watch this!

So a few weeks ago when we found out about the *wording* misunderstandings in Uganda, I asked you to pray for the families that were currently in Uganda waiting for visas...including one family working to get their precious daughter home that needed medical attention. Well, SHE is HOME!! Amazing!! Watch below...

As I sat here watching the homecoming video...I started to cry. Because I am happy for their family. Oh soooo happy! But also because I can't imagine the relief that mama felt getting off the plane and falling into her husband's arms. The joy she felt re-uniting with her entire family...all in one place. finally. I can't wait for the day we get to walk off the plane with our sweet, Ugandan babe. as one family. I know I will be a wreck. I used to make fun of my mum becuase she would cry often at so many things...but now I am that mama! I can't imagine what I will be like after 6 weeks in Africa...Andy jokes that I better stay hydrated because I will be losing so much liquid through my tears. {so sweet, right?! ha.}

Seriously though, we can't wait for all of you to meet out precious one. You have blessed us abundantly with support, love, encouragement, prayers, notes, calls. Thank you. Thank you for loving us the way that you do! It means the world to us!!

think about this.

"If a local church is to become a gospel church, it must not only receive the gospel and pass it on, but also embody it in a communty life of mutual love." [John Stott]

happy heart

Go here to read the latest update from Lifeline Children's Services. It makes my heart happy. A decision has not been made but it seems as the though our attorney remains hopeful and is working tirelessly to represent adoptive families and children. There have been many discussions regarding this issue and we are hopeful that whatever conclusion they come to will be in the best interest of the Ugandan children.

wordless wednesdays

(thank you Lonely Planet/Uganda)

home study how tos or how not tos...

So our home study was Feb. 7 at 11:30am. We get a call at 10:55am from our social workers saying they would be at our house in 5 minutes. 5 MINUTES!?!?! Seriously?? I was still in my pjs-hadn't showered yet and still putting clothes away in our room. Thankfully o-boy was dressed and ready for the day as was my husband. I can't tell you how fast we were running through the house trying to do last minute things. I threw on clothes and a hat. Yes. A hat. Because since the night before, my hair was in a pony tail and a headband. I wasn't about to let them see the mess on my head.

After I got over the shock of them being 30 minutes early (A said they probably do this on purpose:), I greeted them at the door with a smile, welcomed them into my home and proceeded to make lunch for o-boy. I had planned on doing this before they got there:) and since Owen was leaving for a time with my mother-in-law, it had to be done. So all was fine. Andy gave him a tour of the house while she started asking me questions in the kitchen. I didn't realize this until later but he actually looked in our closets. mmm..let's just say, I am just thankful nothing fell on the man.

Then there is our garage...we have rats or mice or some kind of rodent. He wasn't all that excited about it but was very kind and said that we should take care of it. If by taking care of it, he meant leaving a little pack out for the ants to take back to their home so they don't invade ours...and then finding out that the rodent took the poison pack (don't worry, Owen can't get to them! and really it is our last ditch effort. We have tried all things non-toxic. Unfortunately, they don't really do the trick!) back to his home and hasn't been back since...then....well, I guess we have taken care of it...opps...

So she is still asking me questions..all the regular ones like why we want to adopt, what led us to Uganda, what we think of "corporal punishment", what I would change about Andy...She wanted to know Andy's strengths as a dad (not hard to list those!!) and his weaknesses (a little harder to come up with). Not that Andy is perfect (who is??), but he is an amazing dad!! He is so caring, hands-on and really just adores his boy which I LOVE! Anyways, after he was finished with Andy, then they interviewed us together, asked us more questions and had us sign some things for Hague. Then after two hours, they told us we will be great parents (hope so, since we already have 1:) and they were off.

Overall, it was harmless. It did feel like we were old friends just sharing. There were a couple of awkward moments but we were really pleased with how it went. Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers! We so appreciate them!!

resting in his hands

Yesterday, Lifeline posted this. As of now, it is the latest information we have. Even with all of the unknowns, we still feel like God has given us a love for the country of Uganda that is from Him and Him alone. We know that this is completely in God's hands and we are resting in the knowledge that He knows exactly how this is going to play out. We are hopeful...."no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has planned for those who love him.." Isaiah 64:4.

