Day by day...

Where to start? First, we feel like we need to apologize for the time between updates to those of you who have been following our journey through our blog updates. We know so many of you have been faithful in prayer for baby girl and for our adoption journey in general. We cannot begin to express our gratitude for this.

We've received some reports and pictures of the little man in Ethiopia and he seems to be happy and healthy. Looking at his smiling face really helps brighten some of the darker days of waiting.

As for baby girl... whew... it has been difficult to stop and give an update when it seems like her status has been in flux so much and this is compounded by the fact that it has been a struggle to get timely and accurate information on her status. Over the past week we have been informed that her blood and stool results both came back negative, and she did not have a fever or significant respiratory issues. PRAISE GOD! Her feeding has been improving and the diarrhea and vomiting have also decreased with her staying on a lactose-free formula.

This past Wednesday, based on the fact that she was only being treated nutritionally (no medications or other treatments), she was dismissed from the hospital. While her being dismissed from the hospital is definitely something we were looking forward to, our joy at this news is somewhat muted by the reality that she is still very fragile, as any illness she picks up could quickly become critical due to her low weight. One really good thing is that they have arranged it so that she can stay in an orphanage in Addis instead of sending her back to the orphanage in Awassa. This is good because it gives our agency's point person and doctor the opportunity to check on her much more regularly than if she was 6 hours away again. They also have a nurse at the orphanage, so hopefully she will get the care she needs to continue to improve.

We received an e-mail just this morning that her weight has increased slightly - not quite 6.5 pounds yet - and that they are trying her on some baby cereal (mush). The nannies also reported her having a social smile. While there is a language barrier and the reports are not as frequent or as detailed as we would like, we are trying to not let our strained trust in the reports from the agency (while she was NOT doing well in Awassa) completely steal the joy in the good news that she seems to be slowly moving in the right direction.

Please continue to pray for:

• Baby girl's health and care - that she is cared for well at the orphanage; she would not get any new illnesses; and that she begin to consistently put on weight.
• Communication with our agency - due to a number of factors our relationship with our agency has been very strained over the last couple of weeks. We hope our relationship with them is repaired and we pray for more frequent and accurate reports from their agents in Ethiopia.
• Little man - continued growth and that his heart be prepared for a family
• Our family - that we are of one accord and lean on each and more importantly on God during these trying times. God has definitely been breaking us down to where all we can do is trust in Him. We know he is with us and is refining us individually and as a couple and family. It hurts a little to say, but Praise God for the work he is doing in us through the trying times of this adoption journey.
  

Thanks so much for all your support! Hope to have more good news to report soon.

A prayer for baby girl...

Hanging in there...

Thank you to each of you who have prayed, fasted, and thought of our little baby girl. We know your prayers are helping sustain her - and us.

Sometimes there are breaks between posts because nothing is going on. And sometimes - like this week - there is so much going on and things changing so fast that you don't have time to stop and blog about it.

The latest update we received is that she is out of the ER area at Black Lion hospital and into the Pediatric area. She is being cared for 24/7 by "nannies", which is good, but they are not trained medical professionals by any stretch of the imagination. She is receiving the special formula (F100) for severe acute malnutrition (SAM), as well as glucose and antibiotics (administered by her nannies at the nurse's direction). We know that although she is very skinny and small, she is alert, can track with her eyes, and is strong enough to take a bottle and has a good suck. And she is still fighting!

Although we would prefer to have her treated at the Korean hospital (which is much newer, cleaner, better Dr./patient ratio, etc.), they do not have the SAM formula there that she needs right now and the agent of the orphanage, and the orphanage doctor, believe that she will receive the treatment she needs at Black Lion (and they have the final say right now). We pray they are correct and continue to monitor baby girl's status in any way we can to make sure their decision is working. We hold out hope that even if they keep her at Black Lion until she is more stable, that we can come to an agreement about moving her to the Korean hospital (as soon as possible).

As you can see, there is a lot going on right now we are trying to work through many channels and enduring the time zone difference to try and do whatever we can to get baby girl the best care possible under the circumstances.

In the midst of it all, we want to thank the Lord for the following:

• American missionaries we had never met, Gary and Peggy, who were able to visit baby girl, provide us with much-needed information, and continue to advocate for her.
• Our new computer! This gift came just in time and with it we were able to use Skype to make an international call to Gary & Peggy and also have a video prayer session with friends in Indonesia - both around 3AM on Tuesday.
• Our friends, Justin and Donna, who were able to visit baby girl today and pray over her and give us more information on her status and care.
• And most of all, that the Lord has saved her life to this point.
  

