I am old school. I don't have a smart phone and my phone, obviously is not an Apple. It does have an mp3 player, though. However, when I started the Couch to 5K running program, I discovered that it wouldn't play iTunes mp3s. Apple has made it so that you must have an Apple brand mp3 player in order to use their iTunes.
But there is a way....
You can burn a CD using iTunes. Then open the CD in Windows Media player. Rip the CD, then use that particular mp3 file in your non-Apple brand mp3 player. I know, it's a lot of steps. That's why any more mp3 purchases will be done via Amazon.
Now, on to my playlist that I will use to get me through the 20-30 hours of traveling.
How Can I Keep From Singing
From the Inside OUt
How Great Is Our God
Hear Us From Heaven
Revelation Song
I Stand Amazed (How Marvelous)
Be Thou My Vision (one of my favorite hymns)
Before the Throne of God Above
I Have Always Loved You
Jesus Paid It All
Speak O Lord
You and Me (so far the only secular song)
I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day (my favorite Christmas song sung by David Phelps)
Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)
My Savior My God
The Wonderful Cross
While I'm Waiting (my theme song for this adoption)
I need more, so please leave a comment if you can think of one I should add.
Friday, November 30, 2012
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Update
Ethiopia is making some changes to the adoption process and we are excited about it!
The preliminary hearing for our case is set for December 3. This is the hearing in which the birth mother is interviewed. Then, we must wait until all paperwork has been submitted before we will have a date for our portion of court. If you know anything about Ethiopian adoptions, you know that no adoption is completely approved before the MOWA letter is received. In the past, it was common for a family to pass court "pending the MOWA letter." Under the currect changes, we won't even have a court date until they receive the MOWA letter.
I can already see God answering our prayers. We have asked. We have seeked. And we have knocked. "Please God, let our adoption be totally transparent and ethical. We are proceeding in faith. You and only you can shut the door on this adoption!
So, now we just wait. We will wait on December 3rd to come. We may hear something the following day, we may not. We may travel in December, we may not. But I will gladly wait another month or two to meet Joseph if it means that the time between the two trips will be shortened. However, I do not know if these changes will affect the embassy side of things. We shall wait and see. It has been amazing to see how God is working in all of this. Rumor is going around that Ethiopia is trying to become a "one-trip" adoption process. Oh, that is our prayer for the families in the future!
The preliminary hearing for our case is set for December 3. This is the hearing in which the birth mother is interviewed. Then, we must wait until all paperwork has been submitted before we will have a date for our portion of court. If you know anything about Ethiopian adoptions, you know that no adoption is completely approved before the MOWA letter is received. In the past, it was common for a family to pass court "pending the MOWA letter." Under the currect changes, we won't even have a court date until they receive the MOWA letter.
I can already see God answering our prayers. We have asked. We have seeked. And we have knocked. "Please God, let our adoption be totally transparent and ethical. We are proceeding in faith. You and only you can shut the door on this adoption!
So, now we just wait. We will wait on December 3rd to come. We may hear something the following day, we may not. We may travel in December, we may not. But I will gladly wait another month or two to meet Joseph if it means that the time between the two trips will be shortened. However, I do not know if these changes will affect the embassy side of things. We shall wait and see. It has been amazing to see how God is working in all of this. Rumor is going around that Ethiopia is trying to become a "one-trip" adoption process. Oh, that is our prayer for the families in the future!
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Story Continued
We hung up the phone and headed straight to the health department. Our plan was to wait in line for the shots, get the ones they had, then have them order the rest. We concluded that was the only way would be able to talk to "the nurse."
We get to the health center at 4:00. "We stop taking patients at 3:30," a detail I somehow forgot. We told the lady at the clinic what we needed.
"Oh, yeah, we keep all those in stock. Come back on Thursday, but get here at 7:45 a.m. It's first-come-first-serve and if you get here much later, you'll have to wait a while.
I'll spare you all the details and leave you with this....
Seven hundred dollars (for both of us) and my left arm is killing me.
We get to the health center at 4:00. "We stop taking patients at 3:30," a detail I somehow forgot. We told the lady at the clinic what we needed.
"Oh, yeah, we keep all those in stock. Come back on Thursday, but get here at 7:45 a.m. It's first-come-first-serve and if you get here much later, you'll have to wait a while.
