Chrimas Photos

Yes, I broke down and had Christmas photos taken of the kids. I think the poor girl at the portrait studio was about to just hand me the camera and be done with it, when I came in with my props and ideas of what I wanted done. I am sure she had done the same basic poses for families over and over for days on end and in I walk with all my special requests. She did a great job though, and I have a wonderful reminder of my still incomplete family that God is continuing to grow in my heart. Merry Christmas! and look me up on facebook to see the whole album. Next year we WILL have all three!!! (PLEASE GOD!!!)

The good, the bad, and the beautiful!

Hey guys! Long time no blog post. I know, I'm really bad at this. Just throwing a quick update out there to those of you praying with us that our baby would be home for Christmas. Well, God has seen fit to have us wait a while longer. We don't know why, but I have been very comforted by the many stories I have read/heard from other adoptive mamas who talk about how perfect God's timing ultimately was. He knows the child He has for our family, and obviously, that child is not ready to be ours' just yet.

The great news, is that our "deadline" of December 10 has been extended, so even though we probably won't have a referral by then, our case will NOT be closed!! Praise God! We have learned that our file is still at the Ministry's office. Evidently, there are several cases at the orphanage right now being processed by the Sisters, and they won't accept any more new files until they finish the one's they currently have. Which makes perfect sense, considering they are working on these files while caring for all of our waiting children at the same time. Someone had told me, the Sisters spend an entire day in prayer over a file before matching a family with a waiting child. God's hand in action!

So, ultimately, we will more than likely still be a family of four for the rest of 2011. My prayer has become one of gratitude, that our case and the rest of those waiting cases will not be closed. Now it's just a matter of waiting. Could be 6 weeks, could be 6 months. The beauty of it all is knowing that He is in control, and the day will come when we see our baby's face. Please pray for us as we go through this season of joy, awaiting the arrive of our precious gift to come.

Can't do it.

No, there is nothing new on the adoption front, sorry to disappoint you from the start! We continue to patiently wait for our referral and our Power of Attorney in Rwanda continues to tell us we will eventually be matched. We continue to pray daily for our kiddo and pray specifically that we would be matched with a special needs child, as this has been laid heavily on our hearts.

As I look at the blog, it occurs to me that the picture of our family at the top is now over a year old. This is the longest I have ever gone before getting a new family picture professionally done. We always do it at least once a year, and the kids at least 2 or 3 times a year. This year I just can't do it. I can't fix us all up and go update our family portrait, because we're not complete anymore.I can't have a new family portrait that doesn't include the whole family. Who gets their kids' pictures made and leaves one of the kids out of it?

I know this does not make the grandmothers happy, but they can always come and see the real thing :) This is the photograph that we sent to the Minitry in Rwanda in our dossier. This is the family that so excitedly put those papers in a big (heavy and expensive) fed-ex box to be sent to Rwanda. This is the family photo that continues to grace the family room wall. I can't get a new one until we have all three kids in it. Yes, Gracie and isaac have aged 1 year (her hair is now much shorter with bangs, and Isaac had a now over-grown mohawk. and they are each about 4 inches taller). Ok now you have a mental picture, it will have to do for now :)

Approval!!

Who could ask for a better 10th wedding anniversary gift! I guess it saves us both the trouble of buying anything :) We received an email today from our agency, stating that they had "direct contact" with the Ministry this morning that they have been trying to send us our approval since June 10...wow!!! we have been approved for a month and a half and didn't even know it! God is so sooo good! We are so excited to know our file is already at the orphanage being looked at by the Sisters and will be matched with a child!

The only cloud in my day is the thought of the 6 month regret letter. We have until December 10 to be matched with a child before our file is closed. But as I shared with my sweet friend Amy, who came over this afternoon to give me hand-me-downs and a hug (both greatly needed and appreciated!) I don't believe God would lead us this far, opening so many doors, and providing in so many ways, to have it all come to a crashing hult. He has a child in Rwanda waiting for us and my prayer, please pray with me, is that RIGHT NOW, He is preparing that child to come home to our family.

So, before Christmas people!!

Oh, and on a different note, our travel expenses will be about $4,000-$4,500. Please also pray for financial blessing!

Thanks for your prayers and encouragement.

