Thursday, February 28, 2013

God's Timing in all things!

Sometimes God's timing is not the same 
as our timing...

We are not having court tomorrow.
The paperwork did not make the early train 
in order to be here in time
for our court appointment tomorrow.

The next available court date was
next Friday

but

our translator was able to
get the judge to agree to see us
during her lunch break on
Monday, March 4. 

We are disappointed to have to wait another 3 days,
but very grateful that the judge would 
agree to see us during her lunch break.  

In other new,
today is the 

one year anniversary

of our adoption of Julia!!

We are very sad that we are not with her to celebrate, 
but we will give her plenty of hugs and kisses 
and special gifts when we return.

Meanwhile, Grandma and Jacob are planning something
special for her today...  

This has been really hard, 
being away from the children for so long...

Please pray for strength and stamina for us.
We are feeling very weary.

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Update: Prayers Answered!

We have word that the paperwork that was needed
was sent to our little one's country
today at 12:15!

Praise God!

He is in control.

Please continue to pray that 
our little one's country
will process the
paperwork
and we 
can have
court on
Friday, March 1.

Thank You.

The praise and glory belongs
only to the Lord!

Blessed be His glorious name forever.
May the whole earth be filled 
with His glory.
Psalm 72:19

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Prayers Needed

There is one piece of paper 
that needs to get to our child's country today!
If it doesn't arrive by the end of business today, 
we may not be able to have our court date on Friday.
Please pray - we serve a God who is in control of everything.  
He listens to every prayer.

Thank You.

Thursday, February 21, 2013

We have a court date!!

Yay!

We have a court date!

March 1 at 10:00 am

we will go to court to finalize our adoption of Hannes!

And then we can share photos of him
with all of you!
And publicly say where we are!

Next steps:

There is a mandatory ten business day
waiting period.

The purpose of this is to allow anyone who wishes to
contest the court decision.

After the waiting period is over,
we can pick up the court decree.

We then use that to change his birth certificate
to his new name
and 
list us as his parents.

Then we also need to apply for his passport.
Once we receive it, we travel to the capital of this country.

Then we go to the US Embassy to apply
for a visa to bring him to the US.

The particular visa we are applying for will make
him a US citizen when he lands on US soil.

After our 10 day wait, 
the rest should only take about a week and a half!!

Then we come home!
Yay!

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Waiting...

We are now waiting... 

again... 

adoption seems to be filled with waiting!!

We are waiting
on a 
court date.

Meanwhile we are visiting Hannes
twice a day!

We go in the morning 
from
10 to 12
and 
in the afternoon
from 
4 to 6.

We are having a lot of 
fun spending time
time with him.

And someday soon 
we should have
a
court date!!

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Kissing Hannes!!

We met Hannes today 
after a 16 hour train ride to where he lives.

We are very weary.

But we are also
very 
much
in love with him.

When they brought him in to the
orphanage director's office
it was so amazing

to finally
be 
in the same room with him!

He was a bit overwhelmed
and almost started to cry
but
then we went back
to his room

back to where he is 
comfortable

and in his room
he was so happy 
to have us 
interact with him.

To hold him,
to hug him,
to kiss him,
to tickle him,
to nibble his ear,
for a wonderful 45 minutes!!

and then they took us back
to the
director's office
and asked us
"Do you want to adopt him?"

Um,
YES!!!

So now we are able to visit him
from 10-12 
and 
from 3:30 - 5:30 
each day
until we have our 
court date!

We are in love!

 

Monday, February 11, 2013

Appointment Today

We had our appointment today!
It went really well, we will be able to pick up the 
permission to visit him tomorrow.

Then we will hop on an overnight train
to where he lives.

We were able to meet two other families
for dinner tonight...

one family starting like we are
and 
one family returning home on Wednesday
with their new little boy!

 

Sunday, February 10, 2013

Referral Appointment today!

We have our appointment today
where we will ask for a referral for Hannes!

So thankful that we are to this point.


Saturday, February 9, 2013

We are here!!

We are in our little one's country!!