Please do continue to pray for those who are still in country waiting for the news and for visas. Pray for peace and comfort. Good things will come out of this (some already have that I will share later!) and I am sure of it!!

home study...

today at 1130a is our home study. for those of you who aren't familiar with this process...a social worker (from a hague accredited agency) will be coming to our home to interview us, get to know us and make sure our home is fit for another child. this is the last step before they can write up our actual report and send it to Lifeline. YES!

nervous? yes. anxious? yes. excited? yes.

can't wait!

got some news..

ok we just got some word from our agency...we just found out that "Legal Guardianship Immigrant Visa issuance in Uganda is currently on “hold” due to a problem with the wording used for the legal guardianship paperwork in the Ugandan courts." this is not good. our attorney has an appointment tomorrow or today (not sure with the time difference) with the US Embassy to try and see what is going on. there are a lot of rumors circulating the internet now and i would love to hear directly from our attorney (through lifeline:) what exactly this means. i can speculate but would rather wait for the news...

if you are a praying person, would you join us? pray for the attorneys and those at the meeting. that they would come to a conclusion (with the US Embassy) that would care for the children in the best possible way. that the conclusion would honor the country of Uganda and the people who live there.

i do know that we also need to pray for the families that are there now and for those traveling. some families have been there for weeks, some just arrived and for visas to suddenly be put on hold...well it has got to be frustrating. pray for the sweet children too. one girl is super ill and needs medical attention sooner rather than later.

join me...

please pray. pray for God to move mightily in the weeks to come. pray for His timing and perfect will.

choosing joy

Joy is what makes life worth living, but for many joy seems hard to find. They complain that their lives are sorrowful and depressing. What then brings the joy we so much desire?

Are some people just lucky, while others have run out of luck?

Strange as it may sound, we can choose joy.

Two people can be part of the same event, but one may choose to live it quite differently than the other. One may choose to trust that what happened, painful as it may be, holds a promise. The other may choose despair and be destroyed by it.

What makes us human is precisely this freedom of choice.

Henri Nouwen
Bread for the Journey

sad day

Yesterday after I put Owen down, I checked my email and saw there was one from Lifeline. I get excited everytime I see an email from my social worker so I opened it anxiously to see what she had to say this time. However, as I read it, my heart filled with sadness. I started crying...she was informing us that our process could be delayed. Not ours specifically but all families adopting from Uganda. You see, more and more families have felt the burden to adopt (which is a GREAT thing!). However, the embassy in Uganda is not prepared to handle all of the expected (upcoming) adoptions. They are hoping to hire more personnel soon but until they do, they are anticipating a backlog.

It is truly a blessing that more and more children will have families. I know this. I do. But to think of my baby waiting even longer, me waiting even longer to hold him/her hurts my heart. It hurts so bad. I have a hard time thinking about it without my eyes filling with tears. I know that God has already chosen the perfect being for our family. I know that he/she is resting in His hands until we can get to him/her. I know that God promises us there is nothing like His timing.

I really do know all of these things. I do.

But it doesn't make the hurt go away.

We have been planning on traveling sometime between May-July if all goes as planned. Now we may be looking at sometime between Sept-Dec. I know in the whole scheme of things this really isn't that much longer but when I get my heart set on something especially when that something is concerning our child, the child that will join our family forever...it is hard.

After reading the email, I called our SW right away at Lifeline. She is so sweet, understanding and gracious and I am so thankful for her. I hadn't even called Andy yet to tell him the news so I was still processing it myself. I just wanted more answers before I told him. I was on the phone for 25 minutes (crying (of course:)) and she kept reassuring me that it might not affect us at all, she just wanted to prepare us for the worst case scenario. And since that is the latest timeline they are telling new families, they wanted it to come from them directly. I so appreciate this. And I am so thankful she did send out the email. It did not however, make it any easier to handle. Selfishly, I am hoping we can sneak in before the craziness happens.

Since yesterday, it seems like everything I read is teaching me/reminding me that our mighty God is in control. Seriously, EVERYTHING! Like this..."I say to you, do not worry about your life..." Our Lord says to be careful only about one thing-our relationship to Him.....or this... "“It is not by strength, nor by power, but by my Spirit says the Lord.” I decided not to ask someone to pray. Instead I simply said, “OK, I’ll trust You”. But it did not come easy."...or this...I saw the Lord always before me, for He is at my right hand that I may not be shaken; therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced. My flesh also will dwell in hope. For You will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your holy one see corruption. You have made known to me paths of life; you will make me full of gladness with your presence.' :: Acts 2:25-28...

