Farewells...

So thankful that our farewells are not forever....

Throughout all of our travels and all of our moves... you'd think that we would have it down by now! Chris and I have been married for 14 years now, and have never been in one place longer than 4 years! We like to joke about not knowing how to clean "4 year old dirt" so we just move! :) So many times we have said Goodbye... knowing that "likely" we would not necessarily see those people again. Saying Goodbye in Brasil was tough... knowing that all would be scattered to the ends of the earth!

Saying Goodbye to Ethiopia wasn't all that tough... holding SECURELY to knowing that we would be back in only a Very Short Time.

Saying Goodbye to Negash was NOT NATURAL. We have loved him for a very long 9 months. It's NOT NATURAL to have to leave him there...... Knowing the process and knowing that it was all set in stone and unalterable helps somewhat. It's just not natural.

On the way home on the plane....... It really hit me HARD... very soon I will have to say a Permanent Goodbye. Well, only Earthly "Permanent" I guess. (to continue in the next post)

So thankful that Heaven is a place of Glorious Reunions.

Processing.... (Saturday Update)

So Thankful that we chose to take this morning off.... So Thankful! We got to sleep in a little bit and just relax around the hotel room. It was so nice.

We haven't really had anytime to process this week.

So unbelievable that we are HERE... we are really HERE!

I remember this week in Hong Kong 6 years ago... After seeing Caleb in all those pictures... not really knowing if he was "REAL!" And then being able to touch him and kiss him... so unbelievable!

This time, with Negash, I *KNEW* he was real. But there are so many other precious things about him I didn't know. Even after only spending a collective 6 hours with him, I feel like we have seen his personality and know how incredibly WELL and PERFECTLY that the Lord has chosen this child for us.

The Lord continues to amaze and astound me with His Grace!

Friday Update

WOW! So hard to believe it's already Friday... and yet... it feels like we've been here for SO much longer than just 3 full days.

Today started out visiting the orphanages. We have 3 other families with us now, and 2 of our families from court left last night.

**PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE pray for the other 2 families that had court with us!!! The government officials who did not complete their paperwork were supposed to appear before the Judge this morning at 9am. At 10am, no word yet - the Officials didn't have their papers submitted yet.... At 1am, no word yet... and the Judge was very angry at the Officials for not completing their paperwork... then finally at 4:30 they found out that the Officials had submitted a letter stating they were too busy right now. The Judge was FURIOUS!!!!!! She DEMANDED and wrote a DECREE that the papers must be completed by early week next week. Unfortunately for our friends... they will not find out if they passed court until next week - AFTER they travel home.... heart breaking......... Thankfully everyone is still saying everything is favorable with their case, but the paperwork MESS is really frustrating. Please join me in petitioning the SOVEREIGN one on their behalf. God is BIGGER than paperwork, He is bigger than a Government agency... HE WILL be Glorified in ALL, even this mess.

We got to see Nash again for a couple of hours. We had Frisbees and cars today. We had brought two big blow up balls, and some balloon punch balls... but due to the altitude and not eating breakfast... we didn't think he had the stamina to blow them up AND be able to play afterward! LOL!! Nash was so awesome again today!! They let us play with him by ourselves for a little bit this morning! He greeted us with HUGE smiles and kisses!

We got to see his bed and his friends showed us their beds too. It was an AWESOME Day! The girls came out and LOVED playing with my hair! They would take my hair and put it on top of their heads! Then one had a cardboard cover from a book and was fanning my hair to see it BLOW!! So I would shake my head and make my hair go everywhere! The girls laughed and squealed! The girl with the fan would blow my hair all over my face, then one of the sweet precious boys would come up and gently move all the hair out of my face and put it behind my ear!! I just want to EAT THEM UP.... EVERYONE OF THEM!!!!

We played some more with Nash, then he stopped and got really still.... we couldn't figure out what he saw.... it was the DOCTOR! Apparently the Doctor only comes out every couple of weeks, and they were giving immunizations just inside near a window, and Nash could see them. He got really quiet and nervous. We had Abel ask him if he was scared of the Doctor, and he said no, but his body was saying something altogether different!!

It was time to go and we had Abel tell him that we loved him very much and that we would be back very soon. He put his little head down and said ok. We hugged and kissed and had to go. I got all choked up....... I HATE leaving him.

