He is Faithful!

 

"O LORD, you are my God; 

I will exalt you and praise your name, 

for in perfect faithfulness you have done marvelous things" 

 

Isaiah 25:1

 

 

God is SO good!  

 

Our dossier has been submitted to Hannes's country!

 

 

Our final document arrived in his country at 1:00 pm 

and was delivered at 2:30 pm.  

After arrival it had to be notarized - this is a time 

consuming process in this country.  

The government only accepts Dossiers prior to 6:00 pm.

It was still at the notary at 5:00 pm.

 

The team in the country spent hours requesting special permission to submit after 6:00 pm.  

At 8:00 pm the permission was granted and the dossier was submitted!

 

What an amazing God!  

 

• To give us a US immigration woman who was willing to go out of her way for us.  
• To have our amazing race and make it to the DHL office in time on Tuesday.
• To have DHL get the paperwork to Hannes's country on Thursday.
• To have a dedicated facilitation team who worked after hours to advocate for our little guy.
• To have a government agency willing to grant us special permission to submit after hours.

What's next?


We wait.  Our dossier will be processed in the next few weeks in his country.  After about six to seven weeks we should receive an appointment to appear in his country to request him as our child.  Once we have officially received his referral we will see him and spend time with him as we finalize his adoption.   We expect to spend 4-6 weeks in his country.  We should be returning home with Hannes by the beginning of March, Lord willing.  We thank you all for your prayers.  We couldn't do this without your support and the strength that God provides.

Now for the excitement!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WOOHOO    WOOHOO  WOOHOO  WOOHOO  WOOHOO  WOOHOO 

 

 

 

 

 

Keep Praying!!

Our package has arrived in Europe!  

 Please pray that it arrives in Hannes's country tomorrow morning!!

Thank you so much for your prayers!

Prayers for Hannes

One of the ways that you can support us in our adoption of Hannes is to pray for us.  We are asking for prayer that God would bring about a miracle of sorts.

The last day for dossiers to be submitted in Hannes's country this year is Thursday.

We received our immigration approval today at 2:20 pm.  We notarized the document at 2:30 pm.  We drove to downtown Los Angeles to apostille the document.  We left our town at 2:45 pm and arrived in front of the State building at 4:20 pm. (Keep in mind it is 26 miles - this is LA traffic and a semi truck had broken down on the freeway) The office that does apostilles is open until 4:30.  We just made it.  She finished apostilling our document at 4:45.  We had a 10 minute drive to the DHL office.  They stop accepting packages at 5:00 pm.  We got there at 4:55pm.   We filled out the paperwork and paid and finished at 4:59.

They will guarantee delivery to our child's country by end of day Thursday.

Please pray that it arrives in the morning, 

so that there is time to submit it to the government before the deadline.

If it misses this deadline, it will sit until January 17 - the next day that dossiers are allowed to be submitted. 

Thank you for your prayers, this means so much to Hannes, who spends every day and night in his crib, only having interactions through crib bars with 2 others kids in his infirmary room.  He needs medical attention, and the sooner we can get to him, the sooner he can be evaluated by a pediatric cardiologist and begin the treatment that will save his life.

Sunday Scripture

2 Corinthians 12:9

 

My grace is sufficient for you, 

 

for my power is made perfect in weakness.

 

 

It is a well known scripture, but I have been feeling it's depth recently.  I feel very weak lately, in most all areas of my life.  And yet, that is where God is able to work - in my weakness.  His grace is sufficient.  All I need.  To do all He has for me to do.  He says His grace is all I need.  All I need.

 

2 Corinthians 9:8

 

And God is able to make all grace abound to you,

 

so that having 

 

all sufficiency

 

in all things

 

at all times,

 

you may abound in every good work.

 

 

Wow!  

 

All grace abound to me, 

all sufficiency, in all things, at all times, 

so that I can do what He has for me to do.    

Wow!

All that when I was feeling weak.  But that is where God can use me.  

My weakness, His greatness given to me through grace.

What was I worried about?

