The LORD will fight for YOU. You need only to be STILL. ~Exodus 14:14 ... thank you Moses. We needed this.
So I know it's been a pretty long time since the last post. And the last post wasn't necessarily the most joyful. Aaron and I have been waiting to post anything until we really had an update and had a clear path. So the good news? We're updating which means we've had lots of progress!
After Colombia closed (yes unfortunately after they denied us, and all the other families in our agency, they closed their doors to Americans completely wanting to adopt children under 6yrs old), we took a step back and tried to figure out exactly where our next steps should be. Another unfortunate reality is that with so many shut downs and slow downs, and 3-5 yr waiting periods and countries not allowing families with their own bio kids already and very real scandals exposed in the world of international adoption, we knew our call was changed to domestic. To spare you guys a very detailed and long story I'll get to the point- at first we stepped back and thought maybe we needed some time to recover and recoup and heal from us losing our vision of adopting from Colombia. {then God slapped us in the face, bringing us back to reality- not our FALSE SENSE OF REALITY we were so easily slipping back in to}
In June we began our Foster licensing classes, had a whole new home study written for Foster to Adopt, re did ALLLLL the fun {except not} paperwork, got re- fingerprinted, etc.... and all is done. And was submitted in November. And if I haven't physically seen you in the past couple of weeks- ....WE HAVE A BABY BOY IN OUR HOME!!!!!! And I want to take a moment and thank our life group and all who contributed to cleaning our house and stocking it with all things baby we would need while we were at the hospital and for feeding us as we brought baby JJ home!!!! Not saying this for any other reason except to acknowledge God's glory and plan and hand in all things- He has surrounded us with friends who have sacrificed for us, prayed with us, felt/feel pain with us, and encourage us. I love how He knows just what you need even before you need it.
We are legally just fostering right now in hopes to be able to adopt him. The state allows the bio parents a chance to implement their rehabilitation plans so that's where we are right now. We've been told we're looking at a 90% chance of being able to adopt baby JJ, but in this world of adoption (foster-domestic matched- or international) we've learned one main thing- NOTHING IS FOR CERTAIN. So we take it day to day and cling to God's word knowing that The Lord did not give us a spirit of fear and timidity but of power and love
We've been asked all kinds of questions about JJ and his bio family and how long we get to keep him and how we are going to handle it if he goes and how we are protecting our hearts and not getting "too attached" and how we will handle our daughters if JJ doesn't get to stay. The simple answer: We trust God. The long answer : We TRUST God. HE's the one who brought JJ to us in the first place. And He's the one who determines the time we get with JJ. As far as bio family goes- our hearts will be filled with compassion- because Jesus tells us to do so. And who are we to judge things we do not fully know. And for those wondering how we handle it knowing JJ may not be apart of our forever family. Somedays great, trusting fully in our Savior... and some days not so great and our human nature takes over and we kick and scream and cry. But the bible tells us to have a set mind and not to waver or we will be tossed like a wave of the sea (Jas 1:6). We know this is another clearly marked path for us, and because we know The Lord called us down this road we will not look to the world and all its fears it speaks. We will not think about all the possible outcomes- because, well that's just plain scary. We will not think about the emotional risks on our end like the world tells us to because our God is up to something much grander than we can see. We are exactly where HE has called us to be and because of that, there's no where else we'd rather be. It's the SAFEST place to be.
And as for staying protected and detached so we don't hurt as much if he leaves our home.... the answer is no. We will hurt if JJ has to leave. We will cry. We will be angry for a moment. But NO love is ever convenient or easy or painless. We will love him. We will attach. We will bond. And we will make him a part of our family because no matter what happens down the road, right now in this moment what he needs most IS LOVE. And to learn how to attach. And to learn how to bond. He needs a family, like we all do :-). And The Lord has called us to do that. Foster/ Adopt and all forms of adoption are hard. And ugly. And beautiful all at the same time. It hurts. It heals. It teaches. It grows. Sweet words of encouragement were spoken to me after leaving JJs first (quite discouraging) court hearing.
What's worth in eternity, looks very different from what's worth it here. Um YES.
So this has become one of our truths we are clinging tightly to....
For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:17-18
On another note
So unfortunately a very real question that may pop into your head is, where did all the money go that was fundraised, and donated, and saved? WELL ... I'm so glad you asked!! Because through this update as well I pray you can see God's faithfulness and blessings and HIS EXTREMELY PERFECT PROVISION. Luckily adopting through the foster system has very minimal costs. We prayed... and I mean prayed HARD. Then God gave us this sentence .... { That money served it's purpose, and it has a new purpose. } It provided confidence and peace and reinforcement to us that we were in His will and moving forward as He called us to. But it has a new purpose now.... The Lord one by one revealed to us other families going through the adoption process that were in need of financial help. So to make this short and sweet- If you had any part in donating to the garage sale, or bake sale, or to the One Less Race.. if you had any part of the financial blessings on our family then we have some really incredible news. That money has now gone forward to serve a whole new purpose in the journeys of helping FOUR families from our community that have newly added children to their families through the miracle of adoption. The money that was lost was ours. And that's okay- it's a great reminder that things of this world like money are temporary with no eternal value.
If you're still with me, then I want to THANK YOU for your interest and concern and love for our family. Thank you for the prayers that have carried us through these past 2 years!!!! .... and I would be forever grateful if you would continue to pray with us for our family and baby JJ. We know we have JJ for a few more weeks for sure- and so we are grasping hard to HIS grace, and love, and truths day in and day out.
We love each of you and are so thankful for your continued support! Aaron and I talk VERY frequently about the support of our family and community....!!! I don't know how we would make it through without you.
-Aaron and Maren
Friday, January 3, 2014
Friday, May 31, 2013
Do you TRUST Him?
