You Can Do It

When little K was first learning to crawl, just a few short weeks ago, the sweetest thing happened. It was right after bath time and I was in her room with big brother getting their pajamas on for bedtime. Big K and I were playing around and we looked over and sister had gotten up to all 4's and was trying to go to sitting position. Big K immediately got huge eyes and said, "Momma look she did it!" He got down on all fours with wild excitement and said, "Come on sister you can do it. You can do it!!!" Sweet Kohen, know you have a big brother and sister at home waiting to cheer you on through the things of life! Know we will be beside you celebrating all of your accomplishments with such excitement and enthusiasm...especially your big brother!! We love you...

Dossier Update

We got an e-mail last week from our dossier specialist and a phone call last night from our program director! It's always so nice to get a little news and updates. It keeps things real...

Our dossier went through authentication at the state level and now it's off to the courier in Washington D.C. She will carry it to the Department of State and then to the embassy for authentication. From there she will send it on to the attorney in the DRC. This process usually takes about 1-2 weeks. We also received the translation of our documents back!

We were a little worried about our USCIS fingerprint paperwork. It had been a month since we had fingerprints done and everyone in the agency had received approval within 2 weeks. I called and they said they had approved us on January 5. Well, the official paperwork finally came in yesterday! It reads, "It has been determined that you are able to furnish proper care to an orphan(s) as defined in Section 101(B)(1)(F) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. A separate form 1-600, Petition to Classify Orphan as an Immediate Relative, must be filed on behalf of each child." AND THE BEST PART OF THE WHOLE DOCUMENT: "No fee will be required with Form I-600 if filed within 18 months." What?!?! A document that requires no fee? That's unheard of but brings welcome relief :-)

Our program director informed us last night that there are 5 people in front of us waiting on babies 2 and under from the DRC in our agency. There is a mix of those wanting boys or girls. I was a little bummed because it is has been about a month since the last referral came in from Congo and so at this rate it may be quiet a bit longer of a wait. But I have to get rid of those thoughts and praise God that there are 5 people in our little agency bringing babies home from our son's birthplace. There are 5 more people taking care of His orphans. There are 5 little babies about to have a family who loves them and will care for them! Our time will come...hopefully sooner rather than later! I'm just ready to see a picture of our son!!!

We're Confused....Travel Options!!!

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Last night our agency director called to inform us of some changes in our travel options to Congo for the adoption. She prefaced the conversation reminding me how they informed us in the beginning that things ALWAYS change with adoptions. One month it could be this and then the next month it's completely different. Those who know me, know I do not like change. It sort of freaks me out! Luckily though, these changes were good changes!  

We now have three travel options to go get our little guy. The first one is to just stay home and have him escorted back to the United States. Honestly, one's first, selfish thought would be of course. Save us a little money since Trevor gets paid by the hour so we would lose 2 weeks worth of pay if we traveled there. Plus the thought of traveling 16 hours with a little one is quiet scary. But then one comes to their senses and realizes that it would be a complete disservice to us and our baby. We truly want to be able to go see the country he was born in and spent a few years in. We want to experience his culture that will be a part of who he is for the rest of his life. So we knew option 1 was not for us.

Option 2. This is the option that discouraged us from adopting from Ethiopia (well and the rumor that adoptions had been reduced by 90% as of March). As soon as we got our referral (a picture of our little guy and us saying yes he's OURS), we would travel to Congo and begin the adoption paperwork. We would stay 4-5 days and bond and love and play with him. We would then leave him there and fly back home. There is a mandatory 40 day waiting period and then about 2-3 weeks of paperwork wait time. So about 2-3 months after leaving Kohen, we would then either A. travel back to get him (only 1 parent has to go this time but Trevor said as if he would send me on my own to Congo) or B. have him escorted back to the United States. This is a little more expensive believe it or not. The pros of this is once we touch US soil, he will automatically be a U.S. citizen.

Option 3. Stick to the original plans. Accept the referral and wait about 3-4 months for paperwork to go through. Once we receive our court date, we would then travel to Congo and spend about 2 weeks there. On day 2 we would be able to bring Kohen to the hotel and be his parents! We would never have to leave him after holding and loving on him! It's also looking like we will more than likely be traveling during the summer time. It works out great because Trevor's mom is off during the summer and can help whenever and where ever we need her. My mom can help anytime as well. The pros: Only pack and travel, as well as tell our kiddos goodbye just once. The downside is once we returned to the United States, we would have to re-adopt him with a local attorney, spend an additional $1500 and fill out loads more paperwork.

We are truly confused. We spent time last night praying. We ask that you pray too. We need clarity and wisdom to make the right decision...for our family and for our plus 1!!