Blessings

Counting my blessings and so very thankful for them all...

Thankful

Thanksgiving is in two days...

what better time to express thankfulness...

I am thankful for:

• my Lord - without His grace, I would be nothing - with it, I have everything I need...

• my husband - daily helping me grow in grace and holiness...

• my children - Nate, Lydia, Jacob, Julia and soon (Lord willing) Hannes...each one different, unique, and such a reflection of the image of God

• my grandchild - Noah, there are no words for how precious it is to hug a child that has come from your child

• my family - Mom, Dad, Paul, and Philip (and their families) - they have been there from the beginning, such a history of love, laughter, tears, and joy - my childhood was a gift of love from my parents and the solid foundation I have built my life on - a blessing from God

• my life - an adventure I never could have imagined.  Not much has turned out the way that I expected, but the blessings that I have today are far more than I ever would have imagined.

Psalm 16:11

 
You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. 

Sunday Scripture

Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation,
by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,
present your requests to God.

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding,
will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
 

Philippians 4:5-7

2013 Magnet Calendar

Just a $20 donation to our chip-in on the right column and I will send you a 2013 Magnet Calendar with a photo of Hannes (of course the actual magnet has his face unblurred).  We appreciate your love and support to bring him home and help him to get the medical care he needs.  Thank you!

Cost of Adoption

Many have wondered about the costs of adoption.  Most international adoptions are around $25,000 or more when all is finished.

What is all that money for?

The costs will vary depending on the part of the country that you live in.  Each state seems to be different in what they charge.

Here are the approximate costs for an international adoption in California:

Home Study $5,000 (includes application fee, gas for social worker home study, and follow up visits)
Paperwork costs (notary, apostille, fees for fingerprinting etc.)  $2,000
In Country Fee (includes social worker, legal representation, orphanage donation, translation of docs) $9,000

Travel to the country:  $5,000
Travel home for the child: $1,000
Housing while in country for 6 weeks:  $3,000
Visa for child to fly to US: $300
Child's Passport: $1,000
Child's Birth Certificate: $300
Medical exam for child: (required by US Immigration) $200
Food while in country: $2,000
Travel within the country: $700

The first adoption we were able to cover all of the costs.  This adoption we are asking if anyone would like to join in and consider assisting us to give a home, a family, and medical care to one of the millions of orphans and abandoned children in the world.  You may not be in a position to adopt, but you could help us to bring this little one home.  We would love to do this with all of our own money.  But Hannes is in desparate need of medical care for his heart defect.  We don't have time to save up all the money that would be required.  Please consider giving for Hannes's sake.  We have lots of great opportunities to do your Christmas shopping!  Coffee, TShirts, Restaurant.com gift certificates, and even your Amazon purchases made through our link will help to bring Hannes home as quickly as possible.  We appreciate your help and your prayers more than you will ever know.  Thank you does not begin to express the joy in our hearts for those of you who have already given.  Blessings!

One Step Closer...

We are coming little one!

We have just sent our dossier docs to another family who will carry them to our little one's country next week to be translated.  We are now waiting for US Immigration approval.  Once we get approval, our dossier can be officially submitted to his country's government.  Then we wait for them to grant us permission to come over there and finalize our adoption.

We expect our wait to be about 9 weeks after our dossier is submitted until we fly there!

I have been so nervous, second-guessing our paperwork - unable to sleep, worrying if I did everything right... today I am relaxed.  I have done what I can and now we wait.  We will get an appointment for yet another set of fingerprints, and we will go as quickly as we can for that.  But the rest is waiting and raising support so that we will have all the funds we need for traveling over there and the many expenses we will have to finalize this adoption.

Please pray with us that approvals would be granted in time for submission of our dossier before the end of the month.  Pray also that God would provide the funds that we need to complete this adoption.  

Every day that goes by our little one waits in his crib, spending most of his day and all of his night in his crib.  I ache to hold him in my arms, to hold him tight and let him know that he is very precious and loved!  

