Action and Vision

Naming a child is a tremendous responsiblity.  And, we're so very happy with how God has guided us in the naming of our little guy.  Throughout the long and often quiet months of our adoption process- it was the discussion of baby names that kept us entertained.  Although we speculated on many, in reality we really kind of new right from the start.  Last summer we painted the exterior of our very tall, kinda big two story house.  We spent an incredibly intense weekend of hauling scaffolding, paint buckets and...discussing baby names.  Do you like this one, how about that one?  It wasn't until sometime this winter that we really started to narrow down the top contenders.  Really, the process of naming our little guy was more about us discovering the name God had picked for Baby Roth.  I remember a year ago, a new dad commenting on this and I thought to myself... um, ok- but, still you're picking a name for your kid.  It wasn't until we've arrived at where we are today that I understand.

We've named our little guy after one of the great unsung heroes of the Bible.  Here's my paraphrased version of the story... Our little guy's namesame was a man of God who was selected as a leader to go scout out the Promised Land.  After checking things out, they were all to report back to Moses.  Ten of the twelve said- "Its great, flowing with milk and honey.  BUT, the guys there are huge, and they've got giants for relatives and well... there's no way we can beat them.  We look like grasshoppers compared to them!" 
However...the Bible then reads-

"Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said,

“We should go up and take possession of the land,

for we can certainly do it"

Numbers 13:30 (NIV)

Caleb and Joshua had faith that the Promised Land could be conquered.  But, the Isrealites...well, as usual they all got together that night and got to talking and whining and wishing they would have just died in Egypt anyways.  They got mad and didn't just doubt God.  They basically told Him (our Saviour and creator) that He had messed up.  They took matters into their own hands and decided to elect a leader and head back to Egypt because that was a 'better idea'.   Caleb and Joshua tried again calling out to their peers-

“The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. 8 If the LORD is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. 9 Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will devour them. Their protection is gone, but the LORD is with us. Do not be afraid of them.”  Numbers 14: 7-9

But, instead of listening to God's two faithful ones.... the Isrealites started talking about stoning the two 'crazy' ones.  God loves and protects those who are faithful to Him.   And, God was admittedly very frustrated with the Isrealites.  'His Glory' was revealed in a tent of the people.  After reading Numbers 14, I don't think this was a beautiful, majestic, angels singing hallelujah's and peace on earth kind of 'glory revealed'.  It sounds a little more like a dad showing up in the middle of a conflict and saying- "Hey- enough is enough.  I'm done bailing you out and listening to you whine and you never cooperate or have any faith in me".  So, God kicked them back out to the wilderness where he promised everyone over 20 would die and none of you are getting into the promised land BUT..." 

But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it. Numbers 14:24

Caleb was steadfast.  Forty-five years later at the age of 85, after a long journey and a faithful life- he reminded Joshua of the Lord's promise to Caleb as a blessing for his whole-hearted faithfullness.  Caleb was courageous, obedient, persistant and in the end rewarded and greatly blessed by the Lord.  He made it to the promised land (Moses didn't by the way- he got to see but no touch)! 

 Before we were matched with our little guy, we were seriously considering the spelling of 'Kaleb'.  You see, Kaleb is the legitimate Ethiopian cognate of Caleb.  But, we didn't know for sure.... until we learned that our little guy was born on Grandpa Kenneth Berry's 82nd birthday : )  So, the 'K' is for Kenneth and for Ethiopia!  God does amazing work I tell ya!!! :)
We'll call him Kaleb A**** Roth and will be keeping his Ethiopian family name as his middle name. 
This week, I received a letter from my Grandma- the new Great Grandma Berry.  In it, she summed up our name selection quite perfectly..."Kaleb, how fitting- action and vision."

We know our little guy's life won't be easy- it already has had its trials.  It is our prayer that we can raise him to be a faithful man of God who is obedient, courageous and in the end greatly blessed by God.  

God Bless!

. 