10 years

Tomorrow, my wonderful husband and I will celebrate our 10 yr wedding anniversary. This year will be much different than last year. One year ago, on July 28, 2010, we spent the day at Staples, making 4 complete copies of dossier for Rwanda, not realizing at the start that it would be an all afternoon job! We got take-out from our favorite sushi place for dinner and then I ran to fed-ex to send all that precious paper work on it's way across the world!

Ten years ago on July 28, 2001, it rained on our wedding day. Actually flooding the parking lot of the hotel! But it was one of the best days of my life by far :)

Seven years ago on July 28, 2004, we had a brand new baby at home and my mom came to sit with her for a couple of hours so we could go out to dinner and then to Lowes. I'll never forget the feeling when I realized I had waited too long to get back for her feeding and heard a baby cry in the store! (you mom's know what I mean!)

This year we will celebrate 10 years with dinner at PF Changs, which I have heard great things about, but have never been too (got a coupon from Groupon!)Then we will return to an EMPTY house! My mom has Gracie for the week and Isaac is going to his first sleep-over at a friend's house. We may very well be making a midnight run to Jeffersontown to pick him up :)

We will also celebrate the fact that we received news yesterday that the Ministry has been looking at our file!!! They just contacted us with a couple of clarification questions, but the fact that our social worker in Rwanda has had her hands on our file and read it is wonderful news!! We are praying that the next step, our approval, will come soon, and shortly thereafter, the referral of our precious kiddo!

Thank you Lord for 10 wonderful years with the man of my dreams. For blessing our family and proving for us day by day.

Be still my aching heart.

Not much new to report. I can't remember if I posted a blog about this or not, but the big news this past month or so has been the Ministry's decision to issue what they are calling "regret" letters. Basically stating that once you receive an approval, they will give your case 6 months, and if, at that time, you have not been matched with a child, your file will be closed. That's it, for right now. As we have found in the past year, anything could change.

We got, or I should say I got, really excited/anxious the last couple of weeks as I saw families with numbers all around us, both in front of and behind us, receive approvals. I was, and still am, thinking, we could get ours ANY DAY. I check the email 1st thing in the morning and last thing at night (not that I could expect any news after about 1pm Eastern Time due to the time difference, but why not!)

I had gotten kinda freaked out about the whole thing, to be honest, until a sweet friend of mine said to me, "I'm going to pray that you do not receive an approval until your child is ready to come home."
I don't know why it was hard for me to pray that. All along I have prayed, "Thy will be done." Like if I would pray for something like that, it would be second guessing God's will, you know? I know I am over-thinking everything, but I don't think anyone but another expectant-adoptive parent can really understand the aching in my heart. Is this REALLY going to happen? Have we truly heard God right about this? We are SO ready to welcome our Rwandan kiddo into our arms and home, what if. ultimately, this is not God's plan, but a path He has lead us on with some other final goal that we can't possibly see?

Does this all sound crazy?

What I know: My God loves me. He has called my family and I to adopt. He opened doors and moved mountains to lead us to Rwanda last year. He is teaching me a huge lesson in trust and patience right now. I will not doubt His plan. I will continue to walk this path without complaint and I will glory in whatever outcome He has for us.

Oh, and I got a big stack of papers in the mail yesterday...home study update time! Woot! We are including our change to special needs. DON'T STOP PRAYING!!!

Stages of a Lady bug

Now keep in mind, my husband is an entomologist, so anything to do with bugs is a huge hit around our house! My kids have no fear of anything except spiders, and they get that fear from me! This evening, as we were hanging out in the back yard, the kids started bring us bugs they had caught. Matt got to looking at them and said they were lady bug larva! I had never seen lady bug larva, you? So we looked where they were playing, near the asparagus patch, and discovered that the asparagus plants were COVERED in lady bugs of all stages, larva, pupa (cacoons, like a butterfly) and adults!

We grabbed a camera and took some pictures and I went in to finish dinner. Gracie runs in and out several times grabbing paper and pencils and tape and finally begins to drag the little folding table and chairs out to the front yard. I asked her what she was doing. She said she was setting up a fundraiser for our adoption. She was going to charge people $1 to come see our lady bug stages! She made signs and taped them to the front of the house and the front of the little table, which she set up in the yard by the sidewalk. Then she and Isaac got a shoebox for their donations.

