Small but Mighty!

Small but mighty!  Yes, we did get a new number, yes it is only a little movement...1.  We do know that even in our times of frustration, God is working.  I look back over the past month and realize that if we had our daughter/daughters at home, I would not have been able to love on my niece and nephew for 2 weeks.  What a special blessing it was to gain those memories that otherwise I wouldn't have been up the challenge of our children and an additional 2 more as well as starting a new school year.  Ultimately, God has it all worked out.  We have heard rumors that I.H.N.F.A. is working on some very helpful steps that may make the abandonment process move quicker, but will that slow down how things move if many people are in Honduras finalizing?  My heart yearns for our family to be joined together and yet God has given me peace as well.   We do know that the committee did meet last Friday but we haven't heard what the outcome of this meeting was.  There was Dia de los Ninos yesterday which we decided that we would recognize the day with hopes that next year we might have an extra special reason to celebrate.

 Honduras also had  a football match against Panama (which they tied) yesterday, where things shut down after 2pm for the game. Yes, you may see any reason to celebrate they love!

While we wait to receive our referral, we will be starting with Bethany Christian Services with a program called Safe Families.  We are looking forward to seeing how we can help other families in a time of need.  If you would like to find out more about this program check out http://www.bethany.org/main/safe-families-children.

God Continues to Amaze me

Isn't it totally amazing to see God at work?  I knew our number had changed but really thought only 1 or 2 spaces.  We got a letter from our agency saying that our new number is.....

So excited!  This news came only hours after talking with a girlfriend where I was just sharing how there are times that it is just difficult to know what God wants us to be doing.  It seems to me that was the confirmation that we are on the right path. Even though it seems little, every step is closer to the top!  We know that God has great things planned for the little one/ones he has planned to join our crazy family!  Can't wait for that day!

Silence

As silent as our blog has been so has it been for information on our adoption.  We have heard of a family returning to Honduras for their second trip and a few people getting their first number and some hearing of drops in their number (only about 1 or 2 numbers).  So as far as we sit we are still at 49 but hope that in reality that we are lower than that.  We are also still waiting to hear from our lawyer that he has presented our request to IHNFA that we are now requesting up to two daughters.  He had to write a letter letting them know and at last week we still hadn't heard if that has been done or not.  Praying that this will be done before the next meeting-which we have no idea when that will be.  For now all we can do is dream & pray of who our little one(s) will be, what they will be like and dream of showering them with love!

Why is the process so slow?

"Why is the process so slow?" Every now and then someone asks me this question...Sometimes, I ask myself this question.  A recent blog post by another family on this journey of adoption in Honduras answered this question well, and was an encouragement to me as I read it.  Here is the link to their blog - http://jjdager.blogspot.com/2013/06/new-number.html.

Updates

Well, as we wait our hearts have changed.  Not on where we adopt but how many.  We are now in the process of trying to adopt 2, yes you read correctly 2 little girls from Honduras.  We figured we have enough love to go around!  So we asked our agency to pull together an addendum to send to USCIS to request their approval.  Here is the new pile we sent off.

This is a much smaller pile of papers than the original packet but just as important.  We are trying to be patient waiting to hear that we have been approved from Immigration.

As we wait.....more good news today.  We have been slowly hearing of people receiving new numbers.  It has been like a slow drip.  One or two people hearing one day then another two another day then the weekend was quiet but we hoped and prayed ours would come this week.  I know you are just waiting, just tell us already.  I just wanted to give you a tiny glimps of what our wait has been like.  With out further wait...

We have no idea how long our wait will continue to be, and yet we trust in God's perfect timing.  As hard as that seems to be some days!  I truly believe that as I typed it and yet some days I have to cling to that hope.  Is our wait as simple as God working on our heart to be willing to bring 2 more daughters into our home or is it that He simply wants us to WAIT in His arms!?!  I hope and pray that one day I can look back and see the road map that we have been traveling and see the Rest Stops along the way with God's footprints and see.  Will we bring 2 daughters home?  Will they be the same age?  Will they be siblings?  Will they be each others best friends?  .....Will we still only bring 1 daughter home.  What a journey of faith you are taking us on, and God, you are amazing!  

