Nothing New Here…

To sinful patterns of behavior that never get confronted and changed,
Abilities and gifts that never get cultivated and deployed-
Until weeks become months
And months turn into years,
And one day you’re looking back on a life of
Deep intimate gut-wretchingly honest conversations you never had;
Great bold prayers you never prayed,
Exhilarating risk you never took,
Sacrificial gifts you never offered,
Lives you never touched,
And you’re sitting in a recliner with a shriveled soul,
And forgotten dreams,
And you realize there was a world in desperate need,
And a great God calling you to be part of something bigger than yourself-
You see the person you could have become but did not; You never followed your calling.
You never got out of the boat.

(Gregg Lovey, quoted by John Ortberg, If You Want to Walk on Water, You’ve Got to Get Out of the Boat.)

Oh God, may I always follow you….extravagantly!!!

2010….it’s gonna be an exciting year!

Our dossier has been at the Rwandan Embassy for 4 months tomorrow. I eagerly anticipate each morning reading my email and looking for an approval. We have not heard anything as of yet, but am hopeful that possibly January could be THE month.

Thanks for your prayers. God has been so good to us financially during this process. We have enough funds to cover all of our expenses except for the final $5,000 which will be due when we travel. We are prayerful that God might bless us with that amount with our 2009 tax return.

Ups and downs

I am very blessed to be surrounded by family and friends during this Christmas season.

I feel that as a family we have focused more this year than ever before on the true meaning of Christmas….which makes me happy.

However, amidst it all, my minds wanders a lot to our son across the globe….wondering what he looks like or how he is feeling…..which makes me sad.

Then, I am reminded that God is in control and has had our son picked out for our family before we even knew….this makes me happy.

Then, like last night, I have a dream that we received our approval email. I, like a mad woman, dash to my email when I wake up, only to find nothing…..this makes me sad.

Then, I am told by a friend at church that they feel honored to be able to pray for our little boy and our adoption journey….this makes me happy.

The waiting, though, is killer….now that we are in the realm of possibility of getting an approval. I constantly am doing the math in my head (the last batch of approvals was on Oct. 23rd….usually there is a two month period between groups….which would make the next batch of approvals approximately…..NOW!!!)……which makes me anxious.

I am a mess!

Still Waiting….

We are still in the “wait phase” of our adoption. We have entered Month 3 of our 3-5 month wait for our approval letter. However….good news……several families in front of us have received their approval letters and referrals bringing our dossier packet to the top of the list (I believe). We are hopeful to be in the next batch of approvals. A Christmas approval would be absolutely wonderful, but I am trying not to get my hopes up too much.

Please continue to keep the orphans in Rwanda in your prayers this Christmas season.

Home of Hope

Stole this picture from another blog….this is more than likely the orphanage where our son is staying…..Ahhhh…the wait is torture!

While I’m waiting….I will serve you!

Well, things have really slowed down in our adoption.  We are entering the painful  “we can do nothing more, but wait” stage.  It is truly in God’s hands now.    We are into Week 6 of our 3-5 month wait for approval from the Rwandan Ministry.   And we continue going about our daily lives, all the while thinking about and praying for our son who has no idea that within the next year his life will be turned upside down.

On an up note, we have truly been blessed financially during this process.  Truly, Jason and I entered this adoption knowing that we had really no idea how God would come through for us with the financing.  But, praise God!!!  He has blessed us with two grants.  One from LifeSong for Orphans who graciously gave us a matching grant for $2500.  We wrote a letter to family and friends inviting them to join with us on our journey and we received a total of $5,800 including the matching dollars.  Then, last weekend we received notification that ShowHope, Steven Curtis Chapman’s foundation, was giving us $3000.  We are so very humbled and thankful.  I knew God would not disappoint.

So, for those of you out there, who have not begun the process of adopting because you don’t know how you can pay for it.  Take the step of Faith!!!  Adoption is God’s Heart.  He is faithful.  Remember the story of God’s people crossing the Jordan into the promised land.  They had to actually step into the high waters BEFORE God parted the Jordan so they could cross.  He wanted to see their obedience and faith, then he acted.

So, right now, we wait …and watch several families with America World as they anxiously awaiting their referrals any day now.  I can’t wait to see their pictures as most of them will be from the same orphanage that we will adopt from.

Dossier officially in Rwanda!

After 12 days of Fed Ex tracking, our dossier made it to Rwanda and was signed for by Nyanja, the AWAA representative.  WHEW!!!

Praying the next few months go by quickly.

Dossier is on its way to Rwanda!!!

After our annual Labor Day camping trip to Turkey Run State Park with my entire family, we came home to an email from Terra Bailey at AWAA that said our dossier had been authenticated at the Rwandan Embassy and is on its way to Rwanda.  Whoo-Hoo!!!!

We now join the wait for a 3-6 month approval time from the Ministry in Rwanda.  Then, a 4-8 week wait for the referral of our little boy, then travel shortly after that.

I can hardly contain my excitement!!!!!

Approval Letter CAME!!!!!

 

We finally got our Immigration approval letter in the mail on Friday.  However, as luck would have it, I am not able to go to Indy today to get everything Certified by the Secretary of State.  I must wait until Tuesday.  This is the last step in my paperwork chase.  My part is officially done.  On Tuesday, I will overnight everything to America World, who will in turn send my documents to the Rwandan Embassy in Washington DC to have it authenticated and translated.  Then, they will finally be sent to Rwanda.

It is very easy in this process to get frustrated.  For example, when I realized that I could not go to the Secretary of State today.  I was frustrated.  That is one more day in an orphange for our little boy.  I was frustrated that my family coordinator was on vacation for a week and couldn’t return the USCIS phone call that I needed.  And I am sure that I will frustrated with the long wait that ensues with the Rwandan Ministry.

However, I love The God who exists outside our time frame.  He sees all, knows all, and has already been where I am going.  Thus, I prepare as best I know how for what lies ahead and trust God for the rest.

Still Waiting for I-171H approval

Good News…..

I spoke to our new family coordinator at AWAA today, Terra, who informed me that she had just got off the phone with our USCIS officer.  He was questioning why we wanted our visas in Ethiopia instead of Kenya.  Anyway, Terra got it taken care of and said we should be receiving our approval letter shortly.  (evidently, he had tried calling a week ago, but she was on vacation…..it figures:)  I will be anxiously checking our mailbox each day!!  As if I hadn’t been already

Good News, Part two

LifeSong for Orphans has given us a $2500 matching grant.  Praise God!!!!!  We will be sending out letters to our family and friends this week.  We have been frantically stuffing envelopes and addressing them with our kids.  We have until October 8th to raise the funds!!!  This has been very humbling for us as our pride gets in the way because we have to ask for help.  Our prayer is that God is glorified throughout this process.