Really?!

Questions, questions, and more questions.  We thought we would honor all of those who have asked and help out all of those who are to afraid to ask by answering.  (As you can tell, nothing is too private for us.  We really don't mind telling!)

Are you really adopting four more children?  Yes, we really are adopting four more children.  We are not joking.  The youngest of the new Stinsons is a 4 year old boy.  His name is Orin Mihiretu.  Next is a 5 year old boy, Lee Atnafu.  The only girl in the bunch is a 6 year old.  Her name is Evelyn Shega.  Then Levi Ashenafi is an 8 year old boy.  This means our new Stinsons will fall in between our existing members.  Aubrey is 12; Emmaline is 11; Graham is 8; Levi is 8; Wil is 6; Evelyn is 6; Lee is 5; Orin is 4; Worth is 3; and Jermiah is almost 3!

Why four?  How did you get so comfortable with a group of four?  We weren't attempting to adopt four but every previous group we attempted to adopt fell through.  As we pursued this group, God swung all of the doors wide open.  And we mean wide open!  Three interviews in 2 weeks.  After what we were initially told was a long shot, it became a probability and then moved to a definate.  There are no doubts, this is the group for our family.  We have a peace that this is the step to take, and we are confident even admist the chaos. 

How do you know this is of God?  First, see previous answer.  Second,  God has given us a 12 seat van and a 12 seat table.  8 current Stinsons + 4 other Stinsons = 12 total Stinsons.  The moral of the story... don't buy a large table because maybe, just maybe, God will fill it. 

Do they speak English?  No.  They speak Kimbatissa which is a tribal language.  They are currently in the process of learning Amharic which is the national language of Ethiopia.  They have been at the orphanage since March.  By the spring we have been told they will know Amharic, but have very few English words.

How are you going to communicate with them?  We are currently in the process of learning some Amharic.  Our children are studying it in school (after convincing Mom to take a year off from the Spanish curriculum), and we are slowly..., slowly learning from them.

And last but not least...

What kind of van is that? This one seems to come from the men. For all of you wondering, it is a Freightliner Sprinter.  It seats 12, and you CAN stand up in it.  There are 2 in Springfield that we have seen, ours and one other.  FYI, we may have spotted a third this weekend.  So, if you see one around town chances are it is us.  And yes, you may look in it.  Everyone asks- it's ok. 

We Are Loved?

Many people have been asking about our t-shirts, "What do they mean?","What's your goal in this?" "Why is "We Are Loved" your theme?".  I hope some of these explanations will help you understand us more.  We were wanting to be able to raise money to bring our brothers and sisters home.  So, my aunt Kim and my sister Emmy came up with this design.  When the shirts say "Apple, PC, Mac, Liberal, Black, White....." the idea is that there are all these people coming from many different walks of life, but we are all brothers, sisters, and ORPHANS!  Without Christ's love, we are no one, with no place to call home.  Until we have accepted this gift of everlasting love, we are still orphans.  As you go down the shirt, it continues to say we are ADOPTED AND LOVED!  Through accepting Christ's gift, he adopts us into his loving family, and never leaves us or forsakes us, throughout our whole journey on earth and into eternity!  Since this is our calling, we believe adopting is the earthly way of showing how God takes us, even when we are a sick and ugly mess, and turns us into a light to guide many others to Him!  We adopt into our family because we have been adopted into God's family.  This is our way we have been called to obey Him!

We are now taking preorders for short sleeve/long sleeve t-shirts and zip up/pull over hoodies.  Prices  range from 15-25 dollars, depending on the shirt.  Please contact me at"auba@att.net" if you would like more information.  Thank you for your prayers and support as we continue to bring my brothers and sister home!

Aubrey

Invitation to The Event

If you have access to Facebook, you can check out our invitation for The Event by searching for "The Event".  This is a dinner and silent auction to help raise money to bring the newest Stinson children home.

Ditch digging or bed filling?

Questions, questions, questions. One of those unstated questions we see on peoples faces is, "Isn't that enough...? 6 children? 4 biological and 2 adopted?" Yes, we know that we require 2 family sized meals to feed our crew. But we know that God desires us to adopt again.

Back in January of this year I was reading Spurgeon's "Morning and Evening", and the post on May 16th stuck with me. I know, I know you're wondering, "May 16th in January?" I was behind. Anyway, 2 Kings 3:16 says, "Then he said, "This is what the Lord says: 'Dig ditch after ditch in this wadi.' For the Lord says, 'You will not see wind or rain, but the wadi will be filled with water, and you will drink-- you and your cattle and you animals.' This is easy in the Lord's sight." At the end of his devotion Spurgeon states, "What trenches am I digging? O Lord, make me ready to receive the blessing which thou art so willing to bestow." The warriors of Israel had to dig these ditches not knowing how God would fill them but just trusting that He would. They spent all day digging trenches, preparing for God's blessing.

