Around the world in 80 days????

Jules Verne had no idea how easy it could become....  How about 5?  The 2nd cheapest airfare for this trip would have taken me via China to Ethiopia,then home thru England. I'm not going to lie, it was tempting to take that flight just to say I went completely around the globe in 5 days.  But better sense has (tragically) prevailed since I didn't need to add extra strain or time to get our sons home.  Especially attempting this solo style.  I'm currently in London awaiting my next flight to Addis - not flying over the Great Wall.  But the option has planted a seed in my (very) long away retirement possibilities: around the world without taking a plane.  Mind you, with the advancements of technology, by that time it may only take 5 days by train & boat....  That or either I'll want to visit Mars by then!

My flight home with the boys is about as optimal as we could find. And thankfully the cheapest.  I know that word has come up a couple times, but when you are traveling last minute with 4 people, the costs can add up in a hurry!  On the way home we only have one layover (London again). And it's 4 hours. For boys who have never traveled, that seems like adequate opportunity to take our time to walk everywhere needed, find a meal, use the bathroom (probably a few times!) and get where we need to go. I wonder if they will notice the English accent or if it will all sound like the same gibberish to them?  That's the other great thing about our first flight home on Wednesday: it will be with flight attendants who speak the same language as our 3 newest sons.

I'm just finishing a 11.5 hr layover in London.  So I took 'the tube' down to Piccadilly Circus stop again. "Again". How awesome is my life?  Even in spite of the frustrations, challenges & disappointments of a drawn out adoption journey, I won't complain.

Anyway, I should probably find some supper besides 'Jelly Babies'. Candra, I know you are shaking your head as you read this and agreeing with getting some food!

Riley

Are you all ready for this????!!!!!!

THEY ARE COMING HOME.....

OUR FAMILY WILL ALL BE TOGETHER ON MY 35th BIRTHDAY! 

6 DAYS FROM NOW!!!!!

We are incredibly excited to welcome our sons home....

Henok Samuel Asefa 
Henok: "Dedicated"
Samuel: "God has heard"...He has and we are coming for you!!!

Abenezer Justus Asefa 
Abenezer: "The Lord is my Helper"
Justus: "justice, righteousness"...And it has come. We are so thankful.

and

Mikias Jedidiah Asefa
Mikias: "Who is like God?"
Jedidiah:"Beloved of God"..we pray you know how loved you are by HIM.

Choosing our children's names have been something very important and special to us. All of our children have Biblical names and each of the boys first names are also Biblical - an amazing thing since we didn't choose them! Their middle names are also biblical and each have significance to us as we have journeyed thus far...
And as is tradition in our family, each of our boys have 2 middle names...Asefa is to honor their heritage and fittingly means "God has increased".

amen.

He has increased our family.

He has increased our love for their birth country.

He has increased our love for HIM.

Please pray for our boys as they will hear tomorrow that we are coming for them. It will be a difficult few days with goodbyes and transitions. Please pray for Riley..for nany reasons, we have decided that he will go on his own to bring them home. Pray for health and that God would guide His steps, actions and words as he travels with them across the Atlantic. And please keep us at home in your prayers. The excitement has culminated and the kids are counting down the days, but I know that the work and transitions are just beginning. It is almost surreal that the time is here....

We thank God for our children, all 7 of them- and can't wait to see what God has in store for each of them as we seek to become a family of nine!!

DETAILS TO COME SOON ABOUT AIRPORT PARTY...let's just say though, that on Wednesday, YOU ARE ALL invited and we are going to celebrate!!!!!

Blessings,
Candra & my amazing and brave husband (i love you so much!) - Riley

identity

Transitions give a vulnerability and transparency to moments in my life...
     They seem to effortlessly expose what is important in life and what isn't. Effortless but not easy.

Transitions & change seem to be the "routine" in our life...over our 15 years of marriage God has given us many opportunities to move forward in faith. And moving forward does not usually feel like skipping in a beautiful field of flowers...usually it more like CHOOSING to slug through a muddy swamp. But on the other side when you remove those heavy rubber boots, you feel so light.

And when you are light, when the heaviness has been lifted, it reveals identity. Over the last few weeks I have been trudging, slowly getting to drier ground and finding a place to remove my boots. Transitions are hard. It takes little effort and little time for change to happen but often longer to allow it to reveal what is important. And what I am finding...and should already know but forget to quickly....is that ultimately I am a daughter of the most amazing Father in heaven.

Worrying about a changing job, a changing a role as an adoptive momma - which is bound to be more difficult than I can imagine-  a changing routine, a changing lifestyle - none of this reveals my true identity. And none of the anxiety, the stress about what is to come, the concerns about how on earth we are going to do this... in what I think has been the biggest transition so far in our family's life (and we have had some HUGE ones in the past) ... None of this is what my identity is built upon.

In these moments of vulnerability..it is there that I rest in Him. Where I find worth, value and my guidance. It is not what I do but who I am. How I choose to be. Where I find my identity reveals what is valuable in my life. And what is valuable in my life is pursuing His call for me and for our family as He leads us through all of these beautiful, life changing and inevitably "slugging through the mud" transitions.

Change often happens in a moments notice..effortlessly. The transition may come more slowly. But what is revealed on the other side is worth the work. Worth the wait. It is where I know- without a doubt -that however easy or hard the moments may be...I am right where He wants me to be...

Psalm 138:8...The Lord will work out his plans for my life- for your faithful love,
O lord endures forever. Don't abandon me, for you made me.

Blessings,
Candra