My Nephews

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers for my nephews from Haiti. They are now home in Chile with their forever family, but while they were in Florida, I was able to fly down and meet them. Here are some photos from my visit.

First visit to Target and first time in a shopping cart!

My sister and her husband with the boys

My mom with grandsons #12 and #13

Auntie with Ian

My sister continues to update her blog with stories from the boys' first days in their new home. She has a great post on attachment and lots of anecdotal stories...she also has information on other Haitian orphans who have not been able to leave the country as of yet. Please continue to pray for the country of Haiti and the many, many children who still need to find their forever families!

Unbelievable

UPDATE: Saturday night my sister found out that her boys were granted their visas, along with 20+ other children from the orphanage...praise God! Now we need to pray that they get safely transported out of Haiti and reunited with their forever families. Also, pray for the caregivers of these children. While they are extremely happy to see these children leave the country, there is little time to prepare themselves emotionally for the exodus of so many children at one time. These children have been loved and cared for by these dear caregivers for a long time, and the bonds are great. In many instances, the caregivers will continue on in country to care for the many other orphans who will now take the place of the adopted ones. May God bless them for their sacrifice of love!

The earthquake in Haiti has touched our family in a very tangible way, as I have two little nephews there in an orphanage who need to get out. My sister Stephanie has been in the process of adopting little Ian and Alec for over two years. She has made several visits there, the most recent of which was this past fall with my mom. Just last week she found out that the boys had been granted their visa appointment at the U.S. Embassy which was the final step before they could come home. The appointment was scheduled for next Tuesday, January 19. And then came the earthquake...UNBELIEVABLE!

As I type this, people in the upper eschelons of our government are working hard at trying to get special humanitarian parole status for children who already have mommies and daddies waiting for them here in the United States but are just lacking the necessary paperwork...which now may be lying under tons of rubble at worst, or in dead computers at best. The orphanage where my nephews have lived their short lives has a wonderful director who has been working around the clock to get some of the kids out. Miraculously, she was granted 12 visas in one day, but she wants 12 more. Please pray that our government will see fit to get ALL the children out of that country who have families waiting for them. It could take YEARS for the Haitian government to get itself back together enough to continue the paperwork for some of the families who are in earlier stages of this process. And in good times, the process already was taking years...

My heart aches for the children who have already known such devastation and now are having to live through more. My heart is broken for the thousands of children who are now left orphaned in addition to the thousands who were already orphaned. I thank God for the compassionate people who have given their lives to advocate and care for the "least of these" in the name of Jesus. If you would like to read my sister's blog, please visit http://www.iansadoption.blogspot.com/. If you scroll down her righthand sidebar, she has links to other blogs where you can follow the stories of adoptive families and ministries in Haiti and other adoptive families in the US and around the world. But most importantly, pray without ceasing for this situation to be handled quickly and efficiently so the children can be spared further heartbreak and suffering.

God is good all the time...and all the time, God is good.

Maybe in 2010?

As 2009 comes to a close, it's hard to believe that we have been on this adoption journey for over a year now. Perhaps in 2010 we will meet the daughter for whom we have been waiting for a very long time, but with the long wait times, it may not be until 2011 or 2012...only God knows! I pray blessings on my little Sophia, if she is born, and on her birth family and caretakers...

Happy New Year!

First Trimester Almost Done!

When you are pregnant, you can't wait to get through the first trimester. You usually begin to feel better and the risk of miscarriage seems to go way down. You can breathe more easily and start to plan for the arrival of the new little one. Well, our first trimester of being "paper pregnant" is almost done. Our dossier arrived in Taiwan on September 14, so in a few short days, we will have been waiting for three months. I'm glad to be busy with other things during this time of waiting. It makes the time go by faster. In the back of my mind is the nagging thought that we don't have the money we need for when the referral comes, but I know God will provide in His time. I pray often for our daughter, who may or may not be born yet, and for her birth family and the choices they will be making regarding our daughter. I know so much is going on behind the scenes right now that only God knows, and I trust Him to work it all out. So, as we move into our fourth month of waiting, I continue to rely on God to bring this dream to fruition!

Waiting and praying...

Thanks, Sis!

My sister, who is, Lord willing!, almost done her 2+ year wait for her two sons from Haiti, wrote a post on her blog today about our family. She is a brilliant writer, and I thank her for highlighting our family on this last day of National Adoption Month. Since I really have nothing else to say on this blog right now since we are just waiting, waiting, waiting, I thought you might like to read what my sister had to say!

All in God's time...

While We Wait...

I know it has been awhile since I posted on this blog, but I really have nothing new to say. We are playing the long waiting game that so many adoptive parents are playing right now. I e-mailed our program coordinator and asked her what our dossier was "experiencing" right now, just for something new, and basically it is being translated and shown around while the orphanage works on finding us a match that fits our home study parameters. I'm sure glad that God is in control and ultimately will bring the perfect little girl for us into our family!

The need of funds is still there, as are many, many cookbooks. So, if you would like to order some cookbooks as Christmas presents, please let me know...I would be happy to oblige!

Pray without ceasing...

In Taiwan

Our dossier has arrived in Taiwan, according to Fed Ex! Yippee! Now the long wait begins...possibly as long as 24 months according to our agency. Plenty of time to raise the funds needed for the orphanage fee and travel. We still have five boxes of cookbooks left...they would make great Christmas presents. Please let me know if you would like some to help us bring Sophia home!

Waiting on GOD to bring Sophia home...