Praying for our friends!

Our dear friends, Bart & Janell Rinkenberger, have been in the process of adopting a precious baby girl from Ethiopia also. They started the process a little before us & amazingly our girls are about the same age & were in the same orphanage in rural Ethiopia together (we think they were just 2 beds apart). Our girls got transferred to the foster home in Addis about the same time & now they are awaiting their 2nd Court Date. Please pray for them, the process & everything else that needs to go smoothly through our night time Thurs. night & they will find out their results on Friday. Keep updated on their blog at http://janellrink.blogspot.com/ and thank you for your prayers!!!!!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day, Daddy all the way from Ethiopia!

Grandpa Knobloch with the boys

Our 2 living great-grandpa's above & below (Bahler & Blume)

3 generations of Blume boys..Grandpa Blume & Great-Grandpa Blume

Dad with his boys

This is a special tribute to Brian, as I think back on 11 years of marriage, 7 years of parenting together ...I have become more amazed at the blessing he is to each of us!

He is my very, very best friend, has so much fun playing all kinds of sports with the kids in the backyard & driveway, he is the chief-tooth-puller, Mr. Fix-it around here, "gross bug killer", scholar, Sunday School teacher, the organization system of our home, always up for something fun (if we have our work done ;), he is bedtime Bible Story & prayer daddy, dishwasher unloader, bill payer, & mostly the most wonderful Godly stability that a family could want! And now as our family grows, he is so excited to be a daddy to a precious baby girl...he will do wonderful at that also!

Brian and I are both so thankful for our dad's & grandpa's and the precious legacy that they have given us! May God bless each of these father's & the amazing role they play in our family's lives!

Meet our Daughter!!!

Ellyana Chernet Blume

She is ours (officially!) Our hearts are filled with so much joy & thankfulness, words can not begin to desribe. Thank you for your prayers, and ABOVE all we thank our God that has answered so faithfully & has blest our lives with this precious, precious girl!

We should be able to travel to get her the end of July-beginning of August! As soon as we get the "green light", we will schedule the trip!

Psalm 126:3 "Yes, the Lord has done AMAZING things for us! What joy!"

Did we mention this is a Roller Coaster?

After my post about "discouragement" setting in, we got word late on Fri. evening that the one department that is running behind, was closing for "training" for this week. So all weekend we were "coming to terms" in our minds with the Court Date not being June 9.
Monday AM...surprisingly, we got an e-mail that training was over & all looked good for our Court Date today.
Tuesday AM...we get the call saying our date actually got postponed & the judge mercifully granted our Court Date to be tomorrow (or actually sometime during the night tonight & we will find out tomorrow)
So the "miracle" we have been praying for may actually be in progress! We are hopeful & thankful & VERY prayerful! Please join with us in prayer for each piece coming together! What reminders we have had of God at work!

Can We Hope?

We were rescheduled for our next Court Date, June 9 (which is coming right up). The constant reports out of Ethiopian Adoptions right now...are that 1 department is very far behind & cases continue to "not pass" or are extremely slowed down. Discouragement has set in.

Right now, it seems like it would take a "miracle" to pass court on Tuesday. So we can pray for it & even need to pray "believing", but with human eyes, it does not look promising.

Here are a few verses, that I have been trying to ingrain in my mind through these days.

Acts 2:25, 26, 28 (NLT)
I know the Lord is always with me, I will not be shaken, for He is right beside me. No wonder my heart is filled with joy, and my mouth shouts His praises! My body rests in hope. You have shown me the way of life, and You will give me wonderful joy in Your presence.