They sat there all evening, even eating their dinner at the table. Bless their hearts, they made $1 from the sweet girl across the street. They so want to help bring their little sibling home! Every time a car would drive by they got excited. Now mom is going to help. I posted the pics on face book "Sarah Hemphill Vanderpool" and I am going to try to figure out how to get them on here. Now be honest! If you look at them, you owe the kids $1 for their fundraiser! Maybe I can get someone to show me how to do a paypal on this blog...anybody??? Otherwise, shoot me a face book message and I'll get back to you!

Encouragement

I have heard several families who are currently waiting to adopt from Rwanda say it, but it's true. This week has been hard. The waiting has been hard. Lots of families have been waiting now for over a year. Our dossier has been in Rwanda for 9 1/2 months. We began the process in March of 2010. The waiting seems to be harder now that we are on summer break and I have more time to dwell on it.

People often post verses and messages from scripture that God has laid on their hearts. These are often verses about our calling to help the orphan and the widow and verses about waiting and patience. Patience is tough, you are always told not to pray for patience, 'cause God just might decide to teach you how to be patient.
In our Adult Couple's Bible study class Sunday morning, our amazing teacher read from Colossians chapter 1. He started with verse 9, where Paul tells the church in Collosi, "So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you." Wow. We have not stopped praying for our child since the day we began this process. There are so many of you out there who are joining us and other families in this prayer. Since we first heard of the needs of the orphans of the world, we have not stopped praying. Since we first decided to adopt from Rwanda, we have not stopped praying.

A little further down in verse 11, Paul writes this, "We also pray that you will be strengthened with all His glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need." Again, WOW! ALL HIS glorious power! That's ALOT of power! and We are given this strength to do what? "Have all the endurance and patience you need." I need a lot,let me tell you! Isn't it amazing that He already knows what we need? Endurance and Patience. That's what He gives us, with all of His glorious power.

No, have not yet received our approval, or our referral. Yes, I have become discouraged at times, especially this week as we wait for news. But God has promised to give me endurance and patience.

I will end with verse 12, "May you be filled with joy, always thanking the Father."

"....where you do not wish to go..."

During the Orphan Summit last week (has it really been a whole week ago?) the message that Russell Moore preached Thursday morning really spoke to my heart. He talked about Jesus speaking to Peter shortly after the resurrection. The story was familiar, Jesus asked Peter three times if he loved Christ, and Peter kept saying that, yes, Lord, I love you. We hear that part all the time, and Jesus tells Peter to go out and feed His sheep. We accept that part as Peter being instructed to spread the gospel and minister to the "sheep."

The part of the story that I had never focused on before, was when Jesus tells Peter that now, he can dress himself and go wherever he wants, but there will come a time when others will dress him and take him where he does not wish to go. This is a foretelling of Peter's death by crusfixtion. This was the exact death that Peter had feared the most and this fear was what had prompted him to deny Christ three times previously. Where he did not wish to go. Dr. Moore told us that our calling is sometimes to a place we do not wish to go.

When we began this adoption journey, we had seen lots of beautiful babies and young children dressed in cute outfits, fitting in perfectly with their new American families. It's easy to assume that God could call a family to something like this. But He could also call us to something not so cute. Maybe a child who has a special need. There are so many children out there who need a family, who do not fit so seemlessly and smoothly into the picture. Are they any less deserving of our love?
At this point, after praying about an older child (we are still praying about age) we have also begun praying about a child with special needs. Now, at this point in the process we are limited to conditions we were previously approved for in our home study. I believe it was worded something like "minor, correctable medical conditions." In order to accept a major medical need, we would have to make changes to our home study and re-do some other paper work, and at this point we don't know what that would do to our wait time. We have settled on a condition that we heard, several of the children in our orphanage have, that is club feet.

We have done some research and in many cases, club feet can be corrected either with casting or minor surgery. However, these are still not considered "healthy" children, and up until now, the Ministry has only approved the adoptions of healthy children. This is not to say that it Couldn't happen, just that it Hasn't happened. If this is truly the path that God has led us to, it will happen. If the Ministry tells us no, then, well, I don't know.