***
After the orphanages we went at ate at the LUCY Museum. We didn't visit the museum, just ate at their very nice restaurant. *Lucy is the name of the first "complete" (really semi complete) humanoid fossil which was found in Ethiopia. *Supposedly* it is dated for 3.7 million years old. (this is not the place for this discussion...) They are very proud of this!!!

Then we went up the Mountain to another Museum and one of the first Ethiopian Orthodox churches! Abel was able to share with us his PASSION for Ethiopia's rich history! It was incredible! On the way up the mountain, there were ladies carrying MASSIVE bundles of sticks. Abel said they carry these down the mountain EVERYDAY, MULTIPLE times a day to sell for firewood. Each bundle sold for only 20 Birr, which is like $1.25. Very humbling.... We all thought about our dinner that was (for 2) 300 Birr.... we are so privileged. Thank you, Lord for our Provisions, and forgive us when we take that for granted! We also met several groups of boys when we stopped to take pictures... they were so cute... trying to sell these big straw hats. I, stupidly, forgot all my rules and gave them crackers and candy... that was dumb.... The museum and church at the top were really nice!

Then we went to the Lion Zoo. They charge per person AND PER CAMERA! That's so random!!! I took a picture of the sign! :) It was a nice little park with about 6 Lion cages and a few birds and some monkeys. Always nice to get out of the bus from time to time, as the roads here are pretty bad. I never get motion sick in a car... but a few times, I was really CLOSE TO IT!

We are not going in the morning to another orphange/social project. We're tired. We've been running 90 to nothing all week. Last night and tonight we got back around 8:30 and Chris has been passed out by 9! We plan on sleeping in a little bit and trying to take in and process this week! I'm glad that I can write about it to help me break it all down.

We are missing Caleb like Crazy! He and Mimi are doing AWESOME!!! :) He has gotten to play in the snow and have fun with Preston, and Mimi and he were out of school one day! He is making the Southaven Circuit this weekend! :)

I think about how Caleb and Nash will do together. Nash is definitely less impulsive than Caleb is. He's more shy and can only take being the center of attention for a few minutes. He prefers one on one time. We showed Nash Caleb's picture again today and he even showed it to his Nannies! They told him that was his brother in Amharic, and he was smiling and showing all his friends! I know they will play together very well, they will just both need their own "stock" of toys... no required sharing for a little while. Nash is so obedient and wants to please people. We have said no to him about several things, like more cars, more bubbles, etc... AND he did very well with it! He didn't get mad, like the other boys did! I don't think discipline is going to be a Massive issue... you can tell his "FIRST" Mom did an excellent job!! ...pause... So Grateful for her and the BOY she has raised... Lord, please wrap Your amazing arms of love around her... Hold her close!! Let her know her baby is LOVED...


....




The Fryar Family
**Chris, Beverly, Caleb, and Nash**

Wednesday Update (Repost!)

(Tried to send this on Wednesday, but apparently it never posted)

Hey Everyone!!!

I'm not sure how long I'll be able to keep this Yahoo email up...

We arrived in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on Tuesday night at 10:30pm. Flight was very long... that 3rd leg was killer... but thankfully had great movies and games! (I played Tetris and Reversi for hours!) :) We managed to sleep on the 3rd leg also... plane was only half full, so we got to spread out... a HUGE Blessing for my 6'3" husband!! :)

This morning we met together with 3 other families who are here for Court. We had an orientation meeting this morning and met with the Social Worker... she gave us even more INCREDIBLE information about Nash! She said that whenever she goes to visit him, he is always happy to see her. If her face is not smiling (due to stress or whatever), she says he will always ask her about why she isn't happy. She said he always notices if she has on new glasses or new hairdo. He has asked her recently "have you seen MY Mommy and Daddy? Are they coming soon?" PRECIOUS! We also met with the nurse at the orphanage who went over medical things with me. His low Hemoglobin and Hematocrit are actually NORMAL for Ethiopians, she said. So she said he is not at risk for significant anemia issues. She also said that they were going to immunize him before we come back for our Embassy trip and will do a TB skin test before he leaves. SO THANKFUL for that... I was really nervous about shots so soon after we got home.

Then we ate at a Swedish restaurant for lunch, then off to the orphanage!

