Fun Fundraiser - Essential Oils!

My family and I use essential oils-- every. single. day.  I discovered these powerful plant essences back in May.  Once I learned and understood the myriad of benefits for my family, we started on that road and never looked back.  Honestly, they have changed our lives.

There are several brands I love and purchase from regularly.  One particular brand that I use frequently is Barefut Essential Oils.  And the BONUS?  They have an Affiliate Program which I joined in September.  This means that when my family members, friends and complete strangers purchase oils and products on the Barefut website using my unique Affiliate Link, 25% of your purchase goes towards our Adoption Fund!  Isn't that just Awesome Sauce?!  Aaaaaaand, my code never expires!  So if you always shop Barefut using my unique link, 25% always goes into our adoption fund.  Always!

This program means I get to promote a small but wonderful, family owned essential oil company, you get to reap the benefits of these great products, and our adoption fund to bring W home from Haiti grows a little bit with each purchase!

If you are an essential oil user and have never experienced Barefut oils, I would challenge you to do so.  You will love them!

~This company is known for having frequent, incredible sales...including free oils!
~Each item you purchase earns you points which translates into dollars towards your future purchases.
~And their oils are 100% pure, potent and top notch.

My unique affiliate link:  http://barefut.com/shop/?a=53

By the way, if you do make purchases using my affiliate link, please let me know so I can say thank you.  Unfortunately the affiliate website only tells me when a purchase has been made using my link.  It does not, however, tell me who purchased the item(s).  Thanks!

A Little Distraction

I was introduced to essential oils earlier this year ( oh.my.word.LOVE ) and butters and carrier oils and so much more...  I discovered that I LOVE making skin care products.  And guess what else?

It's a **FABULOUS** distraction when I'm feeling sad about W being so far away from us.  Hey, you do whatcha gotta do, right?

These are "Sweet Spearmint" lip balms.  A friend is purchasing them from me to add to her Christmas gifts.  I still have to design and print labels -- which is stressful since I'm not very computer savvy -- but it will be fun to see the finished product.

I must shamelessly admit, they ARE super luscious and delicious on your lips! ;-)

Wellsprings (part one)

The past couple of weeks are marked by sweet times with my Savior.  It began with several days of dedicated fasting and prayer for W, for our adoption process, for C4C, for all the folks at IBESR, and so forth, yet it turned into so much more.

It turned into a cup of spiritual water spilling over into my parched soul. 

Waiting is hard.  Adoption waiting is Excruciating.

For those of you that have followed our adoption journey from the very start--from China, to Taiwan, to Ethiopia, to Taiwan and now to Haiti--my waiting has been accompanied by many spiritual lessons along the way, which ultimately led to spiritual blessings.  Yet if there is one experience that could be found in each leg of our journey, I guess it would have to be "desert walking".  Like the Israelites of old who needlessly wandered in the desert for 40 long years, I find myself taking a sojourn into the scorching desert.

I don't plan to go there.  I don't want to go there.  Yet somehow in the mental confusion from a broken heart and cracked soul, I fall face first in the sand.

I'm not proud of it. 

I wish I could say that each time I've waited and dreamed and prayed for the day our next child would join our family, that I never faltered.  That my trust in God's perfect plan and timing never failed.  That I wore His strength like a garment and smiled and experienced joy at every turn.

I would be lying to myself.  I would also be lying to the novice adoptive parents who believe adoption is like the perfect fairy tale or inspiring Hallmark film.  Folks, adoption is HARD.  It is the hardest thing by far that Eric and I have ever chosen, but still we choose it.  Adopting a child will rip your heart out, crush it into a million pieces, but when God puts your heart back together -- and He will -- your heart is suddenly ten times larger.  That's what adoption does.

That's when the Wellsprings come.

(to be continued)

Giving Thanks...

...is meant for 365 days of the year!

God is Good, ALL the time!

