Brief Update

It's hard to post an update today.  A dear friend lost her son on Thursday.  It feels insignificant to talk about passports or visas when a beautiful little boy passed away before he was able to join his family.

Right now there are concerns about cholera at COTP.  Many of the kids are sick.  Some are on-site with IVs.  Some are at the hospital.  And some are still showing no signs of being sick.  We've heard no updates about our little girl since Friday.  Our prayer is that she's OK.

Her I-600 was approved and her file moved to Visa.  We are waiting to hear about her visa appointment.  After that we just need an exit letter from IBESR.  Once that's submitted we'll be on our way to get her.  Not soon enough.

Please pray for the family who lost their son.  Please pray for all the kids who are sick.  Please pray for strength and wisdom for the staff that is on the ground in Haiti.  Please pray that all hands that are involved in the adoption process work diligently to get all of our kids home.

I just want her home.

And so it continues...

Adoption is a rollercoaster.  You start to climb up, hoping, anticipating...only to go back down again.

I received an email from the embassy yesterday.  Someone at that very moment was working on her file.  Then they stopped.

My fingerprints aren't...on...file.

We had our initial fingerprinting done almost 18 months ago.  They expired a year later, so we had them redone.  They have his prints.  They don't have mine.

If you haven't had your fingerprinting done recently, you might not know that there isn't ink or paper involved in the procedure anymore.  It's all computerized.  Digital.  Instantly on file.

They can't find mine.

We have our updated I-171H.  For the non-adoption speakers it's a document from Homeland Security, US Citizenship and Immigration.  It not only confirms our fingerprints were done, it gives us a new 'expiration' date for them.

My heart sank.  My thoughts started going crazy.  I instantly emailed the embassy back with a copy of our I-171H.  They answer emails 'in the order they were received'...

I don't want to wait.  All I've done is wait.  

It's been over 18 months since our paperwork arrived there.

This needs to be done.

I need her home.

The Christmas miracle I've been praying for.  It's not going to happen.  Please God.  Please have her home by her birthday.

Jane...get me off this crazy thing...

What.  A.  Day.

Right now I've got the movie 'So I Married an Axe Murder' in my head.  How's THAT for the start of a blog post?  There's a scene where Mike Myers is doing a little jazz bit.  The line, "Jane...get me off this crazy thing..." is in my head right now.

The past few days have been crazy!

• We got word that the little girl's passport was issued.  Can I get an AMEN?!   
• I found out late last night that she was one of the kids heading to PAP.
• She had her medical exam at the embassy.   Today! 
• Early this morning I get an email that documentation needs to be shipped to PAP ASAP.
• Soon after that was an urgent email - a document needed to be signed, notarized, scanned and emailed immediately.

Whew!

While I'm tired, stressed out, and very anxious...I am so thankful!  This has been a long, taxing process.  When you're talking about the life of a sweet little girl, any amount of stress I'm feeling, any amount of money we're spending, and even the wait...it's all worth it.

We're praying for a Christmas miracle.  While it's highly unlikely, but it IS possible that she could be home before the end of the year.

Meeting last February

8 more weeks

I want to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone who shopped with purpose during the Delicate Fortress Creations fundraiser for Jason's upcoming trip to Haiti.  You helped to raise $527 which will be used to cover some of the costs of the projects he'll be working on.

Thank you!

This past week I traveled for work.  I was in a pretty intense training session, and thankfully pretty distracted.  The length of the adoption has started to wear on me, especially as we approach the holiday season.  In addition her 3rd birthday is just around the corner.

Any adopting parent understands the severe email addiction during the adoption process.  Every ding or buzz causes a reaction to instantly check email.  We were in the middle of some pretty intense conversation when the buzz happened.  Instinctively I grabbed my phone to see who had emailed.  99% of the time it's one of my sisters or SPAM.  But this time was the 1% - it was from our agency.  The title was benign:  Archive process.  My heart skipped a beat.  We've been waiting for a document to come out of Archives so we can proceed in MOI, then eventually to passport.

My heart stopped and everything went fuzzy when I started to read:  I hope you're doing OK today, because I have some news that's not pleasant to pass on...

It's hard to describe the emotions that went through my body as I continued reading.  I stopped hearing all outside conversations.  I started biting my lip because I was about to start sobbing.

One.  More.  Setback.  Why?

I quickly set my phone down, knowing there was nothing I could do with the news.  I needed to focus on the training and try to get my mind to stop thinking about what I just read.  Every moment my thoughts turned to her I had to do everything in my power to keep from sobbing.  The stress started racing towards my back.  My sorrow had to be expressed somehow.