It was a long 3 flights to get here.
 We are tired!
It was hard to leave our kids.
We are jet-lagged.

But we are here.

We have an appointment with our child's 
government agency that handles adoptions.

We will request to adopt Hannes.

We should get this approval to visit him on Tuesday.  
Then we can take the overnight train to where he is!!

We should meet him on Wednesday!
We are coming little one!


Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Everything changes...


I am the Lord your God,
who leads you in the way you should go.
isaiah 48:17

 So many people have told us that this is a wonderful thing we are doing.  And it is.  They have said that we are so wonderful for doing this.  And they could never do this.  But that makes me pause.  I am not that wonderful.  I am afraid.  I think that I might not be able to do this.  I may not be able to leave my little ones at home while I fly across the world for an unknown amount of time.  I don't think I can do this.  BUT I don't have to do this in my own strength.  God is leading us.  He is my strength.  He KNOWS my heart.  I love that little boy across the world.  And I will do this for him.  To give him new life, like God has given me new life.  I can do this.  And maybe you could too... not in your own strength, but in HIS.  We fly in 2 days.  Please pray that God would continue to be my strength and my courage as I do the hardest thing I have ever done.
 

"We learned that orphans are easier to ignore 
before you know their names.
They are easier to ignore 
before you see their faces.
It is easier to pretend they’re not real 
before you hold them in your arms.
But once you do, everything changes.”
-- David Platt


Saturday, February 2, 2013

finding joy in 100 things so far this year...

Giving Thanks to the Lord for all things - 
daring to find joy in 1000 things in 2013


43.  worn - comfy pair of jeans
44.  given away - kisses for my littles
45.  shared - tears and prayers for another mom who got hard news today

3 witnessed blessings:
46.  another mom giving my child her dearest wish
47.  a dental hygenist being so very comforting to a nervous little boy
48.  the will being yielded for another

A gift bringing:
49. laughter - tickles at the beginning of a day
50. prayer -the hard that is coming
51. quiet - a sleep over at big sister's house

3 Gifts from God's Word:
52.  the joy of the Lord is my strength
53.  I have no good apart from You
54.  Abide in Me and I in you.

3 Gifts that might have never been:
55.  Nate
56.  Noah
57.  Julia

3 Gifts only seen close up
58.  the snuggles of a little
59.  the nudge of a cat
60.  the love of a man

A gift in:
61. sky:  travel to my new son
62. water:  life to my body
63. memory:  my daddy

A gift:
64. wrinkled:  my hands as they age
65. smoothed:  cheeks of a child
66. unfolded:  the unfolding redemption of an unwanted child

3 Gifts found in Christ:
67.  Grace
68.  Strength
69.  Joy

3 things blue:
70.  an adorable penguin shirt on a 6 year old
71.  love and encouragement in a blue case
72.  a house made into a home

A Grace:
73. borrowed:  my children borrowed from the Lord
74. found: patience
75. inherited: compassion

A Gift:
76. before dawn:  the cat and her love
77. at noon: joy at lunch
78. after dark: beautiful full moon

3 Gifts in the Kitchen
79. a husband who cooks
80. a husband who takes care of the dishes
81. a table full of friends and family

3 Graces found in friends:
82. a woman reaches out to a new heart momma
83. a prayer given to me for the hard
84. grace given when her daughter was hurt

85.  A song heard: kings and queens
86.  A soft word: love whispered in my ear
87.  Light seen: joy in my daughter's eyes

3 Old things seen new:
88.  bedspread to diaper bag
89.  wool sweaters to diaper covers
90.  me being made new

A gift:
91.  on a paper: a note of love
92.  in a person: a child who loves
93.  in a picture:  photos of Hannes

3 Gifts red:
94.  a warm blanket on a cold night
95.  blood still pumping through a broken heart
96.  wearing red in honor of CHD kids

3 Gifts on paper:
97.  my life in a binder
98.  a letter from a friend
99.  all in order if I am with Jesus


Find the Joy Dare at www.aholyexperience.com