Final Post

As this adoption is completely (absolutely, all the way, altogether, competently, comprehensively, conclusively, effectively, en masse, exclusively, exhaustively, extensively, finally, from A to Z, from beginning to end, fully, heart and soul, hook line and sinker, in all, in entirety, in full, in toto, on all counts, painstakingly, perfectly, quite, solidly, thoroughly, to the end, to the limit, to the max, to the nth degree, totally, ultimately, unabridged, unanimously, unconditionally, undividedly, utterly, wholly, without omission)

FINISHED...,

this will be the last entry of this blog. 

Our hearts are now back in Iowa (for now) and the Gitlins can be followed at our our family blogsite:

http://www.unspkblejoy.blogspot.com/

Amazing what God has done.

To Your glory Lord you have brought this boy into our family. 

Give us patience, kindness, supernatural wisdom and annointing to raise him.

Make up for our short comings and be strong in our weakness. 

May Josiah grow to be a mighty man of God.

Amen.

5 Months Later

Just over five months ago we met our son for the first time. It seems like just yesterday and at the same time seems like we have never been apart.
This video is from the very first time we were able to get him to smile, and let me tell you it wasn't easy! This child wasn't especially excited about his new parents.


These days you can hardly catch him without a grin from ear to ear. God has done a wonder in healing this child's heart and filling it with joy. We are praying that his soul will always be softened to the voice of God and that good deeds are being prepared for Josiah to do in service to the King.
Would you believe this video is of the same boy?

Through the abundant grace of God and the prayer of His saints, we have seen miracle after miracle in bringing Josiah into our family:

• Passing court the first attempt.
• Our immigration paperwork being completed in the nick of time for us to only make 1 trip to Ethiopia.
• Even though the July travel groups were cut from 10 families to 5 families we were able to go on schedule because of the earlier flight we had chosen.fjm
• A truly supernatural attachment and adjustment since we returned home.

This last month has been no less of a move by the hand of God. Learning from the IRS during the beginning of Decmber, that in order to be eligible for a tax credit, our adoption had to be finalized in state by December 31st. We were a little panicked! Our last post-placement visit was not scheduled until January of 2011! With the help of our agency and our social worker, they worked to speed up the process and have our post-placement packet prepared a month early. My brilliant husband found an attorney that was willing to go the extra mile for us (after talking to some that told us it couldn't be done). She called in a favor to get us a court date before the end of the year.

December 27th at 2:30pm our adoption was finalized and Andinet Micah Gitlin became Josiah Andinet Gitlin, the SON of Micah and Sarah Gitlin now "considered to be the same as a child born to us, with every right of inheritance." When the judge said these words I could not help but be reminded of our place as children of God.

This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and shares together in the promise in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 3:6

When I get behind in blogging, there is something inside of me that gets a little panicked thinking of all of the catch-up I will need to do when I finally sit down to write about the happenings in the Gitlin house. Tonight, I told myself, "You don't have to update about everything...just start with today." So here is what happened Today.

This morning we attended M'side Baptist in Sioux City to celebrate National Orphan Sunday. This church has been so warm and welcoming to our family, not to mention overwhelmingly supportive of our adoption of Josiah. Their actions simply scream compassion for the oppressed and lonely. After barely really even knowing who we were, several families from this church were at the Omaha airport to greet us when we arrived home from Ethiopia. They were simply there to celebrate with us ONE LESS orphan in the world. What a greeting!

This morning, three families in this congregation that have adopted, or are in the process of adoption, gave testimony and encouragement-- really focusing on God's heart and commands for the church to care for the orphans. God's grace and abundance is more than adequate when we answer YES to His calling! The hope for the 150 millions in the world is the gospel and we are the messengers of this hope. I was also reminded this morning that our multi-racial family is a taste of what heaven will be like.

Here are the blogs of these 3 families:

http://nordstromsadopt.blogspot.com/

http://untohimwelive.blogspot.com/

http://hennsadopt.blogspot.com/

Two of these families are still in process of bringing children home. Please join us in praying God's abundant protection, strength, and compassion to manifest in their lives!

Overall, the most poignant message spoken to me this morning:

If we love God we will care about what God cares about.

It is no mistake that the Bible speaks of defending orphans over and over again. This is God's heart--He is the Father to the orphan, He upholds the orphan, He commands us to do the same!