THE PICTURES DO NOT DO THIS CHILD JUSTICE!!!! HE IS SO HANDSOME!! At least a FOOT of Eyelashes... his eyes are just CAPTIVATING!! We played with him in a group of 8 boys (and we want to bring them ALL HOME now!!). He is precious!! All the boys called us Mommy and Daddy, which really makes me smile! The AWESOME thing was when the Orphanage worker came in and talked to Nash a second or two, then said "Daddy" and shook Chris's hand, and then "Mommy" and shook my hand. The look in his eyes just said... "YEP, I know!" He's got that coy kind of smile that speaks VOLUMES!!

Nash always wants to make sure, EVEN in an orphanage setting, that everyone is playing and doing ok. He will make sure all the kids have stickers, and all the kids have an equal share. It was REALLY REALLY COOL when one of the boys spilled some bubbles we had taken and the Nanny came in a fussed at them and told them to pick up. NASH was the one who went around and made SURE all the boys put everything back where it went... but he did not do it in a bossy way, but more of the gentle manager way (like his daddy!) It was AWESOME!!

Chris was picking up some kids and throwing them in the air... Nash apparently does NOT like heights... he backed away and silently shook his head no... We smiled at each other! :) I did a super big hug and picked him up off his feet, and I don't think he liked that too much... but he gave us both kisses on our cheeks when we left! We told him we loved him. I am so in love...........



COURT IS TOMORROW!!!!! Please pray!! Birth family will be there also, decision lies with this Judge... but we know WHO hold the GOVERNMENT on HIS SHOULDERS!!! :)

Missing my Angel Baby Caleb... Please pray for him to be strong and courageous (as his name means) this week. We miss him so much and are so excited that he will get to come experience this place with us in a few weeks!

Love you all and miss you dearly!! :)

The Fryar Family
**Chris, Beverly, Caleb, and Nash**

We Passed Court!!

YEAH!!! We Passed Court!!!

Nash Emmanuel Fryar is now OFFICIALLY our son! God is so Good!!

This morning was SO humbling. Our court appearance was held at the Federal Court downtown. ALL of the birth families also had to come on the same day to stand before the judge and confirm their decision. We walk into that building and were so humbled...... I cried so many times..... we then were taken to a holding room, that was maybe 40ft by 40 ft with chairs along the borders. In this room were all the of the birth families and adoptive families.

Chris and I couldn't speak, could hardly breathe..... looking straight into all of their faces... knowing what a sacrifice they have done FOR THE ULTIMATE LOVE OF THEIR CHILD....

I was NOT ready for this..... It was so hard.

The Bethany director called 4 birth families into the room with the judge. We were not sure if they were all of our children's families or not... we actually thought we would wait for hours there. Those 4 families then exited the room, and the 4 pairs of our group were called in. The judge was very orderly, concise, direct. Asked us all very few questions that we all answered together. We all confirmed that we were aware of the need to protect their cultural identity and that we were indeed all confirming our desire to be our kids parents.

Then we exited..... On the way out, we passed through the group that had been called in first... OUR BIRTHFAMILIES, but it all happened so fast it didn't really sink in until about 10 minutes later that they were our birth families. It was so hard.......

The government officials over international adoptions had failed to send in our paperwork that morning that was necessary for the Judge to make her decision.... so we waited.

We visited NASH again!! Thankfully due to a change in schedule!! We weren't supposed to see him today, only Friday.

What a GREAT visit we had with him!! We played with stickers and he read his ABC's to Chris and counted to 10 and picked out names for pictures. When he picked out an Airplane... I asked him "Negash want to go on an Airplane?" He motioned that the airplane went in the sky. I asked him again and pointed to his little chest "Negash want to go on an Airplane in the sky?" He confirmed YES with a HUGE SMILE!

We showed him a picture that Chris had in his wallet of him, and the thought that was so cool! He had to show all of his friends!! Then we showed him a picture of Caleb with us. He showed that to his friends too! I know that he understands all of this!! So excited about him!! He is precious!!

After visiting, Abel picked us up again and we asked if he had heard from court… he called the Bethany director and he confirmed that we passed!! He said he would call about the other families when they were with us also (their kids are in another orphanage, so we traveled back to pick them up!).

