Waiting on Him...

The operative word continues to be WAIT...we do have some tentative travel dates for the children but I will not share them until we have a signed passport since it is all hinging on that :)
So....until then, we are pressing on with school and daily life. I did want to share a beautiful picture friends surprised us with last nite'.It is in our kitchen where we can enjoy it all day long! How appropriate that they chose the picture that says, "Love is Patient"...I need to be reminded of that not in simply waiting for a passport but when several children are interuppting a phone call, or all 4 talking over each other to get their needs known, when a child decides he/she would rather be doing anything other than schoolwork~ you get the picture!....opportunities abound to put this into practice. Lord, help me to grow in showing patient love!!

No passports signed today..

I spoke with Donna this evening and she said the decision was made for Patty (AOH executive Director) to escort one of the special needs children home instead of waiting in Liberia hoping for our passports to be signed. The blessing in this is that although it means they are not coming home when we expected, they will be flying into Dulles with another escort which will be so much less stressful in so may different ways! This is God's kindness to us!
So, now the plan is for AOH to have a meeting with the Passport office early next week to figure out exactly what is going on ...hopefully we will have a better idea regarding timing. If all goes well and passports are signed early in the week, it looks like the children will fly home next weekend. We hold it loosely, since all of that could change. Remember how I previously stated that my mantra for the next year would need to be, "Flexibility" ?...well, we're taking a crash course in it right now :)
Thankfully, our hope is in the Lord who is unchanging!
By God's grace, I am rejoicing today that He who promised is faithful....

Madonna Musings

I have seen some of the headlines about Madonna adopting from Africa, and it has been a hot topic on one of the African adoption yahoo groups I belong to. To be honest, I really haven't spent too much time perusing the information...my finger seems to just hit the delete key :)
Another adoptive mom wrote the following in an email yesterday...thought I'd share it here because she is much more articulate than I will ever be.

People have been sending me links lately to various articles devoted
to criticizing international adoption and interracial adoptions,
coming from the debate surrounding Madonna's adoption. Now I am
completely out of the loop on celebrity anything, as I have better
role-models now that I've met Jesus, but some of these articles made
me smile. Especially the one that said African adoption was the new
hip thing to do, and having an adopted child was like having the
latest "hot accessory." If I could profile and stereotype the
families that have adopted from Liberia anyway, the majority of them
have been Christian homeschool families, many with several
biological children of their own. If we were interested in a hot
new accessory, we would have scraped up some money and headed to Wal-
Mart to splurge on some $15.00 pair of shoes. The only bandwagon we
were jumping on was the one God had called us to, which was to obey
His command to care for orphans.

Anybody who has actually adopted a child knows the huge commitment
in time, money, energy, and spiritual muscle it takes to adopt and
parent a child. It's a calling, not a fad, something that comes
from the heart of our adoptive Father God.



Another criticism has been that it is inherently wrong to rob a
child of their native culture. I wonder if the writers of these
articles have actually been to Liberia? When I was there I had
women coming up to me on the streets, begging me to take their
children while I explained that it was not that the adoption process
was not that simple. Like any culture, there are parts of the
culture of Liberia that are beautiful and also parts that are
totally depraved. I for one am glad my girls are missing out on
childhood rape, female genitial mutilation, malnutrition, disease
and early death.


As Christians, I believe we should be respectful of whatever
cultures we encounter, viewing each individual as created in the
image of God. I also believe that Jesus can redeem any culture, and
I pray for and invest in those countries and people groups that God
has put on my heart. I want to see a Liberia where children are
safe, fed, and shown the love of God. But it hasn't happened yet,
and I believe God used adoption to save my girls from some horrific
things. I think God is big enough and creative enough to use many
different avenues of rescuing a person. Therefore no one should
feel false-guilt if God has not led them to adopt, nor should anyone
who was called to adopt feel that their adopted child is somehow
losing out because God did remove that child out of their birth
country.

A Christian worldview does not overemphasize any one culture nor
does it place importance on the amount of melanain in an
individual's skin, their eye shape, their hair texture, nor the
shape of their nose or the size of their lips. Race, culture, socio-
economic status are not how disciples of Jesus categorize people.
God obviously loves diverstiy, and I don't think He has anything but
a big smile for those families that have embraced all kinds of
diversity into their lives. He Himself has the most culturally
diverse, multi-racial family ever, and He adopted all of us, with
all our 'special needs.'

False Labor....

