Guess What?!

We've got a court date!!

February 9th!

We're still waiting to hear if we will travel once at the court date and then again to bring him home or if Anna will be allowed to stay the 6-8 weeks between court and embassy. Apparently there is a meeting tomorrow where this possibility will be discussed. We'd appreciate your prayers - we're really hoping Anna can stay.

New Details about Lil' Man!

So....we were hoping that our next post would be announcing our court date, but we STILL don't know when that will be. We've been told to expect it to be in mid-February, but we're hoping and praying for something sooner! We can't wait to get our hands on our little man!

We did get some exciting news yesterday, though. A family from Baton Rouge is in Ethiopia right now for their court date. They delivered a gift bag to Eli for us and sent some pics! This made our day since the most recent pics we had were from August. He's grown so much - definitely looking like a little boy and not a baby! Too bad we can't post pictures. He. is. adorable.

Here's the email we got yesterday (with my comments inserted):

Eli is a DOLL (obviously).  A VERY coordinated doll I might add (whew).  Jon will have an athlete on his hands I do believe (Jon hasn't stopped doing his happy dance).  AND he is a LOVE.  He is engaging, warm, and very interactive.

Eli loved the gifts. His absolute favorite was the blue camera which he carried around for the 2 hrs we were there only surrendering it when his hands were too full to balance it all (yep, best parents ever).  S went through the whole 'book' with him (despite the Georgia T-shirt (Go Dawgs!)...Geaux Tigers -- LOL).  WE HAVE VIDEO! (CANNOT.WAIT.)  Actually we have a couple of short videos of him.  They are too difficult to send from here due to the size.  All of the kids were intrigued by the recorded reading.  They gathered/crowded/surrounded us while we gave him your gifts .

I figured this out about him-  He loves balls and interactive toys.  He catches on quickly (hope so - we'll be teaching him his third language! Is your toddler trilingual??) and isn't too reluctant to share (unless it is his new blue camera LOL).  Chu Chu dressed him up in his new SEC duds which fit beautifully.  

Eli has a BELLY on him (yay for weight gain! thanks for your prayers!)!!  He may be able to wear a size up in shirt now so even that much bigger by the time you travel.   This is something I always wanted to know- WHAT SIZE do I BUY?!  

Will fill you in more later.   Ask me any questions and I will answer them the best I can.  He sat in my lap a LOT.  

Eli is going to be a beautiful addition to the Palmer family.  You are blessed.

Yep. We are blessed! Here's a snip-it of our little linebacker!

That Changes Everything.

For the past year and a half we've been thinking about orphans. Praying for orphans. Reading about orphans. Researching the stats about orphans. Advocating for orphans.

Even though we've known the worldwide orphan crisis is real - it was abstract. The shear numbers were overwhelming. The problem seemed too big. The solution seemed allusive.

Then on Friday, November 5th we were introduced to a little boy. And that changed everything.

The "worldwide orphan crisis" was narrowed down to one little boy.

It is no longer abstract - he is a precious 2 and half year old little guy with curly hair.

The problem of orphan will soon be met with the solution of son. And that changes everything.

We couldn't be more excited to be able to put a name with a face. We're ecstatic and humbled and that God chose us to parent this little guy. Unfortunately we can't post his photo online, but his sweet eyes should give you an idea of how cute he is. We love him already -  and that changes everything.

24k

Everyday 24,000+ children die from poverty related issues like:

malaria
tuberculosis
unclean drinking water
malnutrition


24,000. Everyday. And we are adopting 1 (2 if we're lucky).


What about all the others? The financial cost of international adoption is significant. There are agency fees and paperwork fees and plane tickets to be bought. It adds up fast. Some argue that the money spent to adopt one child could be used to feed many. And they are right. $30,000 would go a long way in Ethiopia.


But just because a child is fed doesn't mean all his needs are met. Children thrive in families - where they feel loved and secure. A mosquito net may protect from malaria, but it doesn't nurture or teach.


The process may be slow, but we are committed to it. So we wait - not just with a house, health insurance and a pantry full of food, but with arms ready to embrace, words ready to encourage, love ready to give, and basketball drills ready to be taught (seriously).

But, we can't forget about the 24,000.


