Ethiopian Art Night and Lecture

We are just getting home from such an awesome night. Sojourn Community Church had an Ethiopian Dinner/Art Exhibit/Lecture tonight. There was some beautiful art and photography. A few of the families from our agency that have adopted children were also there. All the kids were wearing their beautiful, Ethiopian traditional outfits. So cute!
As soon an we walked in, I felt a wave of emotion. It was so wonderful smelling the food, smelling the coffee, seeing the art, and meeting local Ethiopians. The whole experience made both Justin and I feel closer to Chera and Kenenissa.
The speaker was a missionary who grew up in Ethiopia. His talk was on Ethiopian Christianity and it's influence on art, music, and life. During the talk, he mentioned an Ethiopian king named Kaleb. The king was very instrumental in the spread of Christianity in Ethiopia and was a wise and discerning leader. What is wild, is that we were planning on giving Kenenissa the name Caleb. It really made us happy that the name we chose to give Kenenissa is both important to us as Christians and to their Ethiopian culture. I think that we are probably going to go with the spelling with a "K."
After the talk, we met the speaker to find out more about King Kaleb. We didn't plan on finding out anything about our boys, but we found out some great things about their names. In Ethiopia, names are very important. All names have beautiful and thoughtful meanings. We have not been able to find out the names of the boys from anyone! We have asked 5 Ethiopians, and none of them knew. Considering there are 72 languages in Ethiopia, I guess that is not that strange! I have searched and searched the internet, but have found nothing. When telling the missionary about the boys and without asking him, he immediately told us the boys name meanings! Chera means "Grace" and Kenenissa translates to "one who is taken care of by the community." A pretty nice ending to the night that I did not expect. I am including some pics of our night.

Lifesong

We have been approved by Lifesong! This means that through Louisville Orphan Care Initiative we will receive a matching grant of $4,000. Now, we need to raise $4,000 to receive the grant. We are planning a fundraiser in August to raise funds. More info to come!

Learning more about our Boys

Through pictures, video and friends we are learning so much about our boys. As I previously mentioned, some friends of our were just in Ethiopia picking up their little girl. We have found out from them that the youngest, calls himself Kenessisa. We have heard and seen so many variations on his name, I think since that is what he calls himself, then we will stick with that. Hollie said that he is very active and is the "leader" of the toddler room. Hollie said that Chera was quiet and shy.
Our agency director's husband, Pat, has just returned from a trip to Ethiopia. He returned with some great pictures and video of the boys. These pictures show them playing with each other and loving on each other. In the video they are running, jumping, and playing ball. I can probably cancel my gym membership with the workout they are going to give me everyday!
I wish I could post the video and the pictures! Hopefully we will have news on a court date soon!

USCIS Approval!!

We received our approval to adopt from the USCIS(US citizenship and Immigration Services) today! We were fingerprinted for this and applied back in February. There was a small little glitch in our application, so thankfully it has been taken care of. Technically, we didn't have to have this until we traveled, but it is quite a relief that is is taken care of.

The only thing that we are waiting on now is our court date in Ethiopia. It is very uncertain when this could happen. At the least it will probably be a month till they tell us the date. If we were to pass court on the first try, we would go pick up the boys in 6 weeks.

We just got some fabulous pictures of the boys from our friend Hollie. She recently picked up her little girl Maddie from Ethiopia. She is a photographer, so it just doesn't get any better! I was on an adoption high for a couple days after getting the pictures. They are such beautiful boys! I think my favorite picture is of Hollie holding Kenenissa. It made it so real! I wish I could post the pics for everyone, but we can't until we pass court. If you see me , ask to see the pics!

Primal Scream Theology from Russell Moore on Vimeo.

Justin - Here is a sermon from Highview. Some friends of our who go there suggested we check it out. This sermon really touched us and we hope you will view it.

Watch Lightning's Adoption Story

Lightning Ahlers - My Adoption Story from The Ahlers Family on Vimeo.

This is a video of a young man that we met at our first adoption conference. Hearing their story planted the seed for us to adopt from Africa and we are very thankful. We hope you enjoy this video and that it blesses you.

Camp Freedom

Justin and I have just returned from Camp and are completely exhausted! Totally worth it though! Camp Freedom is a weekend camp through the disabilities ministry of our church. We have been going for 4 years now. Justin actually asked me out on a date after camp 3 years ago, so it is a pretty special place for us.
We had such a great time. We swam, played basketball, sang, had smores around the campfire, and learned about our unique abilities that God has given each of us. Our team was so great. It is so much fun seeing the campers year after year.
On Saturday some friends, Brent and Holly, were coming home with their new little girl from Ethiopia so we took a few hours off camp to go to the airport. It was so great! It was so neat seeing her with her new brothers and sisters. While in Ethiopia, Brent and Holly went to visit our boys in the orphanage. They were able to play with them and take lots of pictures. Our boys were in a different orphanage than their daughter, so it was quite humbling that they took time out of their trip to check on our boys. I can't wait to see the pictures!!
Time for bed now. Early I know, but didn't get much sleep this weekend!