Adoption Updates galore! (July-November)

This is a catch-up post, so yes, it is long, but I hope you read through to the end.  Enjoy!

JULY UPDATE from the crèche (highlights)

W is getting bigger, stronger and faster by the day! He lost another tooth recently and is so excited about getting his grown up teeth. He is becoming very curious about the world around him and loves asking lots of questions. He wants to know anything about everything and will make sure he is persistent and patient until all of his questions are answered. W's soccer skills are getting better and better with each match played at the crèche. He is competitive and energetic, a great combination for a boy who loves sports. But really, W likes all kinds of play. He loves any game, activity or subject in school that teaches him something new and provides a challenge. W is so silly and loves to laugh, but loves making others laugh even more!

Adoption Process -- IBESR continues to be backlogged with the new referral and matching process.  C4C staff visits IBESR at least a couple of times per week.

SEPTEMBER UPDATE from the crèche (highlights)

W is in 1st grade in primary school. He is very clever. He loves soccer and he is great in it.  He has a loud voice and is a great eater. 

Adoption Process -- IBESR spent the month of September trying to catch up on the files of children who were abandoned.  Referrals for a few other crèches have begun to trickle out, but none for C4C yet.  Many of our abandoned children’s files have been delivered to the Judge for Children as of the end of September.

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER…an unofficial update from me

Ok, so we are still waiting for our Referral.  That means we are still waiting for IBESR to issue the official documents to us, via the crèche, via our adoption agency, that say we have been *MATCHED* officially to W to be his parents.  Now this doesn’t mean that he will legally be our son yet.  Our case still has to go through the Haitian courts for that to happen.  BUT it does mean that we will be invited (required) by IBESR to come to Haiti for 2 weeks for our *supervised* socialization visit.  During the trip to W’s crèche (Chances for Children, C4C) we will be observed twice by an IBESR social worker who will also interview us before we leave the country.  After that trip, the social worker submits her report to IBESR, the director of IBESR signs off on our adoption file and we exit the IBESR stage of the process.  At that point, our adoption case moves into the court phase of the process.

Can I just say that I AM DYING TO GO TO HAITI TO BE WITH MY BOY!!??

I’ll let you in on a little secret, but only if you promise to pray… ;-)

This past week, Eric and I felt led to spend time fasting and praying specifically for W’s file (and the other adoption files from his crèche that have been stuck in IBESR) to be signed and completed…to be released for our long anticipated referral.  As far as we know, his file needs (needed??) 2 signatures to be finished—the mayor of the town of Kenscoff (where W resides at the crèche) AND the Children’s Judge in IBESR.  When this happens (Lord, has this happened already but we just haven’t heard yet??!!…), we will be given his referral!  Eric and I continue to humbly yet boldly make our requests in prayer…that God will open (or knock down) doors and move mountains (and Haitian officials) for W’s file to be finished and released right away!!  Who will cry out to the Lord with us?  Will you? J

 

 

So after the Referral, what happens next? you ask.  Great question!

When our adoption agency contacts us that they have received the referral documents from C4C, we will get them signed and notarized.  We will also write a letter to IBESR accepting W’s referral.  This paperwork will be sent back to our agency to be translated into French.  During these paperwork preps we also coordinate with C4C and IBESR to select dates for our travel to meet W!

Of course, our hope, dream and prayer is to travel in December.  We do not know if that will happen, but God knows the desire of our hearts.  We trust Him and His timing, but we do believe the bible tells His children to ask of Him.  So we will wait, patiently (ummm, working on that) and see what unfolds.  Ultimately, God loves W so much more that we ever could.  So that is a great comfort to us, knowing our Heavenly Father is caring for our future son far away in Haiti.

Allow me to leave you with one thing.

