What's in a Number?

We received a number today. It’s the number representing where we are on the wait list for our dossier to be reviewed by Ethiopia’s Ministry of Women’s, Children and Youth Affairs. Each month they will hopefully review some dossiers (some months they do not). Then on the first of the following month we’ll get a new number that is lower to indicate we’ll be closer to our own review.

The number is a bit ill-defined for us. If we had requested a baby, the number would probably be meaningful... because we would wait on that list number by number. However, we have not requested a baby. So in theory, we could move more quickly (I’m being optimistic!).  

I’m choosing NOT to share the number right now… In reality, I don’t know if it’s better to have a number or to just not know. I am now fixated on this number. I will have a number in my mind from now until we get a referral. It is likely going to drive me crazy. So I am saving you from the crazy consummation that comes with knowing the number… and I’m saving myself from you asking us about our number. (Love you all and know the questions would be innocent, but it would still add insult to injury that we have to sit on a wait list for these sweet kids…)

So while I’m in a numbers mood, here are some statistics (from Wikipedia) that are shaping our future kids… 

• Ethiopia is a multilingual society with around 80 ethnic groups

• There are ninety individual languages spoken in Ethiopia and an even higher number if dialects

• Currently, the population growth rate is among the top ten countries in the world (86.6 million strong)

• About 16% of the population in Ethiopia are living on less than 1 dollar per day

• Only 65% of rural households in Ethiopia consume the World Health Organization's minimum standard of food per day (2,200 kilocalories), with 42% of children under 5 years old being underweight

• Most poor families (75%) share their sleeping quarters with livestock, and 40% of children sleep on the floor, where nighttime temperatures average 5 degrees Celsius in the cold season.

• In the capital city, 55% of the population lives in slums

• Ethiopia has only 1 medical doctor per 100,000 people

• The overall literacy rate in Ethiopia is 23.4%

• Marriage by abduction accounts for 69% of the nation's marriages

The numbers start to paint a picture, right? The marriage one struck me the most. Marriage by abduction! It breaks my heart.

I recently read the book “Orphan Justice” by Johnny Carr (HIGHLY recommend it. Seriously, read it. You can borrow my copy.) He spends a chapter walking through the complexities of poverty and comes to this conclusion: “When people are living in a culture of poverty, they quickly lose hope. They become desperate, and desperate people resort to desperate measures.”

Regardless of the numbers and statistics, I have no doubt that God created each and every one of the women and children in Ethiopia. I am praying that they know Him, love Him and allow Him to be their protector and provider. And I'm specifically praying that our sweet kids feel a supernatural strength and protection while they wait for their "forever family."

You are my strength; I wait for you to rescue me, for you, O God, are my fortress. In his unfailing love, my God will stand with me. Psalm 59:9-10