In Honor of "The Goose"

One might think that the reason I have not written lately is because I have three small ones at home 24/7, 7 days a week, but I really think it has more to do with the fact the the Olympics have been in full swing for the past couple of week.  By the next summer Olympics, we will have a DVR!  Stuff like that probably doesn't belong on an adoption blog, but there was great disappointment when Gabby Douglas was bouncing along on her first tumbling pass and the VCR ran out of tape!

Anywho . . . . there are much more pressing matters in life.  I wish that running out of tape on our vintage VCR was our biggest problem, but we still have this little guy, Negusu, sitting in a little orphanage in Ethiopia.  I have finally used his name and that is not a mistake.  Our hope of getting him is all but extinguished.  The whole situation is heartbreaking, but right now, it just feels  . . .  well . . . weird.  Not a very descriptive word for such a serious topic, but there is no word for it.  

Our favorite picture of "Goosey" (tear, tear)

Like I said in a previous post, another family has taken on the challenge of getting care for Negusu and all his little orphanage buddies at Ajuuja.  It is through an amazing organization called Project Hope.  People are able to sponsor kids at Ajuuja for $30/month, or they can give one time donations to help with special items.  For instance, today they are requesting 6 more cribs for 6 more babies at this already full orphanage.   

It seems like we should be so excited to help and we are, but there is just some weirdness to it all.  First of all, we can't sponsor Negusu, because if the completely unexpected should happen and those in charge of his fate should actually sign his paperwork and we should feel like we are in a place to bring him home, then sponsorship could affect that process.  We could sponsor another child at the orphanage, but it feels odd to sponsor the baby next to Negusu for some reason.  Not much has settled peacefully in my mind about this whole situation and it probably won't until we have a FINAL answer on The Goose. What we do feel settled about, is trying to help find sponsors for the remainder of the kids that don't have FIGS (Families in the Gap) and remaining open to getting more involved once we get that period on the sentence that we feel pretty sure is coming.  If you are interested in donating to Negusu's orphanage or sponsoring one of his buddies, here is the link with more information:

http://forsuchasthese.blogspot.com/2012/08/project-hopeful-awassa-update.html

We also are excited about doing our own little tiny thing to HONOR NEGUSU!  We are going to start Goosing people, which will be our way or encouraging people we come across who have have had long, discouraging adoption stories.  We are so excited about this.  It seems like every time we were past the point of despair with Negusu, somebody would anonymously send us a check, an unexpected note, or something that was just perfect for the moment.  So, Dave and I have already started patrolling blogs to search for families that need a little encouragement in their adoption journey.  We can't wait to Goose our first Goose-ee.  I want to take this moment to thank any and all of you who have encouraged us from start to finish, with notes, financial assistance, meals when we got home, gift certificates, prayer and comments on our blog and facebook statuses.  All of those things have led us to this new endeavor to encourage others who have had a rocky path to their little one.  

BTW - If any of you excel at cartoon drawings, we'd love to get a little logo for our "You've Been Goosed" campaign.