Man, as I sit here struggling to find the right words to bring people up to speed, I find myself in this unexplained state of peace. This scripture out of Romans is one that has been one of my favorites for a long time, you know those verses you quote over and over and over again... and yet in the past year I haven't looked at it much, until this week. This verse kept "randomly" showing up, or being spoken to me out of sweetest sincerity from friends... in books... and even my precious dad.
Romans 8:38 says "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."
These past couple of weeks I have felt this stirring, or almost an unsettling feeling regarding our adoption. This command to fervently be in prayer over our journey. On 3 different accounts I had friends (some super close to me, some not so close), come to me saying that they felt the Lord had laid us on their hearts and wanted to see what was going on with the adoption. At that time we hadn't heard any updates, but I told them of the same stirring and heaviness I had been feeling about it.
Two days ago Aaron and I had a conference call with our agency. We got some really crummy news that Colombia has decided to deny us the opportunity to adopt from their country. Reasons that are hard to put feelings to.... 1- Because our faith is such an important part of our lives and played a roll in our motivation to adopt, 2- because we have 2 biological children already, and 3- because we do not struggle with fertility issues. Not only were Aaron and I shocked, but also our caseworker, president of the agency, and also the inter-country adoption coordinator. Tears were shed of course, all the while knowing our God has a mightier plan for us. Amazing how human emotions just kick in even though we know in the deepest part of our hearts that our God works for the good of those who love him...
There's not a lot more to tell other than as frustrating as it may seem, Aaron and I feel that God is up to something here (clearly) and is beginning to reveal some really really neat things to us. This past year has been a long one, but in the large scheme of things... this denial is simply one bump in the road; one detour that has taught us so much. It does not change the fact that our hearts are still called to international orphans. It does not change our love for Colombia and the orphans there. It does not shake our original decision to adopt. And it does not shake our love for orphans here. Our path will look different, yes, but our destination will be the same. We are unsure of which direction we are going to head in next.. and ask that you pray along side us as we wait on the Lord to clearly guide our next steps in bringing our third child home.
If any of you reading this (if anyone ;-)) has that sucken in, sad feeling for us... stop! This was a clearly marked road for us in the eyes of our creator.. and for that we will be grateful for what He has taught us and for the deepening our of relationships with Him throughout this last year. If you are searching for an emotion to feel towards this (as Aaron and I were yesterday), why not JOY as James instructs us to.. or excitement knowing that God is preparing us for something much grander than what we can see right now... and rest in the TRUST we have in an unchanging, never failing, always present God. He is up to something really really really cool.... so STAY TUNED...
....... yes lots of questions may arise ... or feelings of bitterness towards the international adoption ways... or thoughts of thinking this is stupid and ridiculous with lots of "red tape"... feelings of bitterness towards people trying to adopt because the roads seem too uncertain and crazy and emotional... feelings of concern or anger because someone else you know has gone through something similar.... The road to adoption is not as easy one. It takes support of many and a clear calling from our Savior to make it through.. not a decision that comes lightly. The enemy would love nothing more than to grab hold of one of those negative feelings towards adoption, or Colombia, or feelings of fatigue in this process.... honestly or even annoyance with reading my updates thinking its stupid to go through all of this. Our enemy ain't got nothing on this. Our God is bigger. Our God is greater. Our God promised that in this world we WILL have trials and tribulation......... BUT HE HAS OVERCOME IT ALL. So we will trust that. We will continue to pray for orphans. We will continue to pray for others in the adoption process. We will continue on in our journey to adopt... We will continue to trust that in all these problems that are arising in other adoption stories and journey's that God is working all things out for the good. We will trust that His plan is higher and His WAYS ARE HIGHER than ours. Let it go. Let the questions and annoyances and negative thoughts go. Christ our Saviors got this... and that's all anyone needs to know.
T- total
R- rest
U-under
S- scriptural
T- truth
Romans 8:38 says "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."
These past couple of weeks I have felt this stirring, or almost an unsettling feeling regarding our adoption. This command to fervently be in prayer over our journey. On 3 different accounts I had friends (some super close to me, some not so close), come to me saying that they felt the Lord had laid us on their hearts and wanted to see what was going on with the adoption. At that time we hadn't heard any updates, but I told them of the same stirring and heaviness I had been feeling about it.
Two days ago Aaron and I had a conference call with our agency. We got some really crummy news that Colombia has decided to deny us the opportunity to adopt from their country. Reasons that are hard to put feelings to.... 1- Because our faith is such an important part of our lives and played a roll in our motivation to adopt, 2- because we have 2 biological children already, and 3- because we do not struggle with fertility issues. Not only were Aaron and I shocked, but also our caseworker, president of the agency, and also the inter-country adoption coordinator. Tears were shed of course, all the while knowing our God has a mightier plan for us. Amazing how human emotions just kick in even though we know in the deepest part of our hearts that our God works for the good of those who love him...
There's not a lot more to tell other than as frustrating as it may seem, Aaron and I feel that God is up to something here (clearly) and is beginning to reveal some really really neat things to us. This past year has been a long one, but in the large scheme of things... this denial is simply one bump in the road; one detour that has taught us so much. It does not change the fact that our hearts are still called to international orphans. It does not change our love for Colombia and the orphans there. It does not shake our original decision to adopt. And it does not shake our love for orphans here. Our path will look different, yes, but our destination will be the same. We are unsure of which direction we are going to head in next.. and ask that you pray along side us as we wait on the Lord to clearly guide our next steps in bringing our third child home.
If any of you reading this (if anyone ;-)) has that sucken in, sad feeling for us... stop! This was a clearly marked road for us in the eyes of our creator.. and for that we will be grateful for what He has taught us and for the deepening our of relationships with Him throughout this last year. If you are searching for an emotion to feel towards this (as Aaron and I were yesterday), why not JOY as James instructs us to.. or excitement knowing that God is preparing us for something much grander than what we can see right now... and rest in the TRUST we have in an unchanging, never failing, always present God. He is up to something really really really cool.... so STAY TUNED...
