All About Aven

Nothing can describe what it was like to see our daughter for the first time. Honestly, I was in a fog as we were driving to the care center. We had gotten in to Ethiopia at 1:00 am, had been traveling for 28 hours, and I think it was just all surreal that we were actually in Ethiopia and about to see this face that we had been staring at in pictures for 4 months. I wasn't sure how I would react. There are no words for what I felt when I actually saw her! The tears started flowing and it felt like a dream! She was more beautiful that pictures show.

Our week with her was so sweet. She became more comfortable with us by the end of the week, but did not love us:) She was not sure what to think of us, and we made her pretty nervous at first. We took her back to the guest house with us one day and then decided we would just visit her at the care center for the rest of the week. She rarely leaves the room she lives in, she has had the same nanny since she was four weeks old, and she doesn't see many other people besides her nanny, so you can imagine how scared she was to be with 2 people she had never met, away from her home, and in a place she had never seen. We didn't get many smiles while we were there, unless her nanny was playing with her. But we were SO happy to be there with her, learn about her personality, and see her get more comfortable with us. She fell asleep on me or Brian every day and we enjoyed that snuggle time while she napped.

I could not be more thankful to her nanny, Aberesh. Words cannot express the bond those two have!  Aberesh loves her like she is her own, and she is the only "mommy" Aven has really ever known.  Aberesh takes care of 3 other babies that are all newborns, so Aven gets lots of playtime and is quite spoiled:) Aberesh is one of the kindest women I have ever met. We are forever indebted to her for her care for Aven during this time while we wait and for being such a huge part of her first year of life. As happy as we are going to be to finally go get Aven to bring her home, my heart is going to break when we take her away from Aberesh. I hope we are able to communicate with her how much her work matters to the Lord and how caring for the orphans is something SO dear to the heart of God.

Prayer Babies

At the beginning of May, just a few weeks after we saw a picture of our sweet girl for the first time, a mom in our agency contacted me and asked if I would like to be part of a group of moms that were going to start praying each morning for the children we are adopting, and that the Lord would get us all court dates quickly! I started praying at 7:30 each morning with these ladies that were in all parts of the country. I asked anyone and everyone to join with us in setting their alarms and praying each morning at 7:30 that we would get to court before August 15th when the courts close for 2 months. So many people joined in, and told me that they were praying every morning with us!

There are 6 of us mommies, and we have become so close. Up until a couple of weeks ago, I had never met any of them, but the Lord bonded us immediately. Not only do we pray at 7:30 each morning, but we are constantly emailing back and forth with scripture, encouragement, and questions about this process. There is hardly a day that goes by that we don't communicate! These are my sisters, and this process has been so much easier because I have them alongside me. They get me and what I am going through. When it started getting closer to rainy season and none of us had any news of going to court we started fasting every Tuesday and spending the day in prayer that the Lord would answer our prayers.

By God's grace, FOUR of the six of us ended up being in Ethiopia at the same time. It was amazing to meet these ladies face to face. There were several other families there with us too and I know we will all be friends for life. Honestly, I don't know how I would have been able to get through those hours between saying goodbye to Aven and getting on that plane. That night was SO hard, but the Lord gave me such a gift.....5 ladies that sat downstairs in the lobby of the guest house with me and just had "girl time". It was so sweet and such a gift from the Lord on my last few ours in Ethiopia.

We are continuing to pray together as 2 of the ladies will be waiting 2 more months to have a court date for their babies.

"O LORD, You are my God; I will exalt You, I will give thanks to Your name; For You have worked wonders, Plans formed long ago, with PERFECT FAITHFULNESS." 

"The steadfast of mind You will keep in PERFECT PEACE, Because he trusts in You. Trust in the LORD forever, For in GOD the LORD, we have an everlasting Rock." 

"Therefore the LORD longs to be gracious to you, And therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you. For the LORD is a God of justice; How blessed are all those who long for Him."                      Isaiah 25:1, 4. Isaiah 26:3, 4. Isaiah 30:18

Ethiopia

There is a lot I could tell you about our trip to meet our daughter and see the country where she was born.....

