What's in a name?

We have been on a blogging hiatus. The only reason I can come up with is that my words fail to deliver the magnitude of emotion wrapped up in our sweet boy.

Many decisions about our adoption have not been easy to make. One of those decisions has been whether or not to rename our son. There are solid reasons supporting both renaming and keeping the given birth name. In our opinion, there is no right or wrong choice; however, the decision has not been easy. When you consider the sizable loss any adopted child suffers, it changes the name game.

A name is really just a label for this earthly shell we navigate for a very short while. There is value in a name, though, because it gives us some degree of self-worth in that our parents chose our name.

After many months of considering both options, we have decided to give our son a new first name and keep his given birth name as his middle name. His birth mother likely chose his name for a reason, and we want to honor her choice. We never want our son or the world to forget this precious gift of life his birth mother gave.

The meaning behind the name we will give him sums up our feelings toward God and toward our son. His name will be Jude. The meaning is "praise" and "thanks." I can think of no better response to this blessing on our lives. Praise and thanks fills our heart when we study his little face. Our cup overflows!

On October 25, 2011, we will stand in front of a judge in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and plead our case to become Jude's forever family. Please pray with me that our case passes court this first time, and that we can have a speedy appointment soon thereafter with the US Embassy to bring him home!

Psalm 148. I love it. Go read it. Then, praise our Maker, the Creator and Sustainer for his very special creation in Jude Rust. That's what we're doing.

A decision and a phone call

We are rejoicing today in the Rust house.

About a week ago, on Tuesday, May 31, we reached a difficult decision. After many emails and talks with our case manager at CWA, we came to the conclusion that it would be best for us to reduce our adoption preferences to one child. There are several reasons for this, and all of them have to do with what's best for the children in Ethiopia. I know it sounds crazy to think that by adopting only one child that we are helping out more than adopting a sibling set, but just trust me, God has a plan!

We believe it was the right decision, because things have moved along rather quickly since then.

Yesterday, Wednesday, June 8, I was at the pool with the kids around 5:00. I called Jason and told him to just meet us there when he was done with work. He showed up around 5:45 with a camera in his hands. He started taking pictures of the kids in the pool and then he pointed the camera at me. I'm not sure how much you ladies like being photographed while at the pool, but this lady doesn't love it. I told him to turn the camera off and he just kept saying, "Look at me. I love you. Do you love me?" I should've known something was up.

He proceeded to tell me, "Wendy, Sue called me today." This was when time stood still and I totally understood what was going on.....

At that point, I couldn't get the information out of him fast enough.

Here's our news:

IT'S A BOY!!!!!

Right now, we have a baby boy living across the ocean!!!! I'm a mommy again!!!! Sophie is officially a big sister!!!!

Words cannot really express the excitement of this news. My heart has not stopped pounding yet.

I can't tell you much about him for now, until we pass court. What I can tell you is that he is absolutely beautiful. He is healthy. He is very young. He is the light of our life.

Friends, please pray for a speedy court hearing and US Embassy appointment. He is so special to us already.

The best way to wrap this up is to cite the scripture I happened to read yesterday as part of my reading routine. It is just before Jesus blesses the little children who came to Him.

Mark 9:37 "Whoever welcomes one of these little children in My name welcomes Me; and whoever welcomes Me does not welcome Me but the One who sent Me."

Welcome home, precious little Rust baby boy, and welcome, Father!

A change in plans

Ethiopia passed a new regulation today, only allowing 5 court cases/day to be processed, instead of the 30 court cases/day that has been the average for a few years. Our wait time just increased by years, potentially.

As much as we feel like expressing anger and disappointment, it just doesn't seem like the most appropriate reaction. We are shocked, anxious, and confused. We have a thousand questions with no answers. One thing we are sure of: God is not shocked, anxious, nor confused.

To give you some perspective: about a month ago, we started to become rather impatient and anxious about our referral. We wanted desperately to see the faces we've prayed for, for over a year now. We had good reason to be anxious~it had been 2 months since we'd been told we were the "next" to be called for a referral for age 5 and younger siblings. We had also hit the 8 month wait time, which was the extent we believed we would have to wait. When we started the adoption process in December of 2009, we were told by multiple adoption agencies that 8 months was the average wait time for families (post dossier shipping and translation).

Just last week, our focus became pretty intense. Our family of five held hands and prayed for a referral of our missing 2 children to come that very week. We poured out our hearts' desires to Him numerous times early last week. On Thursday, we started to hear rumors about a possible drastic cut in Ethiopian adoptions. Rumors run a muck in the adoption community all the time. Our emotions had become somewhat numb to any negative press on Ethiopian adoption. Still, the March 10 "effective" date swirled in our heads. Today, it is on the US State Dept. site. It is official.

As I was preparing to write this post tonight, Oprah happened to be on the TV in our room. My man, Garth Brooks, was the featured guest. Anyone who knows me, knows I love me some Garth. Jason and I were watching a little here and there, when Garth started singing an acoustic version of "Unanswered Prayers." I watched, thinking only about the love story behind the lyrics. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks. Our fervent prayers to be quickly united with the children we so deeply long to provide a family and a future for, is being answered! It's not the answer we thought it was going to be. We are confident that it is simply too large for us to see from this vantage point.