Thank you all for your prayers.  Please also pray for the families that we know that have traveled to meet their children as they now have to wait to be able to go back to bring them home.  My heart aches for them as they wait, especially for the children as they wait!

Yeah!!! A New Number!!!

Wishing we could shower our daughter with real kisses but for now this will have to do.  So happy to receive our official letter from our agency.  We are now 53 in line.  Rumor also has it that the committee will be meeting this Friday.  Please join us in praying for a family that recently received their referral who will be traveling this week.  So excited for them!

Hearing of some movement

Well, it has been a while.  We all kept hoping that we would be letting everyone know of a new number but alas things don't go according to our plans :).  Things did seem to go a little out of order.  We did hear shortly after we received our new number that a few children were assigned families, none that we specifically knew (for that matter they may have been Honduran families-which means no number movement, but still makes us happy).  Then we heard that on Thursday, March 22 ( a day before they were supposed to meet) they met and assigned supposedly 10 children!  Ok, so the number sounds great, which don't get me wrong, is great but even greater the fact being is THEY MET!  You may be thinking not really a big deal but the reason they moved up the meeting is that Honduras played against Mexico a qualifying match for the World Cup. Sadly, Honduras will not be playing at the world cup.  The game ended in a tie 2-2.  This is a BIG deal in Honduras.  So happy for them!  What this means on the adoption front is that from March 22-April 2 things basically shut down.  A big holiday for Holy Week.  Families heard that there was a match but nothing further.  No picture, no information about the child...you get the idea.  I can't even imagine the agony that these families went through in the waiting time.

  I am rejoicing for the one family that I know of who received their referral.  We are just waiting to hear of the others!  In the mean time please pray that things continue to move forward at a great pace!!  We are praying here that God will continue to move mountains!  Another great fact is that we are hearing that many children have been posted in the paper for their abandonment decree.  This is more great news because that means that things hopefully are really starting to move.  According to what seems to be happening on some form of regularity (when they do meet) is that around April 19 could be another assignment meeting so sometime between now and then we could hear of a new number.

At times this wait is agonizing, especially when we hear of people in the process of finalizing their adoptions that started much longer after us, but rejoice in the fact that other children are being given forever families!  This is when I step back and remember that our prayer from the very beginning is that this journey would be all about GOD!... and not about us.  God, you are good all the time!  We are trusting in you for your perfect timing.

Back in the race at 58!

Well, we got our new number.  A "sweet" number, right where we figured we would be.  Finally breaking the 60 mark.  We have officially moved 16 spots since we got our first number in June 2012. Yes, this number is out of Juicy Pear Jelly Bellies from our favorite chocolate store around the corner from us - Ashers.  A sweet reminder that we will hopefully soon know who our new little sweetie will be.

We were just asked tonight by a friend how things are going and it was nice to be able to say things are moving.  Tomorrow there is the hope that the committee will be meeting.  We are hoping that there are many children who have made it through the abandonment process so that they can continue the journey to a family.  Please join us in praying for the committee as well as the children who's lives will be changed tomorrow.

A few nights ago we concluded another swim season, at least officially, with a swim banquet for the club the girls swim for and at the end of the night I look over to see our older daughter playing with a little girl who is originally from a Latin American country (this is no strange thing to us) but for some reason it just touched my heart.  Watching my older daughter just light up as she was playing with this little girl, knowing that our little one will someday get this opportunity to play with not only one but two older sisters who will adore her but for now they are ALL missing out on this opportunity.  So for now, as they both go to sleep each night we just pray for this little wonder that God has the privilege of watching and caring over for now for us.

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's day my little one.  Praying that today there is someone that is near you  that can show you a little extra love today.  Wishing that that someone could be me.  I love you and know that God loves you even more and that He is watching over you!

