Here we go!

Hello sweet friends and family,
  Well, the day is here. I am just finishing up some last minute packing for my first trip to Ethiopia. We leave Mishawaka at 1am and will begin our journey. It is a funny feeling- this bundled mixture of emotions I have this afternoon. I am very much looking forward to serving the children in Kechene. While at the same time, I know I will certainly miss my own little boy and husband who will stay home. I try not to let the "mommy guilt" get the best of me but it hasn't been easy. Just to make sure Noah's day was extra special, I took him on a lunch date (where he dazzled the staff with his ability to say "quesadilla") and then got him a SWEET toy story blanket and small travel size pillow so he can be comfy during quiet time on his first day of pre-school tomorrow.

While in Ethiopia, I won't be updating my personal blog. However, you will want to check out the Awake & Alive blog HERE.

Team members will take turns writing on the Awake & Alive blog every night (if we are able) so you can keep up with what we are doing and hear some highlights of the trip.  Keep in mind that we will be about 7 hours ahead of folks here at home. :)

I won't have my cell phone on (wouldn't even want to imagine that bill!) and I am not taking my laptop. I really want to "unplug" a little bit and focus on service.

Please continue to keep us in your prayers. Can't wait to share our stories with you when we get home late on the 16th.

Blessings,
Amber

Kisses from Katie

Hey friends,
   So, the "Project Presence" team traveling to Ethiopia with Awake & Alive this September (a team I am honored to be a part of) is reading through Kisses from Katie by Katie Davis. It is seriously hard to put down and there is an entire book full of quotes that I want to share with you all. However, just know that it should go on your "to read" list if it isn't already.

Anyway- a section I just read rocked my heart and I just wanted to share it with you. You see, sometimes I think I am absolutely insane (not something you wanna hear from a clinical therapist) HA! However, most of you know that what I offer here on this blog is real. It is sometimes raw and painfully transparent- but it is real.

I do though, (sometimes) feel insane for perusing international adoption. The process is so long, so expensive and sometimes even difficult to emotionally comprehend that our daughter could be out there in an Ethiopian orphanage or growing in her mommy's belly and we don't yet know who she is! Every great once in a while, I get struck by this fear that I wouldn't be a good mommy of two children and that maybe I should stick with our little family of three because I am comfortable there. Usually, God brings me right back to where I need to be- and that is the reminder that if I am following HIS word and HIS command- then even if things are difficult- I can be comfortable; just in a different way. I can be comfortable in resting in the peace of God, and that is the only comfort I need.

The following is from the end of chapter 7 of Kisses from Katie and is the exactly what I needed tonight. I hope it blesses, challenges and inspires you.

"The truth is that the 143 million orphaned children and the 11 million who starve to death or die from preventable diseases and the 8.5 million who work as child slaves, prostitutes, or under other horrific conditions and the 2.3 million who live with HIV add up to 164.8 million needy children. And, though at first glance that looks like a big number, 2.1 billion people on this earth proclaim to be Christians. THE TRUTH is that if only 8% of the Christians would care for one more child, there would not be any statistics left. This is the truth. I have the freedom to believe it. The freedom, the opportunity to do something about it. The truth is that He loves these children just as much as he loves me and now that I know, I am responsible."


Will you consider helping us bring home our little girl? Check out the blog post previous to this one & order your shirts of HOPE :)


Blessings,
Amber  

Unveiling the T SHIRTS!

It is time!

I have been very excited about the t shirt fundraiser and it is finally launching RIGHT NOW!

First of all, I'll end the suspense (that I just KNOW you have building inside) and show you the shirt before I get to all the ordering details!

Here is is:

The shirt is our new favorite quote: "Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of HOPE" ~Maya Angelou

Ready for more AWESOME news?? We will be offering the shirt in Adult sizes AND youth sizes! (The smallest we will be able to offer is 2T) So sizes available are:
Youth: 2T through (youth) large
Adult: (adult) small through XXL

So, how can you get your hands on one (or two or three) of these awesome shirts? Well my friends, I am glad you asked!

