Travel Papers are on the way

"All power, authority,
all splendor, and majesty,
are HIS
from the beginning and evermore!"

On the 9th, we found out from All God's Children that we have an itty-bitty chance of getting our adoption completed before the August/September court closures. All of our paperwork is there. It's just a matter of whether or not they get to it before July 31st! If so, that means that we might be able to travel to Ethiopia and bring our daughter, Elianna Ray, home this month! or early in August!

It's completely hopeless to try not to get too excited. We're gone. Game over. We're praying with all our hearts that it works out that we'll be able to bring our princess home before the court closes.

Please, pray along with us that our adoption gets completed before July 31st! Wouldn't that be fantastic?!

Praise the Lord!

OH BABY!

"I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of Him."
1 Samuel 1:27

On July 3rd our friend Judy shared this verse with us and then on that same day Martha from All God's Children called us and asked, "Are you sitting down?"
My first thought was, "OH NO! Something went wrong already."
Then Martha said, "I have a referral for you!!"

What an incredible shock! Just mere days into the months of waiting for which we were emotionally preparing ourselves, the Lord gave us this incredible gift of an absolutely gorgeous baby girl.



Ethiopian name: Betelihem (Bethlehem)
Estimated birthdate: January 31, 07
Birthplace: Yeka, near Addis Ababa



After much ado, we've decided her new name is Elianna Ray. The kids are already calling her "Ellie". Elianna is a Hebrew name, appropriate for a girl named Betelihem at birth, which means "my God has provided". It is further a combination of Elizabeth (for Grandmother Elizabeth Anne Ortlund) and Anna (my middle name). Ray is for Granddaddy, Ray Ortlund.

Elianna Ray was brought to Hannah's Hope from Enat Alem orphanage. All of her medical tests came back negative and she appears to be "normal" and healthy, well-nourished. She's doing well at HH, smiling, cooing, lots of interacting. It's a fantastic report!

Elianna is now 5 months old and has chubby cheeks and bright, dark brown eyes, and she's adorably bald. We are so thankful to the Lord that He is allowing us to be her Forever family! And, yes, we've done the math... Evangeline and Elianna Ray are just five months apart. This is what we get for praying for twins years ago! God has a great sense of humor.

When Margie heard the news and saw her pictures she burst into elated tears and said, "Oh, I'm going to knit her a blanket right now!"
Ricker "And I'll draw her some pictures!"
Jackie, "I'm going to... teach her self-defense!"

What's next? So far we hear that we'll likely travel to Africa to bring Elianna home in October or November because the Ethiopian court closures in August and September delay the normal amount of time between referral and travel.

Prayer requests:

1. First and foremost, for Elianna Ray, for her health and well-being, for safety and a sense of security while she's at Hannah's Hope. Pray for her foster mother as she loves on our daughter.
2. Please pray for us as we prepare our hearts and home for this precious little girl.
   

PICTURES! For privacy reasons dictated by our adoption agency, we cannot share Elianna's photos on this webpage. However, if you would like a sneak peek at our beautiful little daughter you may check out our password-protected galleries here.

Just leave a message in our guestbook on the top right of this page, email, or call for the password and we'll get it to you right away.

THANK YOU, everyone, for your prayers and kind notes, encouraging phone calls, guestbook messages, and incredible support! We cannot express our gratefulness adequately. We are blessed to have such wonderful friends and family.

Love,
Michael, Laurie, Margie, Ricker, Jackie & Evangeline

Our Dossier is en route to Ethiopia!

"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."
Galatians 5:9

That's one of our all-time favorite verses, one that we keep taped to the bathroom mirror, scribbled on our to-do lists and Daytimers, and written on sticky notes to each other. The Lord is obviously big on endurance. We're supposed to be able to grow in our ability to persevere in pursuits, and He in turn promises to make it pay off in spades.

That said, after all these months we have an exciting praise report to share. We prayed over, kissed, and sent off our Dossier to the adoption agency in early June!

Here are all the documents, and then the whole bundle ready to go:

Thank you for praying that this leg of the process would not be fraught with delays as we've experienced so far... We are thrilled that it was approved with ZERO corrections, amendments, or additions! Praise the Lord because that was no small miracle! From the adoption agency, it was sent to the state capitol for authentication and we were notified that on the 26th it was sent to Addis Ababa for translation! We are thrilled that this initial phase is finally finished.

Now the wait for a referral begins! We've been told that it will be 2-6 months. Christmas seems far off, but ultimately the timing is in Christ's hands.