Today I am reminded of my post-term pregnancy and the "false alarm" trip to the hospital only to be told that it wasn't the real thing...then we sheepishly slinked home and waited until the full fledge contractions began...
As you probably guessed, Odesco and Jenkins' passports were not signed today. While disappointed, I am genuinely rejoicing though with the families of the 3 special needs children who will be united with their families very soon!! Also, Jennifer and Jaso (see previous post) will now be able to return home to their waiting family in the States :)

There is still a chance that our passports will be signed tomorrow... either way,our children will not be traveling home on Sunday because after the passports are signed, we still need to wait for visas to be issued. Quite possibly we may avoid the LONG trek to Chicago and be able to receive our children in Dulles since Patty may not be the one escorting them. We will hopefully have more definitive information by the end of the day tomorrow.
Just wanted to keep you all posted.

I must admit, life is a little crazy around here right now...everyone is so anxious to receive Mercy and Odesco. One child was too excited to fall asleep, another (B4) was falling apart because he was going to miss Sunday school, Homeschooler's Day out and he didn't want to sleep in a hotel!! I think his little heart is having a difficult time assimilating all that is going on and he is a bit mixed regarding the changes about to take place so he is expressing it in rather interesting ways:) These extra days give us a bit more time to help prepare their hearts...
Please pray that I will see these situations not as interupptions but as opportunities designed by God to train my heart and the hearts of these children He has entrusted to us~
Hope to have more news tomorrow...until then,I will be "nesting" :)

News!!!!!

We have News!!! Okay, maybe 10 minutes after I posted the entry below, Donna called from AOH....there is the possibility that Odesco's passport will be signed on Thursday, the visas obtained on Friday and then they will leave Monrovia on Sunday with Patty Anglin(AOH Exec Director) and arrive in Chicago by Monday ...if the passport is not signed by early next week then we will need to await another escort as Patty needs to leave Liberia by Wed. ..sooooo, we won't know anything definate until Friday.

I am in shock that this time next week, we may be with Mercy and Odesco...trying to guard my heart since it is not definate but thought you all would want to know.
Please pray for us as we have many logistics to work out.

He Who Promised is Faithful!!!

Continuing to wait on the Lord...

Well,
Still no news...I must admit that some days it seems as if this will never happen...we began this process one year ago and God has been preparing our hearts since then. The kids (especially the youngest 2 who are awaiting the arrival of their bunkmates) also are longing for their brother and sister to be home. I did our clothing switch over the other day and put away several matching spring/summer outfits for Mercy and B3...we were so lavished at our adoption shower ...hoping the girls will still be able to squeeze into the outfits next year :)

Yesterday I learned of an adoptive mom , (adopting through AOH) who has been in Liberia for 4 weeks awaiting her daughter, Jaso's passport....4 weeks without her husband and other children...4 weeks of hopes built and then dashed. If you think of Jennifer, please pray...she went over on the assumption that her daughter's passport would be issued quickly only to learn it was never even in the right pile.It is on the desk of the right people now...just needs to be signed. Jaso has significant medical issues that need to be addressed as soon as possible, so she needs to get home!!
Hearing that news yesterday, makes me so very thankful to be waiting this out here at home; with all the modern conveniences we take so for granted. Electricity, running water... available food,.... even the daily sibling squabbles are a blessing because it means I'm here with them right now and not on another continent in limbo!!
This is all part of His sovereign plan...truly He is preparing our hearts as we wait and wait and wait...it will be a huge transition but I feel as if we are in the pangs of labor right now...soon,soon, we will have 2 more precious children to love...my heart is so very grateful for that. I am praying the Lord will keep my heart in a grateful spot and that through this time of waiting I will "count it all joy" as this "trial" is producing steadfastness in my heart. Our pastor has been preaching a series from the book of James...how fitting and timely it has been for me to put into practice what I know in my head...
Thanks for checking in :)
Counting it all joy ~
Mama B

Another glimpse of Odesco and Mercy

We did receive our I-600 approval and that has been sent on to Monrovia in preparation for the long awaited homecoming of our 2 precious children! The passport for Odesco has still not been issued but, we did receive word that explains the confusion and waiting surrounding the passport dilemma. It seems that there were 2 offices in Liberia sort of having a bit of a power struggle over how this very important document is to be issued. President Ellen stepped in and handed full authority back to the passport office so, things "should" begin to move along again in the next week..we'll see what happens :)

The kindness of God throughout this entire adoption process continues to amaze me...although I should never be surprised as His mercies truly are new every morning- great is His faithfulness! A few weeks ago, a fellow adoptive mom introduced herself on the AOH yahoo group board. She stated that she had just returned from a month long trip to Liberia/AOH with Patty Anglin, the executive director. She also noted that she had the joy of spending time with many of our children in the orphanage. I emailed her and sent a picture of Odesco and Mercy asking if she had recognized them and whether or not she had any tidbits to share with me regarding her interaction with them. To my great joy, she did remember and this is what she had to say :

