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

On a mission...

I read a book years ago called “Living a Purpose-Full Life”. The first section of the book discusses creating a unique mission statement for your life. It really resonated with me. At the time I was working on my MBA, learning about missions, goals, values, objectives, etc. for business-related projects. Why not also have a mission to guide my own personal endeavors?

But coming up with a personal mission statement was more difficult than I expected. How do you narrow down all of your thoughts and interests into one brief statement? But part of the process outlined in the book was “data collection.” What is your personality type? What are your passions? What unique experiences have already shaped your life? What are your spiritual gifts? When do you feel happiest? And so on…

When I started thinking through all of those questions (i.e., collecting my data), I began to see patterns in my life. So while sitting in my Cincinnati dentist office with a red pen and a torn envelope, I wrote down a “draft” mission statement. I fully intended to go back and tweak it at a later date. I would love for it to have more sophisticated wording. But every time I’ve revisited it since that day, I feel like it’s good just the way it is! Divine inspiration at the dentist office back in 2002, I guess.

“Enhance appreciation of God through:

-          Artistic expression

-          Acceptance of different cultures

-          Encouraging confidence in the gifts God gave us”

It is just broad enough that it sums up how I wanted to live 15 years ago, now and moving forward. And the great thing is, it has helped me to make difficult decisions over the years. When I’m considering something, I can see how it compares to my mission to decide if it’s something that my time and energy would be best spent on. I’m a “yes” girl, so falling back on my mission statement helps me filter out what I should not be saying yes to!

It's affirming that when I’ve felt called to do big things, they have all been consistent with my mission statement. For example, my mission trips to China and Nigeria. Both trips were focused on providing aid to children – in China it was working in an orphanage, in Nigeria it was working on plans for a hospital. So I felt like the trips would hit #2 and #3 on my statement… but on BOTH trips, I got there and was asked “do you paint?” I ended up spending my time in China painting murals on bedroom walls in the orphanage. And I spent my time in Nigeria painting murals in a new daycare facility being built on the hospital campus. I'll admit, for a brief moment I was caught up in negative thoughts about painting not being the most important work for each trip… but at the end of the day, I used my gifts to illustrate God’s word and encourage others. Definitely important work and definitely aligned with who God made me to be!

   

            

You’re probably a step ahead of me and see how our current journey fits with my personal mission. Adopting internationally hits on the encouraging and diversity prongs of my statement. More affirmation that we’re heading just where God wants us to go…

I bring all of this up because we’re at the stage in our process where we are starting to raise the remaining adoption funds. Thinking through this has been a challenge for Chad and I because we really dislike fundraisers. J We’re been working through what type of fundraising best fits us, our skills, etc. More to come on all of that, but for the time being I am excited to announce our first fundraising effort!

I am going to be hosting monthly craft/art classes. Woo hoo! I LOVE crafting… and I know all of you do too. Even those of you who say you aren’t good at it… you can be good at it with a little inspiration!! So look for upcoming invitations and e-mail me feedback… feedback on crafts you would like to try, on when is the best time to meet, etc. (And if you already meet with a group of women – Bible Study, moms groups, etc. and want me to plan a craft night specifically for your group, let me know!!!)