Prayer requests:

1. First and foremost, pray for our precious little daughter to whom we've not yet been introduced. Pray for her health, her caregivers, her emotional well being, and for her birth family.
2. Please PRAY that our dossier is kept safe and nothing gets lost or damaged. We've asked the Lord to send angels along with that precious package.
3. Pray for Marg, Ricker, Jackie & Evangeline as they prepare their hearts for a little sister.
4. Lastly, please pray for us as we consider how we may contribute to the orphanage where our baby will live for a few months until we take her home. We're asking the Lord to show us what He wants us to do. Our original plan was to bring supplies and gifts when go there as a one time thing, but we're also thinking about committing to go back there on a mission trip with others to build needed facilities, or a school, or help care for children, or birth or adoptive families... who knows? So, please pray for us on that front, too.
   

Anyway, while all of this was going on, June was chock full of busy happenings:

Evangeline decided to walk for real, no more of this crawling and cruising bologna. Now she's tough to contain. Just in the last few days she's become a woman on the move! It's hysterical to see because she's such an itty bitty peanut for her age. She looks way too little to walk. A few weeks ago she still needed assistance, now she's g-o-n-e! Another fun item: Jackie WON his tennis tournament. WOO HOO! And, Marg graduated from 8th grade, so she is an official high schooler... How is that possible?!?

Our new little niece, Charlotte Ruby McClure, was born June 14th and she is such a muffin! Our brother and sister, Buddy and Becky, as well as nephews Johnny & Lincoln already adore little Charlie. And, Johnny's thrilled that he convinced his parents that "Woobie" should be his baby sister's name!

Our McClure family shared a very special birthday party for Papa's 88th on Father's Day. It was truly a delightful time with 52 of our family. We celebrated Papa's birthday along with Papa & Grams' 65th anniversary and Auntie Will's 60th birthday. What a happy, happy time!

We also enjoyed a couple of fun family field trips, one to see a stage play and the other to the San Diego Zoo with the Welch family.



Coolest news: our new teacher, Miss Briana, who is sharing homeschooling with Laurie started this month! Briana is a recent Biola grad who is on fire for Jesus, and we are SO thankful that the Lord has sent us this wonderful young woman.



As we've said the last few months, THANK YOU to those of you have continued to pray for our beloved grandparents Ray Ortlund, Anne Ortlund, and John McClure. Our God is in the business of miracles and we've already seen so many for our grandfolk. It's really wonderful! If you'd like an update on their improvement, leave us a message in the guestbook or email us.

Speaking of the guestbook, would you take a minute to sign ours? (Top right of this page) We're looking forward to sharing sweet messages from friends and family with our little daughter someday. Thank you!

Working on our Dossier

"I waited patiently for the Lord; He turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and the mire; He set my feet upon a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God." Psalm 40:1-3a

We often wake up in the early morning and say to each other, "Maybe today is her birthday. Maybe she's still in her birth mama's belly. Maybe she's already born. What might she be doing? Taking a bath? Napping?" How I long to hold her now and kiss her toes and fingers and tummy!

We cannot thank the Lord enough for His mercies and grace. He is a magnificent and glorious God! He is protecting our dear daughter wherever she is right now. He is caring for her every need and preparing the way for her to become part of our family. Isn't that an amazing realization? As Marg would say, "God ROCKS!"

I'll tell ya what... It's no wonder that the Lord talks about waiting so much in Scripture. Adoption is a waiting game and I'm not very good at it. I get stuck in the slimy pit (it's more like a dungeon sometimes) of grumbling about time wasting delays, snags, mistakes in documentation, and irritating holdups. I have to smack myself around now and then that this is just the way it goes and the Bible tells me in Philippians 4:4 to "rejoice in the Lord ALWAYS". Whining and griping won't make the time go by any more enjoyably for me or anyone else around me! Other adoptive families know that during this process a few weeks may pass and then there will be a flurry of paperwork to do, and then you wait some more. The beautiful thing is...

He has it all perfectly planned!

The best news of the month is that our Home Study is FINALLY DONE! Praise God! Neither of our previous Home Studies have ever been this monumental of a task, and that's saying a LOT! So, thank Jesus, that's finally in the bag!!!

We're now working on our Ethiopian Dossier, which is the package of documents that will be sent to Addis Ababa, translated, and hopefully approved by the Ethiopian Ministry of Women's Affairs office so we can begin the wait for a referral of a baby! We're hoping to finish up the Dossier this next month and have it approved by our agency ASAP, so please pray for us that all of our paperwork is accepted "as is" (i.e. minimal corrections).

We started out this month by throwing a baby shower for sister Becky and little baby Charlotte! What a fun, fun time. Buddy and Becky, and Lincoln and Johnny have been waiting for this little princess for a long time and now she's almost here. We can hardly wait to see her precious face. It's so fun to realize that Evangeline, Charlie, and Baby will be girlfriends and will grow up being near and dear to each other.



