Busy, busy, busy ...

Sorry to have not posted in a while. It's been busy around the George household. Two weeks ago Josh fell and got a huge goose egg over his right eye (which has now turned into a black eye) as well as a bad gash inside his right ear. We thought he was going to need stitches. It was a clean cut and has healed nicely using Derma Bond. I love our pediatricians office as we were able to take him there to have all this treated, instead of the ER or urgent care.

Last weekend, both kids and then Mike were sick with a bad stomach virus. We had to cancel Josh's birthday cookout. Calgon!!!!

The ministry has been just as busy. Two weeks ago we hosted a "Post Adoption - What to Expect from a Medical Perspective" seminar. Our pediatrician was the guest speaker. We've also had some exciting developements around a potential grant fund that I hope to be able to blog in more detail about later. This weekend, I will be attending the 4th Annual Summit for the Christian Alliance for Orphans in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. This Alliance was formed by Family Life, Focus on the Family and Shaohannah's Hope. There will be many key leaders in the adoption and orphan care arena in attendance. I have learned several people, that I have met over the last year or so, from NC will also be attending. I am excited to attend and come home recharged for God.

This past Saturday, we held a social at Pullen Park. It was a beautiful day. We met a family who just came home two weeks ago with their two baby boys from Ethiopia. They are beautiful children. Every day we become more encouraged and inspired about our decision to go to Ethiopia to adopt. We know that God has called us to do this. I am so anxious to get started on the paperwork.

About Ethiopia

Ethiopian Flag


Ethiopia is a magnificent ancient land with a host of modern problems. Deforestation, drought, and soil degradation have caused crop failures and famine during the past few decades. It has been a period of great turmoil. Seven million people face starvation. Forty percent of rural households do not produce enough food or income to meet their basic nutritional needs.

Unique among African countries, the ancient Ethiopian monarchy maintained its freedom from colonial rule with the exception of the 1936-41 Italian occupation during World War II.

Africa’s 10th largest country, Ethiopia lies in the northeast region known as the Horn of Africa, just north of the Equator. It spreads across more than 1.2 million sq. km of savannah, desert and mountain highlands. Addis Ababa is the Ethiopian capital.

Axum is the oldest city founded around the second century BC. This ancient settlement is frequently referred to as “the sacred city of the Ethiopians”. It is a site of many remarkable monuments attesting to the great antiquity of religious expression in Ethiopia. Theory has it that Axum is the last resting place of the Ark of the Covenant which is considered the most precious and the most sacred object of Old Testament times. The most famous Ethiopian river is the Blue Nile which runs a distance of 1,450 km. Ethiopia’s Great Rift Valley is the only geological feature of the world visible from the Moon.

Ethiopia is home to a rich cultural mosaic due to its 80 different languages and nearly 200 dialects. Amharic is the official language. English is the most widely spoken foreign language and is taught in all secondary schools. The cultures and customs of Ethiopia are as colorful and varied as its many landscapes.


Ethiopia along with Liberia, was one of two places in Africa which was never colonized by European powers despite colonial interests and designs on Ethiopia in the “Scramble for Africa”. The first wild coffee beans were taken from the province of Kaffa in Ethiopia to Arabia more than 500 years ago.


Ethiopia has 4.6 million orphans, one of the largest numbers of orphans in the world, and of these, 1.2 million are AIDS orphans. Malaria remains as one of the major causes of morbidity and contributes to 47% of children’s deaths. The generally poor health of Ethiopians as a result of drought, malnutrition, limited healthcare, and other infectious diseases has caused HIV to progress rapidly to AIDS.

The word Ethiopia appears in the King James Bible version 45 times. When the word Ethiopia is used in the bible, it most of the time refers to all the land south of Egypt. Sheba is believed to have been Queen of Ethiopia and it is through her, Ethiopian rulers claim royalty.

YouTube - Voice Of Truth

Voice of Truth by Casting Crowns - My FAVORITE song

I break down in tears every time I hear this song. It speaks directly to my heart.

