2 Weeks and counting....

Well, we have officially been home for about 16 days and we are just now sitting down to update the blog. It has been a whirlwind of a Christmas/New Year's season and we apologize for the delay in sharing!

First, Jeff and I know that a "thank you" is a woefully inadequate expression of our gratitude to all of you.  Your words of encouragement, gifts, meals, prayers have made this journey an amazing experience.   We are certain that Israel was brought home because of your prayers.

We cannot believe that we have only been home for about 2 weeks.  It seems like he has always been in our family.  He has settled into a typical four year old routine.  Eat, play, sleep!  He communicates better each day.  We cannot imagine how exhausted he must be with all that is new to him.  We have certainly not taken things slowly--- he has already

• taken a 17 hour flight (thankfully slept for about 10.5 hours)
• celebrated Christmas on Jeff's parents farm
• meet three of his cousins
• jumped on a trampoline
•  4 vaccinations
• boat ride to the Dockside
• swimming in the ocean on New Year's Day
• slept in his very own room
• had a babysitter
• cheered on Patterson at a soccer game
• made lots of new friends at church and Patterson and William's school
• learned to say lots-  "help please, down please, all done, more please, thank you, 1-2-3-4-5"

Israel is his birth name though it has quickly become Izzy and fits his precious personality.  In the Ethiopian culture, names are very important and are almost always given very purposefully.  This was no exception for Israel.  His birthmother loved the stories in the Bible so she chose a name that reminded her of God.  Israel literally means "wrestles with God".  Jeff and I know that his birthmother must have genuinely and painfully wrestled with God about her decision to relinquish Israel.  He is a beautiful, joyful, very easy-going little boy.  She must miss him so much that she aches and our most desperate prayer is not for us, but for her.  We hope you will remember to pray for her and what must be her agonizing loss.  We are so thankful for little Izzy and confident that this was the Lord's will.  But we will forever remember her love for her son.

As you can tell, Jeff and I are quite slow and unreliable about updating this blog.  Even, before we brought Izzy home!  SO, please do not hesitate to call or visit!  Once again, we thank you for joining us on the journey.  We are also grateful for your love and support for Patterson and William as they adjust!  We are blessed indeed~

Love

Jeff and Alllison

36 hours with Israel

Ok so first of all-- It's hard to find time to post when you have a toddler!!
It's been an amazing 36 hours getting to know each other. He is so sweet and has been so amenable to everything. Things we have learned:
- he's left handed
- he can eat with a fork(and is cleaning his plate twice per meal)
- he loves birds:)
- he fell right asleep last night, literally in seconds
- while shy and quiet, he notices EVERYTHING
- he has an amazing ability to sit and focus-- very particular about where things go and how things work
- he likes to figure things out, how doe sit work?

Anyway-- Lord willing our Visas will be printed tomorrow and we come. While we miss Patterson and William terribly, and the primitive living isn't ideal, we are blessed to have these few days with Israel to get to know each other. We are only a few hundred yards from the orphanage so all the sounds and smells are still familiar to him.
Please pray for our safe return, the 17 hour flight, and that he would continue to be unafraid and easygoing.

Love to all

Spent a few hours with Israel

Arrived in Addis early and without incident. So funny how the second time around it seems like old hat. The city is still as crazy, as foreign, as totally unreal, but not as overwhelming at all.

We went straight to the guest house, unpacked and sat in the warm sunshine--- 70 degrees and sunny here. Very nice breeze. We stared out across the ravine at Help for the Needy(Israel's orphanage). Cant wait to get over there to see him, i mean we know where he is, we can walk there, he's our son, but alas, it's Ethiopia....let's be patient, lets respect the process, let's be patient. So we take advantage of an hour's downtime to recover from the flight. Then a quick lunch in the guest house and off to CHS office for a presentation on their in-country efforts---- money from adoptions is going to build three schools, a health clinic for mothers and children, drinking water/wells and electricity to rural areas. It is pretty cool, we knew all this but the adoption process is so frustrating it easy to forget all the good things they are doing for Ethiopia.

Then we head over--- it's the moment we have been waiting for. We are so unprepared!!!! What do you say the the nannie who's been caring for him for 6 months? What do we say to him?! He doesn't know english, he doesn't know us. Will he cry if we try to hold him? Will WE cry? Is it bad if we don't?