Right now we are still waiting on that approval. We may or may not ultimately receive our request for a child with club feet. God knows the child He ordained to be a Vanderpool since before time began. I can't wait to meet him or her myself! We love you little one. We love you exactly the way God made you and we are so anxious to have you home!

God is good-All the time!

All the time- God is good! I have to begin with a huge thank you to Jacob and Susan Allee. I received a message on facebook from Jacob Tuesday evening stating that he had won two tickets to the Summit for Orphan Care here in Louisville Thursday and Friday. He and Susan have just brought home two precious jewels from Ethiopia and couldn't attend, did we want them?! This was so awesome because we had wanted to go, but at this point we are pinching every penny and the tickets were rather pricey. So, I got two personal days and Matt took a couple of vacation days, and off to learn more about how our family is about to change we went.

To say it has been awesome is an understatement. Day #1 we enjoyed wonderful testimony from an adoptive mom with 14 kids, two with HIV and one with Down Syndrome. Amazing family! Then we attended a wonderful session on how to keep our marriage strong throughout this process...invaluable info (who's volunteering to keep the kids for our monthly date night? ) We have learned about attachment and trauma and how to help our bio and adoptive children cope. We have learned how to help our family become multiracial and the impact this will have on our children.
We have decided that this will NOT be our only adoption, but the FIRST...where to next???

After all of this info....we got to meet with some of the wonderful staff from our agency and several other adoptive families for dinner tonight. Then it was off to a concert by Sarah Groves...AMAZING! During the concert she and her husband shared their testimony and that they are currently paper-chasing to adopt from Rwanda when they re-open! How cool is that! To top it all off we got to meet her in person and I got to hug this fellow Rwanda Mama-to-be :)

It has been an amazing couple of days and I am so very thankful for all of the opportunities God has provided for us. I am re-energized for the remainder of our wait and have gained a renewed excitement to see what the Lord has in store for our family, both in the near and far-off future.
God is good-All the time!

Looking forward to Junk Mail!

I keep checking my spam folder in my email. I don't know why, I mean, seriously, it's got to be months yet before we hear anything, maybe closer to a year, but I keep checking it anyway, hoping, just maybe....our file will slip a little closer to the top of a pile on someone's desk.

Great news this week as 9 families travel to pick up a total of 11 more children! That's 22 just in the last couple of months, from our agency alone, not counting all the other agencies and independent families that I don't know of! Just think of those orphanage doors opening week after week and more and more children placed into the loving arms of their waiting parents! Gives me chills!

Please be in prayer for a couple of these families who know their children are currently ill. It's hard enough when we have our sick babies in our arms and under state-of-the-art medical care. Imagine knowing the child you can't touch is sick and under what circumstances? They are in the hands of the Great Physician and He is in control.

So I will go check my junk mail again...and pray that someone on the other side of the world kissed my baby good-night for me.

what to do....

I know, I know, I am a very bad blogger. I love to read everyone else's blogs but after a long day of work, "writing" is not high on my list of priorities :) But, for our kind friends and family who ask us how the adoption is going, it's going! Not for us specifically at this point, but for many others.

One group of 6 families and their total of 11 children got home last Friday, PRAISE GOD!! There is another group of 8 families leaving May 1 to travel and get their children. More approvals have come through as well. I have seen numbers like 77 and even 91 mentioned on yahoo groups. These are approvals, stating a family has permission to adopt from Rwanda, and the referral, which is info on your actual child, typically comes 2-3 months later. Typically being in operative word :)

One little cog that has been thrown into the works has Matt and I requesting prayer and wisdom. It seems that with all the referrals going out lately, the number of adoptable young children below age 3 has been drastically reduced in the particular orphanage we are working with. The way I understand it, this is the only orphanage in Rwanda that children can be adopted from. This is NOT stating that there is a shortage of orphans in other orphanages, but for whatever reason, only this orphanage allows the children to be adopted internationally. It is AWESOME that so many families have been waiting and these young children and babies now have loving families!
However, few families request children over age 3 and there is a need for families for these children. Could we be a family for a 4 yr old? 4 is the oldest we would consider going, simply because of the ages of our other children, 6 and 4, and we are not sure about having 2 four yr olds. I have read of other families creating these "adoptive twins" and if anyone with such an experience could contact me with advice I would greatly appreciate it.