Please continue to pray:

• That the Lord would protect baby girl at this hospital and surround her with His love. That he would bring strength and healing to her body and protect it from any new sicknesses and any long term effects of her SAM.
  
• That the Lord would provide wisdom to baby girl's nannies, nurses, and doctors in caring for her.
  
• Wisdom and discernment for the orphanage's agent and doctor.
  
• That the Lord would provide a way to the better hospital. We continue to face obstacles and are still getting information about the poor conditions of the current hospital.
• That we would have peace and release our anxieties to the Lord while she is still in this hard place.
• That God would be glorified in baby girl's and our lives.

Thank you is too small of a word for how we feel right now for all the support we have. Please know we are grateful beyond what we can express.

Baby girl on the move

First of all, thank you so much for all your prayers for our baby girl. We believe they're making a difference, so please continue to pray.

After a GREAT service at church on Sunday we received some really rough news on baby girl. (And we are so thankful for our church family for your immediate empathy, comfort, and prayers -- it meant so much to us.) We knew she has been struggling, but our concerns were confirmed (and then some) by a report from a friend of a friend who is a doctor in another village in Ethiopia. It was by God's grace that this doctor was at a conference and ended up visiting the same hospital where baby girl was being treated. While his assessment was tough to take, it was the information we needed to provide to our agency so they understood that action needed to be taken.

We contacted our agency on Sunday afternoon and by noon Monday they had a plan to move her to a private (non-government) hospital in Addis, the capital city. ANSWERED PRAYER!

We anticipate the standard of care at the new hospital to be much better and it will also help because our agency's doctor and point person both are in Addis and can check on her in person much more frequently. They are planning to transport her from Awassa to the hospital in Addis on Tuesday (Addis is 7 hours ahead of us) so we will be trying to sleep during most of her 6-8 hour car ride.

All of this is GREAT news, but the reality is that she is in such a bad state right now that nothing is guaranteed, so...

Please pray for:

• Baby girl's health; specifically her immune system and her weight - that she will overcome any sickness she is struggling with right now, that she will gain weight to strengthen her system, and that she be free from any new infections or illnesses. She is in a VERY fragile state physically right now.
• Baby girl's spirit; that her will to live is strong and that she feel the love and care being poured into her soul right now.
  
• Protection and ease of travel from Awassa to Addis.
• The new doctors, nurses, and "seaters" (as our agency's point man called them - ha!) that will care for baby girl. That God would give them wisdom in their treatment plan and care for her.
• That our good friends, who are in Ethiopia right now, would be able to visit her and pray over her this week.
• Continued good communication with our adoption agency and their representatives in Ethiopia.
  

Thank you so much! It is awesome to think that she has people praying for her this very night all over the Louisville area, and southern, central and northern Indiana, northern Kentucky, Michigan, northern and central Florida, Oregon, at least two cities in Ethiopia, Indonesia, China, etc. !!! God is good!

"Saved from the Web"... an ongoing process

The title to our last post was "Saved from the Web". On further reflection - and in light of the reality of baby girl's condition - we want to be clear that we did not mean "saved" in the sense of a completed action or a destination reached. Because although baby girl is now free of some of the things that were hindering her before, she continues to suffer from the effects of her entanglement... and thus her being "Saved from the Web" is an ongoing process.

More specifically, it has been a difficult couple of weeks for us as we've received some seemingly conflicting reports on her health and the report we were finally able to receive from our agency's doctor confirmed that she has continued to struggle with infections and her low weight is hampering her immunity and recovery... which hampers her weight... and so on...

As you can imagine, not hearing better news about our baby girl's health is very difficult for us, but we know that He has her in His hands. We are seeking wisdom and peace that we are doing the best we can to make sure she is getting good care.

We continue to ask for your prayers for her healing from infections and any other sickness so that she can gain weight and grow stronger. We also ask for your continued prayer for her care from the medical staff and the orphanage staff.

Please also continue to pray for our little boy as well, that he would continue to gain weight, feel love and connection with his caretakers, and that the Lord would prepare his heart and mind for becoming a part of our family.

Our three kids here pray for their brother and sister in Ethiopia every night and today our oldest girl said, "I miss [baby girl]". It was neat to hear her verbalize the fact that she has a connection with baby sister already.

Thanks again for your continued prayers and support.