But these things I plan won't happen right away. Slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. If it seems slow, be patient! For it will surely take place. It will not be late by a single day." Habakkuk 2:3 This verse has been cropping up all around me today!
Patience. What does that mean? My dad's favorite dicionary, Funk and Wagnall's (now encorporated into Microsoft's Encarta), defines patience in this way:
capacity for waiting: the ability to endure waiting, delay, or provocation without becoming annoyed or upset, or to persevere calmly when faced with difficulties
Those of you who know me well know that this has always been a struggle for me. I do not endure waiting or delay well (I think I'm a little better at provocation). So many times in my life I have prayed for patience, and it seems that each time the Lord gives me a delay of some sort. My prayer this time is that I will truly persevere calmly, albeit with incredible sadness.
I rest in the promise that "...it will surely take place. It will not be late by one single day."
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Trusting
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. Proverbs 3:5
This is the verse the Lord gave me last night as I was reading before bed. I am so thankful I have Someon I can trust and that I don't have to lean on my own understanding. Waiting stinks, and I don't understand it. I am really sad. But I know it's okay, because I trust that the Lord is Good, Sovereign, and that He loves me and wants what is best for me, my family, and my sweet baby boy.
So last night I went home and made our baby a blanket. Total nesting therapy. Here is the finished product:
I'm pretty proud of it! A family who is travelling next week is going to give it to him for me. We're hoping they'll be able to get us more pictures of him as well. That is the only way between now and our travel to get pictures. I think that will be the hardest thing for me -- not knowing how he is doing, growing, changing, etc. for 4-5 months!
On the bright side, this delay increases our chances of being able to travel with our friends who are also adopting. So now we're praying for that.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Secret-keeping
Drew really enjoying the fourth! He fell asleep on the boat, then slept through lunch!We received our referral on July 1, and we spent an entire weekend at the lake with my family over the fourth. It was terribly hard to keep the secret with so many people asking questions, as they all knew the monthly calls would be coming soon. But we managed to keep the secret through the weekend until we made our final decision Monday. Here are a few pictures of us secret-keeping!
Enjoying some time by the lake
True to Grace Caroline form, no smiles for the matching cousin picture (again)
Just a' swingin'
Emotional rollercoaster.
I feel like I am on an emotional rollercoaster. For the past week, I have been overjoyed with the prospect of seeing our new baby next month. But today that hope came crashing down. We received an e-mail from our case manager saying that our application did not make it out of MOWA (Ministry of women's affairs) before the deadline for the courts. So now it will be October before they begin processing our adoption through the courts. That means October or November before we travel. I know the Lord's timing is perfect, but I am really having a hard time with this right now. I long to hold him, kiss him, know him. Please pray for us and the other families in our situation as we wait.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
REFERRAL!!!!!
What is it about woman's intuition? About 15 minutes after I wrote the last blog posting, my phone rang. It was Julie, our case manager from All God's Children. "I've got a little boy to tell you about!" I was at work, but I made it to the hall outside my office, so I don't think my squeal of glee disturbed too many people.
So on the evening of July 7, we accepted the referral of a 1 month old healthy baby boy. He was born June2, 2008. We don't have birth weight, but he weighed a little over 8 pounds at 10 days. What little other information we have, we are not sharing. Matt and I have agreed that his history is truly that -- his. So please don't ask us about his birth history, why he is an orphan, etc. When he is old enough to know, he can decide what he wants to share, and with whom.
We are so very excited to have a new son!! Grace Caroline was the first to know after us (and Dr. Staat, the international pediatrician), and she is very excited to have a new baby brother. Her comment about his picture was "He's cute." When we showed Drew his picture and told him that it was his baby brother James, he said "No, jeep." So who knows what Drew thinks! He's still very much a Mama's boy and still tries to trip me everwhere we go by getting in front of my legs and shouting "No, up, no, up" We'll see how he does....
Thanks to all for your support and prayers. I am unable to post pictures due to Ethiopian regulations. Sorry!
So on the evening of July 7, we accepted the referral of a 1 month old healthy baby boy. He was born June2, 2008. We don't have birth weight, but he weighed a little over 8 pounds at 10 days. What little other information we have, we are not sharing. Matt and I have agreed that his history is truly that -- his. So please don't ask us about his birth history, why he is an orphan, etc. When he is old enough to know, he can decide what he wants to share, and with whom.
We are so very excited to have a new son!! Grace Caroline was the first to know after us (and Dr. Staat, the international pediatrician), and she is very excited to have a new baby brother. Her comment about his picture was "He's cute." When we showed Drew his picture and told him that it was his baby brother James, he said "No, jeep." So who knows what Drew thinks! He's still very much a Mama's boy and still tries to trip me everwhere we go by getting in front of my legs and shouting "No, up, no, up" We'll see how he does....