You see, we had this ongoing discussion in our house of, "Do we finish our basement or wait? There really is no need right now." Throughout this time I couldn't get this passage out of my head. That seems to be how the Holy Spirit works in my life-- by recurring thoughts. So we knew we were going to adopt again, God had already told us that but were we prepared for the blessing? What trenches were we digging? It seems so clear now to know God was preparing us for these 4 children. We were thinking one, maybe two. But four? God knew the plans he had for us. A home equity loan and six months later...we are 1 month away from having two additional bedrooms finished. 5 bedrooms, 10 kids.

I am reminded of how in verse 18 the Bible says, "This is easy in the Lord's sight." The Israelites toiled to dig the ditches but it was easy for God to fill them. While we have toiled to do as much of the work ourselves, the blessing is easy. He will fill the ditches. Or in our case He will fill the beds.

Since we have recently announced our adoption plans, we have been flooded with questions.  Most of the time they go something like this: "Why?" - "How did you decide on these children?" - "Are you crazy?" - "Do you want to be on TV?"  First of all, let me dispell that last one:  WE DO NOT! :)  I realize many people who are connecting with us as we work to get our children home have not even met us before!  What a blessing it has been as we are contacted by so many of you who want to help, and I want to share with you more about our story.

The "Once upon a time" all begins back in high school.  I, Chandra, realized God was calling me into mission work.  Of course, I assumed I would live in a hut in Africa and teach the children how to read and love God.  In college I met a handsome, brilliant guy who swept me off my feet.  We talked about this plan and agreed that we were both open to be missionaries wherever and whenever God called.  Fast forward several years and I have my teaching degrees, Matt has finished medical school and we have three children:  Aubrey, Emmaline, and Graham.  Over those years we had met with the International Mission Board three times to pursue a place to serve.  Each time they were eager for us to continue with interviews and paperwork to find our position, but we were hesitant.  God always seemed to be saying, "Wait."  So we waited. 

In 2005 Matt and I felt called to adopt.  We had developed a real interest in adoption even while we were growing our family biologically, and we thought maybe we should adopt our fourth child since we probably wouldn't have any more.  How funny is that!  We completed the process, and brought home Wil.  He is a beautiful little guy.  But as most of you know, he has severe issues because of what happened to him before he came home.  Through it all, God was very gracious.  He gave us help from people around us, strength to survive great heartache, and most of all, time to adjust. 

It was then that God revealed His plan for the mission work He wanted to do in our family.  Matt and I each began to feel God leading.  We individually saw a vision of our family with many little dark skinned faces, saw how God could work this way, and wanted to join in.  Now don't think this was a quick, easy thing.  It took us two weeks (and if you know me, you know how hard that was) before we came to each other and were able to say, "We need to talk about something."  I remember how relived we both were when we saw the other had the same calling. 

After adjusting to this new idea, we began our second adoption.  So then came Worth and Jeremiah.  For those who are having trouble keeping up, Worth was born to us; Jeremiah was adopted.  These two have been a blast.  Being three months apart in age, they are best friends. God added some comedy to our lives, and we are loving it. 

Okay, so today? And these kids?  Well, we have been shaping our life to adopt again.  You may have seen the "Party bus"!  So last summer we began looking for the next children God had for us.  We had strange calls about orphanages closing, teen girls needing homes for babies, and such.  Every time we said yes, but the doors were firmly shut.  These particular children were sent to us on an e-mail.  We responded that we were interested and were told it was a long shot since we already had six children and one has special needs.  Since May 25th of this year we have been interviewed over the phone, written answers to many preliminary questions, and collected info from doctors and friends to submit to a committee which decided the children are a good placement for us.   

God has plowed down so many barriers as we have followed.  I am currently just overwhelmed with the response we have seen in friends and aquaintances as you have stepped up with donations and help for The Event.  It has really humbled me.  (And the six here at home love to laugh at my cry each day as I see more support!)  We have begun collecting for our paperwork to go to Ethiopian court.  After the court date they will schedule us for an appointment at the US Embassey in Ethiopia and that will be when we can bring the children home.  Right now that date is estimated for sometime between March and May. 

So there it is!  That's the why, the how these children, and the when.  The are we crazy is a simple yes.  We are crazy to follow our calling in life, to be a part of something much bigger than us, and to impact the future for our children and their children.