We also had Jay, a friend from Westmont College, staying with us. We had a great time catching up and hearing about his move to California from Nashville, TN. Jay joined us for Mother's day brunch at our home honoring our beautiful, godly, elegant, fun, and delightful Maternal Person. What a fantastic Mama we have! Mother's Day is always such a treat, but this year it was even more fun because it was the first one with Evangeline.



Jackie turned a great big 7 this month, too! Our big guy (who's a full head taller than most 7-year-olds) decided that he wanted to visit Shamu, so we spent three days in San Diego celebrating his special day.




Life is so good. Jesus is so good. We praise the Lord as we wait for our beloved Ethiopian baby!

Thank you for your continued prayers for our dear grandparents Ray Ortlund, Anne Ortlund, and John McClure. If you'd like an update on their progress, leave us a message in the guestbook or email us.

Dealing with the inevitable delays

"So she (Mary Magdalene) came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him!" John 20:2 NIV

HE IS RISEN!

Happy Easter! The Lord is risen indeed! I love this verse because this moment is so common in life. We can be blinded by the crisis, heartbreak, or trial that we're in the middle of and although God's already beautifully solved it in the most wonderful, miraculous, and unexpected way, we can't see it yet! It's so easy to panic and be even more upset at some new revelation because we don't yet understand the significance of what's happened. God has raised the dead! He's saved us by grace! He's miraculously crushed the Enemy and claimed victory!

Celebrating Easter always reminds me of just how deep the Lord's love is for us. How incredible it is to realize that He cares so very deeply about His babies. All of His babies. Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world. Amen!

Here are all the cousins after the grand Easter Egg Hunt at our house:



The paperwork continues. We thought that we were finally done with our Home Study, but it has been delayed... again. Jackie reminded me of this old song the other day when I was getting frustrated:

Have patience, have patience
Don't be in such a hurry
When you get impatient
You only start to worry
Remember, remember
That God is patient, too
And, think about the times
When others had to wait for you

Out of the mouths of babes!

Cute kid alert: Our 5-year-old nephew Johnny tried unsuccessfully for months to convince his parents to name his baby sister Ruby (he says "Woobie"). Being not easily deterred, he decided that maybe Evangeline could be called "Woobie" instead. We assured him that, no, Evangeline already had a name.

"Well, maybe her middle name could be Evangeline and her first name could be Woobie."
"No, hun. It's Evangeline."
"Or how about we just call her Woobie?"
After we said no, he replied, "OK, well then maybe I'll just call her Woobie."
We said, "No, babe, she's Evangeline."

So, now, you guessed it, our new baby on the way has been dubbed "Woobie" by Johnny. He's praying that it'll stick. We just love that little guy!

This month we enjoyed the field trip we've been planning for literally years... two weeks in Washington, D.C.! We had such a fantastic time seeing the awesome places that have crafted this great nation. We also were able to visit with our dear Sweet family, Great-Uncle and Aunt Chuck & Margie Wright, and Great-Uncle and Aunt Gordon & Mary Alice Keller, which was so precious to us. Wow, we are so blessed to be related to these incredible people!

A few personal favorites for us were visiting Great-granddaddy, Great-grandmother's and Great-Uncle Robert's graves at Arlington Cemetery, Mount Vernon, the Supreme Court, the US Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland, Gettysburg, Jamestown, Williamsburg, and the beauty Amish country in Intercourse (countless jokes shall remain unrepeated!) and Bird-in-Hand, Pennsylvania.

Thank you again to everyone who has been praying for the health of our grandparents Ray Ortlund, Anne Ortlund, and John McClure. If you'd like an update on their progress, just leave a message in the guestbook or email us.

After a tour of the White House


Jackie with former Speaker of the House, Dennis Hastert (who, it turns out, is in my Great-Uncle's discipleship group!)


The reflecting pool


At the Capitol


Margie & Evie in Jamestown


Mount Vernon


Jackie (who wants desperately to be in the military) with a plebe at the US Naval Academy


Cherry blossoms


At the spot where Lincoln gave his Gettysburg address


Uncle Chuck, Uncle Gordon, Auntie Margie, and Auntie Mary Alice


We need one of these at home! (The boys in Williamsburg)

The Paperchase continues... with a little change

"Now FAITH is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."
Hebrews 11:1

This month brought a new development in our adoption quest. We thought for years that the Lord had said, "China", and had pictured in our minds a precious little Chinese baby in our arms and family, but recently it seemed as though we had hit a fork in the road and weren't sure what to do about it. It was very puzzling. We sat down and talked and prayed about it, and asked friends and family we trust what they thought the Lord was saying. After a few days of feeling like the door to China was closed but that adopting a baby was still His plan, we asked, "OK, Lord, so where do you want us to go?" We asked, "Russia, Guatemala, India, Korea, Vietnam, Africa?" And without question, He said,

"Ethiopia."

It was one of the strongest, most direct words from the Lord either of us have ever heard.