....... yes lots of questions may arise ... or feelings of bitterness towards the international adoption ways... or thoughts of thinking this is stupid and ridiculous with lots of "red tape"... feelings of bitterness towards people trying to adopt because the roads seem too uncertain and crazy and emotional... feelings of concern or anger because someone else you know has gone through something similar.... The road to adoption is not as easy one. It takes support of many and a clear calling from our Savior to make it through.. not a decision that comes lightly. The enemy would love nothing more than to grab hold of one of those negative feelings towards adoption, or Colombia, or feelings of fatigue in this process.... honestly or even annoyance with reading my updates thinking its stupid to go through all of this. Our enemy ain't got nothing on this. Our God is bigger. Our God is greater. Our God promised that in this world we WILL have trials and tribulation......... BUT HE HAS OVERCOME IT ALL. So we will trust that. We will continue to pray for orphans. We will continue to pray for others in the adoption process. We will continue on in our journey to adopt... We will continue to trust that in all these problems that are arising in other adoption stories and journey's that God is working all things out for the good. We will trust that His plan is higher and His WAYS ARE HIGHER than ours. Let it go. Let the questions and annoyances and negative thoughts go. Christ our Saviors got this... and that's all anyone needs to know.
T- total
R- rest
U-under
S- scriptural
T- truth
Monday, January 14, 2013
God's clock ;-)
We had a conference call on the 8th with our agency to get some updates on exactly where our Dossier is and to talk about the different orphanages we can choose from. Thankfully we are looking at 2 in smaller cities outside Bogota. We have been hoping for either on these two cities because the time spent in country to finalize the adoption is considerably shorter. We are looking at maybe a 2-4 week stay as apposed to 4-6 weeks. GOD IS GOOD!!!! If you've read my previous update you will recall that the Colombian government closes down for the Christmas holiday.... courts and all... for about a month... if not longer. SO our agency's in-country representative will take our Dossier to each of the two privately owned orphanages (one in Cali the other in beautiful Medellin!) closer to the end of January/early Feb. when the government is up and fully running again (hopefully). After she meets with each orphanage on our behalf and gets a better idea as to which orphanage would be better (more waiting children in our age range~0-3~, faster referrals, and a better fit for our family), we will have another call with Beth at our agency to talk things over and choose ONE. That's the one thing we have to specify... which orphanage. We are so so so grateful and thankful that our agency has relationships with these individually owned and operated orphanages and we get to go through one. The government owned orphanages have much longer wait times for their approvals and referrals.
So how long will it actually take for the referral? Once we choose the orphanage our paperwork goes through one more round of approvals at the orphanage itself (takes roughly 2 weeks?!). From there it can be any kind of timeline possible. We could receive a referral fairly quickly (a few months), or it could take a bit longer (a year). Beth at our agency did tell us that with all of the changes happening in the Colombian government to expect a longer wait time while they are still sorting things out. That was a bit hard to hear at first, not going to lie.
This whole process has gone fairly smooth and fairly quickly (strange to say I know given that it will be a year in MARCH since we first began our journey with The Gladney Center!), and I just assumed that the referral would come just as quickly. Neither Aaron or myself have had many of those "WOW I just want my child home right now, this second, and I don't want to wait any LONGER!" moments... thankfully the Lord has covered us in patience and peace throughout this process so far. But now that we are here and feel like we are SO CLOSE, it's hard to swallow the reality that our third child is most likely born, and it could be a while until we get to bring them home. The great news is that the Lord is clearly still working things out in our hearts, helping us prepare Faith and Ava, and get us ready to make us a family of 5. He has refined our hearts, our vision of what this will look like, our relationships, and grown our marriage through this journey so far. This is no easy process. It takes a lot of time, energy, emotions, paperwork, appointments, etc.... It is messy and emotional and exhausting. I believe it takes dedication and a true calling to be able to persevere. Another honest moment.... sometimes hearing "It's all in God's timing" is hard. I know it is, oh and how I know HIS timing IS PERFECT.... but sometimes our flesh cries out in selfish desire to be able to love on our child right this second. Thankfully I have a strong man of faith by my side who can help reign in my emotions and bring excitement back into the place we are right now. Excited to love on our two fantastic daughters right now, excited to know that as long as we're waiting- God's preparing us and GROWING us (that's something to get happy about), excited to know that we could get a call ANY SECOND to see our child, excited to be us right now. To find JOY in this JOURNEY the Lord has placed us on (James 1:2 comes to mind.... Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds).
I know there will be plenty of trials to come after we bring baby baker #3 home as we all adjust to the new normal.... so as for now, we'll take one day at a time, choose joy, and be excited to know that God's clock is the only one that matters..... and it's perfect.
So how long will it actually take for the referral? Once we choose the orphanage our paperwork goes through one more round of approvals at the orphanage itself (takes roughly 2 weeks?!). From there it can be any kind of timeline possible. We could receive a referral fairly quickly (a few months), or it could take a bit longer (a year). Beth at our agency did tell us that with all of the changes happening in the Colombian government to expect a longer wait time while they are still sorting things out. That was a bit hard to hear at first, not going to lie.
This whole process has gone fairly smooth and fairly quickly (strange to say I know given that it will be a year in MARCH since we first began our journey with The Gladney Center!), and I just assumed that the referral would come just as quickly. Neither Aaron or myself have had many of those "WOW I just want my child home right now, this second, and I don't want to wait any LONGER!" moments... thankfully the Lord has covered us in patience and peace throughout this process so far. But now that we are here and feel like we are SO CLOSE, it's hard to swallow the reality that our third child is most likely born, and it could be a while until we get to bring them home. The great news is that the Lord is clearly still working things out in our hearts, helping us prepare Faith and Ava, and get us ready to make us a family of 5. He has refined our hearts, our vision of what this will look like, our relationships, and grown our marriage through this journey so far. This is no easy process. It takes a lot of time, energy, emotions, paperwork, appointments, etc.... It is messy and emotional and exhausting. I believe it takes dedication and a true calling to be able to persevere. Another honest moment.... sometimes hearing "It's all in God's timing" is hard. I know it is, oh and how I know HIS timing IS PERFECT.... but sometimes our flesh cries out in selfish desire to be able to love on our child right this second. Thankfully I have a strong man of faith by my side who can help reign in my emotions and bring excitement back into the place we are right now. Excited to love on our two fantastic daughters right now, excited to know that as long as we're waiting- God's preparing us and GROWING us (that's something to get happy about), excited to know that we could get a call ANY SECOND to see our child, excited to be us right now. To find JOY in this JOURNEY the Lord has placed us on (James 1:2 comes to mind.... Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds).