I could tell you about how poverty stricken Ethiopia is, 

OR

  I could tell you how the people of Ethiopia are some of the most beautiful people I have ever seen and how much I now love the country where my daughter was born. 

I could complain about how taking showers in Ethiopia was less than fun, the beds hurt our backs, and we had to walk 8 flights of stairs to get to our room,

 OR

 I could tell you how every shower made me thankful for clean water, every night at the guest house reminded me of all of the people in Ethiopia that would sleep on the street that night.

I could complain about How we couldn't eat fruit or drink anything but bottled water while we were in Ethiopia, 

OR

 I could tell you how thankful I was for each meal we ate while we were there, because on the way to eat dinner each night we would pass beggar after beggar that had no idea when they would eat their next meal. 

I could complain how we had to walk somewhere to get wifi for our phones, 

OR

 I could tell you how ridiculous it seems now that I have an iPhone and check my email every 5 minutes. 

I could tell you how good it felt to finally get in my bed and take a hot shower when I got home. 

OR

 I could tell you about ridiculously big my house seems, how ridiculously full my pantry is and how ridiculous my life feels now.

I could tell you about how there are 30 kids ages 4-15 at the care center who's parents either passed away or had to give them up,  

OR

 I could tell you how they are some of the most amazing kids I have ever met, how they are all happy, and how I fell in love with every. single. one. of. them.    

I could tell you how the kids at the care center sleep 3-4 to a bed and tuck themselves in every night, 

OR

 I could tell you how tucking my boys into their very OWN beds last night made me want to cry. 

I could tell you about our interesting experience buying a goat, bringing it to the care center, and watching it slaughtered right in front of us,

OR

 I could tell you how excited every kid and nanny was about that goat, and how incredibly thankful they were because they rarely eat meat. 

I could tell you about everything these kids DONT have,

OR

I could tell you about how I saw kids stop, bow their heads, and pray thanking God over a cookie I had just handed them, and how shameful I feel that there are a lot of times I don't truly feel thankful for each meal that I put on our table. 

I could tell you some of the tragic stories of how these kids ended up in the care center,

OR

 I could tell you about how AMAZING the nannies are and how they give those kids SO much LOVE and treat them like they are their own! 

This trip changed my life in so many ways. I am now the mother to a beautiful 7 month old baby girl, I have seen poverty, hunger and disease that has totally changed me. I am in love with the country that my daughter came from. As much as I was ready to come home, I miss Ethiopia. I am forever grateful to the woman who is taking care of our daughter while we wait to bring her home.

Aven Elizabeth Kohout

Two weeks ago, we stood in front of a judge and heard the words, "She's Yours!".  Aven Elizabeth is officially a Kohout! We cannot wait until she is HOME!

Some thoughts while we prepare....

As I pack our bags and begin to prepare to go see our girl, my mind is constantly going back and forth between, "I cannot believe we are going to be holding our baby girl in ONLY 11 days! That is SOON!"  

to  

"This is going to be the longest 11 days of my life! Its going to be FOREVER until I see her!" So yes, I am feeling slightly bipolar these days:)

We are leaving on July 31st and returning on August 8th. We will have a few days of traveling, but we will actually be IN Ethiopia for 6 full days. We will be seeing our baby girl for the first time on August 2nd and going to court on August 3rd. 

This trip is going to hold one of the BEST days of my life and probably one of the WORST days of my life as well. I don't want to think about our last day there. Its excruciating to think about even now, so I can't imagine what its really going to be like once we have spent a week with our girl. We will be leaving on a plane without her. We will come home and wait for probably 4 months while the U.S. Embassy works to clear us to bring her home. After August 3rd she will legally be our daughter, but she will be our daughter living on the other side of the world. It's not right. It's not the way it should be. But this is just the way it is....And we have known that from the beginning. It doesn't make it any easier though. There is no way to prepare my heart, for what I am going to have to do.... except to pray that the Lord would grant me peace, patience, and grace to get through each day while we wait to bring her home for good!