Amazing Race

It does feel like an amazing race to beat a deadline.  The country that Hannes is in will take a break at the end of this month for the winter and will not accept dossiers until February 1.  So we are in a race to get our dossier submitted before the end of this month.

We received our home study in the mail today.  We then turned around and sent one copy to Immigration.  We are awaiting their approval before we can submit our dossier to our country.

We are also going to apostille our dossier documents tomorrow in downtown Los Angeles.  An apostille is the state's seal that the document is official for use in another country.

Once we have those documents in hand with the state seal, we will overnight them to another family who is leaving on Sunday to travel to the same country that our dossier is going to.  They will hand carry them overseas for us and give them to the facilitators in country.

The facilitators will then translate the documents into the language of the country.  Once our US immigration approval is received, and our dossier has been translated, we can submit.

We are praying that it all comes together before the end of the month!  Please join us in asking God for his mercies in orchestrating all that needs to happen in order for us to bring Hannes home as soon as possible in order to get him the care that he urgently needs!!

Travel Joy!

The family of the little girl who shares the infirmary room with Hannes just got their travel dates!  They will be leaving to see her in about two weeks!  What joy!  What excitement!  I want to join them - stow away in their luggage - travel with them and spend time with my little one!  I can just imaging the excitement of packing and preparing to see a little life you have prepared and waited for for so long. 

The family of the other child in the infirmary brought him home last month!  He is full of joy at discovering the big world outside of his crib.  He is full of smiles, and laughter, and the wonder of the exploration of it all.  His family just posted a family photo and it is so fantastic to see him with his new family!!

I just cannot wait until the day we get our travel notice!!  What an amazing journey this is...

Won't you help us to get to the point of bringing Hannes home?

We have coffee, we have TShirts, we have restaurant.com gift cards, we have 2013 calendar photo magnets, even your Amazon purchases through the link on this blog will help to bring Hannes home.  Just check out the various opportunities on the right pane of our blog page.

You can be a part of bringing a boy to a family.  In the face of 143 million orphans, it is just one, but it will make a big difference to him. 

Sunday Scripture

“There is none holy like the LORD: for there is none besides you; there is no rock like our God.

1 Samuel 2:2

Praising the One who holds everything together - 

and thankful for all of His abundant blessings to me!

Holy, you are holy,
Who was and is and is to come.
Holy, you are holy, Saviour, Healer,
I'm standing at the feet of the miracle maker.

I'm holding on, with your life in mine,
Living water's come,
And you've rearranged me.

Holy you are holy,
Who was and is and is to come.
Holy, you are holy,
Saviour, healer,
I'm staring in the face of the miracle maker.

Holy, you are holy,
Who was and is and is to come.
Jesus, precious Jesus,
Thank you, Saviour,
I'm walking in the shoes of my miracle maker.
I'm standing with the faith of a miracle maker.

Written by Delirious? ©2005 Curious? Music UK

 

 

Support Adoption

What an awesome TShirt!  It was designed just for us - so you can't find this adoption TShirt anywhere else!!  For just $20.00 it can be yours!!  Donate using the links on the right side of the page and leave us your name, address, and size in the comments (all comments will be kept private) and we will send one to you!  All proceeds will be used to bring Hannes home.

Realities of a heart defect

We started doing a bit more research on what Hannes's heart defect could mean.  I had a conversation today with the pediatric cardiologist that we intend to bring Hannes to when he gets home.  

To call up a popular pediatric cardiologist's office (he was recommended to us by three different people - two families and an adult cardiologist) on a Friday afternoon and hear that the cardiologist is standing right by the phone AND has no patients waiting for him AND he's willing to talk with you about a child you don't even have complete medical information for.  This felt alot like a MIRACLE. 

 

Like we suspected, it could be a very "easy to fix" problem, 

or

it could be something that is doing harm to his lungs and that may only be 

reversible if we can get to him in the next few months.  

The doctor was very clear to say that if this is the problem it is fatal if not treated soon.

He gave us very good advice for while we are visiting him and for our trip home.  He even gave us his personal email and will be available during our trip to answer any  questions or give us any advice he can. 