I know there will be plenty of trials to come after we bring baby baker #3 home as we all adjust to the new normal.... so as for now, we'll take one day at a time, choose joy, and be excited to know that God's clock is the only one that matters..... and it's perfect.
Friday, October 5, 2012
APPROVED!
So we've had some really exciting things happen since the last post... and some not so exciting things....
A few weeks ago we received our APPROVAL from the USCIS at the Department of Homeland Security!!! HUGE step... HUGE. Then again, everything feels like a huge step in this never ending process :) .... Aaron and I were super excited to receive this because we were thinking we were DONE!! Definitely thought this was the moment things would be sent off to COLOMBIA and out of our hands!!..... UMMM not quite. Then come to find out we were still waiting for the return and authorization of our sealed finger prints from the FBI. Yes, the FBI. And yes these were the third set of finger prints we have had done. No big deal right? So we waited some more. Then about one week later... we GOT OUR FINGERPRINTS delivered to us!! Another really excited step that brought us one step closer to bringing our child home!
So we were now thinking that THIS surely had to be the last thing to submit to our Dossier company... umm, not quite! Luckily ( I say with a forced smile) our Dossier company found a few things that needed to be changed in some of our papers. Things that needed to be re-notarized, dates that needed to be typed out, new name change forms... the list could go on and on and on.... SOOO where are we now???
With all of the approvals under our belts, we have to move really fast. These approvals only last for 12-15 months (which may sound long, but you'd be shocked at how fast the time goes before everything can be 100% good to go, mistake free, type-o free, sent to Colombia)! We have corrected all that needed to be corrected (HOPEFULLY!) and are now waiting for our currier to take our sealed prints from the FBI to Washington to get apostilled, then our Dossier company will look over everything again, double check everything, triple check everything, THEN give us the good news that we can officially send our Dossier off to COLOMBIA!
As discouraging or tiring or frustrating as this whole process can become... The Lord frequently sends us sweet things to smile over and encourage Aaron and I. The Lord has seriously breathed the call of adoption into this community more so than I ever could have imagined. Some of our very best friends, other dear dear friends, other people that we have just now gotten to know and love.....! And above and beyond all of this... it hasn't stopped. One of my very best friends older sister just announced that she and her husband are beginning (kind of... they've had this on their hearts I do believe for a long long time.....) their journey of adoption as well!!!! Not only that, but 2 more sweet couples have come forward to talk about adoption... PLUS meeting several new families at FBC preschool who have domestically and internationally adopted that have just moved to the area... Seriously, how cool is this? How great is our God? Our Lord works in beautiful and mysterious ways...
Sooooo until the day comes where we can receive the referral for the child the Lord has chosen for us... we will wait. Some days patiently... some days not so patiently... some days joyfully... some days a little more frantic than others..... some days it feels like that last month in your pregnancy when you are just ready to have your child here and are tired of being pregnant.... some days a bit more peacefully knowing that the Lord is not quite done refining us and preparing our child for us to bring home.... !!
All in all it is with lots of JOY that I get to say we have made huge strides forward....!!
This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the JOY of the Lord is your strength. Nehemiah 8:10
--reminding myself daily that it is through our Joy in the Lord that we find our strength... and with that strength all things are possible!
A few weeks ago we received our APPROVAL from the USCIS at the Department of Homeland Security!!! HUGE step... HUGE. Then again, everything feels like a huge step in this never ending process :) .... Aaron and I were super excited to receive this because we were thinking we were DONE!! Definitely thought this was the moment things would be sent off to COLOMBIA and out of our hands!!..... UMMM not quite. Then come to find out we were still waiting for the return and authorization of our sealed finger prints from the FBI. Yes, the FBI. And yes these were the third set of finger prints we have had done. No big deal right? So we waited some more. Then about one week later... we GOT OUR FINGERPRINTS delivered to us!! Another really excited step that brought us one step closer to bringing our child home!
So we were now thinking that THIS surely had to be the last thing to submit to our Dossier company... umm, not quite! Luckily ( I say with a forced smile) our Dossier company found a few things that needed to be changed in some of our papers. Things that needed to be re-notarized, dates that needed to be typed out, new name change forms... the list could go on and on and on.... SOOO where are we now???
With all of the approvals under our belts, we have to move really fast. These approvals only last for 12-15 months (which may sound long, but you'd be shocked at how fast the time goes before everything can be 100% good to go, mistake free, type-o free, sent to Colombia)! We have corrected all that needed to be corrected (HOPEFULLY!) and are now waiting for our currier to take our sealed prints from the FBI to Washington to get apostilled, then our Dossier company will look over everything again, double check everything, triple check everything, THEN give us the good news that we can officially send our Dossier off to COLOMBIA!
As discouraging or tiring or frustrating as this whole process can become... The Lord frequently sends us sweet things to smile over and encourage Aaron and I. The Lord has seriously breathed the call of adoption into this community more so than I ever could have imagined. Some of our very best friends, other dear dear friends, other people that we have just now gotten to know and love.....! And above and beyond all of this... it hasn't stopped. One of my very best friends older sister just announced that she and her husband are beginning (kind of... they've had this on their hearts I do believe for a long long time.....) their journey of adoption as well!!!! Not only that, but 2 more sweet couples have come forward to talk about adoption... PLUS meeting several new families at FBC preschool who have domestically and internationally adopted that have just moved to the area... Seriously, how cool is this? How great is our God? Our Lord works in beautiful and mysterious ways...
