lost check

Just real quick, I have to get Gracie to soccer practice. We are still not DTR. Our dossier is stamped, sealed, certified, and ready to go...and still at the embassy in DC. They lost our check and won't release the paperwork to our agency for shipping to Rwanda until they get another one. I love N at AWAA, she has spent so much time over there being our voice and our hands and feet as she works to get our dossier out of the USA and in it's way! Tomorrow, again, we hope to get our fed ex tracking number. God is Great, He is doing something here, and we might never know this side of Heaven what that is, but I have faith and a suprising level of peace. Please keep the prayers coming! I feel them :)

Tomorrow....again...

Little news to report. Our agency went to the embassy this morning to be told our dossier was not ready yet, but to come back after 2pm and it should be done. I checked my email about 4pm to find a message that it could not be picked up today because they are so overwhelmed at the embassy with people and dossiers coming in, they haven't finished the one's they've had already. I am trying not to be frustrated. Ours has been there since August 4th. I know God has a plan and His timing is perfect, but it is frustrating. My human spirit is crying out in selfishness, "DO MINE FIRST!" but I must wait on the Lord. Please pray for my attitude and that TOMORROW will be the day!

"Be strong and courageous, do not be terrified, do not be discouraged, for the Lord you God will be with you, where ever you go. Have I not commanded you?"

I will trust in the Lord...

Well, so far so good. I am trying to remain positive and maintain an unflinching faith the god is in complete control, but there are moments of weakness and worry. I have never had to fully rely on God the way I am right now. It is very humbling and I am not so good at it :)

I was on cloud nine yesterday, as I spoke to our agency and was told that our dossier should be in the air this morning. I checked my email several times, expecting to see an email that had a fed ex tracking number for us to follow. E had said she expected a package sent Friday to make it by Monday, that gave us a day to spare!

Well, I have again had to give up complete control to God. Another call today stated that the dossier was one signature short as of this morning. This is third hand info, so forgive me for any inaccuracy, but I understod the message to say that a woman whose job it is to give the final signature, was out of the office today. Evidently signing dossiers is not her only, or main responsibility and she was not be back until Monday.

My heart sank at the news. i had expected to spend the weekend tracking our dossier across the ocean on it's way to Rwanda and recieve a confirmation of DTR on Monday. However, we still have hope. I had read on a yahoo group posting last night, and E confirmed, that the Ministry has agreed to accept all dossiers that the emabssy currantly has in its possession. Our's included! So, even if it does not make it by the 31st, since it has been in the embassy all this time, it should still be accepted and logged in.

PLEASE DON"T STOP PRAYING!!!!!

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in ALL your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your path.

I acknowledge His complete control.

Another call!

This one had some promising news. Rwanda will definately be closed to new referrals as of August 31st, next Tuesday. At this point they will only be processing dossiers they already have logged in and will be re-opening only after they complete the Hague certification process.
Our good news is that we serve an Awesome God! Our dossier was logged in the Rwanda embassy in DC August 4. We were told it would take about 4 weeks to get processed (Sept 4) and then be sent to Rwanda. Our agency sent a sweet lady over to the embassy today to expedite the dossiers that where close to being finished, ours made it that far! I talked to her about 4:00, she had been on the phone with the embassy at 3:30 and they had been signing our as she spoke to them!!
She will go back in the morning, pick it up, and take it immidiately to Fed Ex to sent priority to Rwanda. She said that from past experience, papers sent Friday usually got there by Monday. Our deadline is Tuesday!
Please continue to pray! We are so close! Never before have a gotten to see God's hand at work so clearly! Of course, at any time He could close the door, if He so chooses, but please pray that it makes it in time!
I was listening to the radio on my way to work this morning and heard this, right at the time I needed it...
"Every blessing you pour out I'll turn back to praise, when the darkness closes in Lord, still I will say, Blessed be the name of the Lord!"

I got a call...