A friend who is also adopting a child from C4C asked a friend of hers, who was recently at the crèche on a missions trip, to visit with W.  She was able to get a 1 minute video of our little guy!!  I’ve watched it dozens of times and bawled most of those times.  He is ADORABLE, y'all.  He’s got the biggest, loveliest brown eyes and a killer smile.  And that deep little voice of his…oh my, I am smitten.

In the video, W says, “When are you coming, please?”  and “I love you.  I miss you, mom.  I miss you so much, mom.”

Oh my heart!  Please pray, pray hard, friends!

Much love,

Jennifer

 

Oh the Projects

I'm immersed in 2 or 3 projects right now that have kept me away from the blog, but I am excited to be able to share updates soon.  There are "hopeful" things occurring in our adoption process (thank you, Lord!)-- in the Haiti adoption process overall.  I want to lay those all out for you.

I also need to share the most recent updates about our cutie patootie, W.  He is growing so big and is so handsome!  I wish I could share photos online of his wonderful smiling face!  Soon, hopefully, we will be making significant movement and then I will be able to post those.

I also have something personally exciting I would like to share with my family and friends.  I am trying something new and want to share my excitement and plans with all of you.

So check back frequently for more!

~TTFN

I am STARTing SOMEthing NEW!!!

Time seems to stand still in this time of waiting for our family to increase by one via Haiti adoption...

Some days I handle it well; other days, not so much.
One thing is for sure-- life keeps moving forward, with or without me.

In The Waiting:

__I am SO grateful for the times of spiritual growth and reflection and learning (trying to) the lessons God is teaching me.
__I am thankful for the time to read parenting books on adoption and trauma and the realities of older child adoption and discuss topics with other adoptive parents.
__I appreciate the special supportive friends I am making in the cyber adoption world, and drawing closer to the friends I have right here.
__I also am glad for the time we have to "get our house in order".  For our family, this means preparing W's room (oh which color scheme and decor?), getting our house better organized (oh my!), working towards our goal of debt free living (help us, Jesus!), getting a handle on our schedule (um, remind me to put that on the calendar...), etc. etc. etc.

This time of waiting is also a FABULOUS TIME for our family to turn our crazy days and hectic eat-on-the-run and exercise?-what's-that? life around.  I am tired of being a 40 (something) mom who sleeps poorly, lacks energy and has headaches triggered by lazy nutrition.  I have been feeling convicted for months to make improvements in my health and my family's...and slowly but surely God is convincing me.

To be completely honest, organization doesn't come naturally for me, I don't really much like cooking, I'm a major sweet tooth, and going to the gym is low on my list of enjoyable things,,,THEREFORE I need accountability to have success in these areas.  Putting this out here in Blog Land does offer me some level of accountability, and to make it stick...I am starting a New Blog.
I have a title and a new blog site but no content yet.  But I will.  I've got several posts swirling around in my head.  I have great hopes that this "Accountability Blog" will inspire and challenge me and our family to continue the baby steps we've been making towards living a more natural and healthy lifestyle.

Some of the topics I'll be writing about:

1)  Essential Oils -- This is a huge topic and super fun!  I've been using essential oils on myself and my family for several months for preventative and alternative health, and I am loving the positive results.  Buh-bye, OTC's!  Hello, natural healing!  I will definitely be sharing our experiences and offering tips on how you can add essential oils into your daily life.  I want every family to reap the benefits we are, and more!

2)  DIY Natural body products and cleaning products for the home -- I've been creating products for myself and my girls (my hubby, uh, he's kind of against lotion - ha!) and the results have amazed me!  I've also love the cleaning products I'm making with all natural ingredients.  They are safe for my kids and pets, and they make my house smell great (of course! cuz they've got essentials oils in 'em too!).