Sooooo until the day comes where we can receive the referral for the child the Lord has chosen for us... we will wait. Some days patiently... some days not so patiently... some days joyfully... some days a little more frantic than others..... some days it feels like that last month in your pregnancy when you are just ready to have your child here and are tired of being pregnant.... some days a bit more peacefully knowing that the Lord is not quite done refining us and preparing our child for us to bring home.... !!
All in all it is with lots of JOY that I get to say we have made huge strides forward....!!
This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the JOY of the Lord is your strength. Nehemiah 8:10
--reminding myself daily that it is through our Joy in the Lord that we find our strength... and with that strength all things are possible!
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
So.. what's new with the adoption?!
Constant changes in the international adoption processes, constantly new hurdles, new rules and regulations.... the only REAL constant in this process is the UNKNOWN. When we began this process and first felt the calling to adopt, I promise I could've hopped on a plane that day, flown to Columbia and taken our child THAT DAY. Or at least that's what I thought.... Adoption will make you a PATIENT person. Adoption will teach you to wait on God and God alone. Adoption will teach you to trust that whatever is thrown your way is OKAY because guess what... it's all part of this beautiful (in HIS eyes, maybe not the world's eyes) plan God has for us. As I look back, we began this journey in February and God has revealed so much to me from that point and I look forward to learning more as we continue in our process and wait to bring our child home.
So the real question everyone wants to hear answered "WHATS NEW WITH THE ADOPTION!?" . Well I'm glad that you asked. August 1st we received our approval and notice that our Home study was finally FINALIZED! In a nutshell that is what I would tell most people when they ask this question... when in all reality my heart bursts to explain the rest of the process. Completion of the home study seems so minute, but this is HUGE. Soooo here we go with the continuing steps (which are always subject to change....)
1. Home study finalized! (CHECK!!!!)
2. Home study sent off to the United States Citizen and Immigration Services to get approval for us to immigrate a foreign born child into the US!!!
--This is exciting stuff people! The USCIS is running about 40-50 days to review and hopefully approve. Once we get this approval we get the green light to continue on and submit our paperwork TO COLOMBIA. Oh yeah... and this piece of paper grants our child AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP as soon as we LAND ON U.S. SOIL the day we bring him/her HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
3. As we wait these 40-50 days to receive approval from USCIS, we work on our DOSSIER. Our Dossier is a super complicated huge set of paperwork that I have been collecting since MARCH. I think I have everything, but you never really know.
--We have hired a company to help us with this process. A woman who used to work with our agency opened up her own company helping families through the Dossier process. When I say complicated... that doesn't even do it justice. With this company, we send them all of our papers I have already completed and collected and she submits everything for us. Everything is sent exactly where it needs to go. The first time.
4. Once the Dossier is complete and ready to be submitted, it can take 3 weeks to get translated into Spanish. Once translated, we hopefully get approved. THEN our file is TOTALLY LEGAL and READY to receive a REFERRAL for a CHILD!!!!
5. Current wait time could be one month, 6 months, or 12 months-To receive a referral.
6. 5-7 weeks to prepare for travel AFTER we accept a referral for a child.
7. TRAVEL!!!!!! Depending on where the orphanage is that we are adopting from, travel could be 3 weeks ... or 8 weeks!!!!!!
So this is exactly where we are. Seems long and complicated, YES... but we are moving along. I love how God continually refines our hearts to look a smidge more like HIS. When we began this process I was certain I could do the paper work faster than normal, I was certain that it wouldn't take near as long as it was taking other families, I was certain that we would fly through this process (because of course I could control that.). Common problem there is the re-occurrence of the word "I".
God's up to some pretty cool (and intense!) things..... Loved our time of praise and worship this Sunday... The 1910 band did a new Hillsong song and these words are so simple but seriously heavy in our hearts.....
And I will run and not grow weary
I will rise in God my strength
My heart will trust
For all my hope
Is Christ alone
Now my soul sings
Your love it knows no end....
I will love for You have loved
I will forgive as You forgive
Your love prevails
So the real question everyone wants to hear answered "WHATS NEW WITH THE ADOPTION!?" . Well I'm glad that you asked. August 1st we received our approval and notice that our Home study was finally FINALIZED! In a nutshell that is what I would tell most people when they ask this question... when in all reality my heart bursts to explain the rest of the process. Completion of the home study seems so minute, but this is HUGE. Soooo here we go with the continuing steps (which are always subject to change....)
1. Home study finalized! (CHECK!!!!)
2. Home study sent off to the United States Citizen and Immigration Services to get approval for us to immigrate a foreign born child into the US!!!
--This is exciting stuff people! The USCIS is running about 40-50 days to review and hopefully approve. Once we get this approval we get the green light to continue on and submit our paperwork TO COLOMBIA. Oh yeah... and this piece of paper grants our child AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP as soon as we LAND ON U.S. SOIL the day we bring him/her HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
3. As we wait these 40-50 days to receive approval from USCIS, we work on our DOSSIER. Our Dossier is a super complicated huge set of paperwork that I have been collecting since MARCH. I think I have everything, but you never really know.
--We have hired a company to help us with this process. A woman who used to work with our agency opened up her own company helping families through the Dossier process. When I say complicated... that doesn't even do it justice. With this company, we send them all of our papers I have already completed and collected and she submits everything for us. Everything is sent exactly where it needs to go. The first time.
4. Once the Dossier is complete and ready to be submitted, it can take 3 weeks to get translated into Spanish. Once translated, we hopefully get approved. THEN our file is TOTALLY LEGAL and READY to receive a REFERRAL for a CHILD!!!!
5. Current wait time could be one month, 6 months, or 12 months-To receive a referral.
6. 5-7 weeks to prepare for travel AFTER we accept a referral for a child.