One of the other families was approved today also!! But 2 of them had a paperwork glitch… their documents were never turned in today. So they must wait until tomorrow… PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR FRIENDS! We hurt for them today, as they felt this set back. Please pray that it will only be a delay of 1 day! GOD IS SO BIGGER!!

Hopefully this will post before the internet shuts off again!

Love you guys so much! Thank you for following our process and for all of your support and love! J

The Fryar Family
**Chris, Beverly, Caleb, and Nash**

Limited Email!

Hey Everyone!!!

I'm not sure how long I'll be able to keep this Yahoo email up...

We arrived in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on Tuesday night at 10:30pm. Flight was very long... that 3rd leg was killer... but thankfully had great movies and games! (I played Tetris and Reversi for hours!) :) We managed to sleep on the 3rd leg also... plane was only half full, so we got to spread out... a HUGE Blessing for my 6'3" husband!! :)

This morning we met together with 3 other families who are here for Court. We had an orientation meeting this morning and met with the Social Worker... she gave us even more INCREDIBLE information about Nash! *Will post later!

Then we ate at a Swedish restaurant for lunch, then off to the orphanage!

THE PICTURES DO NOT DO THIS CHILD JUSTICE!!!! HE IS SO HANDSOME!! At least a FOOT of Eyelashes... this eyes are just CAPTIVATING!! We played with him in a group of 8 boys (and we want to bring them ALL HOME now!!). He is precious!! More later... if the internet holds up! *I plan to write on a Word Document and then cut and paste here... so I don't have to worry about losing it if the Internet hiccups!! ...AND if I have time.. they have been filling our days full and we are very tired!

COURT IS TOMORROW!!!!! Please pray!! Birth family will be there also, decision lies with this Judge... but we know WHO hold the GOVERNMENT on HIS SHOULDERS!!! :)

Missing my Angel Baby Caleb... Please pray for him to be strong and courageous (as his name means) this week. We miss him so much and are so excited that he will get to come experience this place with us in a few weeks!

Love you all and miss you dearly!! :)

The Fryar Family
**Chris, Beverly, Caleb, and Nash**

Greetings from Holland!!

We arrived in Amsterdam early this morning! I always love to see the sunrise from an Airplane! Amazing!! The light glow that slowly bursts into reds and oranges, then full light! I love it! The Lord is so Amazing to renew each new day as faithfully as the previous!

Amsterdam is really cool! I've been giggling at everything! The gift shops have the cutest Cow stuff! And they have Soft Clog Houseshoes for kids that looks just like the Wooden Shoes!! Amazing! And of course all the neat windmills and dairy maid things!

I am MUCH Enjoying the People watching here!! AND... they have COKE LIGHT, tastes just like it did in Brazil! :)

We're now relaxing over a nice Egg McMuffin after a long night. We managed to only get a couple of divided hours of sleep over the night, just hard to get comfy. PRECIOUS little Indian girl, probably about 2, kept SQUEALING crying all night. I felt so bad for her mom and grandmom.

We're here for another 2 hours then on to our flight to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia! Just found out that we have a short layover/refuel in Khartoum, Sudan!

The Lord is so good to us in allowing us to see new parts of the world He created... Love His Creativity!

8 hours to Amsterdam!! Here we go!! :)

I LOVE International travel! Just like heaven... Every nation, every tribe, one purpose! Except this time... Its just to get to Amsterdam.

Next time... It will be to Praise the Father and to live in perfect unity in our new perfect bodies!!! How awesome that will be!!

Glory to God in the Highest!!

Hey everyone! We are packed up and checked in! Waiting at our gate for our first leg to Atlanta! Very excited about having a nice peaceful night in Atlanta... Just the two of us!

It was a little sad to say bye to Caleb for the week, but he and Mimi are going to have an amazing week!!

Love you guys!! :)

(From update email sent out 2/3/11)

Hi Everyone!!

Just wanted to send a brief update on us!!