Maybe God has a beautiful 4 yr old waiting for us in Rwanda. Maybe we are to wait for a younger child. With the millions of orphaned children out there, I assume beds in the orphanage will not remain empty long. We want to do what God wills for our family and at the time we began this process, we felt lead toward a toddler, assuming we would be referred a 2 or 3 yr old. Please pray for wisdom and guidance, and also for patience. It's easy to lose patience with the process and think that we could move ahead faster by increasing our age range, but that very well may NOT be what the Lord has in store for us.

What we know for CERTAIN: we have three beautiful children, a sweet, smart 6 yr old, a cuddly, active 4 yr old, and a lovable little one waiting in Rwanda, be they 4 months or 4 yrs old, only God can lead us.

Two more!

Hi all! There were two more referrals this week, both on Friday. In other good news our government decided not to shut down, Praise God! This would have stranded 6 families in Ethiopia, there from Rwanda to get passports and visa for their children to be able to enter the US. If the US government were to shut down, the Embassy would close and this paper work would be unattainable until it re-opened, forcing the families to stay in country with their children. But, the Lord, He is good! They posted today saying everything was on track and it had been a good day of bonding with their kids.

As for us. We are #126. This number will be etched into my memory forever. #71 got approval this week. 55 to go! At the rate things have been moving, it has taken about 3 months to get a referral, once a family is approved. The approval just means the Rwandan government says you are fit to have a child, the referral actually comes from the nuns who run the orphanage. Several families have posted on blogs that it is amazing to see how much the Sisters love our children.

On another amazing note, a family who just got back to the States with their baby girl got an awesomely clean bill of health and she is developmentally right on track! Great news, especially for a child spending months or yrs in an orphanage. Another testament to our Great God and the sweet Sisters who care for our babies.

Spring Break is officially over. One week til CATS testing. Eight weeks left of school before summer break. 55 approvals to go til they get to us...but who's counting? :)

Some exciting news!

Ok, so is it bad when my husband, who is usually the one to say I am spending too much time on the computer, actually stopped me this evening and said, you know, you haven't updated the blog in a while. People read that and follow up on our adoption and you haven't written about any of the new progress.

So, here goes! There are two families (that we know of) in Rwanda RIGHT NOW, and have been for about a week, in process of getting their kiddos. They have posted the sweetest videos and photos on their blogs and it's been so great to see their progress.

There are some families (I don't know the exactly number, maybe 3?) who are traveling NEXT WEEK!!! to get their children. I know of these because they are with our agency, so there very well could be more that I just don't have contact with.
This is AWESOME!! Families and their children being united!

Another noteworthy development is that Rwanda is considering requiring families to travel twice, once to be present for court, and another trip to escort the child home. Ethiopia actually implemented this requirement in January of 2010, which was one of the reasons we chose to go with Rwanda. However, this has not been set in stone yet, so please pray the government decides not to push this. OR please pray about contributing to our adoption financially so that we will be able to travel twice! Either way, HE has this all under control and will provide!

I can't wait to see pictures of more precious little ones redeemed by the love of Christ and by the love of families. Praying for more approvals and referrals next week!!

One Year Down....

Well, it hasn't actually been a year. It won't be until March 1st, but since that is Tuesday and I rarely find the time to blog during the week, I'll blog about it today. March 1st will be the "official" one year anniversary of our journey to adopt from Rwanda. This is the date we received confirmation of our acceptance into the program with our agency.

A lot has happened in that year. Adoption and non-adoption related. Gracie and Isaac have grown like weeds. She is a first grader this year and doing great in school. She loves to do art projects and read. Isaac is a 4-yr-old boy, and that says it all! He's constantly "flying" and "blasting" stuff and is full of energy. He still loves to snuggle and be held. Mama's baby.

My faith has grown a lot. Now, I know I have WAYS to go, but through barely making the paperwork deadline back in August and the weeks of silence then weeks of movement and back to weeks of silence, I have come to truly experience the feeling of casting all of my cares on Him. He loves this unknown child of mine much more than I ever will. He formed my child in another woman's womb and in my heart. My child is growing leaps and bounds every day in my heart.