Today has been an emotional roller coaster. As the last bell rang, I heard my cell phone ring. I could not answer it, so I let it go to voice mail, thinking it was Matt or something and I could call him back after dismissal. Once the kids were out the door, I checked my voicemail without looking at the number, hearing "This is E from AWAA, we're going to expedite your dossier, there have been some changes, call me back." My heart did a back flip! The agency called US in the middle of the day? EXPEDITE the dossier? What does that mean??

I called her back and of course, got her voice mail, don't you love phone tag? I left her a message to say I got her message and could be reached on my cell phone. I had a meeting after school, and just as I sat down, my phone rang! I ran out of the room thinking, ok, maybe there are all these children waiting for homes and they need families ASAP, so they are rushing dossiers over to match with them!

The sweet voice on the other end was so up beat and pleasant. She told me then that Rwanda is in the process of becoming Hague compliant. That means they want to set up their adoption system so that it follows all the international adoption guidelines.

This is great for the kids. It helps to prevent things like child trafficking and mandates that adoptive parents go through training and such. For us, it's nothing new, as our agency follows all the Hague rules already and we already had to do all that. but there are lots of people who adopt from Rwanda independently, without an agency's help. This lowers some costs, but is definately not for the faint of heart!

Anyway, while they are going through this certification process, they are going to stop accepting any new dossiers. E made it sound as though they are going to continue to process the dossiers they already have. Here is where we stand...on the EDGE. Our dossier has spent the last 3 weeks in DC being authenticated by the Rwanda embassy. This can take as long as 4 weeks. It may or may not be completely done at this point.

Our wonderful agency is sending someone tomorrow to go check on it. If it is not done, it will be expedited (still not sure what all that means.) Then she will send it via Fed Ex to Rwanda. They MIGHT accept it and add it to the pile.

PRAY!!! That tomorrow, when it is checked, it will be found complete! Then, that it will travel safely to Rwanda. That it will arrive in Rwanda to welcoming hands who will log it in and add it to the pile to be processed BEFORE they stop accepting any new dossiers.

I feel almost selfish. I have gotten to know some very wonderful families who are just behind us in the process, who will now have to wait until Rwanda re-opens, or make some hard decisions on what to do next. We might very well be among them. Only God knows the next step for any of us. HE is in complete control. HE knows the desire of our hearts and HE will do the work for our good and HIS glory. Praise be to MY GOD! My rock and my redeemer!

I SO stole this!!

TOP THIRTEEN WAYS THAT PREPARING A DOSSIER IS LIKE BEING IN COLLEGE


1. The eternal, nagging feeling that there is some homework you should be doing right now
2. The first look at the syllabus causes a panic attack
3. The printer or computer will fail to cooperate when there is a deadline
4. Sometimes the stress just calls for a beer
5. One night, around 2am, you begin to question the meaning of it all
6. The constant feeling that some huge anonymous entity is determining the course of your life
7. You're constantly being asked questions you don't know the answer to
8. You keep wondering why this is so dang expensive
9. You pull several all-nighters working on papers
10. You begin to question if you really are Dossier Material
11. You work really hard on a paper just to be told you have to rewrite it
12. The final exam determines if you pass or fail
13. After you complete the course, time stands still as you await the results in the mail

School's out.

Born again!

My sweet Gracie was baptized this morning at our wonderful church, Ninth and O Baptist, by our awesome Senior Pastor, Bill Cook. I know the church name is a bit weird, but many moons ago it was built on the corner of 9th street and O street, way back when streets just had letters and numbers in Louisville Ky, to give you an idea of just how old the church is!

Anyways, she was so excited, in her white dress with gold cross ear rings I had given her this morning. We had a total of 5 baptisms this morning, including two of Gracie's best friends. Our minister made the point that this is more than many churches will baptize in a year! We are so blessed!

Gracie was saved during Bible school this summer, and made it very clear that she understood that she was already a Christian, on her way to heaven, and that the baptism was just a symbol, but it was still a very special moment for us. Since before she was born my prayer has been that she would accept Christ at an early age and grow in Him. I was so blessed to see this prayer answered and we continue to pray the same for our little Isaac.

Our church has an outreach program called Roselyn's Hope, you can check out if you google the church's website. It's an orphan care ministry. We consider adoption to be part of the Great Commission, to go into all the world and preach the gospel. Evangelism begins in the home, with our children, what better way to bring a child to Christ, than to first adopt them into your family?