We leave Sunday for Ethiopia! This will be the first of two trips for us! We are thrilled to be able to finally touch our son, NASH, who has been our son since July. It's just amazing how the Lord can prepare our hearts to be so in Love with this child, whom we have never met!! We arrive in Ethiopia on Tuesday and will get to meet Nash on Wednesday. Nash is 6 years old and is just precious!! We are not allowed to send any pics or post them on the blog... but I GUARANTEE you... that when I'm legally able... Pics will be EVERYWHERE!! :) I will be blogging while we are in Ethiopia, and possibly emailing also. Please check in on the blog that I am trying diligently to keep updated. www.FryarsInTheField.blogspot.com

Here is a brief update on us and what the Lord has been doing in our lives over the past year! This is VERY BRIEF... we are amazed at how faithful the Lord has been to us!!! Truly HUMBLED and in AWE! Every few months He has shown us a little more of HIMSELF and a *SMALL* glimpse of some of the Amazing Things HE has in store for us!! He is LEADING US... bit by bit, piece by piece. *I am truly thankful that He does not show us he WHOLE Picture when we aren't ready for that!

If you had told me back in 1997 when Chris and I got married that I would have survived Cancer, changed nursing fields to Oncology, Adopted a son, traveled to Hong Kong, Chris & I would both leave EXCELLENT Financially secure jobs and a great house & life to go to Brazil to work as volunteers - fully supported financially by others, live in Brazil for 3 years, and NOW adopt another son and travel to Africa... I would have told you that you were CRAZY!! Absolutely Certifiably CRAZY! ...but you know... that is EXACTLY how the LORD works!!! He doesn't follow the rules of the "American Dream" He pushes us beyond our borders, beyond what "WE" are capable of... because that is where He wants us... He wants us DEPENDENT on Him alone! So that all we do and all that we are... REFLECTS HIM! This is how He is GLORIFIED!!!

The Lord has been so Good, He has been so Faithful!

We look at the next 6 months and see a time of massive change, great sadness, great joy, amazing new discoveries, and more ways for us to CLING to the CROSS!

Chris enrolled into the Master’s program at Mid-America in August and has been taking full time hours. He is loving his classes, instructors, and classmates. He is also involved in two very different ministries. Care Stone is a retirement center, in which Chris preaches every other Sunday. Caleb is a HUGE HIT with the residents!! :) Youth Villages is a residential center for very high risk youth. Chris has a group of 12-15 teenage boys who he is building relationships with and is allowed to preach every Saturday. The Lord is doing a MIGHTY work in the hearts of those boys—including 2 boys committing their lives to the Lord! Please pray for your new brothers in Christ! Chris also works full time at the NICS office! What a blessing he has to work with amazing Christian men and women! HE ALSO.... still does all the books for our school in Brazil! He is still working as the business manager in nearly the same capacity he did when we lived there! ...only no lunch duty!! - but he misses that the most! :)

Beverly is loving being back at the West Clinic. She really loves her job as a Research Nurse and her relationships with her patients. Taking 2 Cor 1:3-7 as her guide, she works diligently to share Christ’s comfort to those living & fighting cancer. We still try to keep in contact with our babies from Brazil who are now spread all over the world! Our hearts still have their fingerprints!!

Caleb continues to grow and mature into a precious child with a Love for Jesus. He is really thriving in Karate and is a Yellow belt now! He has an incredible teacher at school and he is doing very well. He loves math & science and everything “Boy”! His newest joy is telling jokes that he makes up. So Funny! He is excited about being a Big Brother, although he is anxious to get Nash here!! It's hard on a little guy to talk about something for 9 months!!

Mom has been slowly declining since last September. She was admitted to Hospice Care 3 weeks ago. My Dad is doing very well! He has an amazing outlook on things as he calls Mom "his mission field"! Dad says their Aide is amazing! She is very gentle and loving with Mom! Praise the Lord for amazing people that have been there to support Mom and Dad. Please continue to pray for her. She has comfort in knowing her Salvation is secure. I'm so thrilled that she will be able to discuss Prophecy with Isaiah and John THEMSELVES!! :) She has always LOVED Prophecy and the End Times. She loves the way the entire Bible points to Jesus and His Second Coming to take the Church as His Bride into Eternity!

We are cherishing our time together as a family & have been able to guard our family time effectively. We are thrilled about our church, Fellowship Memphis, & some exciting ministry opportunities ahead. We continue to pray that the Lord continue to use us in the fullest capacity.

All to His Glory alone.

We love you all dearly and THANK YOU so much for all your support, encouragement, and love that you have shown us over the years!! Many people have asked what they can do or how they can help. Once we get back from Ethiopia, we'll have a better idea of what is needed!! I will keep you posted! :)

Many Blessings!
~Beverly for the Fryar Family - Chris, Beverly, Caleb and Nash!

