Life Unexpected

Saturday night, Christmas Eve, my family and I traveled to New Jersey for our traditional Czech Dinner with our extended family. The night was full of traditions including sauerkraut soup, mushroom soup, specialty breads and cookies, and of course the golden pig (that's where coins rain from the ceiling...you figure that one out). After our celebration we hopped back in the car and traveled back to my parents' house in Maryland, to spend the night and wake up Christmas morning together. For some reason I woke up really early. I think it was because I was singing a solo at my parents' church Christmas morning and was getting nervous! I jumped in the shower and when I got out heard my niece Sadie crying. I went in her room, picked her up, and got to sit by the tree watching the lights for like a half hour. She was mesmerized by those lights and our singing Christmas tree. My sister told me that allowing her to sleep and taking care of Sadie was the best Christmas presen

I have decided that kids have some kind of instinct inside of them that tells them exactly what they need to say to make you smile. Last week, I called my mom and was bawling on the phone. I guess the reality had set in that we may not get a call with our referral, and that just made me sad. She had been riding in the car with my niece Emma, who is 5, and when she got off the phone, she told Emma, "Auntie Ang is sad. She is sad because she hasn't gotten to bring home her babies yet." Emma, who is a thinker and I believe a really smart kid, just pondered those words and said nothing. Later on that day, she came up to my mom and handed her a card she had made. She said, "Grammy, this is for Auntie Ang. It needs to go in an envelope for her. It's because she didn't get to see the birth of her babies." Wow! I was blown away by the kindness of a 5 year old. The past few days God has allowed me to have "moments" with my nieces. Emma, who

It's hard to even know where to start on this post. I probably should have blogged each day of this vacation. Nonetheless, I will attempt to paint the picture of all that has taken place over this Christmas vacation (it may just come in several postings!)... For starters, let me just get it out there, we did NOT receive a Christmas Miracle like we had been praying for. While I wish I had some profound understanding of that, I don't, and at times, this past week, the disappointment of a Christmas Miracle not fulfilled has been hard to swallow. At the same time, I know that God is in control. I also know that his plans are perfect, and that we are growing in this wait process. I can honestly say from the bottom of my heart I want HIS plan to prevail in HIS time, and I wouldn't trade that for the world. That being said, spending time with my family this Christmas break was exactly what my soul needed during this difficult wait time. I have been encouraged, learned some

As promised, here are some pictures from our fundraiser last weekend. These are some of the awesome students that helped us all night. My new Ethiopian friend, Aster...cooking the most amazing food! This is our table of t-shirts and bracelets we were selling and our set-up in the ministry center. Our speaker, Jeromy praying for us... My mom on the run with her spaghetti... My Dad and his new Ethiopian friend, Mel

At the start of last week, I was somewhat in panic mode. I really had no idea how we were going to pull off our Ethiopian Fundraiser Dinner, I wasn't sure I had the help I needed, I wasn't sure a lot of people were coming, and I just somewhat felt discouraged. Last Tuesday, I was "venting" to my friend and secretary, Janey, about all of this anxiety. She is one of the biggest prayer warriors I know and has become such a great friend. She said to me, "Pastor Andrea...what do you need? Let me help you. Do you need dessert? Do you need pasta?" I sheepishly said, "Well...I could about 10 some desserts." To which she answered, "Ok...I have four boxes of cake mix at my house. I will provide 4 desserts for you." I was thrilled about that. Well, I came back several hours later, and she said, "Pastor Andrea, I have great news! I have 10 desserts coming this Saturday for you. I just called all of my friends and said, 'You know

I am not even sure how to put this day into words, my heart is so full. I woke up this morning to the smell of homemade spaghetti sauce cooking throughout the house. I didn't sleep much last night, because I was anxious and nervous and excited all at once for our Ethiopian Dinner. My mom and I spent the morning pretty low keyed, and then my Dad arrived and we began to kick the afternoon in gear with final preparations for our fundraiser. My Dad arrived around 11am with a bouquet of flowers from my sister, Heather (who was supposed to come but got sick), and a really cute plant from my sister Kristen (who lives in Boston) and his mad peeling skills. You see, Dad and I had been put in charge of peeling about 60-70 hard boiled eggs for one of the Ethiopian dishes, and I think for about an hour it was a battle of Dad and Ang vs. the eggs. In the end, I am pretty sure the eggs won...they did not want to peel, but nonetheless, we accomplished the task. We were sitting at the table w

