Hey Friends!
We are getting so very excited around here for the Grand Opening of our Crestwood Location of Addie’s Good(s), Saturday, May 5th. As we gear up to get going again, we have had lots of new folks following the shop on Facebook and such. Soooo, I thought it might be of interest to some of you “Addie’s Newbies” out there to know just how we got started and what we’re about….
My husband, Billy, and I felt the Lord leading us to adopt back in 2010. We had a two year-old biological daughter, and knew after much prayer and wrestling with the Lord that His will was that our next child would come to our family through adoption. We began the long, arduous process of adopting from Ethiopia, and after almost two years, in August of 2012, we were matched to a precious baby girl named Mihret. We celebrated and rejoiced wholeheartedly that the Lord had blessed us with this teeny tiny beautiful baby girl to call daughter and sister.
We chose the name Adelaide Mihret for her and called her “Addie.” Her big sister selected the most garish pink paint possible for Addie’s new room, we picked out the bedding, hung a big “A” and a painting of Ethiopia on the wall, and began to fill the closet with sweet itty bitty clothes.
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| One of the first pictures we received of our Addie |
After another seemingly ridiculous wait, we got the call that our court date had been scheduled, and we needed to book our flight to Ethiopia. At the time, the Ethiopian adoption process included two trips, with the first to gain legal custody of your child before an Ethiopian judge. After the first trip, you came home (sans child) and waited for the US Embassy in Ethiopia to do their own investigation of your child’s orphan status and such, and then you returned to Ethiopia in order to have a short interview at the Embassy and bring your kiddo home.
In October of 2012, we flew to Addis Ababa to meet our girl and legally become her parents.. The child we had dreamt of, prayed for, and wept over for two years was finally in our arms, and we were over the moon. While we were in Ethiopia, we unexpectedly had the opportunity to meet Addie’s birth mom- and I say unexpectedly because when we had accepted her referral, all we knew of our child was that she had been abandoned. To try to make a super long story a little shorter- her birth mom had been found, and before we could adopt Addie, her birth mom had to relinquish her rights and consent to us adopting her- and we would be given the privilege of spending some time with her.
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| Meeting Addie for the first time |
I look back at the evening we met this young woman, and I can picture it like it was yesterday. It was an encounter that forever changed me.
Billy and I sat in a van nervous and wide-eyed as a distraught, frightened girl climbed in behind us with our friend, Woudneh. He translated for us and explained that Addie’s mother had been caught abandoning her child and was arrested by police. She had been given prison time, but was released with some sort of work orders because she was a single mother to a three year old girl as well. I looked at her and wondered how on earth this petite, young girl already had a three year old and an infant. She was 17 years old, but her face was aged by a life I can only imagine was filled with trauma and struggle. We learned of how the father of her children was a “bad man” whom she did not want found. He was not supporting her (financially or otherwise) in any way, and had insisted on and paid for her to have an abortion, which miraculously, Addie survived. The doctor told her birth mom that “the baby’s bones were just too strong.” We learned that she went from house to house looking for work and odd jobs. When asked by Woudneh if she was capable of raising Addie, she replied, “And have her live on the streets, starving like me?” She was deeply grieved, and wept with her whole body while declaring herself a bad mother. I held her and wept with her as I tried feebly to assure her that nothing was farther from the truth- all the while wondering how on earth we had come to this point. WHAT was happening? This was so NOT what I had signed up for. I knew that an orphan’s life always begins with trauma and loss, but before knowing her birth mother, I had been able to put it out of my mind- imagine a very different scenario. This mother was a child, herself… alone, afraid, and with no hope and no where to turn. She actually had no idea what adoption even was- she had left Addie at an orphanage in hopes that her child would be fed and protected. So now she had to agree to relinquish her rights legally and allow us to adopt her precious child.
The following day, we went to court with this sweet girl and Addie’s biological sister. She went before the judge and gave up her rights. We were told that the judge ruled the father did not have to be found to give up his rights because it is illegal for a man to impregnate a girl under the age of 18, and because he had not been supporting the mother in any way. She told the judge she wanted us to parent her child.