Life is Good, God is Great!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who has rejoiced in the news of our little guy!  It has been an incredibly fun week sharing the news with our friends, family and even some random people who don't even know us : )  Thank you so much for all your prayers and encouragement to this point- we've got a ways to go still but we're making progress.  Wes and I really truly are surrounded by so many incredibly wonderful people- it just amazes us!  Oh, sweet Baby Roth... you've got a huge fan club going- you have no idea what you're in for once you make it to some good old South Dakota dirt!  Here are some of the memories/responses and tidbits from life this past week...
- Your Auntie Ashley just kept shouting with joy!!  In which she followed that up with "oh- I am going shopping right now!" 
- The joy of watching your dad, Wes, call his parents to share the good news was incredible!  As we drove away from the Post Office told them about their newest grandson.  This makes the tally 4 boys and 1 girl.  Poor Sarabeth...next time hopefully! 
- Speaking of Sarabeth, word has it she was a little bummed that God didn't answer the 'please send me a baby cousin who is a girl' part of the prayer.  Oh, but by Saturday night when she had picture in hand...she slept with it all night long. 
- We called the RJNANS (with Tulo in the background of course) and shared the news over speaker phone- oh, how FUN!!!!!!!!!!  Ryan, Jen and the kids are thrilled!  Than also wanted to know how the rabbit is- he is well, hehe. 
- The new grandparents- Grandma and Grandpa Berry were so excited they could hardly contain themselves at Red Lobster.  Can't wait to share the pictures of them seeing his picture for the first time-oh, they love you already little man!
- While at Red Lobster, I called my Grandma Berry and told her our exciting news.  When I said "You're a Great Grandma"- I think that's the moment that really got my Dad.  Face it, for many years the likelihood of great grandchildren for my incredible Grandpa and Grandma Berry seemed slim at best.  We are so blessed in so many ways, truly we can't even take it all in. 
- I called my brother Ryon, he answered by saying 'Congrats'.  I was like- how'd you find out?  Which basically proved my decades old theory that it only takes about 6 seconds for 'news' in Philip to travel from the school to the elevator.  Uncle Ryon will do a great job teaching our little guy about everything outdoors.
- Kudos to the post office!!  A very special package which was shipped from Rapid City to Laramie, WY made it there overnight- wow!  (For some reason, the post office system thinks Laramie is rural.  It not rural!  Milesville, SD is rural- Laramie is not, but anyways) At the counter, they told us it could only get there Monday unless we paid extra for Sunday delivery.  Well... it got there by 9:05am Saturday morning!! Go Post Office- especially since we dropped the package off about 1 minute before express delivery closed Friday night!
- Sunday, we had the incredible opportunity to share our good news with our church.  They have been prayer warriors for us and are just such a blessing!  What a special time sharing the news and picture with Pastor and his wife together before the service.  YAY!
- A nearly former student who has a heart of gold texted me "My prayers for patience are now changed to prayers of thanksgiving!"  Seriously, if we can raise a kid 1/2 as amazing as her- we'll have conquered great things!!
- This nearly former students' mother is awesome!!!  And...she self-admittedly knows pretty much everything that's going on.  However, it is not in a mean spirited or gossipy way.  She simply cares about people, knows people and invests in people because her heart is HUGE!  She was the first person I really knew in Belle. We share the same name and spent a Saturday taking tickets at a volleyball game.  Well- she just happened to be the first person from Belle to see Baby Roth's picture.  We printed his picture at Walmart and who was there at the end of the aisle buying groceries- Kim Nelson!!  How appropriate, go God. 
Thanks to all the Facebook well wishes, texts, phone calls, comments and encouragement this week as well.  The kids at school were so very thrilled as well as the fellow teachers!

I've talked about this before but- the quietness of waiting for your referral is just silent.  There isn't anything to talk about.  There isn't anything you know.  Nothing to pass along.  No change in anything.  It is so very hard at times.  Oh, but God really, really does have it all under control (even though it stinks at times for us little unknowing people).  There were lots of little miracles last Friday... I'll try to share those next time. 

Today is the DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, my dear friends...the Lord is faithful and good and all-knowing.  And, He really does orchestrate our days in ways we can't even imagine.   When we doubt and we try to strategize...He just simply delivers HIS plan and of course- its always perfect! 