Oh what I would do to have
The kind of faith it takes to climb out of this boat I'm in
Onto the crashing waves

To step out of my comfort zone
To the realm of the unknown where Jesus is
And He's holding out his hand

But the waves are calling out my name and they laugh at me
Reminding me of all the times I've tried before and failed
The waves they keep on telling me
Time and time again. 'Boy, you'll never win!'
"You'll never win"

But the voice of truth tells me a different story
And the voice of truth says "Do not be afraid!"
And the voice of truth says "This is for My glory"
Out of all the voices calling out to me
I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth

Oh what I would do to have
The kind of strength it takes to stand before a giant
With just a Sling and a stone
Surrounded by the sound of a thousand warriors
Shaking in their armor
Wishing they'd have had the strength to stand

But the giant's calling out my name and he laughs at me
Reminding me of all the times I've tried before and failed
The giant keeps on telling me
Time and time again "boy, you'll never win!
"You'll never win"

But the voice of truth tells me a different story
And the voice of truth says "Do not be afraid!"
And the voice of truth says "This is for My glory"Out of all the voices calling out to me
I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth

But the stone was just the right size
To put the giant on the ground
And the waves they don't seem so high
From on top of them looking down
I will soar with the wings of eagles
When I stop and listen to the sound of Jesus
Singing over me

But the voice of truth tells me a different story
And the voice of truth says "Do not be afraid!"
And the voice of truth says "This is for My glory"
Out of all the voices calling out to me
I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth

I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth

I will listen and believe to the voice of truth

And I will listen to You...You are....

God Plants the Seeds ....

Last July, as we started to plan our ministry's annual Adoption Seminar and Expo, God started to place upon my heart that we needed to offer a breakout session to address questions and concerns about adopting outside of your skin color. We were connected with Rebecca Kepley and she hosted one of the 40 minute breakout sessions. As I was busy overseeing the entire event, I did not have an opportunity to attend her session. Later in the year, while putting together the 2008 calendar of events for the ministry, God again pressed upon my heart to offer a few more of these seminars as stand alone seminars throughout the year. So, again I contacted Rebecca and she was more than willing to assist with these. We held the first in March of 2008 and I was in attendance. It was an amazing 2 hour seminar packed full of helpful information. Rebecca and her husband have a precious little girl who is bi-racial and adopted domestically. They are now waiting for a court date to go and complete the adoption of their little boy from Ethiopia.

Also, last April, at our annual social at Pullen Park, we met the Mestas family. The have three biological children, 2 twin boys adopted domestically and were in the process of adopting three children from Ethiopia. The Mestas adoption journey is an amazing testimony of faith and we asked them to share it at our Adoption Seminar & Expo in September. Over the next few months we got to know the Mestas and followed their adoption journey through their blog. In October we attended a small fundraiser luncheon to benefit Shaohannah's Hope, an adoption grant fund started by Stephen Curtis and Mary Beth Chapman. Stephen was in town to perform at the State Fair and so he performed at the luncheon for us. The Mestas received their referral of twin baby girls and a sibling brother in August. Over the next three months, it was very exciting to read the daily updates to their blog. The week of Thanksgiving, they traveled to Ethiopia, to bring their children home. (the same time we brought Emily home in 2004)

Late in 2007, I began to wonder if God was calling us to do more than just "promote" adopting outside your skin color. Maybe He was calling us to actually adopt outside our skin color. I pondered the thought often and would occasionally talk about it with Mike. In January, we went to meet the Mestas new children and in February we attended their new daughters 1st birthday.

One morning I was driving to work and thinking about a rainbow and how beautiful it is with all it's many colors. I thought about how boring it would be if a rainbow were all the same color. What a beautiful thing God created! I thought this was a good analogy of adopting outside your skin color. As I turned the corner, right smack in front of me was a gorgeous RAINBOW! It was an overcast day, no sunshine and no rain. The conditions were not good for such a wonderful rainbow, or any rainbow for that matter. God had placed that rainbow there in the sky at that moment to speak directly to me. He was telling me that THIS is what he had planned for us.

As I talked with Mike, over time, about adopting from Ethiopia it was hard for me to get a feel if he felt the same calling or not. Even after asking him at one point, he said he was not against it but had not yet felt the call the way I had. I told myself that this was a decision that we both needed to be in sync with. I thought to myself, if Mike does not want to go to Ethiopia, I will not push it. I mean, look at the two beautiful children we adopted from Russia. Why in the world would I have a problem going back to Russia to adopt two more! Russia would be "easy" for us. Easy in the sense that the process was familiar, the paperwork was familiar, the flights were familiar, etc. Just when I would get comfortable with the idea that we might not go to Ethiopia but back to Russia, God would start to work on me again. He would put people and circumstances in my path. "Easy" is not what God calls us to do. God does not call the equipped but equips the called.