Tonight, the Rusts choose to give praise and honor to the Maker of this plan, to the God of the Universe, the God of Ethiopia. This has been one of my favorite scriptures since a bible study I took on Habakkuk in 2007. It seems somewhat fitting:

Habakkuk 3:17-19

Though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit be on the vine; Though the labor of the olive may fail and the fields yield no food; though the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I WILL REJOICE IN THE LORD, I WILL JOY IN THE GOD OF MY SALVATION!

Still here

We are still alive. Just thinking and listening a lot lately. I have so much to write about, but I am so tired lately that I just cannot devote one minute to this blog to tell His story these days.

We have heard n-o-t-h-i-n-g about our adoption. Thank you for continuing to ask, though. The only thing we have heard from our case worker is that the wait time for a referral is at an all-time high.

I told people in the beginning of this process to pray for a March referral, so I'd have a better chance of finishing out the school year without having to miss much, if any. Maybe that's what He heard loud and clear. I'm beginning to wonder if it will even happen this year.

Tonight, we have the honor to go and pray with our friends, the Hamann's, as Luke prepares to leave for Sierra Leone, Africa, tomorrow afternoon. We have a whole lot of heart wrapped up in that tiny country and several friends who've invested their time and money there, too. God has BIG plans for that country, and it's beginning to look like He plans on using us and several of our friends there, too. I will have to post more details another night, because these eyes are tired.

Please pray with me tonight that the Hamann's will be able to bless others with Luke's trip, and will feel the presence of God before, during, and after the trip. Check out the Raining Season's blog for trip updates....

www.savetheorphan.blogspot.com

Until next time.....when I feel more rested.....and not so fuzzy-headed......

Goodnight!

God has weaved a beautiful web of relationships in the last year for our family and many others. There might be a day when I can express the miracle He worked when He connected us with so many people who are fighting for the same little ones we adore. Until then, just trust me when I say that it's just a miracle. Plain and simple.

One of the life-changing relationships God replanted in our life was with a high school friend of Jason's. Her name is Erica Rust, and oddly enough, she married a DIFFERENT Jason Rust of the same high school in Ozark, MO. We have grown to know and admire the work she does in Sierra Leone, Africa.

It is the poorest country on the face of the Earth. She has an amazing story of saving orphans from a terrible existence in a wretched home. There are now 80+ children who live in the home bought by her organization, The Raining Season. The 30 adult workers take such good care of the kids, and the Erica has found sponsors who provide clothing and many of their basic needs. Several of these sponsors SKYPE with their sponsored children every week.

We have 3 friends we've known for 7 years who are now traveling with Erica to The Covering (the name of the home where the kids live). Today, they fed 5000 orphans in Kroo Bay, the trash dump of Sierra Leone. They will meet the children in the home tomorrow and spend a week with them. One of the days they are there, they will travel to a children's hospital, where only 1 child per month leaves alive. When 19 of the team members return at the end of 9 days, Erica will stay behind to meet with the Minister of Social Welfare to petition for the ban on international adoption to be lifted. She has put in countless hours working on the actual writing of the law to allow for international adoption, and it passed in December. Now, if the ban is lifted, 20+ children will be leaving The Covering and going to their forever homes with the families who have been waiting to bring them home. This will, in turn, allow the Raining Season to serve additional children in the community who are still in need. PRAISE GOD!

We have another very close friend who will be traveling there in about a month to do some physical therapy for the children and love on them as well.

Check out the Raining Season blog and website:

http://www.therainingseason.org/The_Raining_Season/Home.html

http://savetheorphan.blogspot.com/

Here's a great video I've already posted in an earlier post, but it moves me every single time I see the conditions these beautiful babies and people live in. Just watch it. You won't be sorry.

http://www.vimeo.com/12292225

Snapshots of the sweeties

Life at the Rust house:

Making Christmas cookies together included the donning of our new matching aprons from my mom (Mama Cookie). Look close, and you can see "mom" embroidered on mine. The girls each have their initial on their's, but you can't see it in the picture. Evan and Claire were both a big help. Check out the masterpiece Evan created! Sophie just ate the sprinkles, mainly.

Evan lost another tooth, can you tell? Anyone else notice the lovely milk mustache, too?

Claire got a new leotard for her new dance class and it's like pulling teeth to get her out of it.

The kids got a new easel for Christmas and have since turned into little Picaso's. I love their art work and find myself wondering if I missed my calling to be a children's art teacher----not because I'm good at art, but because I have developed this great satisfaction with kid art. I love hanging it all over our house. It makes a mom proud.

This is the best shot I could get at Claire's dance class. It will have to serve as the "first dance class" picture, since I forgot on her actual first dance night.


And, for the grand finale, my favorites from the last few weeks. I dare you not to smile when you look at these.....it's impossible for mommy and daddy. These were taken before church this week. They are two peas in a pod (most of the time!).

Concrete

We are ready to claw through the concrete and see our babies. Lord, let it come soon.