Thanks to all for your support and prayers. I am unable to post pictures due to Ethiopian regulations. Sorry!
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Pins and Needles
No news, but I totally feel like I'm sitting on pins and needles. I can't get past the feeling that we will be getting our referral any day now. I really feel like it will be in the next two weeks. Matt totally makes fun of me because I am carrying my cell phone with me EVERYWHERE so I don't miss "the call." Being the practical man he is, he warns me not to get my hopes up too much so that I'm not disappointed if THE call doesn't come by the time I think it should.
It's like when you apply for college/medical school/residency, and you're waiting to hear and you check your e-mail every 5 seconds and double check your phone to make sure you didn't miss that call in the 2 minutes you went to the bathroom. I know I'm totally being ridiculous, and that we will get the call in the Lord's time. I'm just really getting excited now.
I also have to send out 2 big PRAISES!!
1. I mentioned in my previous post that our friends Dan and Amy finally got their paperwork in Guatemala processed and get to bring their precious baby girl home soon. They posted pictures of their son picking out outfits for her to wear out of the clothes we gave them and it really struck a cord in my heart. THEY ARE BRINGING THEIR BABY HOME!!!!!
2. One of the orphanages that fed into Hannah's Hope Ethiopia in the past has been under investigation, and 2 of the families with our agency have been "on hold" pending investigation. I just learned this morning that their paperwork went through without a court date and that the gentleman from the ministry of women's affairs (the government office that overseas adoptions) personally walked their files to the courts!! What a testament to the work All God's Children does in Ethiopia!
We should be receiving our monthly call with our "number" soon. I will post again as soon as I learn (unless we're at the lake). When we get our referral, I will have to make this private so I can post a picture of sweet baby James.
It's like when you apply for college/medical school/residency, and you're waiting to hear and you check your e-mail every 5 seconds and double check your phone to make sure you didn't miss that call in the 2 minutes you went to the bathroom. I know I'm totally being ridiculous, and that we will get the call in the Lord's time. I'm just really getting excited now.
I also have to send out 2 big PRAISES!!
1. I mentioned in my previous post that our friends Dan and Amy finally got their paperwork in Guatemala processed and get to bring their precious baby girl home soon. They posted pictures of their son picking out outfits for her to wear out of the clothes we gave them and it really struck a cord in my heart. THEY ARE BRINGING THEIR BABY HOME!!!!!
2. One of the orphanages that fed into Hannah's Hope Ethiopia in the past has been under investigation, and 2 of the families with our agency have been "on hold" pending investigation. I just learned this morning that their paperwork went through without a court date and that the gentleman from the ministry of women's affairs (the government office that overseas adoptions) personally walked their files to the courts!! What a testament to the work All God's Children does in Ethiopia!
We should be receiving our monthly call with our "number" soon. I will post again as soon as I learn (unless we're at the lake). When we get our referral, I will have to make this private so I can post a picture of sweet baby James.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Pray for Guatemala
No news for us. I did, however, receive an e-mail from some friends of ours who are in the process of adopting from Guatemala. I copied an article they have posted on their blog to share with those who may not know about the situation in Guatemala. Please pray for these families, as this is so heart-wrenching. Our friends have finally been cleared to adopt their daughter (they've been in the final stages since Dec 6) and hope to bring her home by August, her first birthday. Praise God -- we are so excited for you, Dan and Amy.
If you would like to help our agency and their orphanage, which is one of the private orphanages this article refers to as being phased out, please follow the link to their website and click on the Unite Campaign Guatemala.
Adoption Policy Delivers Heartache to Moms
Thursday, June 19, 2008 Last updated: Thursday June 19, 2008, EDT 6:37 AMBY JUAN CARLOS LLORCATHE ASSOCIATED PRESSGUATEMALA CITY —
The 24-year-old Guatemalan mother had already given up her baby once. Now, months later, the baby girl was back in her lap, smiling and playing with her mother's fingers.And Karen Donis had to make the decision all over again.The heart-wrenching process is part of a new Guatemalan government effort to ensure that mothers really wanted to give their babies up — and that children weren't bought or even stolen to be adopted to U.S. couples.Sitting on a plastic chair in a neon-lit room cuddling her 8-month-old daughter, Donis ached to keep the child. But she knew she could never give her the life she deserved."I have turned the problem inside out, and I can't, I can't," said Donis, tears falling onto the girl. "I thought about keeping the baby, but I can't."