3)  Quick & Easy Healthy Meals (did I mention *easy*?) --  The fewer the ingredients, the better!  I want to cook and bake meals my family will love, that are wholesome (and not that frozen, processed, stuff (uh, don't look in our freezer)), that will be fun for me to prepare...because that would make me want to do it more often, see? ;-)  Noelle, our oldest daughter would dearly love to have a garden.  I'm not so sure we have the time in our lives to manage a garden, but who knows what the future holds.  We did grow strawberries and tomatoes this summer.  The tomatoes were quite yummy, however, the strawberries kind of fizzled out early in the season.  Soooo the gardening idea is on the back burner for now.

4)  Reading labels -- This was probably my first step towards improving our family's diet.  I've been doing this for a couple of years now.  I read labels every time I grocery shop.  I am looking to avoid artificial colors (wooo do these ever mess with Noelle!), artificial flavors, artificial preservatives, high fructose corn syrup and partially hydrogenated oils.  I am also becoming wise to dough conditioners, hormones, GMO's, and many other chemicals that the food industry is adding to the items on grocery store shelves.

5)  Exercise for the Whole Family --  I have been participating in an Aqua Pilates class for several months and really enjoy it.  However, I have to get up at 5:30 am 3 times a week to participate.  I started out strong but have been less consistent in recent weeks.  I have plenty of excuses I could share--some of them are quite good--but I won't bore you with my whine.  I am currently looking for alternative exercise routines since, as a chronic poor sleeper, exercising that early sometimes makes me feel worse.  I may have found a workout routine one that my hubby, the girls and I can actually do together every morning.  And it's only 4 minutes long.  Seriously!!  More on that later.

The other thing I could and should do is to get back into my martial arts workouts.  My husband and I earned our black belts in the Lung Fu Do system several years ago, but I've really gotten away from keeping up my skills.  Maybe writing a get-me-and-my-family-healthy-Accountability-blog will inspire me?  I can sure hope!

5)  Probiotics -- I am a big believer in supporting and improving gut health by taking potent daily probiotics.  I've tried different ones over the years, but only this year have found a couple of quality brands that have really helped my digestive issues.  Studies have shown that there is a strong connection between how healthy our gut is (the amount of healthy bacteria vs. the bacteria that makes you sick) and how we feel throughout our entire body.  Of course, if we eat crud all day, popping probiotics ain't gonna make much difference at all.  I know that as I improve what I eat, my (expensive, gulp) probiotics I take every night will work even better.

6) Margin & Balance --  This is not a health topic, per se, but having a life that lacks Spiritual, Physical, Emotional and Relational balance is an unhealthy life.  Eric and I serve in full time ministry and are the kind of people who love to dream big dreams with God.  We love to partner with other passionate ministry minded individuals.  Being involved with, and serving the people in our local community, as well as supporting ministries in other countries is a priority for us.  Historically we have tended to take on more than we can "effectively" balance.  We've said "yes" to things that were good but maybe not best.

We want to grow and improve in this area of our life.  It is important for us to be healthy, balanced individuals who can effectively lead the people of our church into fulfiling service in God's kingdom.  We desire to have margin in our life so we can plan times of intentional outreach to the most needy and hurting people in our community.  But most of all, we want to be healthy and balanced parents who are able to provide the safe, loving and nurturing environment our adopted children need to grow and heal and become the best people they can be in Christ! :)

7)  Etc.

You probably noticed I did not even mention Organic vs. Conventional foods.  I definitely agree that organic is the best way to go, but for our family it is not financially feasible to go strictly organic.  I purchase organic produce as often as I can, but sometimes I have to be satisfied with conventionally grown because I want my family to eat fruits and veggies.  I do suspect that as we see organically grown and produced foods becoming more mainstream, the price point will go down.  That will be a great day! :)

So friends, I hope that you will join me over on my new blog!  I would love for you to read and post your comments so we can have helpful discussions about having healthier families.  When I have things up and running, I will post the link here.

See you soon!

Jennifer

A Call to Fast & Pray!

