The Crowder Story

a good one.

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 07:51:13 -0400

It will be 3 years ago next month that Petey Crowder and I began our adoption journey. Our little girl wasn’t even born yet, and now she’s 2 1/2. This morning I am writing with minimal sleep, tears and a very full heart, and this time it really is a good thing.

I am amazed at how God has moved over the past few days. We heard that things weren’t that easy and there were a few scares along the way, and though we did not know about them, we asked you to pray. This morning, the Lord has moved and provided a way again.

Come and see what God has done:
he is awesome in his deeds toward the children of man.
He turned the sea into dry land;
they passed through the river on foot.
There did we rejoice in him,
who rules by his might forever,
whose eyes keep watch on the nations -
let not the rebellious exalt themselves.

Bless our God, O peoples;
let the sound of his praise be heard.

It with thankful hearts for the work the Lord has done and for the many of you who have prayed incessantly on our behalf that we are thrilled to share with you that we have been CLEARED!!! The wait is over, and Yenenesh is coming home!!!!

feasting & mourning

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 11:38:00 -0500

Today is February 23, and this day is an incredibly special day to me because 5 years ago God blessed me with one of the greatest gifts in my entire life - this little beauty.

Today Emery turns 5! For 5 years this day has been filled with much feasting and celebration for the life of our little girl. For those of you who know her, she has lots of life in her. She is a free spirit who knows almost no fear and brings joy and love everywhere she goes. She’s almost always dressed in all pink (because that’s what she thinks she should always wear). Her saddest moments come when she realizes her skirts don’t spin out as much as she wanted, and she’s also coming to a better place of understanding with the fact that God chose to give her brown hair and not “yellow” hair - though she sometimes still prays for it to turn yellow.

Today, we are celebrating all things Emery, and to be honest, my heart is full of joy while at the same time it feels like it’s full of sadness and pain. My tears are tears of both joy and sadness. We’ve known for a long time that God desired to grow our family. Petey and I longed for another child, and Emery has longed for a sister. We saw the face of daughter for the first time on August 31, 2011.

At the time, Yenenesh had just turned 2 years old. We began praying as a family that we would have her home with us by February 23, 2012. Today is the day we have been praying for, and there are still thousands of miles that separate our family. Today we are confronted with feasting and mourning. This is not what we wanted nor what we had hoped for, but this disappointment is not our end. We have a greater hope.

But this I call to mind,
and therefore I have hope:

The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases;
his mercies are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul,
“therefore I will hope in him.”

The LORD is good to those who wait for him,
to the soul who seeks him.
It is good that one should wait quietly
for the salvation of the LORD.

Lamentations 4:21-26

an update.

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 17:01:31 -0500

I am sorry that I am the worst blogger EVER! So much has happened since I last updated our story that at moments it seemed overwhelming to recap all that has happened.

So, let me first introduce our daughter, Yenenesh Elise Crowder.

When we received our referral for Yenenesh, we were completely overwhelmed. I was totally expecting around a 4 year old boy, and Petey and I continue to be filled with joy that she is now a part of our forever family.

On November 30, we began our trip to Addis Ababa to meet Miss Yenenesh.

We got to spend 5 whole wonderful days with her and loving on her, and on Dec 5 she officially became a part of our family. Since then we’ve been waiting.

I don’t like it. Waiting is hard. It stinks.

Yesterday, a few of my dear friends threw me a little surprise shower at our Bible study to celebrate our adoption, and yesterday was a hard day.

After the shower, I came back to my office and cried because that morning I had spent some time in prayer asking God specifically for encouragement. I was overwhelmed. This is what I wrote to those sweet girls:

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

This week has been a roller coaster. Last week ended on such a high note, and then Monday was somewhat of a low finding out that the interview didn’t happen, but the silence we’ve experienced in the last 3 days has really left my heart desperate. Bringing Yeni home has at times seems so close and other times so far away. The truth is that we are closer today than ever before, but to be honest when I woke up this morning, my heart felt empty, hopeless and left wondering when this waiting would ever be over. I know that the truth is that I believe God called us to adopt Yeni. This is not hopeless, my heart is not empty and that I haven’t been left to wonder on my own. Thank you for being the Lord’s reminder of that this morning.

I am thankful for the faith that each of you have and how it has strengthened me so many times throughout this journey, and I’m thankful that when it’s hard for me to remember God’s faithfulness in this journey, you are there to celebrate and remind me. In my brokenness and emptiness, God used you this morning to strengthen me, give me hope and remind me that while my emotions are very real, he hasn’t left me alone. Thank you for loving on and ministering to me this morning!

With a very full heart and tears (in my office) from seeing God at work in you this morning, Thank you!

Ashley

MONDAY

Fri, 02 Sep 2011 17:00:19 -0400

For the past three weeks, we knew our time for a referral was coming. I had grand dreams of how everything would happen: I’d get a phone call on my cell phone, and because I’d recognize the special ringtone given only to my case manager, I’d immediately be moved to tears. I imagined myself bawling unable to talk, see or hear. Therefore, if I were driving, I’d immediately have to pull over in order to just answer the phone.