1.) email us at rohdeadoption@yahoo.com with the following information:
           Your name
           Mailing address
           Phone number
           Quantity and shirt size (make sure to specify if adult or youth size)

2.) Our fundraiser shirts will cost $20 each for adult sizes and $18 each for youth sizes.
     You have a variety of payment options for your shirt order:
* You can pay by cash or check if you see us in person
* You can mail a check to our home through USPS (just email us for our home address-
   we did not want to include that on the public blog!)
* You can pay with credit/debit card through our paypal link right here on the blog. Just  
   make sure to note in your PayPal payment that it is for shirts so we can make sure to
   separate it from the other cash donations.
*A note about PayPal: Just an FYI, if you can pay by cash or check that is great because we get more of the proceeds that way. If you pay through PayPal, they keep a small percentage of the money. However, if PayPal is easier for you PLEASE feel free to use it!! It will still greatly help us with our fundraising to bring our precious little one home. We just want to inform people of this info in case you are on the fence of how you want to pay. :)

Other important stuff you wanna know:
We will be collecting orders & payment for the next several weeks (4-6 weeks depending on how sales go) and then we will submit the order to the printer

Once we submit the order to the printer, your shirts will be available in approximately 2 weeks

If you do not live in the area we will gladly mail the shirt to you. If you know your shirt will have to be mailed, it would be great to stick and extra dollar or two in your payment to help us out with mailing costs. If you are local, we will try to get your shirts to you in person to save us on shipping costs.

Shout out and many thanks to St. Claire Apparel in South Bend for helping turn this idea into a concrete design! They have been absolutely wonderful to work with thus far and I highly recommend them for all your printing needs! (and no, I didn't get a discount for saying that- I really mean it!)

Hmmm- I think that is about it! We can't wait to see everybody in their "Shirts of HOPE!"

If I forgot anything or you have any questions feel free to leave it in a comment here or email us!

Blessings,
Amber, Josh & Noah

P.S. I have no clue how/why the spacing in my posts get all goofy between writing and publishing the post. (If you know how to fix this fill me in!)  :)

Answering YOUR most popular questions! Question 3: Do you know who she is??

It is that time again! Time to tackle one of our most commonly received questions.

Today's question: I hear you guys talk about "her," have you been matched with your adoptive daughter?

Answer: We have not yet been matched with our wonderful, beautiful adoptive daughter. Frankly, this is a relief to me at this point in our fundraising. I could not imagine getting an email announcing that we have been matched with a child in Ethiopia who needs a family and then not be able to go and get her because we are not far enough along in fundraising. Very few things rock parents deep to the core, and not being able to "provide" for your children would be one of them. I couldn't imagine the emotional toil Josh and I would experience looking at our daughter's picture, knowing that she was waiting for us on the other side of the world, but not having the money to go and get her. So, for this reason we have decided to engage in a full out fundraising phase of adoption first. Then, when we are about 3/4 of the way to our goal we will begin the home study, paperwork and application portion of the adoption. This is when we get on the list to be matched with a waiting child.

When I talk about "her" it is because Josh and I will be applying to adopt a female who is 0-12 months old. It feels more personal to say "her" than "our future child." Using that terminology helps us pray for her. It also is nice to talk to Noah about his "little sister", instead of his "future sibling."

I think that is about it for that question! :)  Short and sweet this time.

Please keep praying with us, specifically for patience, a reassurance in God's timing and praying against discouragement. We are so grateful for you all who support us with your prayers and your resources.

Blessings!

oh- and don't forget! We are still rockin' the Village Key fundraiser! Tell your friends in the Michiana area to get one Here: http://thevillagekey.com/rohde

Praying for our daughter and questions answered by Noah

To our future daughter,
    I woke up this morning thinking about you and your birth mommy. When I think about you, it is usually easy for me to get anxious about how the two of you are doing and worry about the fundraising; but not today. Today, your brother Noah and I took time out to talk about you and pray for you. Noah loooves babies, so I asked him a couple questions about how he feels about this whole process:

Me: Noah do you like babies?
Noah: "aaahh babies yesh"

Me: Do you want us to have a baby in the house
Noah: "yesh babies yesh"

Me: Would you be gentle with a little sister?
Noah: *Having some practice in being gentle with his cousin Violet he (whispered)
           "pat pat baby" as he gently patted his hand on my arm (seriously-did your heart  
           melt?!?)