EeteeOpia

This weekend we took a mini (like one day) vacation up to Sioux Falls. We were needing to get a new key made for our VW and decided that we would spend the night in a hotel and do some fun things with the kids. On Friday night, we found a little Ethiopian restaurant in a small house on East 10th St. that we decided to check out. Josiah was, of course, excited to have.....

INJERA!!!!!He did love eating the injera and did love that he could freely eat his meal with his fingers again, like in Ethiopia. It was amazing how walking into the house was like walking back into Ethiopia--what a feeling! The people were extremely hospitable and the food was excellent. People in the restaurant expressed to us how great they think adoption is and would smile and talk amongst themselves when we would say things to him in Amharic---maybe b/c we weren't saying it right or maybe they were just amused. I am happy to say that given the choice between injera and my pancakes he said he would choose pancakes--- Chalk it up.

The weekend also included swimming at the hotel, the Great Plains Zoo, and Toy Story 3. Josiah's FIRSTS this weekend: Ethiopian cuisine in America, elevator ride, zoo, and movie theatre experience. I think he enjoyed it all except the movie, during which he repeatedly told me, "Andinet, movie, twadeley no." Interpretation..."Andinet does not like the movie." He also put in a couple, "movie is yucky"s. Oh well, he enjoyed the popcorn and was exhausted enough to nap the whole ride home.

Josiah's Lunch Time Prayer

I started recording a little late..."Thank you, God, for our family. Thank you, God...thank you, God, for Julesy, Mommy, Daddy, AMEN"

We ask that his passion for prayer only increases as he grows to be a mighty man of God.

Wow. I have really wanted to be more active with this blog since we returned home. Who knew that adding a new kid to your family would be so involved?--Just kidding... kind of. I have found that I have had to be much more "present" at home during this transition, which has been tiring but WONDERFUL. It has also given me opportunity to see all of the selfishness inside of me (really rears its head in the early morning hours...). Stretching situations are an awesome tool to allow God to make your ashes into beauty. I'm working on that beauty part.

We have seen fear being cast out by God's perfect love in our sweet boy as he is beginning to enter rooms by himself, pet kittens, and sleep from 8 to 8---Praise God!
I have a lot that I want to write about but even tonight I will be cutting it short. Micah and I have a movie that we have been wanting to watch and have had to watch it in 45 minute increments after the kids are asleep. This is our third night watching ONE MOVIE. Oh well, we are savoring this time in our life that will not last forever. Thank you God for this great BLESSING.

Here are some snapshots of activity since our return home.

He Started It All

We're back! We're home! We have our new son! We are adjusting well.

There is so much that I would like to write about our trip and our time here at home but there is just no time so please excuse the discontinuity of this post.
Julianna and Josiah have been getting along very well. Each difficult moment is an opportunity for us to learn to love each other as Christ has loved us.
We have found 2 fears that keep Josiah clinging on to our necks for dear life: animals and being alone.
Our days are filled with giggles and activity. Our nights are filled with hushing sounds and rocking chairs. Routine has proven to be a life saver in putting him down for naps and to bed; however, he continues to wake up at about 2:30 and cry until about 6 (thanking God that Jules is a deep sleeper). We are trying different techniques to foster attachment and also to foster my sleep! I am trying to use the time during the night to pray for him and our family. Today I cut his nap short and am trying very hard to tire him out with a lot of activity. I'll keep you posted...

Here is a link to the pictures we took on our trip to Ethiopia (which was amazing and priceless):
http://www2.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=2613327023/a=152754705_162347016/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

We have been having a lot of fun experiencing all of Josiah Andinet's firsts like... bubble baths, bikes, a daddy, happy meals, seat belts, learning to cuddle with a blanket, picking out clothes, flushing the toilet, putting the seat down, and teaching him all kinds of new words. My favorites so far are "Mommy," "pa-leese," and the rolling r "rrrrrrrrred" and "grrrrrrreen." When he walked into his room for the first time he immediately saw the semi-truck meant to hold small race cars, sat on it, and frantically raced around the room. We both knew that we should be recording the moment but also both knew that we should just enjoy it while we were there.

Life is good and Josiah Andinet is proving to be a great fit for this family.