"If you can't feed one hundred people, then feed just one." - Mother Theresa

We are almost finished with our home study! I will update soon. All of the kids have had their physicals and now we are just finishing up the last few loose ends. We are also saving for our first “big” payment (not that the others were chump change- but by comparison to this one there were). For now I wanted to share some facts about Ethiopia. I get asked all the time “why Ethiopia”?! Although only God can really explain that, I can show you why we were drawn to a place with such a great need.

ETHIOPIA FACTS:

Ethiopia is about twice the size of Texas and has approximately 4- 5 million orphans (Minus one, of course). That’s about 12% of the children.
Total population: 77 million

The average income in Ethiopia is $100 a year.
Almost 82% of the population lives on less than $1 a day.

Malnutrition levels are among the highest in the world.

The average life expectancy is only 43 years.


More than half a million of these were orphaned as a result of AIDS.

Less than half of adults can read and write.
There is NO such thing as free education. If you are poor, you will never go to school unless sponsored.
Ethiopian culture dictates that a child that is not your own is treated as a servant. If your parents die, and you are taken in my extended family, they would not treat you as their “own” or pay for school.

Only 18 percent of children reach grade five.

Ethiopia's neonatal mortality rate is one of the highest in the world - 49/1000 births with tetanus infection being the second major cause of infant/neonatal death.


One of the places I want to see in Ethiopia is Korah. Korah is a small village just outside Addis Ababa, the capitol city of Ethiopia. The people there are the poorest of the poor and most live off of what food they can find in the local dump. The village was founded over seventy five years ago by people inflicted with leprosy, seeking treatment in Addis. Three generations later, over 100,000 people live in Korah, most of which either have leprosy, HIV/AIDS, or are widows and orphans.



I wince when he says most people still believe these children are “cursed and unimportant”. As Brian pointed out, their landfills are not like our landfills which are filled with excess of a country that lives so richly. Can you imagine? What if there were no public schools, no source of income, no welfare, no Pell Grant, and no homeless shelters. What then?

I don’t want to give the impression that this is a picture of Ethiopia overall. This is just one village in Ethiopia. While there is great poverty in Ethiopia there is also amazing beauty. Obviously this is a trash dump so it doesn’t show you the beauty of the country.

Ethiopia is rich in history and it’s beautiful. It claims that the Ark of the Covenant, (the box of gold and acacia wood that is believed to have once contained the Ten Commandments) is there somewhere in the Church of St. Mary of Zion in Axum. Ethiopia’s history goes back to biblical times.

There are lots of things I want to see while we are there. I want to learn and take in as much as possible. It is hard to imagine a world so different than my own. Even more odd is that God would choose for these two worlds to collide in such a magnificent way. Please continue to pray for our child and for the adoption process. We appreciate everyone’s love and support more than we could ever express.

Birthdays, Hospitals, and Pictures of Possibility

"You may speak but a word to a child, and in that child there may be slumbering a noble heart which shall stir the Christian Church in years to come." - Charles Spurgeon

Over the weekend I turned 30. This probably doesn’t seem like a big deal but apparently to my friends it was. I thought Brian was taking me out to dinner but he actually brought me to a restaurant where my friends were waiting to throw me a surprise party. I was more than surprised! I was so touched because they are so good to me. I tried not to cry because I had no replacement mascara (since I thought I was just going out to dinner).



There was cake, gifts, and a basket of envelopes and “orphan ransom”. I laid in my bed that night still pondering everything. Not only will this child come home to a family that loves them, but they will come home to an extended family as well.



A friend of mine was struggling to describe what it was like when she came face to face with the outpouring of love from our church family. She said “it’s like God is suddenly standing in front of you and wrapping His arms around you. I can’t describe it.” I told her she didn’t have to. I already knew.

The excitement of the weekend ended abruptly when I discovered Monday Aiden suddenly had a fever of 104.6. It is always scary when they have a fever that high! After an ER visit and some medicine he is feeling better. I am thankful for doctors and hospitals. In Ethiopia the ratio of children to doctors is 1 : 24,000. Staggering.

One other thing going on is that I have been practicing and studying photography. I was hoping at some point I could use this to bring in earnings/donations for the adoption costs so I have been reading and soaking up as much as I can. I have also been practicing what I am learning.



These are of my daughter Kayla.







As I type this I hear the pitter patter of feet so that is all for today!

Something Tangible

Yesterday was an exciting day because we received the first tangible thing that reminds us this is all real. Brian got his passport! I applied for mine a few days after he did so mine won't be in for a few more days. I didn't expect them to come in so quick so we were very excited!!

Never settle

“Sometimes I want to ask God why He allows poverty and suffering in the world but I am afraid He might ask me the same question.” – Anonymous

There is something about witnessing miracles when God does something in the world around you. Even greater still, is when God does something within you that others can’t even see.
Lately I can get up and look in the mirror and not really recognize the person staring back at me. A few short months ago I was in hot pursuit of “comfortable”. Brian had finally decided he was definitely getting out of the military and I can’t tell you the relief this brought. I was relieved that I wouldn’t have to worry about his safety anymore, relieved that I wouldn’t have to raise our children alone for a year at a time, and relieved that none of us would feel the pangs of loneliness the way we had grown so accustomed to. But there was that part of me that was relieved for a very different reason. I didn’t want to move. I felt I had “served my time” and I wanted comfortable for a change. I wanted to settle down. In hindsight, I think I was walking a dangerous line where settling down was becoming the desire of my heart and would have caused me to settle for much less than God had planned.