Once just steps away from joining new families as U.S. citizens, the child is one of 2,286 Guatemalan babies now stuck in limbo, facing uncertain futures as Guatemala reviews every pending case.One by one, women were called into a large room to prove they gave birth to the babies and swear they were not sold or stolen. Then, they were asked to make what for many had been the most difficult decision of their lives — again.
Almost all insisted on remaining anonymous, fearing public scorn. But Donis agreed to let an Associated Press reporter attend her interview, giving a rare glimpse into the heart-wrenching government review process.The old system was ridden with conflicts of interest, false paperwork and illegal payments, but it quickly delivered babies to U.S. homes, and birth mothers could console themselves that their babies would have abundant opportunities for a better life. Now, most of these women don't even have that: Babies whose adoptions have been annulled will likely spend years in government-run orphanages before they can be adopted under the new rules.
Of the 2,286 pending cases, authorities have reviewed about 750, annulled 26 adoptions and are pressing criminal charges in nine against birth mothers, lawyers and civil registrars who allegedly forged documents, attorney general's spokesman Jorge Meng said Monday.Four birth mothers have decided to take their babies back, but even those cases must be cleared first, Meng said.Meng suspects only a fraction of the fraud cases have been uncovered so far, since the easiest ones were reviewed first — those involving birth mothers who agreed to come in. Hundreds of other mothers have simply disappeared, and authorities suspect the people involved are laying low to avoid being charged with crimes.
Guatemalan adoptions used to be so quick and hassle-free that the nation of 13 million became the world's second-largest source of babies to U.S. couples, a $100-million-a-year industry managed nearly entirely by lawyers with almost no government oversight. But since the government took over in January, not one new adoption has begun, while all pending cases are being reviewed by the Attorney General's Office and a newly created National Adoptions Council.The new law is Guatemala's attempt to comply with the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoptions, a treaty designed to prevent trafficking in humans. The U.S. Embassy lobbied in support of the new law, arguing that Guatemala and other countries with foreign adoptions need to ensure babies weren't being exploited.
Donis told the interviewers her baby's father took off as soon as he found out about the pregnancy, and that she is the only breadwinner for her three other children and two underage siblings. She has an on-and-off job giving out free food samples at supermarkets. "I have no help," she said. Then, her lawyer was asked to leave the room, and she was given one last chance to change her mind.After almost 25,000 adoptions over the past 18 years, this is the first time mothers have been required to legally relinquish their children in front of a government official. Before, U.S. and Guatemalan authorities simply accepted a sworn statement provided by the same lawyer who handled the adoption.
Of 66 women called in each day, only half show up."I had three appointments today; only one could make it because roads were closed on account of the heavy rains and I have yet to find one of the mothers," said Rosa Maria Vides, a lawyer who fears her adoption cases won't move forward.Babies whose birth mothers don't appear are declared abandoned by a judge and placed in government-run orphanages while their cases start all over again. The new process could take years, and the U.S. couples involved, many of whom have already spent as much as $30,000 and bonded with the babies under the old system, have no guarantee of getting the same child.
The adoptions council works out of borrowed space in a library, and there are only 13investigators to examine the thousands of cases. For now, most of the babies remain in private adoption agencies that are being phased out. A new government-run orphanage hasn't been finished.
Few U.S. couples can be seen at Guatemala City's Marriott Hotel, once known as "baby central" because it hosted so many adoptive parents. Those who still visit their would-be adoptive children are too scared to talk to reporters."Not only the Americans are scared. Birth mothers are concerned that their kids will end up in a government orphanage," said Alejandra Corzo, a lawyer for All God's Children International, a U.S.-based nonprofit that runs orphanages around the world. Corzo said she has 14 cases pending and none have been cleared.
The adoption of Donis' daughter was determined to be legitimate, but clearing the paperwork will take at least two more months before the child can join her adoptive family in New Hampshire. If any problems crop up, it could take up to a year.Handing over the girl once again, Donis said she wants her to have a better life in the U.S. — and wants to keep in touch with the American family. She hopes the baby grows up to be a doctor, she said — just like her adoptive father.
If you would like to help our agency and their orphanage, which is one of the private orphanages this article refers to as being phased out, please follow the link to their website and click on the Unite Campaign Guatemala.