The short explanation is that the office has 'lost or misplaced the book' in Archives.  We're at a complete stop right now and will have to start this step completely over when they find or replace the book.  I don't understand what it means, only that I was told this is another delay of at least 8 more weeks before we even get to the passport stage.

Delays.  Everywhere we turn.  Delays.

We have emotions and opinions about what's going on, but none of it will change a thing.  We are at the mercy of the process.  And so we wait.

We got a tiny piece of hope that there might be a 'break' in what's happening.  Again, I have no idea what it means.  I'm trying to keep life moving forward, expecting there will not be any positive news on Monday.

But come Monday I know I'll be captive to the buzz of my phone.

Shop with purpose!

As you know, Jason will be returning to Haiti to work with Second Mile again.  We are so blessed to be connected to a wonderful woman and friend at Delicate Fortress Creations.  Starting today through October 30th, she will donate 30% of all sales towards Jason's projects.

All you need to do is click here:  Delicate Fortress and start shopping with purpose x2!  Make sure to type SECONDMILE at checkout so your purchase is credited to his fundraiser.

An Update

Have you found that the number of postings I have is directly related to the amount of updates we have? Well, that's the case.  Since this blog has been quiet for a while I'll give you a little update.

We have been sitting in MOI for quite some time now.  By 'typical' timelines, meaning what others have experienced, we should have been out a long time ago.  So I asked.  And I wish I hadn't.  Sometimes living with the unknown is easier than the known.

We were told that two COTP families got out of MOI, but unfortunately it wasn't us.  They were expecting us to be out...but there's a problem.  We don't know the specifics, only that they have to go back to Archives for something.  Weeks.  She said weeks.

You'd think after all this time I'd be pretty numb to a delay and a word like 'weeks'.  I'm not.  It hit me really hard.  The hope that I had that she'd be home by Christmas left.  That last glimmer of hope - that itty bit that I was pretending I didn't have - gone.  Completely.

We have accepted that she will not be home this year.  God might have a miracle up His sleeve, but I can't let myself think that way.  The disappointment is too hard to deal with.

Once again, I'm going about life.  I'm scheduling work trips, planning events with the youth from church, and living every day not expecting any news.

I'm sad.  I'm tired.  And I'm on the verge of tears a lot.  But with the acceptance comes a bit of peace.

I'm not sure any of that makes sense.  It does in my head.

In fun news - Jason is going back.  He worked his week in Haiti and had a wonderful time.  He wasn't home more than 30 minutes when I told him - they want you back.  He has every reason to say no.  We're paying for an adoption.  Every appliance in the house is breaking down.  Even my car is having issues.  But he said yes.  Again.

You can guess what happened next.  Yup.  God worked out all the details and the money came.  The money to cover the entire cost of his travel - there it was.

Stay tuned for an awesome fundraiser we're having starting October 24th.  It will last one week, and all money raised will go directly to Second Mile to fund the projects Jason will be working on.  It's with a beautiful company run by an amazing woman.  You can start your Christmas shopping early.  And everything you buy will make you feel good about how you spent your money.

More details...soon.

For now, I leave you with this.  Powerful.

“…and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile.”

Matthew 5:41

Say yes

She asked if he would come down to help them.  I knew what his answer would be, but I told her I’d ask.

He had every reason to say no.  I could hear him now.

We don’t have the money.

Who will watch the kids?

It costs too much.

I don’t have the time.

The expenses are beyond our budget.

School is starting.

There’s this thing about money…

We sat down to dinner.  It was the first chance I had to ask him.  I was ready to sell the experience to him.  I wanted to encourage, and push and deflect all of the reasons he wouldn’t go.

Very casually, I asked.

Very casually, he answered.  “Sure.  I’ll go.”

I couldn’t believe it.  What?  How?  Really?

He’s not a very excitable person, but he seemed really…excited.  We talked about dates and flights and logistics.  Without much effort, we got it all figured out.  Dates were planned.  Tickets were purchased.  Lists were being created.

It’s funny how it works that way.  When God asks us to do something.  Sometimes it’s as simple as a question, “Will you help?”  He didn’t send a postcard, or call and ask.  It wasn’t obvious or burning.  And when we choose to say YES, He worked out all the details.

A simple question.

An easy answer.

What is God asking...of you?  Take a leap of faith and say yes.  You'll be amazed.