Miller's home . . . We're all home!

 

 

 

We've all been together a week, now.  Last Friday, mom arrived home safely with Miller.  After much praying, anticipating, waiting, travelling and more, we are all thankful to be together in one place!

          See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.  1 John 3:1

Todd, Amy, Jack, William, Isaac, Benjamin and Miller Brady

Looking forward to us all being together

Just before Amy left to travel to Ethiopia with her sister this weekend, we snapped this final picture of our family as it now looks--Mom, Dad, Jack, William, Isaac, and Benjamin.  The picture below is a photo of our son, Miller Elijah Brady who arrives home this next Friday.  We look forward to getting everyone in these two pictures into the same frame--the way it should be.

I Have HOW MANY Brothers ?!?

                                                        Jack and Miller Brady

Today we sat in a dark and stuffy courtroom, answered a few questions and heard an Ethiopian judge acknowledge what we have known for a while, and what God has known for Ages--that Fesseha Adama is a Brady.  Now, African paperwork aligns with Divine Providence.

Although Miller Elijah Brady is officially our child, we must return to America and wait for further government processing.  At the right time, we look forward to returning to Addis Ababa so that we might bring him home--the place where he belongs.

Our hearts are full of gratitude as God has allowed us be a part of this journey.  Thank you for joining in his work and praying--specifically for your prayers that the path would be level and that logistics would proceed smoothly at today's court hearing.

We are thankful for God's grace along the way of this journey.  How thankful we are that Todd's mom and Jack are able to be with us.  We are grateful for the gracious staff who care for Miller and the other children here at the Transition Home.  We are even grateful for cameras which have allowed us to capture recordings and photographs of our new baby boy.

Choosing only one of the hundreds of images we have taken during our stay is impossible.  They are all PERFECT.  We eventually decided to post the above picture of Miller.  At this point, his language consists only of goo-goos and gah-gahs, but when we told him about the boys in our family, he had the most surprised look on his face!

Todd and Amy Brady

Ethiopia bound

...and we're off!

In a matter of a few hours, we board the plane in Washington D.C. for a long journey to Addis Ababa.

We are grateful that Jack, our oldest son and Dianne, Todd's mom are making the trek with us.  We are thankful for the Lord's work among us and hopeful about the prospects of the week before us.

In addition to God making our paths level and providing opportunities to bring Him much glory along the way, please pray for the court process to go smoothly next week.  While Americans are in the wee hours of the morning on Tuesday morning/Monday night, we will stand in court for Miller.  We are honored to travel the world and stand for him.  After court, we hope to be able to post a picture.

Thanks to all  who have invested so much in this process with us.  So many of you are travelling in our hearts with us.

Todd and Amy Brady

Solving Society's Problems Around our own Table

While weighty issues of ethics are often pronounced from pulpits and courthouses across our nation, matters of morality are usually embraced and digested best by children around our own family dinner tables.  Discussions of right and wrong carry a greater air of practicality when the family can see the whites of everyone’s eyes and where the conversation is laced with “tell me about your day” and “pass the potatoes, please.”

At his inauguration in 1963, Alabama’s governor drew a proverbial line in the dust, threw the gauntlet before the feet of tyranny and infamously proclaimed, “I say segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever.”  Six months later, a court order was given and the National Guard was mobilized to ensure James Hood and Vivian Malone’s entrance into the University of Alabama.  Foster Auditorium became the showdown’s location where the stand in the schoolhouse door simply could not withstand the force of truth and justice.

That evening, June 11, 1963, President John F. Kennedy courageously addressed the nation, delivering a bold and direct speech calling on each citizen to “stop and examine his conscience about this and other related events.”  Describing the issue of racial prejudice as a “moral issue,” President Kennedy articulated an idea which was “as old as the scriptures” and “as clear as the American Constitution.”  He called on “Congress to enact legislation giving all Americans the right to be served in facilities which are open to the public--hotels, restaurants, theaters, retail stores, and similar establishments.” 

Then he delivered what may be the most significant line of his speech.  He knew that the heart of the race issue lay not with lawmakers who labored at the Capitol, but with parents who were raising their children at home.  Yes, there would be laws, “but” as Kennedy said, “legislation, I repeat, cannot solve this problem alone. It must be solved in the homes of every American in every community across our country.”

We now find ourselves more than a decade into the 21^st century.  I personally take joy in the fact that my sons find themselves perplexed by those in our nation’s history who treated others in such an inhumane fashion.  For my kids, it’s hard to imagine such a world where “whites” drank out of one water fountain and “coloreds” drank out of another. 