Said a quick prayer for God's grace.

CHS sends in a social worker with a video camera first--- so that Israel can see this day from older eyes. He will remember it.(another thing CHS does well).

We walk into the sleeping room. 10 kids are sitting and laying on the floor quietly, some smiling, some not, but ALL watching what's going on. Israel is off to the side-- the Nannie is gently talking to him, encouraging him to smile and come see us, which he does. clearly they have been showing him the little phot book and preparing him for this day. He flashes a shy smile and come sovereign and sits right in allison's lap.

We spent two great hours with him. Mostly outside. He is very cute, very quiet, and very small. He really enjoyed kicking the soccer ball! We peeked over fences, followed the flight path of various birds, rolled trucks etc. We sat quietly for a spell. He showed a mischievous side too--- he would take the ball, scamper out of sight and wait for us to come around the corner. When we did he would laugh and throw the ball down the stairs!

We are working on a few words in amharic--- No, Good job, Okay, toilet, Come---

Tomorrow we have our big Emabssy appointment, his going away party at the orphanage -- this is our last night without a toddler!

Answered Prayer!!!!

First and foremost--- Praise and Glory be to God!

Allison and I are humbled by how richly he has blessed us---- the love of family and friends is overwhelming at times.

So we got "the email" from the US Embassy on December 15th, Israel's Visa and Passport were approved. Just like that---

AFTER ALL the back and forth with the agency, vague responses to our inquiries from the Embassy, a barrage of helpful letters from NC elected officials Shuler, Burr, Price, Hagan, contact through friends to State Dept officials, the tireless efforts of one persistent sister, conference calls with Immigration, more conference calls with our agency, help from an advocacy non-profit group, and the untold number of prayer requests from family and friends----- the Lord has decided it's time for Israel to be a Sheehan. We may never know the true nature of the holdups and delays or "field investigation", and for now only God knows why the sudden approval---

We are at Dulles ready to board the flight---- with a plan to get our son and be home by Christmas!

Please pray for Israel---- there is no way he can be prepared for the changes ahead.

Prayers Needed

Hello friends,

So many of you have asked how things are going and when we will get to travel back to Ethiopia to bring home Israel.  Jeff and I (Patterson and William, too) are so thankful for your love and support.  These are however, very frustrating and unsettling days here.  We wake up each morning so hopeful that we will have the clearance email from the Embassy allowing us to come get Israel.  Unforunately, it appears that our government has declined into a inexplicable process that may hold up our clearance for weeks or months.  Israel's case should be relatively straight-forward but we are now being indefinitely delayed due to the many other complicated cases that the Embassy must review.  We have desperately sought political pressure and thank all of you who have helped.  Jeff's sister  works for a NC congressman and is on the war path to help us.  We are humbled and grateful for her love.  She can't wait to be Israel's aunt in person!  

As you all know, Jeff and I have are not certain the our agency can help us but our faith is the knowledge God is infinitely bigger than red-tape and the governmental inefficiencies.  Our specific prayer requests are:

1- patience- we confess that we are angry and discouraged

2-the US Embassy would do the right thing and clear our case immediately

3-Israel be loved and fed each day

4-wisdom- Jeff and I must make daily decisions on who, how and what may help our case.

Again, please know how much your love and support mean to us.  We will remain faithful that God has called us to parent Israel but your prayers are truly a source of comfort and strength for us.

Love,

Jeff and Allison

Still waiting.....

Hello all~

Jeff and I just wanted to share that we continue to experience delays and roadblocks in our effort to bring Israel home.  We still have no clear understanding of why our case is bring held up or when it will be resolved.  Because we were so hopeful that we would be going to Ethiopia this month, we are struggling with sadness and disappointment.  We ask for your prayers for Israel and the process.

Thanks to all of you for your love and support

Allison and Jeff

are we "in the window"?

We found out that one of our freinds from "trip 1" to Ethiopia, who got court approval while we were there, just got an Embassy date to return August 4th or 5th!

That is great news.  Its impossible to handicap, but our court approval was June 30th, about 5 weeks after we were there. So if we do  that-which-everyone-tells-you-not-to-do and speculate on when we might go back(egads, dont speculate--it will only lead to heartache!!).............

five weeks delayed on court approval, so five weeks from August 4th means early to mid september?

I dreamed about Israel the other night, he was playing in our house.  I can see it.