing truths of the Bible in manner that appeals to children. Her book helps children understand God’s Word through their own life experiences. It provides an excellent tool for parents to walk with their children through the Scriptures and to meet and know God in a deeper way while on the journey."

-Dr. Leland Eliason, Executive Director and Provost Emeritus, Bethel Seminary of Bethel University

This is a very good approach to Christian education within the context of normal family life.  Simple organization, strong content, and addressing an area that has long been missed by traditional Christian education. Most churches tell parents it is their job to train their kids, but they don't provide tools to do so.  They guilt, but don't equip.  Valerie has equipped without guilt!  I highly recommend this as a simple, Biblical, accurate, and helpful aid for parents."                                                                                          

-Dr. Rae Larson, Ed.D, former Pastor of Education, Scottsdale Bible Church and former VP of Administration, Phoenix Seminary, Arizona

Ok Ok, so you're probably wondering why I'm telling you all this right? 

Well..another blessing came our way...

The author, Val, is giving us a case of her books..for our adoption..like 100% of the proceeds will benefit the remaining costs of what we're looking at for little man (which isn't all that much, we're over the big part) 

Tomorrow I'll post specific instructions on how you can order these books.

And you're going to want to get one for sure.

Not just because it helps us, but because it's an amazing tool for parents to teach their children about the Bible. 

So stay tuned..pretend like it's black Friday and you have to wait in a long line, only this line will be an "e" line (like electronic) 

You don't wanna miss out! 


For now, make sure you head over and "Like" The God Puzzle on Facebook, and check out the Website! 

And make sure you check back tomorrow for info on how to order! 

Calling in the troops

Oh hey guys! You probably hope I'm stepping in with an update aren't ya? Well, I kinda am, all our documents are ready to go over to West Africa, once they get there, we can receive official paperwork on our little man and can go forward with the next step (which is, in case you're wondering will be filing our i800!)

Here's the deal, you heard (read?) me write about our agency switch, we lost about $4500 in that switch, but God has been faithful to supply our needs until now, and we don't doubt that He will continue, but here's the thing...

We need $3,114.76 like...a week from yesterday..YIKES! We have to have a check to our agency for $11,500 in the mail by Monday at the latest..so what are we going to do??

Eat cookies.

Well actually..we hope that YOU want to eat some cookies!

We're holding a cookie sale!

That's right ladies and gents! Are you craving a yummy cookie? Or a dozen perhaps? Well you're in luck! This weekend we will be baking up dozens and dozens of cookies! 

Here's the scoop:

Cookies will sell for $22 a dozen (that's a lot of money you say? you're right, but they're really good cookies!) 

You can order your cookies by clicking on this paypal link:

In the notes just put your name and how many orders you'd like, and we'll get bakin'!

This sale is for locals only (Fairfield, Vacaville, Suisun) 

BUT if you'd like some shipped to you and you're not local, let us know and we'll get a price for shipping :) 

Cookies will be delivered this Sunday, September 29th! After 5pm, so make sure in your notes you put where you'll be at that time so we can bring them to you! (note: if you attend Parkway Community we can deliver your cookies that morning) 

If you'd like a tax deductible donation, you can give straight to our agency:

Make the checks out to Faith International Adoptions, and writes "Nunes Family" in the memo

Their address is 

1105 Tacoma Ave. South

Tacoma, WA 98402

And if you're curioius as to exactly where that $11,500 is going..here's a little breakdown for ya:

Country Central Authority $2,000  ( note: I edited this because it showed the country name and we're not sharing that yet)

Lawyer Fees $2,000 

Court Processing Fees $500

Administrative Costs $500

Child’s Passport and Exit Documentation $500 

Orphanage Donation $4,000 

Agency Fee 2 $2,000

There you have it folks, we're nearing the end of payments (aside from travel) and this is our last payment, and it's a whopper, and so you know what? We need some help...