7. TRAVEL!!!!!! Depending on where the orphanage is that we are adopting from, travel could be 3 weeks ... or 8 weeks!!!!!!
So this is exactly where we are. Seems long and complicated, YES... but we are moving along. I love how God continually refines our hearts to look a smidge more like HIS. When we began this process I was certain I could do the paper work faster than normal, I was certain that it wouldn't take near as long as it was taking other families, I was certain that we would fly through this process (because of course I could control that.). Common problem there is the re-occurrence of the word "I".
God's up to some pretty cool (and intense!) things..... Loved our time of praise and worship this Sunday... The 1910 band did a new Hillsong song and these words are so simple but seriously heavy in our hearts.....
And I will run and not grow weary
I will rise in God my strength
My heart will trust
For all my hope
Is Christ alone
Now my soul sings
Your love it knows no end....
I will love for You have loved
I will forgive as You forgive
Your love prevails
Our life group (minus a few!!) got to go experience some pretty NEAT things the other day in Kerrville at this HUGE cross. This is seriously what "doing life together" is all about... the support and LOVE from these other couples is unbelievable.
Monday, May 21, 2012
Little Update!
The Home Study went fantastic! Thank you to everyone who prayed for us and stood with us through that process!!! It was calm and peaceful and pretty entertaining with these two girls of ours. Our sweet case worker got down on the floor and played with Faith and Ava, chatted with them, had "tea" with them, and even played baby dolls together. She was with us for about 4 hours asking questions about our child hoods and upbringings and reasons for wanting to adopt ... and every question you could possibly think of. We pretty much went through our entire life stories :). At the end of it our case worker told us that she gives herself a month to finalize everything and prepare it for our 1800-A (incredibly important immigration papers). Once that happens and our agency submits it and we wait to get approval to move a foreign born child to the US :)! From what I understand, this process could take a few (1-3ish) months. THEN once we get that approval, we wait to get an appointment to get fingerprinted ....then we send off our dossier (a huge amount of paper work). The great news is ... that once our home study is finalized, our paperwork gets sent over to Columbia for the orphanage officials to begin looking over it and trying to match us with a CHILD! While we are waiting to receive a referral for a sweet child we will be waiting for the 1800-A approval and be finishing up the dossier. A time line is near impossible to predict right now...
Last weekend some of our really dear and incredible friends hosted their second annual ONE LESS race. A couple of years ago God gave them a vision of hosting a 3k/5k/10k race annually to help financially support families in the adoption process and bring awareness to the orphan crisis in our world. This sweet family, the Fickeys, are in the process of adopting from Africa and have seen the financial and emotional struggles you can go through when trying to navigate an adoption process. Aaron and I were completely honored and humbled when they asked if we would be one of the families they sponsored. The race was a complete success and we were COMPLETELY blown away by the love that God poured out through our community. Not only did the Fickeys step up and put on this amazing race (I still don't know how they did it..), but our Hill Country CrossFit family showed up HUGE to run and support us. I am still totally blown away by it all. I really do believe that there is something special going on in this community.. and I'm excited to see just where God takes us all as His picture and His plan are slowly beginning to be revealed more and more....
They built this big tri fold that had all kinds of pictures and information about each of the countries that each one of the families are adopting from....
Please look at those BEAUTIFUL faces ......!
And on the other side Katie put together information about each family and had a spot where you could write a note or prayer or words of encouragement for the families.... still in total amazement every time I look at these pictures....
NOW........A little (LONG!) side note of what God is slowly revealing in our lives....
These two bring so much joy and laughter and love... and of course frustration every now and then :) into our lives.......
Where do I even begin. There for a couple weeks it seemed like our lives were simply on cruise control. Nothing was really bothering us, we were having fun, totally thinking about ourselves, we didn't have any more paperwork for the adoption, and the home study was about to happen--- which went so wonderfully and so peacefully!!--. A couple weeks ago my dad left for 10 days on a mission trip to Kenya and I committed to pray for he and his team every day while he was away. During those times in prayer God began to awake in my heart again this awareness that I had some what let get dimmed and pushed away to the back of my brain. We were thinking about vacations and cars and birthday/ mothers day presents. Don't get me wrong, there's not a day that goes by that I don't think about our third child, and what he/she is going through, and whether or not he/she is hungry or cold or in pain or in need of medical care or physical and emotional LOVE.
God is awakening my heart again to not get complacent .. not get comfortable... but to continue with this next step and put it into action- not just this emotional awakening, but to further it by getting our feet wet. I have no idea exactly what that looks like but I'm excited to see where this goes. I was reading "The Barefoot Church", a book that our life group is going through right now and for the sake of not plagiarizing the entire second chapter, I wanted to share this persons updated version of Matthew 25:44-46
The actual way this scripture reads is, "They also will answer "Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you? He will reply, "truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for the least of these, you did not do for me."
Richard E. Stearns takes it to the next level by translating it into something we can relate to a bit more easily... and maybe feel a bit more conviction for without even really asking for it.....
For I was hungry, while you had all you needed. I was thirsty, but you drank bottled water. I was a stranger, and you wanted me deported. I needed clothes, but you needed more clothes. I was sick, and you pointed out the behaviors that led to my sickness. I was in prison, and you said I was getting what I deserved.
Ouch.
It is amazing to see people on television or read about people in the newspaper or see videos on YouTube of people with tons of money or tons of biblical knowledge making a difference in the world. ... BUT it's even more amazing to see people in our community, people we know, making a difference. People getting their feet wet. Jason Brown once said in church several years ago, "I'm tired of us shouting at the dirty water! Let's get in a clean it up!"You don't have to have some outrageous bank account, or have this amazing personality, or have tons of biblical knowledge.. or have ANYTHING for that matter to make a difference. You don't have to go international. But you also don't have to limit yourself to our local community needs either. I for so long have watched people like Ja Brown, and Greg Lewis, and my dad, and my Aunt Kandy and Uncle Roger, and Mark Johnson.... people who have taken it to the next level. I'm tired of buying the t-shirt, wearing the bracelet, and just sending in a check each month with out getting my hands and feet dirty.