Do you think I am supposed to be learning something in this??? I think so...I am sure of it. If because of all of this, I learn trust God more. Or am reminded more often that He WILL NOT fail me or our precious babe. Or if all of this, is so that God may move more to adopt and love on His sweet children...then ultimately, my heart will be happy.

I am so thankful that our God does not grow weary.

He restores us.

He guides us.

He bids us in.

May God be glorified in this wait....may I worship Him more fully in this wait....

February 7 and beyond...

Yesterday I called our homestudy agency to see if I could set up an appointment for our interviews (even though they like to wait until EVERYTHING is turned in, I figured since 99% of our documents are in, we might be able to persuade him to at least schedule the date). Our social worker answered the phone and told me he was going to call me tomorrow (but really today) to set up an appointment but I beat him to it. He already had the date in his head and calendar so he just wanted to check to see if Feb. 7 worked for us.?.?.? OF COURSE IT WORKS FOR US!!! I don't think I would ever tell him otherwise....we want this baby home even if that means our interviews will be going on during the superbowl!! I feel like it is so far away! Everyone I talk to tells me how soon it is...how come it doesn't feel like it?? I do think the timing is good (although I did want it sooner:). It is far enough away where we have time to prepare (ie-clean, organize, pull weeds but not too much so they get the impression I am ok with kid messes) But then again how can I have a problem with the messes when I have a boy running around already?? and if you know me, you know that my room is hardly ever clean:) Realistically it is soon. And honestly, in the next week and a half my family is coming into town, we have girls and guys group (with our highschoolers), a mom's dinner out, dinner with friends, some more friends coming into town and staying with us, throwing a baby shower, homegroup and a few more things...so even if I did want it sooner, I am not sure it would have been possible due to time itself. I am just so thankful to have it on the calendar. The social worker also said it would only take about a week to write up the report and get it in the mail to Lifeline...so if all goes as planned--by mid-to late February our packet should be going to immigra.tion!!

good news!

Today I called our home study agency to confirm they received a packet of documents that we sent in last week and guess what?? They did! They also confirmed that they have our FBI clearance and child abuse clearance from CA and IL. One. Step. Closer. We are hoping to send in our final packet tomorrow and then we can be interviewed!! Bring it on sweet social worker!

The other good news is that we already have been fingerprinted for USC.IS (Un.ited S.tates Citiz.enship and Immigratio.n Services) so when our home study is ready to be sent off, U.SCIS can just process the info. They won't have to wait for anything!!! YES!

miracles do happen

amazing! to good not to share....found on the Livesay's blog (a family living/serving in Haiti) today...read on...

Dr. Jen decided to research how close the USNS Navy ship was to arriving and emailed contacts she has from earlier this year when we got to go visit the Navy ship that was here. We did not hear back and did not hear back and the afternoon was getting away from us. We had 11 people that we hoped to take but could not get the 100% go ahead. On a wing and a prayer we decided to load our patients and try to find the spot to get them on the ship. We had like ZERO information. But off four vehicles went in a row to try to find the right spot in a crazy city of millions.

My heart rate must have been off the charts as I wondered what the heck we thought we might accomplish. I felt sick wondering if we had loaded up these poor suffering people with horrible pain only to aimlessly drive them all over the city. We had trouble and stopped and asked and and stopped and asked and stopped and asked .... and got pretty discouraged.

Finally we turned down a road that we hoped might lead us out to the water. A man rolled down his window to tell us we were heading towards Americans. We pulled in to find about 30 Americans setting up camp. They were unloading dump trucks and starting to set up their first large tent. The two docs that came with the patients approached and asked if they could possibly help us. They told them that we'd heard the U.S. Navy was sending a ship or serious operations and very high need cases. They shook their head a bit and explained they had JUST arrived about 60 minutes before us and they were not even set up. They said they would try to radio the boat, but it was not really yet set to go either. Gently Dr Jen and Dr McKnight asked about getting a helicopter to take our patients. They seemed sort of non-committal - we knew it could go either way. The last thing we wanted was to return to our little make-shift hospital with 11 people that really need surgery.

We waited for our miracle.