The month of SEPTEMBER is BIG. For many months, there have been no new matches between Haiti's orphaned children and Waiting Families. This has been heart-wrenching for us, as we pray and seem to endlessly wait for news that W will finally be our son. As of September 1st, IBESR (Haitian social services) is now CLOSED to NEW adoption applicants for the month of September...to catch up with the dossiers they already have. Our family is one of the dossiers they already have in their system....Woohoooooo!!!!

Many of the Waiting Families are each taking ONE DAY in the month of September to FAST & PRAY:
__For IBESR to process and approve ALL of the ***current waiting families dossiers***
__For IBESR to approve the families to be matched to the children that they've already been matched to! (by the orphanage director where their child is living)
__For God to whisper The Names of our children into the precious ears of the people who hold our dossiers
__For God to set the orphans into families and bring those children home!!!

Sunday SEPTEMBER 21 is OUR family’s day to fast and pray,,,and we are asking our friends and family to join us. Will you please join with Eric and me on September 21 (and throughout the month of September)? Please let us know if you will be partnering with us, on behalf of our future son, W, and the hundreds of waiting children and families! 

There are many families who have been waiting longer than we have--some have waited much, much longer (Lord, lift them up and strengthen them!), and we have no idea if we will receive our official match to W this month. However, it would be such a joy to see ANY movement forward in Haitian adoptions, to see any children find families!!! But let us pray BIG, for mountains to be MOVED!!! We are putting our hopes and trust in God, knowing that He is working all this for the good of His children who are called according to HIS purposes. We cannot see and we may not understand, but He is at work. Who will join us??!! 

“A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families…” Psalm 68:5-6

**Please Note:  As is the case with all international adoption programs, rumors and misinformation abound and accurate information often comes in slow trickles.  The above statements about ibesr closing to new applicants in September has only been confirmed by a few adoption agencies, but not all.  Most (?) of us adoptive parents feel this info is fairly accurate.  IF it is, then the need for prayer is GREAT.  If it is not accurate, then the need for prayer is even GREATER. :)  K, just putting that out there.  Love ya guys.  Thanks for supporting us! :)

A Whole Lot of Nothin' (sigh)

I will just be honest.  I am discouraged.  Have been for awhile.  So discouraged, in fact, that I have been completely uninspired to post on the blog.

Thinking too much and too often about W and his sweet, sweet face is downright depressing.  Thinking that he is wondering..."Why on earth have these people from American who I am told will be my parents have never come to Haiti to meet me?"

Me thinking, "Oh sweet boy, I would come to you in  HEARTBEAT, if only...if only the adoption process allowed us to do so...if only IBESR had informed our agency that they have approved our dossier...if only IBESR had given us the official match to W so we could officially adopt HIM...if only we had been invited to travel to Haiti for the official 2 week socialization visit so the IBESR social worker could observe and interview us and recommend we receive official IBESR approval to adopt this particular child...if only...if only...

I could/should share the most recent updates we have received about W from the creche.
I could/should post some (highly edited) photos to show his response to his last care package.
I could/should show you photos of the most recent care package that is on its way to Haiti--via a sweet family that is finally going to pick up their girls after such a long wait (woohoo!).

I could also post about all the continuing changes in Haiti adoptions.

But honestly, its a Whole Lot of Nothin'.

Rumors and misinformation, along with some accurate information trickling out slowly, but only to some.  Who the heck knows what is happening over there?  Only God knows, truly.  IBESR (Haitian social services, in charge of processing all the adoptive parents' dossiers and matching them with children)...well, they keep changing how they do things and so much is unconfirmed and different creche (orphanage) directors get conflicting information.  Sigh.