And that was that. We both felt solidly directed to change our plans to Ethiopia, and so we did so immediately! Suddenly, our mental picture of Baby Hausam is a beautiful little black baby and that surprising change from China to Ethiopia doesn't feel odd to us in any way. It feels perfectly right. It's as if that was the plan in our hearts all along. We can hardly WAIT to meet our Ethiopian princess!

So, after making that alteration, we're still wading through and making sense of reams of international adoption paperwork. This has been a very new experience for us. Gwennie and Gabbie's adoption (although incomplete, of course, it was all but waiting for a judge's signature.) and Jackie's adoption because they were domestic were totally different animals than this. We're so thankful for really helpful coordinators on the agency and social work sides.

This month we enjoyed a delightful visit from our friends, the Hollenbachs from Kentucky. They were invaluable to us and Jackie's birth mother during her pregnancy and his birth. We stayed in their beautiful home after he was born. They are our Kentucky Mom & Dad. And, now, Evangeline Hollenbach will be here attending Biola in the fall, so we get to be her California Mama & Papa!

We also busied ourselves with field trips, working on a new study for our Bible study group, piano recitals, and celebrating Michael's 38th birthday!

Thank you to all who have been in prayer for our grandparents Ray Ortlund, Anne Ortlund, and John McClure. God is so faithful! If you'd like an update on their progress, email us or leave a message in the guestbook.

Our beautiful 7-month-old, Evangeline


Ray & Evangeline Hollenbach


St. Pat's dinner


Michael and our nephew, Lincoln


Field trip to the Discovery Science Center


Michael & Mark blowing out their birthday candles


Evangeline & Mama


Field trip to the Newport Beach Nautical Museum



Michael's bday at Disneyland



Working on our homeschool tide pools project at Little Corona

Making headway

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart." Jeremiah 1:5

I feel pregnant.

Without the constant vomiting 24/7/9 months.

Now that we're getting paperwork completed and starting on this path for real, it feels like we've seen the little blue line on a pregnancy test... It's happening... For real! I remember this feeling so well when we were waiting for Jackie during his birth mother's pregnancy. It's a mixture of excitement, wonder, empathy for Baby's birth mother, and anxiety that something will go horribly wrong. Waking up in the middle of the night with thoughts of Baby on the way, feeling anxious about the birth mother's health and emotional well-being, feeling strangely bonded to and grateful for her feels so familiar.

After all this time waiting for the Lord's Green Light, He said GO! and it's really going to happen this time. Wow! It's like when we were waiting for Evangeline. Years of prayer and knowing that the Lord had another birth child in His hands for us and then nothing happened. Finally, after enduring loss and seemingly endless waiting, that little blue line showed up. Praise Jesus for His enduring promises that He never fails to keep!

Who would have guessed the path that God had chosen for us? Two birth children, one adopted, one more birth child, and so much loss and agony at times in between waiting for our family to be complete. Just as we knew that the Lord had another birth child for us, we knew in our "knowers" that He had another adopted child in His plans for us. How thrilling that His blueprints are being rolled out and we are finally seeing the beginnings of the fulfillment of His beautiful design!

This month we watched the Superbowl at Uncle John & Auntie Marilyn's, celebrated our adored Mother's birthday at our home, did a lot of kissing on Valentine's Day, went on a couple of fun field trips, celebrated Ricker's 11th! birthday. Throughout all of this fun, though, our family has been deep in prayer for Granddaddy (Ray Ortlund), Grandmother (Anne Ortlund), and Papa (John McClure II) as they are all very ill. Please pray with us for their healing in Jesus name. Our grandparents our so precious to us. We feel blessed beyond measure for their sweet presence in our lives. Praise God for such models in our lives!

Marg & Auntie Becky going on a date to the Salon


At the Dahlberg's unbelievable Indiana Jones themed Superbowl Party where they had a white tiger swimming in the pool, monkeys, a black bear, chimps, fire-eaters, sword-swallowers, belly dancers, henna face and hand painters, and all manner of wildness!


Golf with Gary, Glen and Trent


Nana & Marg celebrating our dear Mother's 59th birthday!


Valentine's Day



Marg riding Snickers


That's US on the Jumbo-tron at the Harlem Globetrotter's basketball game


The girls playing and giggling during a break from schoolwork


Celebrating Ricker's birthday at the Star Wars exhibit at the California Science Center in LA and then dinner at Ruth's Chris



Our nephew Johnny feeding the dragon a dollar at the Chinese New Year Parade in LA. We had such a wonderful time with Buddy, Becky, J5 and Lincoln. It's amazing to realize that hopefully next year we'll be back here with our little daughter from China!!!


My baby brother, Buddy, is one of the people I admire most in the world. I'm so glad we're friends. I hope some day I grow up to be just like him!