I remember them well!!! They are sweet little kids. That Odesco always
smiles and tried his hardest to make sure he was in all my pictures! He
loves attention. Mercy seems to be a loving girl. She made cards to my
son's American class with the other girls and drew a cute little picture.
She seems very smart and they both crave attention. I wish I could give
you more details but it is hard because I did not spend alone time with
them. I enjoyed your children very much and their smiles are heart
warming. Congrats

These details were enough to warm my mommy heart and they make the waiting just a bit easier :) I am just thanking the Lord for these tangible reminders that He is taking very good care of them and that they are thriving and doing well...
Rejoicing in His care and goodness,
Mama B

When Love Takes You In

The passports are still in limbo...it is evidently quite a complicated process and all we can do is wait and trust that our God, who knows what is best, will bring this process to an end in His perfect timing...I know I sound like a broken record but it is good for me to declare what I know to be true when I am tempted to waver :)(Tomorrow we will hopefully hear about the I-600 paperwork)

On Friday nite' my hubby and I had the privilege to attend a wonderful surprise party for a friend at church. At the end of the evening, his oldest son played a dvd that he had put together which highlighted how God has touched their lives through the miracle of adoption. (Their 2 youngest children are adopted from Korea and are special friends of our children.)He had video footage of their homecomings at the airport as the escorts were handing them over to their new family. The song "When Love Takes You In" was softly playing in the background. The first time I heard that song was at an adoption shower of another friend almost 2 years ago...it " undid me" back then because at that time, we were still praying about whether or not adoption was indeed the Lord's plan for our family. Hearing that song on Friday night, brought back so many emotions from deep in my gut...There is of course,the intense longing to have Mercy and Odesco home with us but there is also an indescribable gratitude that God has now brought us to a place of actually waiting for our son and daughter to come home...how much He has done in such a short time! How blessed we are to have the privilege and opportunity to bring these precious children into our family and call them our own. It is such a picture of what Christ did for us...while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us...He adopted us into His family so that we would now be called His son and His daughter...not because we are worthy by our own merit to be chosen but because of His great love...
Below are the words to the song...it's better if you can hear it sung by Steven Curtis Chapman but for now the words will have to do :)

I know you’ve heard the stories
But they all sound too good to be true
You’ve heard about a place called home
But there doesn’t seem to be one for you
So one more night you cry yourself to sleep
And drift off to a distant dream

Where love takes you in and everything changes
A miracle starts with the beat of a heart
When love takes you home and says you belong here
The loneliness ends and a new life begins
When love takes you in

And somewhere while you’re sleeping
Someone else is dreaming too
Counting down the days until
They hold you close and say I love you
And like the rain that falls into the sea
In a moment what has been is lost in what will be

When love takes you in everything changes
A miracle starts with the beat of a heart

And this love will never let you go
There is nothing that could ever
cause this love to lose its hold

When love takes you in everything changes
A miracle starts with the beat of a heart
When love takes you home and says you belong here
The loneliness ends and a new life begins
When love takes you in it takes you in for good
When love takes you in

Update on David

No news yet regarding passports or I-600 but did receive happy news that David is out of surgery and in ICU. The surgeon was quite pleased with the outcome, so thanks for praying. Now, the recovery in ICU followed by several days in the cardiac care unit. He will also undergo cardiac rehab for many weeks after discharge.Thankyou, thankyou for praying!!
Will post if we hear any other happy news today !!
Blessings~

Still waiting and a prayer request...

Today, the news is that 10 passports from AOH are to be signed and Odesco and Jenkins are in that batch...also, we are supposed to hear from Immigration today whether or not our final batch of paperwork was approved(The I-600 for all you fellow international adopters). As we have learned on this rollercoaster ride, we will believe it when we see it :) I'm not cynical, just now being a bit more realistic in expectations :)

I do have a prayer request for our nephew, David. He is undergoing open heart surgery today to replace a faulty valve. He is 17 and in the midst of his senior yr of High school...the surgery was planned several months ago and I think everyone is relieved it is finally here. As you can imagine, it is a very serious operation with risks involved but we trust that He who created David's heart will guide the surgeons during the operation. Please pray for sustaining grace for our SIL, BIL, and David's 2 sisters as they wait it out. Please also pray for an uncomplicated recovery as they remove him from the heart/lung bypass machine. Thanks so much for interceding for him!!
Will post later with any news.
Trusting in His faithfulness,
Mama B

New Pictures!!!

What a gift! We received 2 more pictures...sure makes the waiting a bit easier seeing them looking so happy and healthy! Can't wait to hug these 2 little ones:)Can you spot Odesco?...he's the little guy next to the boy in the "Moo-Moo" shirt.