As many of you know, this past week has been major preparation for our Ethiopian Adoption Fundraiser taking place tomorrow night. It has been quite the adventure. There is an Ethiopian family that practically lives across the street from us. A couple of months ago our Pastor connected us to them and we have been working together to plan this Ethiopian Dinner. From the second we met them, we were family. In fact, Aster, the wife, said to us, "If you are adopting an Ethiopian child...you are now Ethiopian too! You are family." We immediately felt embraced by their family. Well, last night started the adventure of getting ready to prepare the meal. We traveled to Sam's Club together, and I had absolutely no idea what we were getting. I just let Aster lead the way. We found that we both had a love for Sam's Club samples, and were excited to see if there were any. We stumbled on the first sample cart and I was so excited I grabbed a toothpick and munched down o

Lately, I have had several people ask me, "What's going on with the adoption...anything new?" "New" would be the understatement. A lot has happened in the past few weeks, and I have been trying to process it before I chose to blog about it. I will try to catch you up as best as I can. Several weeks ago, we went to our social worker trying to get a grasp on the wait process. We asked her where we were in the grand scheme of waiting, to which she did some research with our agency, and came back concluding, "You are going to wait a long time if you are only open to a sibling group that includes an infant." After much prayer and seeking, we surrendered the desire for an infant and opened up our preference sheet to say we were open to two under the age of 4, no infant necessary. Let me just pause for a minute and say...for me...that was a big surrender. I felt like the weight of the world was off of my shoulders, until we got another dreaded call fro

Just a reminder that our Adoption Fundraiser is taking place next Saturday, December 10th at 5pm. We don't want you to miss this! Click on the picture below for more details:)

Well, the second half of our Thanksgiving weekend included a trip to Hershey Park with Nate's family (the three nephews...ages 3, 6, 9, his sister and her husband, and his mom), part of my family (my sister, my two nieces...ages 6 months and 5 years old), and my "adopted sister," who lived with us for a couple of years growing up, and her two daughters (ages 6 and 10). Let me just say one thing. When it is 65 degrees on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, HERSHEY IS GOING TO BE CRAZY! We decided to do Hershey the cheap way, which was go into Chocolate World for FREE, go through the FREE tour (which is actually pretty fun), and get a FREE shoppers pass into the park which allowed for you to walk through Hershey for 1 hour without riding rides but being able to see the reindeer. Here is what I learned from that experience...Chocolate world + kids= a potential hazardous financial situation! My sister, Heather, who I think is one of the smartest people I know, decided to give

This past Wednesday, Nate's family arrived all the way from Maine and Mass to come visit for Thanksgiving. This was only the second Thanksgiving we have ever hosted (the first was with two of our friends from Kansas City that I was in seminary with...ask me about that some time!), so I was a little anxious! We survived Wednesday night with a meal on the table ready to go. Nate and I woke up bright and early the next morning and for the day....I felt like we had our own family. Nate and I had been invited to go to a breakfast at a church that was being hosted by some students from our FCA we work with. We woke up at 6am and decided to venture out with two of our three nephews, Noah and Isaac. We arrived at the church (which had very few seats left), and found ourselves sitting in a row, Nate, Noah (age 9), Auntie Ang (that's me), and Isaac (age 3). The food began being passed and the lady next to me asked, "Does he like eggs (Isaac)?" "Uh...I have no idea wh

The past week has been one of praying for discernment. We have had some adoption decisions to make (to be blogged about in the future), and it has been a time where I have found myself longing for quietness, in hopes that I will hear the voice of God. I was doing my devotions this week, and decided for some reason to read the book of Habbukuk (did I even spell that right???). Here is the verse that stuck out to me..."Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vine, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, YET I WILL REJOICE IN THE LORD, I WILL BE JOYFUL IN GOD MY SAVIOR." If I am going to be honest, I have no idea what God's plan is in our adoption process. The "waiting" in the adoption process is really hard, but the truth of the matter is, God is still walking with us, and even carrying us at times, and he will one day reveal this amazing plan he has

We are so excited to announce that our we selling t-shirts for our adoption, just in time to gift give this Christmas! Our amazing friend, Chris, designed them, so we want to say a big thanks to him. The shirts are white, Gildan brand, 50% cotton, 50% polyester, and come in sizes S-XL. The front says , "How do you reach 147 million orphans." The back says in small letters, " two at a time" with the logo "love knows no borders" around the continent of africa. We are asking for a donation of $20 per shirt, and $5 if you need it shipped. We are also selling Ethiopian bracelets as well. They are stretchy, one size fits most, with a butterfly charm (a symbol of hope). We are asking for a $5 donation for those. Pictures are listed below. All orders can be placed by email (asawtelle@hagerstownnaz.org), or through our facebook group (Life Unexpected...Nate and Andrea's Journey of Adoption).