All of a sudden out of nowhere a helicopter circled over a time or two ... then swooped in. It landed right out in front of us. Two studly helicopter military guys walked over and said they could take four people. We chose the four worst. They said "We'll be back in ten minutes for more." We could not believe what was happening. They came back ... and back. Three trips to the ship for the people of Simon Pele. I asked a couple of the patients that I had connected with if they were afraid. They seemed to know that something big was about to happen. How humbling it was to watch the poorest of the poor ... forgotten by most ... be some of thevery first patients to arrive by helicopter to a US Navy Hospital floating in the Port. I stood there weeping as they took the last group up.

We left Heartline on Jen's hunch - with almost no location information and no certainty we would be received - and we found the American base, that had only been in place for 60 minutes, that led to the helicopter coming, that led to hurting people getting help.

It felt like justice to me.

Hurray for justice. Hurray for miracles.

Amos Story

Some may think that the bond between parents and biological children is different than with adoptive children. We have one biological son and I can honestly say that I long to hold my sweet Ugandan baby just as much as I longed when my son was growing in my womb. This time around, I cannot feel his/her kicks and hiccups inside me...I just trust that he/she is safe and sound. The connection I feel with the child I have never met is not through genes but through my heart. The love I feel already without meeting or even knowing who God has chosen us to care for is so deep. As angels hold you tight, may you sleep in peace tonight my sweet, Ugandan babe.

This song is written by a father about his son in Haiti...and the bond is there.

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haiti needs our prayers

I can't even describe how sad I am for the things I have seen happening in Haiti the past few days (http://haitirescuecenter.wordpress.com/) It is my prayer that the people of Haiti would know the love of Christ by how we respond to such a disaster. May we respond with nothing other than love. I pray that God would stir in us (all of us!) a desire to give and give and give. We have the opportunity to care for the people of Haiti for months to come. Let us show them they will not be forgotten.

I found this video earlier on CNN about a family in the process of adopting from Haiti. I know many families are experiencing the same thing as the Iveys. My hope is that people would see videos like this and be moved to care for the orphans and widows. To act on His behalf. I pray God would use this tragic disaster to open our eyes, hearts and homes to those that need someone to love them. May God open my heart to love more because I know there is room...

wordless wednesday

(can't wait to see our sweet boy love on his new brother/sister!)

be the solution

i love this song! i want to be part of God's solution!! i don't want to sit around and do nothing. i want to be the hands and feet of christ. we are called to a life of love. mark 12:30-31 says this: "love the lord your god with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' the second is this: 'love your neighbor as yourself.' there is no commandment greater than these." i want to love my neighbor more. not just the neighbors living in the houses on either side of me. not just the neighbors in my town but the neighbors who live all around the globe. the one who is homeless, the single woman raising 6 kids because her husband left her, the family that had to sell off a daughter so they could feed the rest of their children, the mum who had to abandon her child because she is dying of disease. i prayed (and continue to pray) that god would open my eyes to the things he sees. he has. and i don't ever want to be the same again!

waiting hurts

we started our adoption process only 4 months ago. 4 months really isn't that long at all but it feels sooo long. maybe because ever since i can remember, i have wanted to adopt. i long to meet our precious one from uganda. i can't wait to hold him/her and see our sweet son with his new brother/sister. my heart aches whenever i think about how long it is going to be until we actually meet our son or daughter.

it is not only the waiting to hold/meet/kiss/hug/cuddle him/her that hurts. it is knowing that in the waiting, our precious child will have to endure something that no one should ever have to endure. we do not know why our child will be placed for adoption. we may never know the tragic events that put him or her in an orphanage. and that breaks my heart. it breaks my heart that his or her momma and/or daddy will have to come to the conclusion (maybe they already have) that they can no longer care for their sweet one. as a mom, i can't imagine how hard it would be to come to the reality that i couldn't care for my son anymore due to poverty, disease, famine.... no mother or father should ever have to make that choice. it breaks my heart to think of the things that his/her family may have endured because they are my family. my family through christ, through adoption, through love.

uscis fingerprinting

we went today to get our last set of finderprints done. yes! it feels so good to be done with them. we were a little shocked to get our appointment so soon, especially since our homestudy isn't completed yet. but we were sooo excited when we got that letter in the mail that said "h.omeland se.curity"--just a little bit closer to meeting our babyu!!