Waiting for a hug

Can't wait to wrap my arms around this beautiful bundle of laughter and love that is Nephtali.

On Your Mark, Get Set...GO!!

The "waiting race" is now off to an official start. We received word yesterday that our paperwork has been received by IBESR. It will now be four months to a year before we receive word.

It's funny how a sentence can make you smile and frown all at once. The thought that we are one step closer - that if it all goes smoothly and on the short track we could be celebrating our daughters 7th birthday by bringing her home - makes my heart smile soooo big!! But the thought of having to wait another year, which would bring this journey to over 4 yrs, puts such a lump in my throat.

The next four months will luckily be blessed with holidays, our trip to Haiti to file paperwork and for me to feel the arms of Jesus through the tiny dark arms of Nephtali wrapped around my neck, and then birthday celebrations. But, wow, is the end of February going to be hard.

As a gardener, February always gives me such pains. I can't wait to get my hands in the rich soil and start the miracle of new growth. As a person with lazy circulation, the thought of not having to wear six pairs of socks on my feet soon makes me want to dance!

And now we will add the flutter of butterflies in our tummies as we keep praying hard that maybe along with the promise of spring will come our beautiful Haitian flower coming home to be planted in the garden of our cozy family!

Heavenly Father, please hear our cry! IF its your will, bring our baby girl home as fast as you can!

Long Overdue Update

Sometimes in the adoption process there are times where it seems nothing happens. Nothing seems to change, nothing seems to move, nothing seems to be getting done. Our dossier was sent to the agency. This meant we had no more appointments, no more paperwork to shuffle, no more rushing to meet deadlines. We couldn't make plans to visit yet. We received no e-mails or phone calls from the agency. There was just nothing.

But in reality that is wrong. There is always something , but it's just a matter of how you look at it. We have been working on our parenting skills to prepare for the special needs that are sometimes needed in adopting an older child. We have been on our knees a lot praying for her safety through storms, praying for enough food to keep her belly from hurting, praying for her little heart to grow closer to Jesus.

We've even been daydreaming of what joy will fill our hearts when we see six children at the dinner table instead of five or three little ones swinging in the yard instead of two. When it comes to adopting child, big or small, there is never nothing to do or nothing happening. So even though we haven't blogged in a little bit we have been filling the time that has passed with preparation and prayer.

So... is that our update? Nope! This past week we have received news of progress.

Our Dossier was translated and legalized and arrived safe and sound in Haiti. The lawyer in Haiti informed us this morning that our dossier is at the Foreign Ministry Affairs office for 1st Legalization and that she has Nephtali's social evaluation appointment set for next week. There are a few more appointments that need to be made and a few other things that have to happen before Nephtali's dossier is complete and ready but we are getting much closer.

Erin and I are waiting on pins and needles, to get the okay to buy our plane tickets to visit our little girl and file our I-600. The I-600 is the petition to classify Nephtali as an Immediate Relative of ours . This is the form that will give us permission to bring Nephtali into the US as an immigrant orphan. We will still have to wait for the Haitian Government to say she is ours. And that step takes the signatures of four different government officials and a dispensation from the Haitian President. So please keep praying, we still need it!

It's hard waiting for that final bit of news that makes it a go for us to buy tickets because the paper we are waiting on was already done last year. but the agency said it would probably cause problems to use it since it shows a prior relationship between us and Nephtali. And the Haitian Goverment would ask questions about why and how we had a prior relationship. Normally you would think a prior relationship would be a good thing but in Haiti's eyes they might worry that there was less-than-honorable behavior involved. And in a country with so many poor children sold into salvery and other horrible things, it's best to avoid any appearance of impropriety. So in order to help things going smoother, we are waiting for that paper to be redone.

Once we get word that it is done our tickets will be bought and within days I should be able to hold my little girl for the first time!

Which Precious Face?

This past weekend Haiti Lifeline Ministries had its first sponsorship event. Many dear friends put in countless hours to fine tune this event into a beautiful evening. We were blessed to have Nicole Dieudonne (the director of Centre Children International Lifeline d'Haiti orphanage) and her husband Daniel come from Haiti and stay in Topeka while they were visiting their own children here in the states this past weekend.

It felt so good to wrap our arms around them, to laugh together, to cry together and to praise God together. We were able to sit and start making some basic plans for our trip down to the orphanage this late summer/early fall  to sign some paperwork and, most importantly for me, to meet and hold our little girl. For now, I sent a hug back with Nicole to give to Nephtali and a whisper in her ear to tell her her mama loves her very much.

And though this night was filled with so much joy and so many accomplishments, there is such poverty and hopelessness in Haiti. Plain and simple there is so much more work to do. Not every one can go. Not everyone can adopt. But we can all give. Each of us and give time, our prayers and our resources and help the fatherless and those who fight to help them.

Could you please take a moment to look through the faces of the children of Lifeline Orphanage. There are about 75 children living there right now. 75 children in need of food. 75 children in need of education. 75 children in need of  health care. 75 children in need of a prayer angel.

Look at their precious faces. Maybe one of these children is whom you are called to pray for each day.  Maybe one of these children is the one who you are called to sponsor. Maybe one of these children is meant to be part of your family. Maybe, just maybe... so please give a few minutes of your time and take a look... and make a difference in a life.

HAITI LIFELINE SPONSORSHIP ALBUM

The Power of One

One God in control.

One Daddy waiting to see her again.

One Mommy waiting for a first hug.

One Family waiting to be whole.

One Goal... to bring her HOME!

And It's Off... to Colorado!

The dossier (dossier = big stack of important and expensive adoption documents) has been checked, double-checked, prayed over and kissed good-bye! It will be on someone's desk by Monday morning.

Once there, it will be looked over with a fine tooth comb, checked that all the I's are dotted and the T's are crossed, put through an acid test, gone the whole nine yards, and translated into French! When all that is done, it will be on its way over the waters of the Atlantic Ocean to Haiti where it will team up with Nephtali's dossier.

CCAI said yesterday that they located and received Nephtali's birth certificate and the rest of the paperwork from the old lawyer when we started before! (PRAISE GOD it was found!) It is as complete as it can be at this point. There will be a few more things needed for her dossier that can't be done until our paperwork is there. But as of right now no problems are expected.

Once the two dossiers are completed they become one and then the long wait for it to go through four different government hands begins. This is where the days turn into weeks, and the weeks months (and sometimes months into... well, you know), waiting for word that she is ours.

Today as I was reading Scripture,I read Isaiah 45:2

"I will go before you and will level the mountains; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron"

As our journey continues and we travel a little further down the road with Faith as our close friend and traveling buddy, what a joy it is to know our Lord goes before us and prepares the way!!

We would be grateful for prayers that:

1. Our dossier arrives in Colorado safe and sound
2. The critical review, translation, and legalization is quick and seamless.
3. We have not overlooked anything, and that there will not need to be any changes, addendums, or further paperwork
4. Our dossier arrives in Haiti safe and sound
5. We arrive in Haiti safe and sound (when we go there later this summer to sign a very important piece of paper)
6. Our dossier moves quickly and without problems through the four different IBESR offices.

Thank you so much. We will keep you posted.

Nephtali, May You...

May you be safe and sleep soundly through the night

May you be safe as you wake to the morning's light

May you feel our love from so far away,

May it comfort and protect you throughout each day.

We will pray for you my little one,

Until our time of waiting is done.

We will pray that the Lord keep you safe from harm,

Until the child of our hearts becomes the child in our arms.