So about today...

I was in Rapid standing in Maurices about to pay when my phone rang.  Just like everyone always says...it wasn't a phone number I recognized but answered it anyways.  And, it was Renee our social worker.  We're currently in the process of updating our homestudy so at first, I just figured she was calling to set up our update meeting.  Then she said...well, I have your referral!!!  Oh, my goodness- I lost it there in Maurices!  The emotions of the wait and the hopes and dreams of this day finally coming were just too much.  All I could remember saying was 'really' and 'seriously' and 'really?"  The store employees probably thought someone had died or there had been an accident or something tragic.  After getting off the phone- I explained to them what they had just witnessed.  I said 'We're adopting.  She just called me to tell me that I have a son and he's in Ethiopia." WOW!!!!!!!! 

So, although I could hardly write I was shaking so bad- I paid and hauled out of the mall!  I flew to Safeway and picked up some 'Baby Boy' balloons before heading to Wes' office.  I'll never forget the feeling of walking into the office with blue balloons floating above, camera around my neck and thinking...I'm going to tell Wes we have a son! 

Usually, you have to buzz to get into the building.  However, a bunch of HVAC guys were there cleaning so I snuck in without Wes knowing.  And, there he was sitting, working quietly just like he always does.

 

I snapped a picture of him before coming around the corner and said 'Today's the day- its a boy!"  Rightfully so, he was totally shocked.  And, there we stood holding each other close, with tears in our eyes in awe of God's blessings!!!  It has been an afternoon in which we will never, ever forget!  We sat down together and opened the email.  At first, we couldn't find the pictures but after a quick call to Renee, we figured it out. 

He is precious!  A quite healthy 6 week old baby boy with chubby cheeks and big soft eyes!!  Praise the LORD, Praise the LORD!! 

The rest of the afternoon involved lots of phone calls and errands until we met up with the new Grandpa and Grandma Berry- yay!!  We celebrated at Red Lobster- the poor waiter, he kept trying to take care of us but we really didn't care at all about the food. 

Today was a day of answered prayers and of hopes realized.  We truly are humbled by God's steadfast provision.  For all you waiting...I know how it is to wait so long you really doubt if it is ever going to happen.  But, it will!!!  It will!!  It DID : )  Our hearts are so very full tonight- oh, what a blessed day God has given us! 

Graduation Weekend!

We have had an absolutely great weekend!  We gathered together to celebrate my super fabulous sister's graduation from nursing school.  Oh, Baby Roth- you're going to LOVE your Auntie Ashley!!  She is wacky and fun and smart and talented and well- fabulous!  We celebrated her hard work over these past 4 years to complete nursing school.  She not only accomplished it- she did so with honors and got a 100% on her last nursing school final.  Great work!  We were so blessed to be joined by Donna and Katie for the pinning ceremony.  And, Connie, Dave, Erik and Katelyn came from Minnesota for the graduation ceremony.  Thanks joining us everyone- it was a fun weekend.   

Number Nine

Well, here we are...month number 9. The best news of the day- we're heading across the state to go celebrate the coolest Aunt-to-be graduate from nursing school. We are so very proud of her!! Just keep praying for news of Baby Roth soon : )  We're back from our awesome weekend so here's our 9 Month update...

Waiting, waiting, waiting.  We’ve been officially ‘waiting’ for 9 months to see the Ethiopian child which God has already picked out for us.  Lately, it seems like the idea of actually getting a referral is starting to feel more like a dream than a reality.  You know, one of those things that you keep talking about and talking about and talking about but…you don’t run the world so, it’s basically out of your hands. Our referral is and always has been in God’s hands.  Wow, and no better place exists than there for our family to be molded from.  This months’ ‘distractionary’ activities have included State FCCLA, completing my boards, Easter in Laramie and putting a garden in the backyard.  Spring is here and another school year is almost done.  My brain is still very much in denial that its already May.  But, it is and here we are.  This week the April numbers were released and there were 6 referrals.  When I first typed that- I so wanted to say ONLY 6 referrals.  But, 6 lives will be forever changed!  They will have love and hope and comfort and the joy of family.