Curious?

A lot of people have been asking a lot of questions lately regarding our adoption.  Most of them are answered here - somewhere - on our blog.  Three of them are not - or at least I don't think they are.  So, I thought I would answer them all in one blog post since I can think of nothing earth-shatteringly amazing to tell you :)

Question #1: What agency are you with?

Answer #1: Two agencies actually.

Question #2:  What do you mean?  (I know, these two could be combined but that would only be two questions then, wouldn't it?)

Answer #2:  Our homestudy agency is Lutheran Social Services of Wisconsin and Upper Michigan and our placement agency is Children's Home Society and Family Services of Minnesota.

Question #3: Are you trying for a girl?

Answer #3:  No, we are leaving that up to the Ethiopian orphanage and government along with our agencies and ultimately, it is all up to God.  Are we hoping for a girl is a totally different question :)

Adoptive Families the Norm for Christian Families

So I'm reading the book "Passing On the Faith," by Merton P. Strommen and Richard A. Hardel in preparation for a class I'm going to teach at Concordia University- Wisconsin (pretty good read, by the way... if you're at all involved in family ministry or in ensuring that the children of your congregation are raised in the faith).  I'm not very far into it yet, but the first chapter talks a lot about how strong, life-changing families need to build and maintain two key relationship- a strong family relationship and a strong relationship with God.  The argument is that these relationships are two sides of the same coin and that the church needs to help families to encourage and support this sort of faith formation in the home.  The chapter then goes on to try and define what family is (you have to decide on what family "is" before you can try and address how to help it!).  It was in this context, then, that I came across this throwaway paragraph that speaks strongly to the notion of adoptive familes as normative for the definition of a Christian family:

As the first and most basic community, the family acts as a model for other, larger faith-learning communities. Diana Garland, director of the Family Ministry Project located at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, in Kentucky, defines family. According to her, the model of family that Jesus endorses is the adoptive family. The last act of Jesus' earthly ministry recorded in the Gospel of John enacts that adoptive model. Jesus turns to his mother and says, "Woman, behold your son." Then turning to the beloved disciple he says, "Behold your mother." The Church follows Christ by ensuring that no one in the family of faith is familyless- everyone is adopted into the family."                                        (revised edition,  2008,  p.23).

Not only do I agree wholeheartedly with this quote from Diana Garland, but I think it strikes right to the heart of what Maggie and I wish to do.  Although I believe Garland's intention was to state that the congregation itself functions as a family of believers, thereby ensuring that no one in the congregation be "familyless," still I think it speaks to our domestic families as well.  After all, it seems pretty clear that God is calling Christians to reach out in Christ-like love to many types of needy people- orphans being (if not foremost) at least prominent in that group.

God is speaking to His people through His Word, calling us to love one another as Christ has loved us (1 John 4:19),  the question for us is: are we listening?

Ethiopian Museums

So, I kind of have a new job.  I am now an intern at the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum and it is amazing...but this also means that I have less time for the adoption.  While it has been difficult not to focus on the adoption and all that goes with it, I know I have to get this internship out of the way before we bring our baby home.  So, I am an arts manager for the next 12-13 weeks.  In light of my current job I wanted to bring to your attention the following -- nothing very exciting but it is something to do with two things I love -- art and Ethiopia.  The online arts journal I read features a collection of news stories and blogs on art and culture.  The following link is a short blog about the loss of funds for Ethiopian museums due to budget cuts by other museums around the world...in this case Chicago's Field Museum.  www.artsjournal.com/culturegrrl/2009/01/skeletal_budget_cut_no_lucy_fo.html

Passports and Adoption Paperwork

Greetings!  So, we are still waiting on one background check (Marathon County Sheriff's Department).  Hopefully, they get it in soon.  It was the only background check I had to pay for and it is the only one that took longer than a week!  Grrrr.  While we are waiting for that - and while I have some "free" time on my hands - I am getting my passport application ready.  That's right...I've never had a passport.  I'm old enough to remember when you didn't need a passport to cross the Mexican border :)  So, I am filling out my application - which is quite exciting by the way - and getting the needed fees, proof of identity, proof of citizenship and all that wonderful stuff together.  Then it is on to Matthew's renewal application.  The picture on his old passport is AWESOME!  Ask him -- wait, ask me and I will show it to you.  

Melkam Genna!

Happy Christmas (Melkam Gena) to you all!

According to Christian Orthodox tradition Christmas falls on January 7th.  A little less than half the population in Ethiopia belongs to the Ethiopian Orthodox Christian Church.  Christmas in Ethiopia is called Lidet (or Leddat) and is not the religious and secular festival that it is in the West.  On Christmas Eve, January 6, the city is crowded with pilgrims and tourists from all parts of the world.  The people remain outdoors all night, praying and chanting.   On January 7, the Ethiopian Christmas known as Ganna is celebrated.  The word Ganna is used interchangeably with the word Christmas, to mean the birth of Jesus Christ (Leddat).  Traditionally, young men played a game similar to hockey, called genna, on this day, and now Christmas has also come to be known by that name.  The preparation of the feast is an important part of the day in Ethiopia.  A typical Ethiopian feast for the Christmas meal includes a main course, such as doro wat  ( a spicy chicken stew), injera (a flat round bread) and homemade wine or beer.  The injera is used to scoop and eat the food, thereby replacing ordinary utensils.   Gift giving in an Ethiopian Christmas celebration is a very small part of this ceremony.   Children, if they receive gifts, usually receive simple presents such as clothing.