While we've been saving vigorously for the adoption, we wanted to give to those around the world still in need and we wanted to make sure we didn't forget. God wanted to make sure we didn't forget. And so he gave us rice nights.





One night a week, instead of a full-fledged meal, we eat only rice. It reminds us of the millions around the world who don't have enough to eat. It prompts us to pray for them. And since rice is so inexpensive, we save the money we would have spent on dinner and give it those in need. It's a win - win.

This "journey" has been so much more than we ever bargained for. We're seeing things we've never seen and being challenged in ways we've never before experienced. It's definitely a growing process - complete with growing pains. But it's good.

Explaining "The Wait"

We have officially been "waiting" for 7 months now (that's AFTER our paperwork set on desk in South Georgia for 3 months). My mom called the other day and proclaimed that she couldn't believe this process had "already taken 2 years!"

Yeah. She's not the best at math. But mostly I just think she's just eager to be a grandmother (wow, that makes her sound old). This is the woman who bought a crib 2 weeks after we told her we were adopting.

So, if there are are 4.5 million orphans in Ethiopia alone (and there are, according to UNICEF), what's with the "wait"?

Well, there are several reasons.

Just like we had to spend several months (4, to be exact) collecting paperwork, each child must have correct paperwork, too. It's a pain, but it's necessary. The paperwork documents the child's life up to that point and how he or she became an orphan. Paperwork is important to preventing child-trafficking. (I know, it seems really crazy that child trafficking happens when there are so many children in the world truly in need...) Anyway, for our paperwork - I worked like a mad-woman - drove all over creation to pick up documents (had family members drive all over creation to pick up documents) - and it took 4 long months. Imagine social workers and orphanage directors attempting to gather the proper paperwork for children in their facilities. Internet certainly isn't reliable, multiple languages are involved, children often come from remote areas, etc, etc, etc.

Courts in Ethiopia - the ones that process adoptions - close for 2 months out of the year for rainy season. So NOTHING happens during that time. And, when rainy season has passed, there is a log jam in the courts.

Ethiopia (like any country) has limited resources to put towards intercountry adoption - there are a limited number of workers at the various Ethiopian agencies responsible for processing adoptions and apparently they only have 24 hours in their day, too....bummer.

Also - we're adopting a baby. There are many, many waiting children in Ethiopia. Paperwork is already in order. They are just waiting on a family. We are adopting a baby for various reasons. He will be our first child and we thought it would probably be best to start with an infant who wouldn't know that we don't know what we're doing. Let's be real, a 7 year old would OWN us.

So, that's the deal with "THE WAIT" - hopefully it will end soon!

Break The Cycle

I spent last night hanging out with two 16 year old girls. That's not so unusual for me - the wife of a youth minister. But this was different. We didn't hang out at Starbucks or go to a movie.

We hung out in their prison cell.

It wasn't K's first visit to Rivarde Juvenile Detention Center. She'd been many times before, almost always for fighting. H found herself locked up and awaiting trial as an accessory to murder. She showed us the newspaper clipping that reported the story.

K is the oldest of her mother's children, but the youngest of her father's children. It is a fragmented family. While she's serving her sentence, her 6 month old son is being kept by his father's family. The cycle has already begun to repeat itself.

H lived with her grandmother. She has no idea how long she will be incarcerated. The 17 year old girl who committed the murder has already been tried as an adult - and found guilty.

Both girls have hopes and dreams. They desire a different life. But somewhere, somehow the cycle has to be broken.

That's why First Baptist New Orlean's Rivarde Team goes week in and week out. We know that a relationship with Christ can break the vicious cycle. Christ is the Ultimate Cycle-Breaker. He came because humanity was stuck in a sin-sacrifice-sin-sacrifice cycle. True repentance had been replaced by rote ceremonies and sacrifices. He saved us from such drudgery. And because of Him, we have crossed from death into life. 

God forgives, reconciles, restores and makes all things new. Pray for K and H - that they will allow Christ to break the cycle and make them new. Pray for the Rivarde team who speaks words of life into the lives of incarcerated teenagers each week.

FBNO - Fire Up the Pastor Search Committee...

Fire up the Pastor Search Committee...Not sure he'll be with us much longer....