Continuing to wait upon the Lord

Well, the month of January is coming to a close quickly and our 2 year mark of beginning the process is creeping up close!  We know of no progress that has been made on the adoption front  and yet pray that much has been going on.  Since IHNFA went back to work another group went on strike.  The people that take care of the birth certificates.   This had been a frustrating thim for a fellow adopting family who are down in Honduras now and were having to wait to get their birth certificate for their son ( it should be arriving to the town they are in today).  This is yet another reminder that we have to continue to rest in God's peace through this journey.  What will our trips look like...after reading about fellow adopting families from Honduras we really have NO idea.  You may have hear that  you should not pray for patience (which I had been praying & will continue to do) because you will receive the opportunity to practice this patience.  Well, let me tell you that this is definitely something that we are experiencing so now I am also praying for God's peace through this journey and I am truly seeing God's peace.  Don't get me wrong in this, I am still having times of questioning and yet I know God led us on this journey for a reason, if not for anything else but to Glorify Him!  That is my desire. 

What will February look like for us? 

• Hopefully the assignment committee will meet at-least one time, possibly two.  
• Hopefully we will hear of our new number from the families that were matched back in December (we have been hearing that there were at least 3, so that means that we could hear that we are at 57 at least).  
• Hopefully many children have gone through the abandonment process in Honduras so that they will be ready to be matched with families (this is quite  a lengthy process from what it seems).  
• Hopefully there will be no strikes for quite some time.
• Hopefully Families that we know are in Honduras finalizing their adoptions & returning home

We do have much hope for this process.  Please pray for peace for our family as we wait upon the Lord for His timing.

Strike is Over

Well, we found out that the strike is over and things are moving forward.  There are 2 families that will be traveling this week to finalize their adoptions in Honduras !!!  So happy for them.  We also found out that there will not be an assignment meeting during this month.  Not really a surprise since we were figuring that they would be on holiday for the entire month.  We are praying in earnest that once February comes there will be many children that are ready to be matched with families.

We have been working through the book of Hebrews in church.  Chapter 11 is where we were this week.  Verse 3 says "By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible."  I have faith that God is at work in the country of Honduras and that he is doing what needs to be done to prepare our daughter to become a part of our family.  It may happen this year and yet it may not be for another 2 years. We took the big step of faith back in Feb 2011.  Knowing that God would be going before us.  No matter how long it takes, we will do what we can humanly do to bring our daughter into our family!

Creeping up on another year

Well, if you look at our lilypie counter at the right you will notice that we are creeping up at 2 years since beginning our process.  Supposedly the committee did meet in December and assigned children  to families.  We are now waiting to hear if those families accepted their referrals.  Will they meet again this month?  Nobody seems to know the answer to that question.  How many children were referred?  We really don't know the number of that either, there have been different numbers we have heard.

 The news we did hear yesterday was though is that IHNFA is again on strike.  This seems par for the course as someone else mentioned yesterday ....."This is par for the course in Honduras. The teachers strike until they pay them. So they stop paying the judges so they can pay the teachers. A few months go by and the judges strike until they pay them. So they stop paying the social workers so they can pay the judges. The social workers strike until they pay them. So they stop paying the garbage haulers so they can pay the social workers. The garbage haulers burn half the city down and remind everyone that they don't want the garbage haulers to strike...so they pay them...".  We have seen this numerous times since our dossier went to Honduras in August 2011.  I had a good friend ask me the other week "Do you ever want to give up?"  The answer I quickly gave was "No Way!!! even though thoughts of doubt creep in will it ever happen".  As painful as it seems when these strikes happen (it may be a few days and it may be much longer-we have no idea) & the wait continues,  It makes me cling to God even more in prayer and cry out to get things moving and find these children families!!!

Why is it taking so long....why don't we have our daughter home...why don't we know who she is...why is it taking so long...how long will we have to wait...will Honduras close...will we ever bring her home???  These are some of our  many thoughts and yet our new years resolution is to cry out to God to move mountains, squelch Satan in his attempts to keep things from moving and be praying fervently to move things in His time.  Please join us in prayer.  Please pray for those families that were in the process with adopting from Russia that has been closed.  Our hearts just break for those families!!  We know He can do Great & Mighty things!!!  Looking to seeing how God is going to be at work in our lives.