Progress in this Process

     As I reflect over this day and in fact the past weeks and months, I am still in awe of where this journey has taken us.  I never thought that paperwork could take so very long to collect from so many different places.  I never realized how much of our life is controlled by “us” and this process is truly about waiting….on many levels.  We wait for people to get us documents, we wait for things in the mail, we wait for emails, we wait for news, we wait for phone calls……we wait. 

     I moved John Waller’s CD and song “While I’m Waiting” back into the front of my car playlist so I can hear and sing it all the time.  It is right where we have been.   It is where we will be for a long time and until our child is in our arms.  But isn’t life just a series of ‘wait’s?  We waited for our children to be able to talk and walk?  Now we are waiting for our child to be home with us?  We wait and pray for each of our children to know Jesus personally!  

     I think we do some of our best growing and learning in the waiting.  God speaks to us in the waiting.  Maybe we are able to listen more in the quiet.  I know it is true for my life sometimes. But let’s be honest….waiting isn’t easy.  I’m just like everyone else and there are days that waiting is just plain hard.  We heard that Haiti was open early in January and expected a call any day.  It never came.  Then the news came, that agency announcements would be made on the 10^th…..then the 14^th…..then for sure on the 15^th.  Well, by this point I was not waiting very patiently.  I was becoming a tad obsessed.  Every time I walked by the computer I just had to hit refresh and check to see if an email had posted.  I must have checked my cell phone every ½ hour just to make sure I didn’t miss a call.  It was crazy!  I knew it was crazy and I would pray and calm myself down and then minutes later I was grabbing my cell phone just to check.  Ugh.  Oh me of little faith.  I had a peace.  I knew the call was coming I just was so anxious that I couldn’t wait.  Patience….that is what I lack!   Well, of course, the day came that I got “the call”.  I was at Ashley’s gymnastics evaluation at a new gym when I glanced at my phone and saw the number.  I instantly started praying and staring at my phone.  There was such a moment of shock that I literally almost missed the phone call!  It was our Bethany representative calling to say they got their approval and we were ready to submit our application!  Of course the tears started coming.   The kids looked at me and just knew!  It was cool!     

     Ever since then it has been trying to work out schedules to get things moving.  Today was the day that Todd and I could get to the state to get the paperwork all sealed by the state of Georgia.  We had a beautiful morning to drive up and it all worked out perfectly.  We snapped a few pictures to remember the day.  The capital building is actually across the street from where we went but it was so beautiful that we had to share this picture.  All of our documents now hold the huge official gold seal of the state of Georgia!!  Yay! 

     Walking out of that building was surreal.  To them, they were just pieces of paper.  They have no idea what went into getting those pieces of paper!!  To us, they are priceless!! 

      What is next?  We are waiting for 3 documents that are being sealed by the state of Ohio.  When we receive those we will get these state pages translated and then we will send our package (dossier) to Haiti! 

     Progress! Yes! 

     If we haven’t said it before….thank you for joining us on this journey!  The support to us and the kids has been just wonderful!  We appreciate it! 

     Prayer Requests:  continue to pray for the process and for all of our children that God would prepare all of our hearts to be united.  

     Blessings to you all~

 Yay!!!  There are precious 'Gold Seals' inside that bag that match the top of that capital building!!  : )

Finally!!!

                 It’s amazing how things can change in just a few short weeks. There are still a lot of questions and unknowns but we took a huge step today!  We are SO excited!!   Ok, here’s what happened……

                On Wednesday, January 2^nd there was a posting on the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services website that said the following: Haiti’s adoption authority (IBESR) has informed the US Government that they are now accepting new adoption applications.  (Can you hear my screams?  Just checking!!)

                I didn’t see the post until Thursday but when I saw it the tears began flowing!!   Yes it is great news but there are still questions.  For instance, Haiti has announced that they will accept applications again, but, they must be submitted through an approved agency.  And yet they have not approved any agencies!   It is obviously a contradiction!  We must still wait for the approval of the agencies before we can submit anything.  Ugh…..but we are thankful to see movement in the right direction!