First of all, I want to say thank you to all of those who sent texts, emails, and facebook messages to let us know you were praying for us today. That means the world to us. We did get a chance to talk to our social worker as well as the person who does all of the matching for referrals at the big agency office. She basically confirmed the facts that we had already heard. They are seeing very few referrals for sibling groups that include an infant, very few referrals for sibling groups under the age of four, and the wait proess is extra long for those (possibly 15 months for a sib group under 4, and we have been waiting for about 8 months). She told us there are about 7 other families asking for the very same thing we are, which may not seem like a lot, but is a lot due to the infrequency of seeing these referral. One of the things they suggested we pray on is opening up our preferences to say we are willing to take a sibling group or an infant referral, depending on what comes a

This past weekend I had the opportunity to serve as a mentor and workshop leader for a retreat designed for students feeling a call to full time ministry. As much as I felt like it was privilege to be asked to participate, my heart was not there as we pulled out of the driveway Friday for the weekend. I felt like I was emotionally spent and honestly didn't have a whole lot to offer. It's now Monday afternoon, and I honestly could not be more thankful that I was there this weekend. Not only was it amazingly encouraging to listen to the stories of students feeling called, but God really spoke to me Saturday night. One of my friends and colleagues, Josh, was speaking on Spiritual Disciplines Saturday night, and then gave us about an hour to just be still and spend time praying in creative ways. I was struggling that night feeling as though God had forgotten about me. I don't know why, but I was drawn to the Isaiah 40 passage (I think someone had mentioned that passage i

I am getting ready to leave in 30 minutes to go away for the weekend with a group of teenagers called to ministry, but felt like I needed to blog, because honestly, I need you to lift Nate and I up in prayer. This past week, Nate and I officially made the decision to open up our age range for what we are asking for in regards to our referral (the match of children). Up until this point, we have been very set in getting an infant. After our agency informed us that they were not seeing a lot of infant/toddler referrals, if any at all, we began to pray that God would open our hearts to what we should do. We decided several days later we were open to a sibling group that did not include an infant. That was a huge step for me, one who has struggled with infertility the past several years, one who has been looking forward to holding a baby, and one whose been imagining what it is like to have a little one in the home. But thank God, he brought me to a place where I could be open and rel

Last week I was determined to think of something I am thankful for every day. Reality has sunk in this week. While I have tons of things I am thankful for, the chance of me blogging daily is slim to none, so here is my catch up list for the past few days... 1. Friday...I am thankful for Chocolate Crock Pot Lava Cake. Need I say more with that name? Nate came home the other day from work with this recipe a teacher had made. You basically dump a chocolate cake mix, a pudding mixx, and a bag of chocolate chips into a crock pot for 3 hours...amazingness! 2. Saturday...I am thankful for one of my greatest friends in the world, Jenny Shafer. Nate and I had the opportunity to go to lunch with Jenny and her husband Brian on Saturday, and we began talking about our adoption fundraiser dinner we are having. Jenny got so excited to support us, she already told us of 5 couples from her church coming, and offered to buy all of the garlic bread we need for it! It's amazing that God has

Tonight we had a play-off game for volleyball that we won. It was great night watching our girls come together and shine. Before the game started, I had a chance to introduce myself to the two coaches as they walked into our gym. The head coach was a young girl in her late 30's and the assistant was an older gentleman. They had just had 4 girls on their team, who happened to be starters, decide at the last minute they were not going to attend the play-off game because they wanted to go to the school pep rally. I imagine as coaches that was extremely devastating the day of the first play-off game of post season. I asked them if they had been coaching long, and they said off and on and then they told me..."they were a father daughter duo!" I don't know why, but that about made my heart melt! How cool is it to coach with your Dad and have someone to lean on during times of disappointment and defeat. That's when I realized I do have that! So, tonight I am tha

Today I am thankful when we catch glimpses of God's work in youth ministry. Tonight at youth group we kicked off a new small group ministry. I had worked really hard to get everything ready, recruited leaders, and contacted teens to be there. While the turnout wasn't as large as I had hoped, I still felt encouraged. I felt encouraged as I watched a brand new 20 something youth worker say, "I LOVE MY SMALL GROUP (believe me, that's a big deal when you are leading a junior high group!)" I watched as her co-leader, who just recently graduated from our youth ministry, nodded in agreement, and I secretly cheered "Yes," feeling like one of our teens made it! I listened as another leader shared how one teen in her group thanked God for the small size group, because it gave them a chance to reach out to more people. It's not all that often that you see tangible fruit in a youth ministry and it is far too easy to focus on what's didn't happen.

