crocs

Well, we are going to give it a go...we are going to do a “Croc drive” with our softball organization.  Anna and Kate sent out an email to everyone in the softball program asking them to donate Crocs or croc-like shoes for the children at Hannah’s Hope.  Our social worker informed us that Crocs are very useful shoe for the orphans as they protect their toes, can be washed off,   with stand wear and tear and can therefore be passed down from child to child.  We are releasing the worry of how we will get all the shoes to Ethiopia with us in October and relying on faith.  As my mom always says, “it will all work out”.   I feel so crazed right now that I should make a t-shirt that says “it will all work out”  as a constant reminder--ha! Even in the middle of all the Geary soccer, softball, volleyball, choir, orchestra scheduling mania, Mekdes weighs heavy on my heart.  She is alone at the orphanage wondering why she is there.  Even when Shawn and I visit her in October for our first court date, she will not be told we are her future parents.  For the three days we are going to visit her at Hannah’s Hope, she will not know we will be family soon.  I understand the reasoning, wanting to protect her from the possibility of our adoption not being finalized.  It is nonetheless, heartbreaking in some ways.  After our first court date and all the paperwork is finalized, then Mekdes will be told about us and given a photo album of our family/home that I have made and sent to our agency already.  I do wonder what this revelation will be like for her.  Will she be happy to see us on our second trip to Ethiopia?  Will she be angry?  My mind is racing, but I must go pick up Emme from play practice.....

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october travel

We will be traveling for our first trip to Ethiopia in October.  It is on this trip that we will get to spend time with Mekdes as well as have our first court appointment.  It is both exciting and overwhelming to think that there may be a light at the end of this adoption tunnel.  So many things are going through my head and heart at the moment. Should organize a shoe drive for the orphans at Hannah’s Hope?  If I do and it is successful, how will I get all the shoes to the children?  For whatever the reason, I know you cannot ship to the orphanage.  What kind of things should we bring to do with Mekdes on the days we get to spend time with her?  What items should we purchase to bring home that will most remind Mekdes of her beautiful country, Ethiopia?  What food can I bring that Shawn will eat as I know he is not the most adventurous eater and the thought of Ethiopian food can be a bit intimidating.  How will we make phone calls to the girls back home?  Will we be able to send pictures/movies via the internet?  My list of questions goes on and on!  There are another pile of questions when it comes to leaving our four girls with my folks for the week.  With four active schedules, I am not sure how my parents  are going to manage the chaos that is our home on a day to day basis.  I do know that everything will work out and that this will be a grand adventure  and momentous meeting that will forever change our lives. IT WILL ALL WORK OUT!!!!!  

sticker and a sucker

This is a recent picture of Mekdes that we were fortunate enough to have sent to us.  Margo loves that she is eating a sucker and has a sticker on her forehead!  

faith

For two years our lives had become  adoption seminars, on-line course work, home studies, blood work/tests, background checks, health physicals, interviews, governmental paperwork and applications and we were still no closer to finding our Ethiopian daughter than when we started.  Shawn and I were beginning to think that perhaps it was time for our family to move on.  Perhaps we were being called to help the children of Ethiopia in other ways.  It was about that time that we were reminded to have faith.  While driving through the prairies of Nebraska on our way to a softball tournament in Colorado, my cell phone rang.  It was our social worker calling to tell us about a little girl who had just come in to Hannah's Hope.  She was younger than our 6-8 year age parameters, but they wanted to tell us her story and see if the Gearys were interested in thinking outside of the box.  Shawn and I were in a minivan full of four girls, luggage, crushed goldfish everywhere, softball equipment, pillows, IPODs, etc., and were in no way thinking of Ethiopia.  We asked our social worker, Julie, to email all the information they had on this little girl  to us and we would look everything over that night (hoping, of course,  we would find a hotel with wifi in Nebraska!).  As luck would have it, in Ogalala, NE there was a hotel with wifi and we were finally able to put a face and name to the special child we were being introduced to.  Her name was Mekdes and she was beautiful!  Her story was tragic as is so many of the orphans stories in Ethiopia.  They said she was around 3 years of age, but there was a good chance she was older than that.   Her father died of malaria the year before and as she was the youngest of four children  her mother wasn't able to care for her anymore.  Her mother and her older siblings walked for days from southern Ethiopia to the capital city to take Mekdes to the orphanage.  Imagine her confusion when her family walked away and left her there!  Imagine her mother's heartbreak at having to do so!  What should we do?  This would change everything!  Two years of dreaming and hoping had come to this moment and we were in a hotel full of softball players!  I tried to call Julie the next day, but there was no cell phone reception as we were getting closer to the Rockies.  I won't go through all the frazzled details of how we found moments to talk and cry between softball games  and come to a decision that would impact our family and this child for the rest of our lives.  Suffice it to say, we finally had a blessed name and face to put with our Ethiopian daughter....MEKDES!  Our daughter's name is Mekdes...

How our journey began...

In January of 2009, after looking at a family photo, I thought we had room in our hearts for one more.  So with Shawn’s support, we began the process of adopting a little girl from Ethiopia.  There are over 4 million orphans in Ethiopia.  We decided we wanted to find a girl between 6-8 years of age.   So many families choose to adopt the babies and toddlers, but since we had done that four times over, we thought we would look for an older child. This last year has been a journey of paperwork, phone conferences, seminars, and classes.  All of which will bring us closer to finding a young girl to love. It looks as if we are still six months away from finding our fifth daughter.  Until then we will continue to pray that she is safe and we’ll hold her close in our hearts.