I am choosing to not focus on the HARD parts of this trip. The Lord will give me grace for that day when it gets here. That day is not today. And I am going to have 6 wonderful days holding, snuggling, kissing, and loving on my baby girl! I am going to soak up every minute I have with her as a 7 month old, because when she comes home she will probably be almost one year old! 

How you can pray:

1)Pray for safety traveling and that we will not miss any flights!

2)Pray that every piece of paperwork that is supposed to be at our court appointment will be there!

3)Pray that we will hear those words "She is YOURS!" on August 3rd

4)Pray that the Lord would protect us from sickness while we are there

5)Pray for us as we leave our daughter in another country and fly home without her.

He is Faithful!

WE ARE GOING TO SEE OUR GIRL!!! 3 weeks from today a Judge in Ethiopia will hopefully be telling us that she is ours:) Im still in shock that we have a court date. We were told it would be 2 weeks before we were assigned a court date. I was hoping we would possibly hear NEXT friday (which would still be early).  In the 6 months we have been with our agency, I have never seen a court date given out so fast! The Lord has heard our prayers and we are so thankful that he has moved mountains so we could see our baby girl before the court closure!

Last night I spent the night at the lake with my parents in their new camper. I brought Levi along to "try out camping". We love camping and I wanted to see how he would do. Well...I will spare you the details, but it didnt go so well. Needless to say, I was exhausted so I went back to sleep while Mom and Dad took Levi on a walk. When I finally woke up, I checked my phone to see what time it was and I saw a missed call and voicemail from our agency. My brain was still foggy and I was trying to process why they would be calling me. It went something like this...

"wow, mom let me sleep late"

"I have a missed call from a Georgia area code"

"our agency is in GA!!"

"why would they be calling me?"

"It couldnt possibly be for a court date"

"It's WAY too soon"

"I hope nothing is wrong"

All of this while fumbling around trying to push the right buttons to listen to the voicemail from an unknown Georgia number. Then I heard my adoption coodinators voice and her say "Hi! I have good news!"

Best. Words. Ever!!!!

I barely heard the words, "you have a court date of August 3rd", before I started sobbing uncontrollably! I think I have been guarding my heart against getting super excited about possibly seeing our girl so soon. I have been hoping in the Lord that He would do this for us. But I have been trying not to get my hopes up in the event that the Lord decided something else was best for our family. All of the emotions that I have been holding back came flooding out, as soon as I heard that voicemail!

We were assigned a court date of August 3rd. We will fly to Ethiopia a couple of days in advance. Pray with us that all parties will have the needed paperwork at our court date and that we will PASS! 

Thank you SO SO SO much to all that have faithfully prayed for us and that we would be able to see our girl before the courts close!

SUBMITTED!!!

God has heard our prayer for the last 3 months or 12.5 weeks or 89 days (however you want to look at it!) We were SUBMITTED TO COURT yesterday! We are praising the Lord for taking us to this next step!

Whats Next?

We wait for 1-2 weeks to hear what date they will assign us for court and then we get on a plane HOPEFULLY 2 weeks later to GO. SEE. OUR. DAUGHTER!!! Which means HOPEFULLY we will be with her in ONE MONTH!

How Can I Pray?

The courts close Mid-August for 6 weeks. We desperately want to get a court date and see our girl before the courts close! If we don't get a court date in August, we will most likely go in early October, which is entirely TOO LONG TO WAIT! Pray that the Lord will allow us to go see our girl soon. I cannot stand the thought of her being 6 weeks older or having to be in Ethiopia any longer than she has to be. She needs to be HOME!

The Lord has not let us down yet, He has continued to answer our prayers,  so we are confident that He will not dissapoint us now! We covet your prayers and are so blessed by the amount of people that are joining with us in praying our baby girl HOME!

"But God has surely listened and has heard my prayer. Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me!" (Psalm 66:19, 20 NIV)