We love you Gracie and I thank the Lord for the ultimate gift of your salvation. I pray that your siblings, BOTH of them, follow in your example!

Still waiting...

As of today, I say goodbye to summer break. Tomorrow I start back to my life as a 4th grade teacher, my little boy starts preschool, and next week, my big girl starts 1st grade. I have spent the last couple of days running. Gracie to cheer camp in the morning (just for fun) she had to have an eye exam for school and they both had dentist appointments. Then today I got their immunization records and took Gracie's school records to her new school. Isaac's preschool open house is tonight.

Life stays so busy, and I pray the busy schedule will make the waiting easier. We still are not DTR, our dossier is at the Rwandan embassy in DC getting translated I guess. is that what they do there? I know it gets translated at some point, cause we paid a pretty penny for a translation fee! It should be there another week before being sent to Rwanda via FedEx, then we'll get an email saying we are DTR- Dossier to Rwanda. Then the REAL waiting begins.

I continue to pray for my miracle. a sudden rush of approvals and referrals, moving the long line quickly ahead. I spoke to a friend last week who waited over 2 years for her daughter from China, and a couple just joined our Sunday school class who are getting a referral this month from China, after having waited 5 YEARS!! The sweet woman said she wept when she got the news of the referral, and the Lord told her, why are you so suprised? Isn't this what you have been praying for?

HIS timing is perfect! Maybe my sweet little one has yet to be born, or even conceived. My prayer is that he (or she) is loved, is spared any suffering, and God will give us peace until we have him (or her) in our arms.

Waiting

Yesterday I sat under a very wise, godly woman in my church during a woman's Bible study class. We have been "reading" Fearless by Max Lucado this summer. I put in quotes because I have not been faithful to actually read the book much. It's just nice to get together with other women on Wednesday night and be taught from the Word and lead in discussion by Rose. She is such a blessing, a strong prayer worrier and gifted teacher.

Anyway, our discussion last night was doubt, very appropriate for me right now. Rose told that she had listened to two different sermons this week, from two different pastors, who spoke of the waiting of Simion and Anna, you know, in Luke, the elderly man and woman to whom God had promised to see the messiah before they died.
Rose reminded us that these dear, faithful people had waited, not days, or weeks, or months, even years, but DECADES to have this promise fullfilled.

What if, the day before Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the temple, Simion and Anna had said to themselves, we're tired of waiting, God has not answered our prayers, we give up, we're not going to the temple tomorrow?
They would have missed God's promise fullfilled! In His perfect timing!

Rose also talked about praying for a miracle and praying specifically. She said the miracle might not be directed at you personally, but just to be able to see God's hand in action in a way that can only be described as miraculous.
So, here is my specific miracle that I am going to pray for: that God would move dossiers in Rwanda TODAY! Maybe his answer to this prayer will be no, or maybe He will answer wait some more, wait months, wait years, but each day, I will pray that it will be today, and in His perfect timing, He will answer, on the today that He has already chosen.

Dossier to AWAA!

This morning I got up and headed to the computer to check email and track the status of our dossier. The estimated delivery date had been the 3rd, so how surprised was I to see that it had been delivered at 8:43am! I quickly sent our family coordinator an email to let her know the tracking said it was there.

About 10:45 am I checked email again to find a message saying that yes, it was received, and that she had already looked over it and quote "it looks great!" This was such a relief. Not only to have it arrive safely and intact, but that, at least at a first run through, it was complete and correct! I had carried a fear that I had done some paper incorrectly or had messed it up somewhere, but the Lord's providential hand was on this labor of love. He has guided us every step so far and He will continue to lead.

All we can do now is bathe our process in prayer, as we bathe our child in prayer. It's hard to pray, Lord, please let my baby have enough to eat today. Lord, please send someone special to love on my baby for me, until I can get there to do it myself. Lord, protect my baby from harm, from fear, from hurts that I can't even think about right now. Let my baby feel your arms of love until my little one can feel my arms of love.