Progress is still to be made, but my children do live in a land where “the sons of slaves and the sons of former slave-owners [are] able to sit down at the table of brotherhood.”  My four children do in fact live in a place where they are judged not “by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

Today’s challenges are unique.  Just as our children cannot imagine the trials facing President Kennedy’s generation, I doubt he could have envisioned the day in which we live.  As JFK challenged the nation concerning the racial problem of 1963, may we heed his words today.  Let us realize that the solutions to society’s problems begin with us—in our own homes around our own tables with our own families.

A Christmas Eve Referral, Friends on their Journeys and the Spiritual Warfare of Family

To make themselves tired, the boys got out of the bed on Christmas Eve to run up and down the hallway outside their rooms.  Their thinking went like this:  If we get up and run, we will get tired.  If we get tired, we will go to sleep faster.  If we sleep fast, Christmas morning will come quicker.  If Christmas morning comes quicker, we will open presents sooner. 

Oh, the logic of a child on Christmas Eve.

Sugarplums had not yet begun to dance in boys’ heads when we heard that special ring on the phone.  Weeks ago, we programmed a special ring for the person who would be calling us with our referral.  As soon as we heard the phone, we knew we were parents for the 5^th time.  News of our 3 month old boy came on Christmas Eve.  Perfect.

They call him Fesseha Adama.  We are told “Fesseha” means happy.  He was found abandoned in the city of Adama.  While his paperwork says “abandoned,” we are confident of God’s gracious and sovereignly strategic placement of this child into our family.  We have been praying for him.  Now we have a face to go with his name—Miller Elijah Brady.

The last three days have been full of joy for us, but we realize that for us to experience our joy, sorrow has had to come on the other side of the world.  While we may learn more when we travel to Ethiopia, circumstances surrounding Miller’s birth may forever remain a mystery to us. 

No child should ever have to face the perils of abandonment or fatherlessness or neglect.  We’ll always remember receiving the phone call on Christmas Eve, pondering the mystery of Miller’s birth and waking up on Christmas morning to remember the mystery of our Savior’s birth.

In the midst of our journey, we are mindful of other families in our faith community who are walking along similar, but different paths.  Our friends are personally wrapped up in legislative wrangling concerning Russian adoptions.  Who would have thought that we would end the year with such personal and heart-felt prayers for Vladimir Putin as he contemplates signing Russia’s ban on US adoptions.

As families around us struggle with infertility, with the seemingly never-ending waiting process of international adoption and with the wildly jerking emotional roller coaster of domestic adoption, we are realizing more and more that godly family is no walk in the park.

God designed the family.  When the Bible speaks of salvation, we often hear the language of family.  “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.”  Galatians 4:4-5

Since the family is God’s design, no wonder Satan desires to prevent it from ever happening.  No wonder women kill those living in their wombs.  No wonder parents abandon their babies in the dark of night.  No wonder nations vote to ban adoptions.  No wonder family is a challenge.  It is God’s design.  Satan hates God’s design.  Therefore, those who desire to lead a family must remember that “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”  Ephesians 6:12

Some think family is admirable.  Some think having children is admirable.  Some think adoption is admirable. 

It’s all more than admirable.  It’s warfare.

Todd and Amy Brady

Thank you, and Merry Christmas!

It’s Sunday afternoon. Two boys are napping. Two brothers are playing outside in the creek out back, and Mom’s in the kitchen making a special cake for Christmas Day. Our home, as well as our hearts are full.

This morning, we worshipped and celebrated the fact that when God sent Jesus into the world, he gave us freedom from the law and adoption as sons. “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” Galatians 4:4-5
 

Some say Christmas is for children. Indeed.

Through faith in Christ, God has adopted us into his family and made us his children. “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” John 1:12 Oh, the joy of being a child in God's family.
 

On this day before Christmas Eve, we find ourselves particularly grateful for the kindness of friends and family who are partnering with us in the adoption of our son, Miller. The generosity which has been shown to us through the financial partnership of others (Hand in Hand adoption matching grant) has been overwhelming. We are looking forward to meeting our son in the new year, and many of you have contributed to make this dream a reality.

Please know that as the Lord has used you to bless us during this time in our lives, we pray God’s blessings for you.

"Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and the one who waters will himself be watered." Proverbs 11:25

Merry Christmas!

Todd and Amy Brady