It's hard to believe that it is November already. When we started this whole adoption process, we thought for sure we would have brought home kids by now. We haven't even been matched yet, we are having to evaluate and make decisions about what ages we are open to, and frankly, it's discouraging some days! At the same time, we are learning to take one day at a time, we are taking advantage of the time we have together as a couple, and we are imagining on a daily basis what it will be like when we get that call and all the changes that are going to come. It's a season of unknowns, a season of frustration at times, a season where "waiting" has become second nature, and a season where it is much easier to focus on what's not happening rather than all the good things that are happening. So, in honor of Orphan Awareness Month (in case you didn't know, it's the month of November), and in the season of Thanksgiving, I want to try to blog as many days

After long and emotionally draining week, I was thankful to have the weekend. Friday, Nate and I decided to spend the day together after my early morning volleyball practice. I was too emotionally spent to really hold a meaningful conversation about the decisions we have to make in the weeks to come in regards to our adoption. I was encouraged by so many friends and family members who sent us texts, emails, and facebook messages saying they were praying for us. It's always comforting to know that we are not alone in the journey. Nate and I had the opportunity to spend the evening in DC Saturday night with our extended family for my Uncle's 75th birthday. I am always amazed at how quick time flies and just how many memories we have locked inside of our hearts from the years we have spent together as an extended family. We have created so many rich memories over the years, including spending countless summers at my uncle's beach house in Stone Harbor, NJ, driving to Je

It's been an extremely tough 24 hours. The past few weeks, it seems as though we continue to get more and more emails saying that the wait time has been increased for both referrals and travel times. We thought we had gotten the "not so awesome news" last week about the wait time between receiving a referral and bringing children home. And then we were hit with the tougher news yesterday. After talking with our social worker, we found out that basically they haven't seen any referrals (matches of children) that fall into what we are asking for, one under 12 months and one under 4 years of age. She told us that the sibling group referrals that they have seen are falling in the age range of 3-6 years of age. She said that we need to pray together and talk over whether it is more of a priority to adopt a "baby" or a "sibling group." It didn't help that I received the news about 30 minutes before boarding the bus for one of our biggest volle

This past week has been insanely busy. Last Friday I turned 32 and it was somewhat of a big weekend for me. I felt like 32 as somewhat old, even though every one assured me it really wasn't! I started my birthday early in the morning as Nate surprised me with a new Asus Tablet to blog with. I was so surprised and excited! I spent the weekend with 33 teenagers on our Annual Youth Group Fall Retreat. It was a great weekend, but left me exhausted at the end. My parents came up as soon as I got home, and we celebrated my birthday together. Then I went into a crazy week of youth ministry, volleyball, and sermon prep. I had been studying a passage for the sermon I preached today and found it extremely challenging and by the end of the week was spent. And that's when I got the not so great news. I had emailed our social worker, getting some clarification on our wait time again. She had told me earlier in the month that the referral time wait was going to be at least a year f

Last night was the first time I had been home at night in awhile. For those of you who don't know, I coach volleyball at a local high school (have been for the past 5 years), and it is a huge part of my life. On top of that, I find myself in a busy season of life with youth ministry. I woke up this morning and was journaling and began to think about some of the things in my life that I am overwhelmed with. I know I wrote a little bit about it last night, but the reality is, my life is going to drastically change when we get our call, and some days that scares me. It's a weird dynamic...we have waited a long time (6+ years) to have a family. Trust me, I am ready! On the flip side Nate and I have been married for 10 years, I am getting ready to turn 32 next week, and we have lived life by ourselves with the exception of Big Al living with us, a little 5 lb dog! I was sitting praying for God to just bring peace and order to the chaos of my life and thanking him for his pres

Today I was sitting in my office looking for some ideas for a mission trip theme, when I stumbled across a Google image of a white woman who looked to be about my age with two African children. I immediately began to cry (partly because it's been a ridiculous couple of weeks and I am tired, and partly because the thought of bringing home our children from Ethiopia overwhelms my heart). We are just about to finish our 8th month on the wait list, which is crazy. That means that we could get a call any day (even though they say it's going to be at least a year, I like to think that maybe God will surprise us in some way). It's unbelievable to think we have already waited 8 months. I keep thinking how crazy it is going to be when we get that call. That thought is overwhelming... Last weekend we had the opportunity to set up a booth for our adoption at my parents' Fall Fest they had at church. We sold about 175 cake pops, a bunch of Ethiopian bracelets, book marks, and