                We decided to take a risk.  We talked with our agency and we are going to go ahead and get everything translated and ready to go.  So today, we got all of the paperwork that needs translated together.  Since I can only scan one page at a time, Todd went to Yamaha and scanned all 76 pages.  We came home and emailed them! 

                Tomorrow morning they should be forwarded to the translated.  We now will wait until Haiti announces the approved agencies.  We pray that ours is approved but will take each day as it comes.  Today we celebrate a huge step forward in this process! 

                I hope to update this page soon with more detailed information on the steps we have completed as well as what to expect to see happen in the future.  Thank you for all of your support and questions.  We feel the prayers!  The peace we have felt for the past 3 weeks could only come from God!  He gave us that time to confirm our path.  

                Here’s a cheesy picture of the 4 of us tonight as we returned from scanning the documents.  The kids could feel our excitement.  Ashley prayed tonight for her new sibling and Travis thought they were coming home today.  : )  The mound of paperwork is what we have accumulated so far through this process and Ashley is holding the precious stack that was sent tonight! 

                Blessings to you all!  ~

Be still and wait.....

           The past few months have been busy and I apologize for not updating before now.  We enjoyed Thanksgiving and Christmas with our children and families and spent any free time (haha) trying to gather the last of our paperwork and fundraising.  With Christmas approaching I was selling jewelry constantly and it was such a blessing!  (A huge Thank you to everyone who purchased jewelry or sent others to me!  You  are helping and we appreciate it!!!)   As our paperwork was coming together, I was in close communication with our agency to make sure I was following the steps correctly.  We were planning on going to the state on the Friday before Christmas to get everything sealed and sent for translation.  The day before (Thursday the 20^th) we got a call from our agency.   Yes, they called to say that Haiti had closed for new adoptions.  They are no longer accepting new dossiers (new adoptions).  My first reaction felt like a huge loss and felt like something was just out of my grasp.  Yes, there were tears.  No, I couldn’t really talk about it.  I really didn’t even share with many close to me at first.  You see I needed those days with my Father.  I needed Him to hold and comfort me in a way that only He can!  We had prayed from the beginning that HE open and close the doors and that HE would show us what to do.  Well, He sure shut a door!  And with perfect timing too!  If we had gone and had the documents sealed then they would have not been able to be used again and we would have had to start the process over again so to speak.  He was protecting us all along just like He always does!!!  Our God is SO good!!  I am SO thankful that He is always looking out for us and protecting us even when it hurts.  He loves us that much! 

                So where does that leave us you ask?  That is a very good question.  Right now we are waiting.  We are waiting for God to show us the next step in our journey.  It is peaceful.  There’s something peaceful about resting in HIM.  I have been SO stressed about getting our paperwork and rushing to get it all done.  Well, it is all sitting here and ready to go.  We now are just waiting.  Haiti may re-open soon and we can reapply with them or we may need to move our paperwork to another country.  We do not know.  Thankfully our heavenly Father knows and He is preparing the way for us.  We are just trying to be faithful in the wait. We would love your prayers!  If you know me…I am not a very patient person!   J  Exactly one week after knowing that Haiti was closed we received pictures of all the children that were now available for adoption in Haiti. It is such a contradiction.  There are so many children in need.  But they are His children first and God has His hand in all of this.  He will direct our path whether it is to wait on Haiti to reopen or move to another country it is all on the journey to bringing our little one home. 

                Please join us in praying.  It is hard on our little ones too.  I began to tell Todd at dinner tonight that the Adoption Tax Credit had passed and when I began the first words Ashley jumped up and screamed “We Can…..” all excited.  She thought I was telling him that Haiti had opened and we were back to adopting from Haiti.  Their little hearts are affected as well.  We, as adults, don’t understand these things so explaining to children can often be difficult.  Please pray for all of our children, here and afar that we can be united quickly.  Blessings.