In late March, Mike and I shared our testimony to our Sunday School class at church. Mike shared how God used adopting these orphans to show and give him purpose and meaning in his life and I shared about God's great provision for us with our miracle. It was an emotional day for ALL (Mike, Me and even our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ). I was really proud of Mike. He was so brave and really opened up and shared some very personal things in his life. It's amazing how supportive we can be of one another if we could only let down our guards and be more transparent with one another. On the ride home, as we reminisced about our testimony and talked about the possibility of going to Ethiopia, Mike asked what we were waiting on to make the final decision that our next children would be from Ethiopia. I told him that I was waiting for him to have the "calling". He said, then it's official. Gods wants us to go to Ethiopia to get our children and that is where we will go.

So, it is now official. We will go where God has called us to rescue and bring home our children from Ethiopia.

We will spend the next few months getting the house ready, start the paperwork in August, hope to have immigration approval by December, then go on the wait list and hopefully have our children home by summer of '09.

Sounds a bit planned out, I know! You know me! It's as planned as an adoption can be with the expectation for blips and delays. We are at the mercy of God's perfect timing. So, stay tuned for updates as we travel down this road.

Our Journey Begins - The Miracle

We knew we wanted to adopt two more children, we just did not know how we were going to accomplish it. That's where we were mistaken. We were not to accomplish anything. God was going to orchestrate this entire journey.

Even so, we felt overwhelmed at the journey ahead. There is so much to do to prepare our home for two more children. Additional bedroom sets, finishing off a bathroom, making additional storage in our attic since we would lose all our closet space. So much to be done, so much money needed to do it not to mention we had not even started saving for the actual adoption. We felt "stuck" at the starting line.

Here's where God steps in ....

Mike took off one Saturday morning to get out taxes done. We anticipated a slightly larger return this year with us filing both the Federal and State adoption tax credits from our sons adoption in 2007. However, we were sorely disappointed with our tax refund for 2004, even though we had the Federal adoption tax credit that year from our daughter's adoption. So, I was not expecting too much more than normal. After Mike left, I got down on my knees and prayed to God. I layed out for Him all the reasons why this next adoption seemed so unattainable. (as if He did not already know) I told Him that if this was His will, we needed Him to provide for us. After two adoptions in the last three years and now two children we were caring for, we just did not have the money. About an hour later, I sat down on the sofa with my kids. My son comes up to me with a children's bible story book, wanting me to read to them. I opened the book to the next to the last story and began to read.

Matthew 17:24-27

One day, a tax collector told Peter, Tell Jesus he needs to pay his taxes." So Peter went to find Jesus. Jesus already knew what Peter wanted before he spoke, so he told Peter what to do. "Go to the lake and catch a fish. Open it's mouth and you will find a coin. Take the coin to the tax collector. It will be enough to pay your taxes and mine."

Without even thinking, I said to my kids, "see God will always take care of us and provide what we need." I immediately dropped the book and made a quick exit into the next room. I was beside myself. God had just spoken to me through my children and this story. I apologized over and over again for being so doubtful and not trusting in Him. I felt so unworthy of His Love. Later that morning, Mike called to tell me he had finished up with the taxes and to guess how much our return was. $14,000 dollars!!! There was dead silence on my end of the phone. I could not speak I was trembling. I said to Mike, you do not understand. This is a MIRACLE! Through a broken voice, I began to explain to him the events that had transpired after he left the house that morning. I told him that God may as well be standing right here in our house with His hands held out and saying "I told you I would take care of you". This was an answer to prayer and what I call a "blatant miracle". We now have the funds we need to get the house ready, take care of the last of the debt from Josh's adoption and have a small amount left over to start the adoption fund for the next two.

God is so mighty and amazing! Why do we ever doubt Him? Why do we ever think that the things we accomplish and the things we possess are of our own doing. He deserves ALL the GLORY!