Again, we have to rely on the Lord.  The One who has created his heart exactly as it is - fearfully and wonderfully made - and loves him even more than we could ever hope to love him.  

Psalm 139:14
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. 

Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. 

We are definitely falling in love with him - looking at his photo and imagining him in our arms,

preparing a place for him to sleep, clothes for him to wear...

Penguin boots that are beyond adorable!

And imagining his little feet in them!

We will love this little one for as long as God gives him to us.  

Please pray that God would continue to sustain Hannes's life 

and

that God would move the approvals and the dossier and the 

travel dates through quickly so that we can get to him as soon as possible.

Thank you!  More than anything we need your prayers - 

we could not do this without the body of Christ united with us in prayer for 

our family and our new little one.

Milestone!!

We have reached a milestone!  

Our home study is finished!!  

Next step is to apostille our remaining dossier documents in downtown LA.  

 Then we wait for US immigration approval and then we can submit our dossier!

We are praying that immigration approval and submission of our dossier can happen before the end of this month, when Hannes's country stops accepting dossiers.  If we don't make the cut-off, we can't submit the dossier until February 1.  That will make a difference of about 3 months in when we can finalize his adoption.  With his heart defect, we know that 3 months can make a difference in his life...

We ask you to pray along with us, that approval and submission can occur this month.  

We know that God is in control and all will happen as He has planned it.

And yet, He encourages us to bring all of our concerns and requests to Him.

Luke 18:1 

And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.

 

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

¹⁶ Rejoice always, ¹⁷ pray without ceasing, ¹⁸ give thanks in all circumstances; 
for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

 

Wednesday Wisdom

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.” 

 

 1 Timothy 2:1-2 ESV

Praying for those who lead our country, that we may live our lives peacefully and quietly, in all our ways being godly and dignified.

 

Christmas Gift Idea...

Christmas is coming and a restaurant gift card would make a wonderful gift idea AND you would be helping to bring Hannes home!!

Restaurant.com Adoption Fundraiser

Why?

147 million orphans

 

We ask God:  

Why is there an orphan crisis?  

Why would you let so many children live without families?

2 billion Christians

God asks us: 

Why is there an orphan crisis?  

Why would you let so many children live without families?

Orphan Sunday

Today is Orphan Sunday.  In the words of the Christian Alliance for Orphans:

On Orphan Sunday, Christians stand for the orphan. We are a people called to defend the fatherless…to care for the child that has no family…to visit orphans in their distress.

Each event is locally-led. Sermons and small groups, concerts and prayer gatherings, shared meals and youth activities—each rousing believers with God’s call to care for the orphan, and what we can do in response.

From many sources, one voice. On November 4th, 2012, thousands of events echo across America and around the globe, all sharing a single goal: that God’s great love for the orphan will find echo in our lives as well.

Orphan Sunday is your opportunity to rouse church, community and friends to God’s call to care for the orphan.

http://vimeo.com/41789537

I am an orphan no more...

Chip In!!

Chip In for Hannes!!

We have a 'Chip In' button on the right column of our blog. 

If you donate at least $20.00 during the month of November to bringing Hannes home through our Chip In link, I will send you a 2013 calendar magnet featuring a photo of Hannes! (Of course his face will be visible on the magnet - grin!)

After you donate, just leave a comment with your address on this post (comments will not be made public) and I will send your magnet to you!

November is...

Lend some support to an adopting family... ours or check out www.reecesrainbow.org for some families who are taking a leap of faith and bringing a child into their family.  The road can be long and filled with unexpected difficulties and sometimes just plain disheartening.  Even a $5.00 donation can be so encouraging to families.  God can take your $5.00 and multiply it to be enough to bring these kids home.

Give an adopting family a hug, bring them a cup of coffee or a bunch of flowers.  Show you care by babysitting for a family who is adopting to give them a break... give them an outfit for the new child, or a toy.  Send a note with an encouraging word... there are so many ways to celebrate National Adoption month!!  We have all been adopted into God's family, so celebrate Adoption!