All Delighted People

A few weeks ago, our good friend Michael, who heads up the band All Delighted People (ADP), e-mailed Jon and me out of the blue about a concert ADP was planning at a bar in Deep Ellum.  He said: “You guys have always shown us great support, so we would like to donate whatever we make off of the door to you guys for your adoption.”

Wow!! God continues to amaze me through this super weird, stressful, roller coastery thing called international adoption.  We still need well over $20K to cover the costs of the adoption plus travel expenses to get our babes home, and I could so easily freak out.  But, I’m not.  I’m trusting the Lord, and I’m resting in the knowledge that He’s got this.  Little, random, out-of-the-blue blessings like this are all the proof I need.

Here’s a poor quality video of ADP at Prophet Bar (loud, crowded bar, recording on my iPhone, blah blah blah), but it gives you a little taste of ADP’s music.  They are GREAT–musically gifted, solid worship lyrics–you should download their album here (FREE!).  Thanks for the love, Michael, Kristen, Mishaal, Abby, Tommy, and Jon C!!

***Shout out to my husband, Jon, for the photos!

50 Years Later

"I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day...little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.
I have a dream today."

As we prepare to build our family, which will be all colors--black, white, and shades in between--Martin Luther King Jr.'s words, spoken 50 years ago (yesterday), are especially sweet to my soul.  

Let Freedom Ring, indeed.

Celebrating 6 Months at The Queen of Sheba

or, I LOVE TEJ.

Our dossier (giant packet full of our background/financial/personal/adoption info) arrived in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on Valentine's Day, which means that, as of last Wednesday, we have been on the waiting list for 6 months.  To celebrate being that much closer to bringing our babies home, we had dinner at The Queen of Sheba, one of Dallas' Ethiopian restaurants.  (I'm learning how to use my DSLR camera, so the pictures aren't the best. Don't hate.)

This is tej--Ethiopian honey wine. Basically the best drink ever.

Sambusa, a crispy pastry filled with meat

Instead of using utensils, Ethiopians tear off pieces of injera and use it to pick up their food.

The food is usually served family style, on a large piece of injera.  We had lamb, chicken, lentils prepared different ways, and veggies.

spicy and delicious!!

A copy of a famous painting depicting Ethiopia's Queen of Sheba visiting King Solomon in Israel.  There are several thousand Jewish Ethiopians who trace their heritage to a son Sheba and Solomon had together.

New Project

So, in my last post I mentioned a project I was working on, and it's finally ready! 

In recent months I found myself wanting to write about things that aren't adoption related. Whenever thoughts and feelings and ideas came bubbling up from my heart that didn't feel right for this space, they were channeled elsewhere, usually into notebooks or my poor husband's ears.  

I decided I needed a new blog, a space where I (and others--blogging is all about community, after all) could discuss struggles, experiences, and ideas that aren't necessarily adoption related. 

Thus, after loads of thought and prayer and with the help of two awesome web designers, CompletelyCaroline.com was born, a lifestyle blog where I will write about anything and everything from eating disorders to shopping your closet. 

I'm not abandoning Bringing Them In; I will continue to post updates and other adoption related stuff here, so I hope you'll stick around.

#63...

YOU GUYS!!!  Our agency matched 19 precious little ones with their families this month, and we moved 16 spots on the waiting list! Moving 16 spots in one month is pretty much unheard of in the world of international adoption. At this rate, it looks like we might be getting our referral next summer or early next fall. Insane.

I've been staying at my parents' house the past several days as my mom recovers from pretty intense surgery. It's been wonderful to spend time with my parents and have lots of couch and movie time with my mom.  This little time out has also provided me with some much-needed time to work on a new project I'm pretty excited about... details coming soon.  

#79

This is the first time I've clicked the "new post" button in a long time... my apologies, folks (I've always thought saying "folks" was super cheesy, but sometimes it just kinda fits, ya know?).  

So, I complained for a long time about waiting to wait, and wanting to just be waiting already.  We've officially been waiting since Valentine's Day, when our dossier landed in Ethiopia.  We started on the list as #98.  On the first of each month we receive an e-mail with a list of the referrals (in case you've forgotten, a referral is when a child is matched with a family) that were given the previous month, along with our new number.  As of July 1st, we are #79.  There have already been well over a dozen referrals this month, which means we should be somewhere in the 60s when we receive our new number on August 1st.  We're moving down the list way faster than we thought we would, but we still probably have at least a year to go.

Some days, I forget we're even doing this... as awful as that may sound.  Although I keep up with our agency's facebook group daily and make statements like "when the babies come..." it still seems like this abstract, far off thing.  Kind of like dreaming about your wedding when you're 8.  

STUCK Fundraiser

For all of you DFW area friends, we will be showing the documentary STUCK at our church tomorrow, Saturday June 8th, at 6:30 pm.  Tickets are $10 in advance (you can purchase tickets at GarzaFamilyAdoption.com) and $12 at the door, and we will have free childcare!  

We would love to see you there!

Antioch Community Church Dallas
10163 Shoreview, Dallas Tx 75238