We left rejoicing that Addie would be ours and broken because she would not be hers. I promised her to take care of her baby and love her with all that I was- knowing that that provided little comfort for a mother whose heart was shattering. I felt helpless- both without help and unable to help. I wanted to tell her that I would pack her up and take her home and love her, too- but obviously that was not the answer either. I was lost but still trusting in an all-powerful, kind, loving Father.
We returned home to Kentucky and waited for the US Embassy to give us the green light to bring our girl home. She was legally ours- we just had to wait for this last step. Family graciously gave us a shower to help us stock up for all those baby needs and we continued to get ready for her arrival. Christmas was coming, and we were hoping and praying she would be home in time to celebrate with us. So, her stocking was hung. Her presents were wrapped and placed under the tree. Our hearts leapt when we received copies of her birth certificate and passport listing her as a Baker- naming us as her legal mother and father...
I really struggle to even know how to begin to tell the rest of this story. I still question. I still hurt. But God. He is still good. He is still writing our story.
Addie’s birth father showed up.
Demanded “his” daughter.
Went before the judge in Ethiopia.
We had to write a letter explaining why we should keep custody of our child, and Woudneh read it before the judge. To our utter dismay, on December 31, 2012- one week before we would have had embassy clearance, she gave custody of our daughter to this man who claimed to be her father.
And that was it. Done. She was no longer a Baker. And we had to explain to our four year old that her sister would never be coming home.
This was a grief like we had never known. Knowing that our child would be with a man who her birth mother had called “bad.” Knowing he never wanted her before. Knowing he cared so little for her sister and birth mother that he allowed them to suffer in extreme poverty. I still can’t wrap my head around it- and don’t know that my heart will ever wrap around it. I can, however, plant my feet firmly in the knowledge and absolute trust I have that my God is good and that He loves Addie far more than I ever could. We have no idea where Addie is today (we’ve been told she’s likely with her mother), but He knows where she is every minute of every day for all of time.
Grief and suffering and pain are a part of life and a guarantee for every believer- but along with that comes the promise that he will use all things for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28) We were experiencing a pain that penetrated our very cores, but we had confidence in an unshakable God. We prayed for years that the Lord would use our pain and bring beauty from our ashes. He has graciously blessed us with three more babies- another Ethiopian princess and two biological sons. He also gave us a dream for a way to help women like Addie’s mama.
And so here we are. Meet Addie’s Good(s)- where our slogan is Goods from the Globe, Good for the Globe. We partner with organizations, ministries, and businesses around the world that seek to offer economic empowerment and abundant life to men and women in desperate need. Many of these organizations are training and employing artisans who have escaped human trafficking or who are overcoming the depths of poverty. These organizations are groups that offer education, health care, counseling, community, and hope to people who are deeply desiring to provide for their families with dignity. They are offering the love of Jesus to those in dark, hopeless places. Mamas should never have to choose which one of their children gets to eat each day. They should never have to tell their babies that they can’t go to school because there is no money for a uniform. They should never never never have to make the choice to sell their bodies so that their children have a chance to survive. They should never have to sell their daughters as child brides. Yet there are millions of mamas and daddies who have to make these impossible choices every day.
Our choice is simple. Will we sit and watch or do something to make a change? Anna Lappe wrote, “Every time you spend money, you are casting a vote for the kind of world you want.” When you shop at Addie’s you are helping to make a world where first families can stay together- where there is hope for every child and every mother, regardless of their geographic location. Our prayer is that the Lord would use Addie’s Good(s) to keep more babies with their mamas. No child should be orphaned by poverty. Come shop at Addie’s Good(s) Grand Opening on Derby Day, and partner with us in changing the world for men and women in 29 different countries. Together, we can make a brighter world for countless families. We are thankful for you support and encouragement, and we can’t wait to see you on Saturday!
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| Our family at the Opening of Addie's Good(s) LaGrange, 2016 |
Blessings,
Jodi
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| The Baker Family. We are beyond blessed to call these four ours. |