I want to challenge you, just as we are trying to figure out exactly where God is leading Aaron and I, to get your hands and feet dirty. To stop shouting at the dirty water, but actually get in and clean it up. Let's take our faith to the next level and pray about how exactly we are to make a difference. Don't get me wrong, being financial supporters of missions, and church's, and orphanages, and non profits is a HUGE deal. And maybe that's exactly where the Lord has called you to. But for us specifically who don't have the financial means, I'm TIRED of living this comfortable life. I'm tired of knowing these incredibly disturbing facts ( like there are an ESTIMATED 147 million orphans world wide... children..babies... teenagers who are hungry and hurting or being sold into prostitution or 12 years old and killing there own people with AK 47s), and still going on about my day where, what I'm going to do with the girls and serve for dinner and when I've got to get to the gym, are the questions that occupy my mind. I can't ignore the fact that while we spend a silly amount of money of food to eat the way we do, there are millions of people, families just like ours, who have nothing to eat. And the fact that most young girls in 3rd world countries are sold into trafficking by the average age of 14. 14! Let that sink in for a moment. Let's make a difference. Let's figure out more ways to get involved and make a difference. Not just compliment the ones who are out there doing the leg work.
There are so many areas just in our small community to get involved. Every Friday night Mark Johnson and a team of amazing individuals go down town and feed and love on and encourage people less fortunate that us. Greg Lewis is like a walking encyclopedia when it comes to mission trips and being globally minded. Hill Country Daily Bread is another amazing organization that serves local families needs here. And the list goes on and on...... AND for any of you who have ever had any desire or any tid bit of pulling in your hearts for adoption, whether domestic or international, I have some exciting news. The Fickey's and us are in the process of launching an adoption ministry for our city called "Reclaimed". Not like we know everything about it BY ANY MEANS.... but we are walking through it right now and know that it can be a really scary/intimidating/overwhelming process to get started. Especially if only one spouse has felt that calling while the other spouse isn't quite ready. If you have any desire or curiosity about adoption, I encourage you to come to our first meeting the evening of Sunday June 24th. The location has yet to be determined. Even if you might want to entertain the thought of adoption I encourage you to come check it out!!!!
Last weekend some of our really dear and incredible friends hosted their second annual ONE LESS race. A couple of years ago God gave them a vision of hosting a 3k/5k/10k race annually to help financially support families in the adoption process and bring awareness to the orphan crisis in our world. This sweet family, the Fickeys, are in the process of adopting from Africa and have seen the financial and emotional struggles you can go through when trying to navigate an adoption process. Aaron and I were completely honored and humbled when they asked if we would be one of the families they sponsored. The race was a complete success and we were COMPLETELY blown away by the love that God poured out through our community. Not only did the Fickeys step up and put on this amazing race (I still don't know how they did it..), but our Hill Country CrossFit family showed up HUGE to run and support us. I am still totally blown away by it all. I really do believe that there is something special going on in this community.. and I'm excited to see just where God takes us all as His picture and His plan are slowly beginning to be revealed more and more....
The Awesome Fickey Family, Us in the middle, and another sweet family adopting from Ethiopia, The Menn Family at the ONE LESS RACE
And on the other side Katie put together information about each family and had a spot where you could write a note or prayer or words of encouragement for the families.... still in total amazement every time I look at these pictures....
NOW........A little (LONG!) side note of what God is slowly revealing in our lives....
Where do I even begin. There for a couple weeks it seemed like our lives were simply on cruise control. Nothing was really bothering us, we were having fun, totally thinking about ourselves, we didn't have any more paperwork for the adoption, and the home study was about to happen--- which went so wonderfully and so peacefully!!--. A couple weeks ago my dad left for 10 days on a mission trip to Kenya and I committed to pray for he and his team every day while he was away. During those times in prayer God began to awake in my heart again this awareness that I had some what let get dimmed and pushed away to the back of my brain. We were thinking about vacations and cars and birthday/ mothers day presents. Don't get me wrong, there's not a day that goes by that I don't think about our third child, and what he/she is going through, and whether or not he/she is hungry or cold or in pain or in need of medical care or physical and emotional LOVE.
God is awakening my heart again to not get complacent .. not get comfortable... but to continue with this next step and put it into action- not just this emotional awakening, but to further it by getting our feet wet. I have no idea exactly what that looks like but I'm excited to see where this goes. I was reading "The Barefoot Church", a book that our life group is going through right now and for the sake of not plagiarizing the entire second chapter, I wanted to share this persons updated version of Matthew 25:44-46
The actual way this scripture reads is, "They also will answer "Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you? He will reply, "truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for the least of these, you did not do for me."
Richard E. Stearns takes it to the next level by translating it into something we can relate to a bit more easily... and maybe feel a bit more conviction for without even really asking for it.....
For I was hungry, while you had all you needed. I was thirsty, but you drank bottled water. I was a stranger, and you wanted me deported. I needed clothes, but you needed more clothes. I was sick, and you pointed out the behaviors that led to my sickness. I was in prison, and you said I was getting what I deserved.
Ouch.
It is amazing to see people on television or read about people in the newspaper or see videos on YouTube of people with tons of money or tons of biblical knowledge making a difference in the world. ... BUT it's even more amazing to see people in our community, people we know, making a difference. People getting their feet wet. Jason Brown once said in church several years ago, "I'm tired of us shouting at the dirty water! Let's get in a clean it up!"You don't have to have some outrageous bank account, or have this amazing personality, or have tons of biblical knowledge.. or have ANYTHING for that matter to make a difference. You don't have to go international. But you also don't have to limit yourself to our local community needs either. I for so long have watched people like Ja Brown, and Greg Lewis, and my dad, and my Aunt Kandy and Uncle Roger, and Mark Johnson.... people who have taken it to the next level. I'm tired of buying the t-shirt, wearing the bracelet, and just sending in a check each month with out getting my hands and feet dirty.