Now, as more families receive approvals and referrals and rumors fly of time lines set, it is becoming more real, kind of like feeling those little kicks before Gracie and Isaac were born. We're minivan shopping (!) and in search of a nice set of bunk beds. Every day Gracie comes up with new names (she says she doesn't like the girl name we picked out.) Isaac often gets impatient, "WHEN is our little brother or sister getting here?!" They are going to be such great big siblings!

While we wait, please pray about helping us financially. The Lord has blessed Matt with extra work and we have been taken care of by our Wonderful Provider in so many ways, but if you would feel led of the Lord to help us on this journey, please contact our agency, America World Adoption Association, and ask about the Eternal Family Program. Please continue pouring out your hearts in prayer that our little one comes home soon!

And the Movement continues!

Well, the last week has been exciting! Several families have received referrals this week, PRAISE GOD! This is the information that includes a picture of your child and medical history, background, etc. Kinda of like the adoption equivalent of an ultrasound. This is awesome to see people who have waited for 12 months or more final know their child.
Another noteworthy bit of info is that our agency has started what they are calling the "Eternal Family Program." This is a means by which family and friends can make a tax-deductable donation to our adoption costs. So many families do great fundraisers and apply for grants and loans to cover the adoption costs. In our case, I work full time, which I joke is our fund raiser, since I can't work and plan fund raiser at the same time :) Plus, with our join incomes, we haven't qualified for a lot of grants out there. So, if anyone, at any time, feels the Lord would have you contribute to process of bringing our child home, you can contact out agency America World Adoption Association, and they can give you any information you need.
Most importantly, we covet your prayers. Prayer for us as we wait with growing anticipation to bring our child home. And prayer for our child. That the Lord would keep him or her healthy and provide for his or her physical and emotional needs until the time comes for us to bring them home. Lord, make it soon!

Through the eyes of a child

I know I haven't posted anything in a while. There had been good news every few days there for awhile in December and January, but February has been very quiet, too quiet. We had heard a rumor a while back that thinks should be speeding up considerably, but no news is not the easiest thing to bare. No news is not good news, it's just no news.

I wanted to share something very special though. My 6 1/2 yr old daughter Gracie wrote a school assignment for a "personal narrative" a true story about a life experience. Gracie's was titled "We're Adopting":

"My family is adopting. One day in the afternoon momy said we were adopting. Momy what does adopting mean? I asked. Adopting means there is a child that doant have a home so we make them part of our family. said momy. Four weeks later a lady and her hasbend came to our house. They talked to momy and dady for along time. After a long time they came to me and Isaac and asked us if we wanted a boy or a girl. Isaac said he wanted a boy. I said I didn't care. They stayed until I thout thayd never leav. And they gave us lots of paper work about adoption. Now I can't amagin what will haen neksed!"

(spelling intentionally left "as is")
I can't wait to see what will happen next either baby girl!

More news!!

Two more approvals (that I know of) from Rwanda today!!God is soooo good! Also read the absolutely sweetest message from another Rwanda mama to be, who was able to visit the country with a missions group. It WAS comforting to hear her words about the care our children are getting and how hard the ministry is working. I am so thankful for her words and to know that there are people who go to visit our little ones on a weekly basis to take them our love. Every time I pray, I pray that God will send "someone special to love and care for my child until I can get there." God ANSWERS PRAYER people!!
By the way...three day weekend! which make for another 4 day week next week...I'm not going to know how to work 5 days in a row anymore :) so blessed to have the time with my kiddos!

Movement!

I know I haven't posted in a while. I guess this is because we've been busy with family activities over Christmas break and then there is always the house work and my job and well, I much rather read other people's posts and good news than post my own.

There has been movement in Rwanda over the last several weeks. At least 8 families, just from our agency, have received approvals. These are all way lower on the number line than our's, but of course it gives us hope that our's will not be too terribly far away. I believe there have been more approvals than these, but I don't have exact info from families that are not with our agency.

Movement of any sort is a wonderful answer to prayer. I truly appreciate all of the prayers for our family and our child and all of the other families waiting. I can't wait to see referrals come in for these families. I know that God is in complete control and in His timing we will bring our little one home. In the mean time, I'm going to get Gracie and Isaac dressed to play in the snow. We are having our 4th snow day of the school yr today. Goodbye June! I will miss you!