Dossier, Direction, and Dreams

Ok so I guess there's no need to mention my lack of blogging and all around absence of updates..
Why speak of the obvious, right? ;)

I honestly made a conscious decision to stop blogging during this time..

One of the many, many, many requirements and requests by the Ethiopian government in our dossier packet was to be extremely mindful of anything and everything that we post on blogs.
Apparently its not entirely unlikely for officials to check up on families.. not that I'm posting all sorts of inappropriate and rude things! lol. But things can be easily misinterpreted, especially when sarcasm is involved. And not that I'm a complete hooch, always posting photos of myself in revealing clothing but they told us to really be aware that clothing is very different there and they want to see that we are modest and respectful individuals. Like I said, interpretation is all in the eye of the beholder..

In the rules and requirements of blogging, the section also states that you must not mention fund raising of any sort (no JustLoveCoffee, no yard sales, no gifts, nothing) because they expect you to be able to afford the adoption costs on your own. They don't want people that will struggle financially to parent.. understandably..

It also states that you must not mention details or post any pics of your referral once you receive it.. really? What's the fun in that? :-P It will be difficult enough to contain my excitement but not being able to post anything except.. "we are very excited to be matched with our new baby (girl) (boy) and (she) (he) is beautiful." It doesn't quite sum it up, does it?

Lastly, you must be aware of all that you post because things can sound quite critical very easily.. they require that you not mention anything negative about the country of Ethiopia.
We cannot mention the poverty, the crime, the lack of resources, AIDS, the fact that they have 5 million orphans and that the previously mentioned reasons are precisely the reason why there are 5 million orphans.. and yet we should remember to only focus on the positive.
But you know, I totally get that, really.
Positive is good.

And from what we have read and learned, Ethiopia is an incredible country with a vibrant, spiritual culture and beautiful people with unfaltering joy and happiness that is both inspiring and humbling.
These are some of the many things that we are extremely eager to witness and participate in when we visit twice next year.

However we cannot simply deny the existence of those other facts.. The fact of the matter is that we would not be going there if there was not a need.
That need is not something that the country should be ashamed of or in denial about but that we should all be trying to find ways of helping to make a difference.

We are fully expecting our trips to change us, wholly and forever..
To be witness to the extreme poverty, lack of resources, AIDS, orphans, and yet the sheer joy and spirit of people that relish the beauty of life and love and family and community..
But at the same time, being fully aware of how blessed we are and how much we have here.. Knowing how much money and resources we spend and waste.. Knowing how blessed we are as individuals and as a country and yet how depressed and disappointed and medicated and angry and empty and searching and isolated and confused and lacking we all feel..
First of all, how is this even possible? Even in typing this, I am baffled by the fact that we are clearly missing something huuuuuuge here! For us to have seemingly everything and them to have what we see as nothing and yet the happiness factor is completely backward. They are missing something enormous but we are missing something enormous too.. If we could somehow learn from both... if that makes sense..

But once we witness the lack of physical blessings and yet the immense blessings of the heart there, how can we possibly remain unchanged?


Right now, God is doing something big in our lives and in our hearts.. I don't know why or even how this is all going to play out.. But I do know that Stuart and I are not simply bringing our child from Ethiopia to make them American. That I do know...
That would be entirely too easy and lazy and selfish.
Its precisely what WE would have picked for our lives! But not what God picked for our lives. And that makes all the difference, doesn't it?

Our prayer is that we will have an impact in Ethiopia once we leave and that we will be Christ's heart to them. We fully expect to experience them being Christ's heart to us as well.. And it will be amazing, I know it. This is life changing, crazy stuff.. I'm equally terrified, excited, and humbled..

I don't know if we'll find the answers we're seeking but I feel deeply in my heart that we are on our life's journey, in our purpose, in more ways than we even realize..

God has bigger dreams for each of our lives than we can possibly even imagine on our own. We are simple and present and immediate but God is eternal and infinite. How then can we question when He says, "Go"?


So anywho, loooooong story short. I'm paranoid about blogging something that could be misconstrued because its totally not worth it to us.

So right now, here's the latest in minimal detail :)....
Our dossier is complete and on its way to Washington DC for National Authentication. Hopefully that will only take a week (or less!!) and then it will be mailed to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia! And once there, they will begin the process of authenticating and translating the documents and checking us out..
We are praying and believing that we will receive our referral in less than 5 months and that we'll be home with our little one by the end of next year! Please God!! :)

I will keep you posted on anything big but will probably not go into a lot of detail, please forgive me for that.
Bigger and better posts once we're legally parents!! :) Woop woop!

Until then, I'm on facebook if you want to have more contact, which I would love! :) Summer Moore, Nashville TN.

I love you all and will continue to read your blogs as you continue on your own paths!

Love,
Summer