I also over analyzed every detail in my day. With everything I did, I imagined a great story-line about how receiving “the call” at that moment would be perfect. I had visions of me celebrating the other women standing in line with me at the grocery store, celebrating while I was in the bathroom (you think everything would make a great story at the time), celebrating while spending time with a dear friend. If I did something in those 2 weeks, I imagined what it would be like to celebrate in that moment!

Well it finally happened. It was late Monday afternoon, and after two weeks of knowing our call was coming and it not happening yet, I’d given up hope for the day because it was late afternoon. After all, the other families I talked to, they all received their calls in the morning. Emery and I had just left Petey at the office. We were heading home but needed to get some gas and groceries for dinner. I didn’t like the idea of picking up things for dinner because it meant we weren’t out celebrating that night about our good news. Therefore, we were buying them as late in the day as possible.

I stopped for gas, and as I was stepping out of the car, I heard my phone begin to make a noise. I realized that it was just a work email notification, and so I didn’t pay much attention. While the van was filling up with gas, I sat back inside and decided to check and see what email came in. It was from our case manager, and it said “conference call.”

Wait!

Email? I was totally expecting a call! What about my special ringtone?!

Oh my goodness! This is it! This is what I’ve been waiting for! AHHHH!!!!!

I should call Petey. He needs to know about this.

Ring. Ring.

Me: “Petey, did you get the email?!”

Petey: “What email?”

Me: “The email from our case manager!”

Petey: “I don’t get those emails. Remember? What did it say?”

Me: “She wants a conference call with us tomorrow afternoon!”

Petey: “Is this what we think it is?”

Me: “Yes, she wants to give us a referral tomorrow!!”

Petey: ” Yay!”

Me: “Okay, I should call her back and say, ‘yes!’”

good news.

Thu, 01 Sep 2011 09:54:19 -0400

Wow! The past few days have been like a blur, but what great gifts the Lord has given us in the past 48 hours.

We are so excited to announce that we have officially accepted the referral of a beautiful little 2 year old girl from Ethiopia. She is absolutely beautiful! Her eyes and lips are absolutely gorgeous, and we are thrilled beyond words that she is ours!! The Lord is good!

Nothing happened the way I was expecting it to happen, including the fact that we are having a daughter. SPEECHLESS!! I am overwhelmed, shocked, in awe, and overjoyed with our good and perfect gift from the Lord.

Here are a few pictures taken by our good friend Erin Hicks on when we saw her picture for the first time.

my waiting project. I found this chair one day in my...

Mon, 29 Aug 2011 21:04:20 -0400

my waiting project.

I found this chair one day in my neighborhood. It had been set outside for bulk trash, but I loved it. The wood was in great condition, but it definitely needed new fabric and cushioning. It’s not perfect, but I LOVE how it turned out!

our waiting.

Thu, 18 Aug 2011 16:23:16 -0400

Wow! I can’t believe how long its been since I last updated our blog. Part of that reason is because our season of waiting has been long, as almost every wait seems to be. We have now been officially waiting for 9 months.

When we we officially joined the waiting list, we were told to expect 6-8 months. This was the official timeline that every family was given. In December, we heard unofficial news that there were many children in the exact age range (under age 3) that were ready and waiting to be adopted. We then thought this wait would be much shorter than we expected, but as you can see, we are still waiting. In January referrals were delayed because illegible paperwork. You can’t receive referrals, if you can’t read them. Then in March, the Ethiopian government cut international adoptions by 90%! We were devasted. We didn’t know how long we would have to wait, but we also knew that even in a broken system, the Ethiopian government was trying to protect its children. We were thankful that Ethiopia was working towards correcting the system instead of completely shutting down, which many other countries have done in the past.

Since March, we have been waiting for our agency to gather the proper paperwork to begin giving out referalls. We are happy to announce that since last week FOUR families have received referrals their children.

Petey, Emery and I are all waiting in great expectation that we will soon see the beautiful face of our new child.

Will you pray for us? Here are some quick ways, you can be praying for us this week.

that our son/daughter would know the depths of God’s love for them. That he would know that God loves him more than he could ever imagine. May he be overwhelmed by His love.
that our son/daughter would be filled with strength, patience, and courage as she waits for us.
that we would faithfully wait trusting that the Lord has not forgotten about us or our child and that He is at work for us and on our behalf.
that God would calm our anxious hearts (mostly mine, Ashley’s). I got myself so worked up this week that I think I’ve literally made myself sick.
that we would be able to bring our son/daughter home by February 23, Emery’s birthday.

a driveway picnic with ariel

Fri, 01 Apr 2011 15:01:00 -0400

a driveway picnic with ariel

common prayer for princesses

Sat, 12 Feb 2011 16:09:55 -0500

common prayer for princesses

how great is my husband?

Sat, 12 Feb 2011 10:17:52 -0500

Many of you may know that over the past 2 years my husband has developed a strong affinity running. Even though I also enjoy running, I blame his BFF Andy Sikora. Petey’s running story has been quite interesting. You might remember his days as a Nike Human Race Ambassador…

(Petey’s the one in the long sleeved black shirt in the middle).