Big K's Prayer at the Dinner Table

When we sit down to eat and bless the food, we don't let Big K say a memorized prayer. We want him to speak to God from the heart. Have a conversation with Him. Know how great of a privilege it is to talk with Him. Truly give thanks.

This was his prayer last night, "Dear God. Thank you for our food. Thank you for all of the poor people in the world. Thank you for mommy and daddy. And thank you for safe travel for mommy and daddy to go get Kohen and bring him home. I love him so much. And thank you for Jesus. AMEN (Amen is sort of loud..he's ready to eat)! Trevor and I just looked at each other, I with a tear in my eye, and smiled. Kohen, know you are being prayed for even before we know what you look like. You are being prayed for by your big brother and oh how he loves you. You are constantly on our mind! We love you...

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." Jeremiah 1:5

Why Wednesday #3

Adopt Africa Digital Designs I used her design she made because it embodies it all! We need Africa as much as Africa needs us! Thank you Becky for what you're doing to make a difference for the Continent of Africa as a whole!

Why Africa?
God placed Africa on my heart a few years back. In fact, when Oprah opened her school there, I looked into traveling there to teach. Since I'm not the biggest fan of Oprah I looked more into teaching for the department of defense. Know I wasn't a Christian then, so the thought of being a missionary never crossed my mind ;-) Something about the people grabs my heart. I weep over the poverty and hurt they have experienced. But rejoice and smile over their BIG, beautiful, bright smiles!

When it came time to think about (we didn't pray, we thunk) where we wanted our child to come from, we immediately said Africa. But like I said, we thought about it. We put our little minds into the plan and thought that an African child would not fit well in our Dalhart community.
I contacted our program coordinator at Little Miracles and shared my slight concerns. She was great about explaining some issues we might have and encouraged us to really pray about where God wants us to adopt from. We looked into all of the other programs and contacted a few more agencies about their programs. Trevor has traveled to Colombia for a mission trip and has a heart for their people so we looked into that program. The approximate wait time is 3-4 years and no possibility of getting a baby. We definitely said no to a Russian child because we didn't want people to think we wanted a white baby to look like us ( I know our pride got the best of us). Our church has an orphanage in Burma so we thought maybe an Asian child. Well back in August I was at our big XIT parade. A dear friend who isn't afraid to speak her mind (which I appreciate) asked how the process was going. I shared my concerns about adopting a black baby because there just aren't many African Americans in our community and I can't offer the multi-cultural experiences they need. I told her we were looking into an Asian country.  She said, "When you close your eyes and picture your child what do you see?" I said, "A sweet little African boy with a bright, amazing smile!"

I walked back home after the parade and put the kids down for a nap. I went to check my e-mail and received a reply back from an adoption agency. They stated that we could not adopt from ANY European or Asian country due to Trevor's pre-existing medical condition (leukemia). At first I started to cry tears of sadness then immediately God turned it to tears of joy and reminded me of the little boy He had placed on my heart years before. I jumped around for joy and began looking at all of the African programs our agency offered. I also spent the next two hours reading every African adoption blog available (This was during nap time...that's how I had 2 hours to read ;-)).

We contacted our program director that night and set up a conference call. The following evening, after the kids were in bed, we spent an hour talking to her about the different programs they offered. Little Miracles works with Ethiopia, Uganda and they had just opened up Congo a month prior. We had heard Ethiopia had reduced adoptions by 90% so the wait time was increased to 1.5-2 years. Uganda we would have to live there for 2 months and having 2 babies at home I didn't think I could leave them for that long. So she discussed Congo in detail. Their first pilot family was going through the program and gave them a 6-9 month wait time and a high possibility of getting a baby.**Note. When I say baby I mean less than 2 years old. There is no such thing as bringing home a 6 month or under baby. By the time ALL of the paperwork and travel is complete, they are usually around a year old! She e-mailed me an issues to consider form and told us to pray about it for awhile.

Trevor and I filled out the four page questionnaire answering all of the questions you can imagine about issues with adopting an African child. We then researched Congo. I think I saw a tear or two in Trevor's eyes as we watched videos and saw pictures of the life of the Congolese people..especially the orphans. Our heart was heavy. My eyes were swollen. Our desires ever so great. After praying together and hours of prayer time alone, we knew without a doubt, no matter the color, no matter the challenges, our baby was in Africa.

God showed us that love knows no boundaries. Praise Jesus He doesn't see the color. He looks at the heart. We know there will be issues we have to deal with and people's negative attitudes, but we know without a doubt God, will give us the strength and wisdom to get us through. Baby Kohen, you belong with us. You are the missing link to complete our family and we love you so much!!

(Join me for Why Congo next week...hopefully..depending on how the week goes ;-))