I don’t even know when the change happened. If it is true that wherever your money is going your heart is sure to follow, then paying for the adoption might explain the growing love for Africa and these people with such deep needs. Or maybe it was when I determined to read biographies of other Christians and fill my head with something better than the television had to offer. I’m not sure. I was reading one of those books called “Ashes to Africa” (which I totally recommend) and Amy Bottomly was describing the difference between her “rated ‘R’ self” and her “rated ‘G’ self”. That was so interesting to me. Yes, no matter how transparent we are we have this side of us that others don’t see; something darker than we would want others to know about. For me that was selfishness. It was a desire that really was about wanting to take a few years to let life be about me and my family. Today things are more in order. My heart’s desire is really God’s presence; seeing Him at work and letting Him work through me. I went from not wanting to travel to Ethiopia to wondering how long I can stay and what I could possibly accomplish while I am there. I don’t think anyone could appreciate this difference but me. Only I knew the depth of my selfishness before, and only I know how my heart feels like it will burst open and hemorrhage if I can’t be among these orphans and reach them in some small way. This is the nature of Christ. We see miraculous things around us in the world all the time. But the ability to change a person’s heart… to change them at the core of their being; there is no other who can accomplish such a thing. My friends, as I type this tonight I pray for you reading this that God will steal your insecurities and your fears. I pray He will set your hearts ablaze with an all consuming fire to know Him and experience Him like never before. Gandhi is often quoted as saying “be the change you want to see in the world” but I’m asking what would happen if you determined to be the change God wants to see in the world? I am praying for revival tonight. Furthermore I am praying that you would determine to let it start inside your very own heart.

The Lonely

Today I am working on some adoption reading that is required. It is pretty much a real snooze. I am beginning to think everything I need to know about adoption I learned from my church family (and God, of course).

In Psalm 68:6 the bible tells us that “God sets the lonely in families.” People always ask what made me want to adopt and honestly I think it was God’s idea. But I think the passion comes from knowing what it is like to be the lonely one who was “set in a family”. I love the way that verse is worded because I close my eyes and picture God just picking us up and “setting” us down where we need to be. Of course it never feels that simple. It usually feels like chaos when God is working in your life. But to Him it is that simple. The things that make us worry and fret are of no concern to Him as He lovingly lifts us up and places us in just the right place at the right time for what we need. I know what it is like to be that kind of lonely and for that I am very grateful. The more I understand about adoption, the more I understand about God. I can clearly remember when I first came to my current church. I had been a Christian for a few years but I still felt a little uncomfortable deep down. I had a very hard time accepting that a church “family” could really be like family. I had a hard time believing that I would be accepted once they knew me well enough to discover all my flaws. I was certain one day they would realize I didn’t fit in and didn’t really belong. But that isn’t what happened. I found that they accepted and loved me through the good times and the bad and there was a place for me there to love and invest in others, too. I don’t know if you will ever be lucky enough to come to my church but I hope you find a church that knows how to love like Jesus. Yes, God does set the lonely in families. I should know. Even though it feels so far away, we know each day brings us closer to the day God “sets” our child in our family. Hold on sweet child, we are coming.

I haven’t been around the past few days because we received an unexpected blessing when a friend invited us to stay in Florida at the beach for a couple of days. We didn’t think we would be able to go to the beach this year because we were saving for the adoption, but God just seems to know what you need when you need it. We were definitely in need of a break. Now it is back to the grind!

Pondering Ethiopia

A lot of people have asked exactly where we are in the process.

So far the things we have done:
•Provide initial application for review.
•Receive preliminary approval into the program.
•Begin the home study with an agency.

We have completed our first home study visit which was a tour of our house and an interview with both of us about our marriage. It took about three hours I think. We still have two more visits to do for our homestudy. Part of the home study is getting a lot of documents together (birth certificates, marriage licenses, driver's licenses, etc), 8 hours of online training and reading a book that is required.
Ok, then here is the good stuff:
•Make application for USCIS approval.
•Meet with agency for Dossier compilation (this is more paperwork!)
•Send Complete Dossier for authentication and translation.
•Attend a parent workshop.
•Start our immunizations. (not so excited about this!)
•Receive Referral for our child! (I'm told this is anywhere from 2-9 months)
•Go to court in Ethiopia and return home to wait for next appointment(2-6 months post referral)
•Pick up our Child! (Normally, 6-8 weeks post court approval)
•Ususal length of stay is 5-7 days in Ethiopia.

So that is the plan! We need to get our home study completed before we can start applying for grants. We can’t have our second home study visit until we get our fingerprint packets in for a background check. We are still waiting for those packets to come in the mail so we can complete them. Hurry and wait. You get the picture! Our total timeline I have been told could be anywhere from 9 months to 18 months from beginning to bringing our child home. We are expecting our child to be somewhere around the toddler size and we don’t know whether we are expecting a boy or a girl. Really the only thing we know for sure is that before the beginning of time God set this child apart to be a Kessler!


I have been reading a lot about Ethiopia and work that is being done there. It is amazing to me how this whole new world has opened up that I sort of knew existed but somehow ignored. I asked Brian if we could just think about the possibility of me staying in Ethiopia a tad bit longer (since we have to pay to fly there anyway) and seeing if I could work with one of these groups like World Vision that are already there. His response was “I have to take a midterm- don’t cloud my mind with craziness”! Hmmm … I will take that to mean “we can pray about it”. :)