Me: What would you feed the baby?
Noah: 'kay cake a-wup" (that is how he says pancake and syrup)

Me: Would you share your Buzz (lightyear) with the baby?
Noah: furrowed brow.....followed by stare  (HA)

So, my dear sweet daughter, wherever you are, Noah and I are praying for you this morning. He will be an amazing big brother (even if he doesn't want to share his Buzz Lightyear).


Have a blessed day everyone!

Gratitude

Just a quick note of gratitude to the two folks that purchased a Village Key from me yesterday in the middle of Scoobies Sub Shop while there for a working lunch. I don't know who you are- but wanted to express how encouraged I was through your willingness to A: talk to a stranger in a restaurant and B: buy something from a stranger in a restaurant. 

It was just the reminder I needed (and unfortunately often need) to not allow myself to get discouraged when I have a "slow" fundraising week because God is in control & He knows where and how every penny will come.

Have a great Day

 

Answering YOUR most common questions: Question 2

Another week has almost come to an end and I realized it is time to lay out another question for those of you on this journey with us.

Here we go: the 2nd most common question we are receiving is: Why Ethiopian adoption? Why not domestic adoption?

Answer:

   Frankly, this is a tough question for me to answer sometimes. However if you haven't noticed already, I try my best to be 100% authentic and transparent with the position of our hearts, so I'll do my best here. Although, sometimes that is difficult when not everybody seems to agree on this topic.

So the main reasons we are pursuing international adoption instead of domestic adoption:

1.) "Poor" in the United States is not really poor in the grand scheme of humanity. Orphans across the globe are simply not able to be cared for equally. Our personal desire is to serve where there is the greatest need. We are well aware of (and have been reminded a handful of times this month)  that "there are plenty of orphans here for you to adopt" and our hearts break for all the orphans & children both here and abroad! The reality is: orphans in the U.S. usually still have their own place to sleep and are not sharing a crib with another child (or two); orphans in the U.S. don't ever have to think about not getting 3 solid, well rounded nutritious meals a day. The orphan to volunteer/worker ratio in the U.S. is lower than abroad. In orphanages abroad, it would not be uncommon for bottles to have to be propped up on blankets or pillows for the babies to feed

Now- please here me on this. What I outline above is in NO WAY intended to imply that international adoption is more important than domestic adoption! We simply want to do our best to explain how our family came to the conclusion that international adoption is the best match for OUR family. Just because this is the correct match for us, doesn't mean it is the answer for you. There is great need here in the U.S. for families to become foster parents and agencies out there that will assist and equip you with whatever you need to do so!

2.) When we decided to pursue international adoption, we specifically chose Ethiopia because  we liked the idea, that through Ethiopian adoption she could have a connection to her country of birth through her home church here in Indiana. Some of you may know that as a family we attend Epic Church in Mishawaka, Indiana. Amber is a partner at the church (that's what we call staff) serving at the Director of Counseling through Epic Counseling. Anyway, Epic has partnered with a fantastic organization called Awake & Alive that is opening a school for young orphaned children in Kechene, Ethiopia. We believe this will be a long standing partnership and people from the Epic Church family will likely join Awake & Alive on trips to Kechene on an annual basis. 

So, when our little girl begins asking questions about her adoption and wants to know more about where she is from, it would be wonderful to be able to take her back to serve and love widows and children of Ethiopia through Awake & Alive. She will be able to have a connection to her country and culture of birth, while being supported by people that know and love her from her home church.

So anyway- in a "nut shell" that is why we have decided to pursue Ethiopian adoption! Keep your questions coming!

Thank You for your continued prayers and support. Oh- and if you think of it, send us your vote for what color to use for our T-shirt fundraiser later this summer! We want a color that both guys and gals would like (and be willing) to wear! 

Keep sharing the blog and the Village Key fundraising site with your friends. Together, we will bring this little angel home!