Since the beginning of his running journey he’s lost around 70 lbs. He also completed an ultra-marathon last February and next weekend he will be running in his first marathon in Austin. I’m super proud of him!

So, here begins the extra-great part of him. Because of running and all the weight that he has lost, his wedding band that I bought him almost 6 years ago has become extremely too large for his finger. So after months of talking about taking it to a jeweler to be resized, we finally did it this past Thursday. They said that it would probably take a few days for it to be ready (totally expected).

Yesterday, I walked into his office at work (I get to do that often since we work together!), and noticed this horrible looking residue all around his finger!

Ashley: Petey, what is that on your finger?
Petey: Yesterday, I drew a wedding ring on my finger with a sharpie.

How great is my husband?! I love him.

How did we spend our snow days? dressing up as princesses,...

Fri, 04 Feb 2011 18:26:26 -0500

How did we spend our snow days?

dressing up as princesses, snowball fighting, and making valentines for school

I love finding other family’s adoption stories. I fell in...

Wed, 02 Feb 2011 15:22:31 -0500

I love finding other family’s adoption stories. I fell in love with this one today and wanted to share their story of how God brought them to adoption and how it has transformed their lives.

Wow! what an incredible weekend we had with our garage sale! We...

Mon, 31 Jan 2011 10:04:10 -0500

Wow! what an incredible weekend we had with our garage sale! We raised an astounding $1400!! So many thanks to those who donated items (did you see everything we had to sell???) to those who came to setup, work and clean up, to those who donated food, and to those who were praying for this day. We are so grateful to you and for the many ways that God has used this adoption process to show us how much he loves and cares for us through our community.

We are extremely humbled and grateful - the Crowders

Garage Sale is happening.

Thu, 20 Jan 2011 18:39:00 -0500

About 6 months ago, we had a garage sale to get us started in raising some of the money we needed for adoption. If you walked into our garage sale before that sale, you saw all of the many items that were generously donated to the garage sale. If you walked in it today, you might wonder if we even sold anything!! Our garage is back to the state of being packed completely full - floor to ceiling, front to back!

Repeatedly, we have been overwhelmed by the Lord’s provision for us during this process, and the fact that we can not keep our garage empty even if we tried is a testimony to God’s work.

If you are a garage saler or know someone who is, please stop by this Saturday, January 22 from 8am-3pm. Click here for location info.

Adoption Update

Wed, 19 Jan 2011 19:14:03 -0500

things are happening!

On November 12 we were officially put on the waiting list to adopt our child! Yay!!! We were told to expect a 6 to 8 month wait for a referral. A referral only happens after all paperwork in country has been processed for the child saying that he or she is eligible for adoption. Once a child is considered paper ready then they match them with the waiting families.

Currently, we know that we are in the top 10! We are looking to adopt a young child, either boy or girl, age 3 or under. We are so excited to be in this stage, but waiting is definitely hard.

In this waiting time, we have a lot going on to keep us busy. A big portion of this time is meant to help us prepare as a family. We are reading books, watching seminars, attending classes, all trying to educate ourselves as much as we can about adoption and our child’s Ethiopian culture.

In this process, I’ve been learning so much - especially by gaining a better understanding of God’s adoption of me. I hope to write more about what God has been doing in my life in the next few days!

We hope you had a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year! - the Crowders

Adoption Video. Our adoption journey began long before we made...

Wed, 20 Oct 2010 12:05:00 -0400

Adoption Video. Our adoption journey began long before we made the decision to adopt. A special thank you to Brendon Lankford for putting this video together to help us better put into words the story God is writing in our family and community.

Thank you!

poster created by Dan CaseMany, many thanks to our friend Dan...

Wed, 06 Oct 2010 14:32:36 -0400

poster created by Dan Case
Many, many thanks to our friend Dan who created this for us.

If you are interested in attending the Jon Abel concert that directly benefits our family’s adoption, click here for more info & ticket purchases.

Tell me about my brother or sister on the airplane...

Tue, 05 Oct 2010 18:42:31 -0400

Emery: Mommy, tell me about my brother or sister on the airplane.
Mommy: Well, Emery, we are in the process to adopt a brother or sister for you from Ethiopia, and, hopefully not too far from now, mommy and daddy will get on an airplane and bring them home.
Emery: Are they on the plane now?
Mommy: No, unfortunately, we have to wait a while, but they are doing something right now. What do you think they are doing?
Emery: (in a whisper) If they are sleeping, we have to use our quiet voice.

Adoption Garage Sale Photos - Many thanks to so many friends who...

Fri, 24 Sep 2010 15:29:27 -0400

Adoption Garage Sale Photos - Many thanks to so many friends who helped us make this day so successful!

"Father to the fatherless, defender of widows – this is God, whose dwelling is holy. God places the..."

Thu, 23 Sep 2010 09:51:55 -0400

“Father to the fatherless, defender of widows – this is God, whose dwelling is holy. God places the lonely in families.”

- Psalm 68:5-6