We think IBESR now has their  brand new Children's Court set up to process adoption cases.
We think they have processed a few "test cases", meaning they approved a few  families and gave them official referrals (matched to children) and have had gone before the new judge.
We think IBESR is (or has) hiring additional staff for Children's Court because they have so many hundreds of cases they probably need more help.
We think IBESR's fees will be increasing, but don't know how much or when or how that will affect our case.
We think that any day now IBESR will no longer take "match suggestions" from creche directors; that they (ibesr) will exclusively make matches of a child to a family.  (In other words, instead of the creche director who knows the children that live at her creche and knows the families she is working with (well, as much as you can know a family through a home study, questionnaires, emails, etc.) matching kids to families, IBESR will look at the files of all the available children in Haiti and look at the files of all the approved families in the Haiti program and then make a match.)

Pray, friends, pray.  Eric and I are in this for the long haul.  But it is hard...oh so hard.
And pray especially for W.  We fear he could be discouraged, doubtful, hopeless.  Pray for God to be the lifter of his head and give him everlasting peace and hope!

A Birthday Care Package!

W is turning 7 this week!!  The painful reality is we can't be there with him to help him celebrate his special day.  But the next best thing is sending a birthday card and a bag full of good stuff!

One of my adoptive mama friends is at W's creche THIS WEEK picking up her son, D, for his Home-going trip.  (Yay for K and D!!)  D and W also happen to be good buddies.  And...D's mama is delivering our birthday package!  We are SO excited to find out how our sweetie responds.  Maybe there will even be a few smiley pics!

The last time (the only time) we & he "connected" was back in December when he received his Introduction to your Future Family care package.  He had such pride, joy and anticipation!  But that was such a loooooong time ago, especially for a 6 year old.  I often think, Does he wonder if we are still out there, thinking of him and working hard to bring him home?  Does he wonder if we have changed our minds about the adoption or forgotten all about him?  What goes through his mind each time one of his friends leaves the creche, and he is left behind.  Does he wonder, When will it be my turn?

We would ask you pray with us specifically for him to be encouraged about his future with his Forever Family--our family.  We ask that God gives him peace and enduring hope that we are here and we are praying hard and working hard to bring him home.


When I saw this blue t-shirt at the store, I immediately thought of my boy.  He loves Spiderman!  And, Spidey glows in the dark--cool!  Besides, I think the red and blue will look super handsome on him. :)

There is one more thing inside W's birthday package I did not mention...  Love,,,lots and lots of LOVE.





(Some of you are curious to know the specific items we included with W's birthday gift.  They are:  a birthday card, a t-shirt and shorts outfit, sunglasses, new family photos (laminated), a paint with water book, super hero stickers, a giant hot wheels coloring book, as well as--> construction paper and lots of crayons and tootsie rolls for all the kiddos at the creche to enjoy.)

Big Changes in the Haiti Adoption Process??

As you know, our family is currently waiting for IBESR to re-match us to W and invite us to Haiti for our 2 Week Bonding Visit.  This morning I read a post from Layla, another adoptive mama who isn't too far ahead of our family in their Haiti adoption process.  They have already been issued their official match and have signed the paperwork to adopt a toddler boy (February?).  However, they are still waiting for the invitation to travel to meet their future son.  Their adoption agency has been trying to learn the cause of this hold up.

Today we learn the reason...and it is posted on Layla's blog.  Big Changes are (possibly) being made in the adoption process.  The long, multi-phased court process called Parquet is (maybe) morphing into something quite different...and could potentially, hopefully, speed up the adoption process!!  Apparently a new judge is being hired, just to process Adoption Cases... Read the full story HERE.

This is VERY INTERESTING.  As of now, this story is coming out of only one adoption agency, so I'll be listening for what other agencies report as they receive information from their contacts in Haiti.  Our agency isn't able to confirm this information yet but is keeping their ear to the ground.  I will definitely left you all know when or if we receive confirmation that this change has been made official...

And as always, friends, please pray for W and all the orphans in Haiti waiting for a forever family.  And pray for the Haitian Officials who are working to improve the entire adoption process--bless them!

W's March UPDATE!

Eric and I are always thrilled and blessed to receive the bi-monthly report on W.  We received a new pic of him missing nearly all his front teeth (top and bottom)...so cute!  And here is a recent pic of most of the kiddos currently living at the creche.