I'll spare you all the details and leave you with this....
Seven hundred dollars (for both of us) and my left arm is killing me.
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Getting Ready
Now that we have accepted our referral we are waiting on a court date. There have been lots of people before us who find out their court date a week prior. We aren't ones to plan a trip across the globe with only one week notice, so we are getting ready now.
There are certain immunizations that are needed. We've been told it's best to get them done at the health department as they are less expensive than getting them at your doctor's office. A friend of mine said they had to make an appointment and have some of the immunizations shipped from Atlanta (where the CDC is). I called the health department only to find out that things had changed since my friend traveled to Ethiopia 3+ years ago. They do not make appointments. It's a first-come-first-served basis.
"O.K." I said to the [lady on the phone]. "I just need to make sure you will have the immunizations we need. We've heard you may have to order them from Atlanta."
"You'll have to ask the nurse that question and she is only here on Tuesdays and Thursdays."
"O.K. Thanks"
Tuesday (today) gets here and I call the health department as soon as I got home from taking Raine to school. I went through the same spill as before.
"You'll need to speak with the nurse and she is in clinic right now. I will transfer you to her voicemail."
By 3:30 I still had not recieved a call from "the nurse." So I called again. This time I said, "I need to speak with someone who can help me. We need to get immunizations for travel to Ethiopia and I understand you may need to order them from Atlanta."
"The only lady that can help you is in clinic right now."
"No one else can answer my question?"
"No."
"O.K. Thanks."
Jonathan said, "Let's just get them done at the doctor's office." By this time, we didn't care. Certain immunizations take 20 days to become affective. Mathematics says we better hurry. I called our doctor to make an appointment. The earliest he had was November 26. Sigh. I then read the immunizations we would need. The receptionist said, "We don't carry all of those. We will have to refer you to the health department.
to be continued
There are certain immunizations that are needed. We've been told it's best to get them done at the health department as they are less expensive than getting them at your doctor's office. A friend of mine said they had to make an appointment and have some of the immunizations shipped from Atlanta (where the CDC is). I called the health department only to find out that things had changed since my friend traveled to Ethiopia 3+ years ago. They do not make appointments. It's a first-come-first-served basis.
"O.K." I said to the [lady on the phone]. "I just need to make sure you will have the immunizations we need. We've heard you may have to order them from Atlanta."
"You'll have to ask the nurse that question and she is only here on Tuesdays and Thursdays."
"O.K. Thanks"
Tuesday (today) gets here and I call the health department as soon as I got home from taking Raine to school. I went through the same spill as before.
"You'll need to speak with the nurse and she is in clinic right now. I will transfer you to her voicemail."
By 3:30 I still had not recieved a call from "the nurse." So I called again. This time I said, "I need to speak with someone who can help me. We need to get immunizations for travel to Ethiopia and I understand you may need to order them from Atlanta."
"The only lady that can help you is in clinic right now."
"No one else can answer my question?"
"No."
"O.K. Thanks."
Jonathan said, "Let's just get them done at the doctor's office." By this time, we didn't care. Certain immunizations take 20 days to become affective. Mathematics says we better hurry. I called our doctor to make an appointment. The earliest he had was November 26. Sigh. I then read the immunizations we would need. The receptionist said, "We don't carry all of those. We will have to refer you to the health department.
to be continued
Thursday, November 8, 2012
Orphan Sunday
Sunday was "Orphan Sunday." I wanted to have a referral to share with our church that day. I knew the chances were slim. However, that night we got a phone call from our adoption coordinator. She said, "There's only one reason I call on a Sunday night."
He is a one-year old boy. His birthday was Tuesday. This whole thing is bittersweet. I want to jump for joy that we have been matched with a child. But I can't. It breaks my heart that his mother was unable to care for him. I want him in our family, but I pray that if there's any way for him to remain with his mother, then God makes it happen. I want the best for him.
He is a one-year old boy. His birthday was Tuesday. This whole thing is bittersweet. I want to jump for joy that we have been matched with a child. But I can't. It breaks my heart that his mother was unable to care for him. I want him in our family, but I pray that if there's any way for him to remain with his mother, then God makes it happen. I want the best for him.
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