I want to challenge you, just as we are trying to figure out exactly where God is leading Aaron and I, to get your hands and feet dirty. To stop shouting at the dirty water, but actually get in and clean it up. Let's take our faith to the next level and pray about how exactly we are to make a difference. Don't get me wrong, being financial supporters of missions, and church's, and orphanages, and non profits is a HUGE deal. And maybe that's exactly where the Lord has called you to. But for us specifically who don't have the financial means, I'm TIRED of living this comfortable life. I'm tired of knowing these incredibly disturbing facts ( like there are an ESTIMATED 147 million orphans world wide... children..babies... teenagers who are hungry and hurting or being sold into prostitution or 12 years old and killing there own people with AK 47s), and still going on about my day where, what I'm going to do with the girls and serve for dinner and when I've got to get to the gym, are the questions that occupy my mind. I can't ignore the fact that while we spend a silly amount of money of food to eat the way we do, there are millions of people, families just like ours, who have nothing to eat. And the fact that most young girls in 3rd world countries are sold into trafficking by the average age of 14. 14! Let that sink in for a moment. Let's make a difference. Let's figure out more ways to get involved and make a difference. Not just compliment the ones who are out there doing the leg work.
There are so many areas just in our small community to get involved. Every Friday night Mark Johnson and a team of amazing individuals go down town and feed and love on and encourage people less fortunate that us. Greg Lewis is like a walking encyclopedia when it comes to mission trips and being globally minded. Hill Country Daily Bread is another amazing organization that serves local families needs here. And the list goes on and on...... AND for any of you who have ever had any desire or any tid bit of pulling in your hearts for adoption, whether domestic or international, I have some exciting news. The Fickey's and us are in the process of launching an adoption ministry for our city called "Reclaimed". Not like we know everything about it BY ANY MEANS.... but we are walking through it right now and know that it can be a really scary/intimidating/overwhelming process to get started. Especially if only one spouse has felt that calling while the other spouse isn't quite ready. If you have any desire or curiosity about adoption, I encourage you to come to our first meeting the evening of Sunday June 24th. The location has yet to be determined. Even if you might want to entertain the thought of adoption I encourage you to come check it out!!!!
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
HOME STUDY SCHEDULED!
Wow... okay so I know it's been quite a while since my last post. Soooo- since then we finished up on all the beginning stage paperwork and for the first time since March 22 our brains were able to TAKE A BREAK! The ball was completely out of our court and totally in our agencies. We had no more appointments to make or paper work to work on or copy or mail or fax, and no more official documents to obtain! We had done everything we could so far, and were simply waiting to hear from our caseworker to let us know we were approved for our home study!
It took about two weeks, but I GOT THE CALL FRIDAY. If any of you have ever adopted, or fostered, or planning to adopt.... then you know just how monumental it feels to know you are ready for your home study. The voicemail started out with her saying how excited she was for us which was quickly followed by a, "unfortunately I'm much busier than normal for this summer and am actually booked for the next two months." (insert dagger in my heart now)--but then she quickly went in to how she has one opening left THIS WEEK that she wanted to offer us ( insert incredible excitement here)!
All this said... our home study is scheduled for this Thursday morning at 9am!!!! Then starts the crazy paperwork trail again to finalize all of our international and immigration paperwork, that way when we get the call that we have a referral for a CHILD, we can get the ball going as quickly as possible to travel. The home study is how the orphanage officials in Colombia will choose which child they think will fit best into our family. Super important in case I haven't emphasized that enough!!
So I'm sure every one is wondering time line now..... once we get the home study done, and the case worker finalizes everything- we go on to wait list and wait to get a referral.... on average right now our agency is saying 6-15 months to get a referral, then an additional 5-8 weeks to get us all ready to travel to Colombia. Once we arrive in Colombia, we'll have a day or so to get settled... then we get to go to the orphanage to meet our child!!! That same day we will be able to take our child back to the hotel/house/apartment/idontknowwhereoneatherwewillstay and he/she will be with us the entire time in Columbia while we finish up the legal adoption in country. Our stay in country varies big time depending on which city the orphanage is in. It could be as little as 2 weeks- or as long as 6 WEEKS!
Now all we can do is continue to wait and pray for our child, for God's favor, and for God's provision...
It took about two weeks, but I GOT THE CALL FRIDAY. If any of you have ever adopted, or fostered, or planning to adopt.... then you know just how monumental it feels to know you are ready for your home study. The voicemail started out with her saying how excited she was for us which was quickly followed by a, "unfortunately I'm much busier than normal for this summer and am actually booked for the next two months." (insert dagger in my heart now)--but then she quickly went in to how she has one opening left THIS WEEK that she wanted to offer us ( insert incredible excitement here)!
All this said... our home study is scheduled for this Thursday morning at 9am!!!! Then starts the crazy paperwork trail again to finalize all of our international and immigration paperwork, that way when we get the call that we have a referral for a CHILD, we can get the ball going as quickly as possible to travel. The home study is how the orphanage officials in Colombia will choose which child they think will fit best into our family. Super important in case I haven't emphasized that enough!!
So I'm sure every one is wondering time line now..... once we get the home study done, and the case worker finalizes everything- we go on to wait list and wait to get a referral.... on average right now our agency is saying 6-15 months to get a referral, then an additional 5-8 weeks to get us all ready to travel to Colombia. Once we arrive in Colombia, we'll have a day or so to get settled... then we get to go to the orphanage to meet our child!!! That same day we will be able to take our child back to the hotel/house/apartment/idontknowwhereoneatherwewillstay and he/she will be with us the entire time in Columbia while we finish up the legal adoption in country. Our stay in country varies big time depending on which city the orphanage is in. It could be as little as 2 weeks- or as long as 6 WEEKS!
Now all we can do is continue to wait and pray for our child, for God's favor, and for God's provision...
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