EPIPHANY!

I just took a look at my Lillypie Adoption Timeline in my header....

NEXT WEEK WILL BE EXACTLY 9 MONTHS SINCE WE STARTED PROCESS!!!

God doesn't work by coincidences! :)

Testing! This is likely how we will send messages while we are in Ethiopia. Love to all of you!! :)

Leaving in 1 week!!

We are so very excited!! We get to hold our precious 6 year old in 10 days!!

We got new pictures this past Friday!! WHAT A BLESSING! He is just so adorable! Can't wait to see how he "Tucks in" to our crazy family!

The Lord is so Good!!

---------------------------------------

I had a little breakdown this past weekend... I keep replaying all the horror stories in my head, I keep fretting over what I MUST know in order to be "ready" for all of this. I keep playing the WHAT IF game... While we have made preparations for MANY different scenarios, it just worries me.

I kept hearing the Lord tell me "Don't put Me in a Box! Don't tell me what I can do and what I can't do! Don't tell me how you think this is going to go down! I GOT THIS!! ... just BE STILL!"

As I'm reading through Genesis, everytime "WE" step in to Manufacture what we thought the Lord's plan was (see Abraham, Jacob, etc...) it all goes to BUNK! You'd think we'd learn something... ugggh.

Chris is always such an Amazing Blessing in my life... He reminds me that I can't "KNOW" everything there is to know... that Nash doesn't need me to "KNOW", he needs me to LOVE HIM! He needs me to be HIS MOMMY! He needs me to be his Cheerleader! He needs me to Be There - day in and day out!

I also got slapped a little with a very "off the cuff" statement that was made off handedly at our Adoptive Mom's Night Out this past Friday:

Our Highest Calling is *NOT* Parenting, being a Wife, being a Nurse, being a Daughter (Insert your own title).

Our Highest Calling is to LOVE THE LORD ABOVE ALL. Our Highest Calling is to BE HIS!! Our Highest Calling is to "DO" nothing and to just "Be"!

He continues to show me more of HIMSELF! What an Awesome God we serve. He is the FulFiller, the Sustainer, the PROMISE-KEEPER, and the Amazingly PATIENT One!

Make He make His Name GREAT among the Nations! All Glory to Him alone!

Waiting....

Only 22 more days until I get to hold my son.

It's all I can do to wait... Waiting is not something that I do very well. Not sure anyone quite has it mastered...but it's not something I do well.

I usually look at waiting as a task to be done. I wait from this date to this date. I can manage that. I can manage a wait that has a definite end. For example, once our Dossier went to Ethiopia, we were told it may be 4-6 weeks before it's registered and then we are assigned a court date. You better believe that once we got to 5 weeks, I was getting ANTSY! Up until the 5 week mark... I was fine! Then when we got the call in December that we were registered for Court, then it would 2-4 weeks before we had a date... I was FINE with that! Then, surprisingly, we got a call the NEXT WEEK with our Court Date!! YAY GOD!! But why wasn't it "YAY GOD" when our Dossier got sent, or our docs were registered? Just because they were "on time" or "LATE" does that not also require a "YAY GOD" from me???

I should not ONLY praise the LORD when things happen SOONER than expected. I should PRAISE HIM for every piece. That's a bit tougher. Just like many other parts of my life... How quickly I can Praise Him for the FUN STUFF, and how tough it is to Praise Him for the Not Fun stuff!! *ARE THEY NOT BOTH HIS?

Then, what is it about this definite end needed for my wait? Does it not say "Be still and Wait"? I'm sure that the Lord did not accidentally leave a stopping point off.... I think of Hebrews 11 and all those who came before who were unable to see the fulfilment of their waiting and working.

Have I become a task master? Seeking joy only in the completion?

My prayer is to ACTIVELY SEEK out the JOY in the WAITING, the JOY in the Interruption, the JOY in the Delay, the JOY in the Sadness, the JOY in the Trouble, the JOY in the Small Update, the JOY in the Journey... not only the JOY in the DESTINATION!

Most importantly... and ABOVE ALL... Should not the JOY OF MY SALVATION be the well-spring of my heart at any moment?