Here are the highlights of his March Update:

W has gotten so mature in the last few months. He is the greatest little guy - always sweet and helpful to the staff and to his friends. He LOVES to play outside and is always the one to ask – can we go outside and play now? He isn’t quite old enough to play football {I translate "soccer" here} in the fierce weekend games with the older boys, but he tries any chance he can. He usually picks up a game with the boys in his age range, although this is not his preference. 

He loves to sing and is one of the most focused choir members. {Did I ever mention that I'm a choir girl through and through, worship leader at my church, have a college degree in music education and taught music for many years?... :-)}  He takes his responsibilities seriously, whether that is singing in the choir, making his bed, or doing his school work. He is a great young boy and asks frequently about his adoptive mom and when she will come to visit him. He knows her name and always asks “when will my mama Jennifer come to see me” in his perfect little English. {I'm not embarrassed to say I immediately bawled when I read this line.  I keep repeating that line over and over in my half-formed heart (half-formed because one of my children is far from home!) to sustain me.} 

We finally received W's birth certificate! {Big answer to prayer!  This has been many months in coming!}  His dossier {adoption file} is near completion and will be submitted to IBESR soon. We are not sure how long it will be before IBESR will contact us regarding the Johnson’s socialization visit {this is the required 2 week visit we are simply aching to go on!}. The attorney will check in regularly.

Okay peeps.  Let's keep praying for godly protection over this adoption process/all the paperwork and for favor with IBESR and all the decision makers!!

***p.s. i do have an email in to our adoption coordinator to get some clarification about our process.  if i receive anything newsworthy, i will update this post. :)

Feeling Hopeful (An Update...sorta)

December was the last time we received any news about our adoption case.  December 3^rd our dossier (our adoption file) was logged in to IBESR to begin the review process.  Remember, that is Haiti’s department of Social Services.  We and our agency were hopeful that the review would go relatively quickly—hopeful that Eric and I would travel to our crèche to meet our future son for the first time before the end of Winter.  It was not to be.  With new adoption procedures going into effect, Haiti joining the Hague convention, and several Haitian holidays along the way, the review process seems to have really slowed down.

I have to be honest and say that this period of waiting has gotten quite difficult for me.  Since early December, when W received our care package, saw our faces in the photos and heard our voices in the Hallmark book, this adoption became so REAL.  Suddenly there was a concrete connection between our future son and us.  I feel like he is part of our family already.  I think about him so frequently.  When I’m shopping for the family—I wonder if W would like this cereal, or this toy, or this game.  I think about him as we eat around the table and as we do family activities.  It feels like he should be there.  And of course, we pray for him every day, throughout the day.  The girls have the sweetest prayers for him and this process each night!  Some days I have cried; other days I have wanted to stay under the covers and not leave the house.  It hurts that a member of my family is growing up in another country, far from me. 

The good news is...I am SO encouraged and glad to report...our adoption agency representative is in Haiti, right now!  She is scheduled to meet with the directors of all 4 crèches our agency works with in Haiti.  When she is at W’s crèche, she will be getting an update on the status of our adoption process.  We are hoping and praying there will be some concrete information for us in this meeting.  It would be wonderful to know exactly at what stage of the process we are in. 

Our agency rep will also be meeting with someone at IBESR to discuss how the new procedures and the Hague policies will affect her adoption cases in progress.  This is very good.  Eric and I are praying that the meeting will happen (seriously praying), and that she will be given accurate and complete answers to all of her questions.  The Haiti adoption program is so in flux right now, disseminated information about the process to seems to change almost weekly, sometime daily! 

Our family is praying very intentionally each day for our rep’s time in Haiti.  We are praying for her safety, for her to connect with all the people she hopes/needs to see, for her to receive all the information she needs and then some…for her week in Haiti to be very fruitful!  Friends, will you join us in praying?  She returns Tuesday, so please pray with us over the next few days. 