Adoption Policy Delivers Heartache to Moms
Thursday, June 19, 2008 Last updated: Thursday June 19, 2008, EDT 6:37 AMBY JUAN CARLOS LLORCATHE ASSOCIATED PRESSGUATEMALA CITY —
The 24-year-old Guatemalan mother had already given up her baby once. Now, months later, the baby girl was back in her lap, smiling and playing with her mother's fingers.And Karen Donis had to make the decision all over again.The heart-wrenching process is part of a new Guatemalan government effort to ensure that mothers really wanted to give their babies up — and that children weren't bought or even stolen to be adopted to U.S. couples.Sitting on a plastic chair in a neon-lit room cuddling her 8-month-old daughter, Donis ached to keep the child. But she knew she could never give her the life she deserved."I have turned the problem inside out, and I can't, I can't," said Donis, tears falling onto the girl. "I thought about keeping the baby, but I can't."
Once just steps away from joining new families as U.S. citizens, the child is one of 2,286 Guatemalan babies now stuck in limbo, facing uncertain futures as Guatemala reviews every pending case.One by one, women were called into a large room to prove they gave birth to the babies and swear they were not sold or stolen. Then, they were asked to make what for many had been the most difficult decision of their lives — again.
Almost all insisted on remaining anonymous, fearing public scorn. But Donis agreed to let an Associated Press reporter attend her interview, giving a rare glimpse into the heart-wrenching government review process.The old system was ridden with conflicts of interest, false paperwork and illegal payments, but it quickly delivered babies to U.S. homes, and birth mothers could console themselves that their babies would have abundant opportunities for a better life. Now, most of these women don't even have that: Babies whose adoptions have been annulled will likely spend years in government-run orphanages before they can be adopted under the new rules.
Of the 2,286 pending cases, authorities have reviewed about 750, annulled 26 adoptions and are pressing criminal charges in nine against birth mothers, lawyers and civil registrars who allegedly forged documents, attorney general's spokesman Jorge Meng said Monday.Four birth mothers have decided to take their babies back, but even those cases must be cleared first, Meng said.Meng suspects only a fraction of the fraud cases have been uncovered so far, since the easiest ones were reviewed first — those involving birth mothers who agreed to come in. Hundreds of other mothers have simply disappeared, and authorities suspect the people involved are laying low to avoid being charged with crimes.
Guatemalan adoptions used to be so quick and hassle-free that the nation of 13 million became the world's second-largest source of babies to U.S. couples, a $100-million-a-year industry managed nearly entirely by lawyers with almost no government oversight. But since the government took over in January, not one new adoption has begun, while all pending cases are being reviewed by the Attorney General's Office and a newly created National Adoptions Council.The new law is Guatemala's attempt to comply with the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoptions, a treaty designed to prevent trafficking in humans. The U.S. Embassy lobbied in support of the new law, arguing that Guatemala and other countries with foreign adoptions need to ensure babies weren't being exploited.
Donis told the interviewers her baby's father took off as soon as he found out about the pregnancy, and that she is the only breadwinner for her three other children and two underage siblings. She has an on-and-off job giving out free food samples at supermarkets. "I have no help," she said. Then, her lawyer was asked to leave the room, and she was given one last chance to change her mind.After almost 25,000 adoptions over the past 18 years, this is the first time mothers have been required to legally relinquish their children in front of a government official. Before, U.S. and Guatemalan authorities simply accepted a sworn statement provided by the same lawyer who handled the adoption.
Of 66 women called in each day, only half show up."I had three appointments today; only one could make it because roads were closed on account of the heavy rains and I have yet to find one of the mothers," said Rosa Maria Vides, a lawyer who fears her adoption cases won't move forward.Babies whose birth mothers don't appear are declared abandoned by a judge and placed in government-run orphanages while their cases start all over again. The new process could take years, and the U.S. couples involved, many of whom have already spent as much as $30,000 and bonded with the babies under the old system, have no guarantee of getting the same child.
The adoptions council works out of borrowed space in a library, and there are only 13investigators to examine the thousands of cases. For now, most of the babies remain in private adoption agencies that are being phased out. A new government-run orphanage hasn't been finished.
Few U.S. couples can be seen at Guatemala City's Marriott Hotel, once known as "baby central" because it hosted so many adoptive parents. Those who still visit their would-be adoptive children are too scared to talk to reporters."Not only the Americans are scared. Birth mothers are concerned that their kids will end up in a government orphanage," said Alejandra Corzo, a lawyer for All God's Children International, a U.S.-based nonprofit that runs orphanages around the world. Corzo said she has 14 cases pending and none have been cleared.
The adoption of Donis' daughter was determined to be legitimate, but clearing the paperwork will take at least two more months before the child can join her adoptive family in New Hampshire. If any problems crop up, it could take up to a year.Handing over the girl once again, Donis said she wants her to have a better life in the U.S. — and wants to keep in touch with the American family. She hopes the baby grows up to be a doctor, she said — just like her adoptive father.
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