This whole process is soooo difficult for the waiting children. These precious kids should not have to needlessly wait for a family.  Officials in the U.S. and Haiti involved with adoptions should be working hardest on these cases, trying to unite kids with families!  Unfortunately the World’s values are not the same as our Heavenly Father’s values.  Orphans are typically not high on the priority list of governments, politicians and bureaucrats.  Orphans are very high on God’s list of priorities!

So let us fight

Let us advocate

Let us pray for these precious children to be united with loving forever families!
----> Sooner rather than later <----

Congratulations to Haiti!!

It was announced today that the U.S. Government determined that Haiti has met all requirements necessary to join the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption.  Yay!!  It is reported that Haiti is an example to all developing countries hoping to implement Hague.  And....adoptions in progress will continue uninterrupted!!  Thank you, Lord!!

This is a wonderful answer to prayer for SO MANY.  We praise God that children needing families will not have to wait even longer.

Do please continue to pray, however, that the Haitian adoption process will quickly be streamlined so more children can have permanent families much sooner.  The process is too long.  It just is.  That's the current state of affairs with most international adoption programs across the world.  God's plan for children is not for them to grow up in orphanages, without a future, a hope, a family.  He is looking for willing-hearted people to step up and say, "Yes, I will!"

For those who are willing, please join us in praying for God to move the mountains of governments and politicians, that decisions would be made to greatly increase the efficiency and decrease the cost of international adoptions...and that godly people all over would would raise their hands to become parents to these precious little ones.

Read the good news story here.

Orphan - New Music Video by John Waller

John Waller, a Christian recording artist just a couple hours from us in Atlanta, GA has just released a brand new song called "Orphan".  Eric and I watched the video this morning and both bawled.. ;-)  It is definitely worth your time.  Check it out HERE.

An interesting side note-- John and his wife recently adopted a sister and brother from the Ukraine.  Such a neat story!  You can listen to their story HERE.

Now go watch and be blessed!

W's January Update...plus pics!

We were thrilled to receive our bi-monthly update from W's creche today.  Our agency coordinator is so awesome--she never waits until Monday to send it, but emails it to us as soon as she gets it!

W's Update:

W has such a big personality that is shining brighter every day! W is really self-sufficient and knows how to entertain himself when others aren't there to keep him busy. He loves to draw and is getting better at it every day. His favorite things to draw are cars and big trucks, or sunglasses. His pictures are always for his mom. His face lights up every time he talks about his family.  {Oh, my happy heart!}  He is very independent and not easily influenced by others. He really seems to stand strong for himself and makes decisions independent of what others want from him. {You go, boy!}  However, he does like to make others smile and is very silly with his friends. He can be very shy at first when meeting strangers but warms up very quickly. W is so smart and focused in everything he does. He is cooperative and is learning to follow the rules very well. He can be demanding at times with people he is comfortable with, but is usually very cooperative and patient. W is so excited about having a family who loves him.  {Yay!!}

Aren't these photos amazing?!  Well, okay, you can't actually see his face, but trust me, he looks amazing!

And another SUPER HAPPY bit of news to share with you--  We have some friends that are also adopting from W's creche and they were kind enough to take photos and a video of him this week!!  The video is of him saying Hi to his mama (me!) and saying he misses me and can't wait to meet me.

(insert big cheesy grin here)

Also, my girlfriend used her iPad to show him some pics of me on facebook.  As soon as he saw my face, he started dancing around and saying, "My mom!"

Oh goodness.  Too much.  Can I buy a plane ticket NOW and be in Haiti by morning??!

Happy Adoption Update! {here's how things work}

We received some hopeful news from our agency coordinator this week.  I wanted to share! :)

I've discussed here on the blog that as a pioneer family in Haiti's new adoption process, we have to expect the unexpected.  Eric and I certainly aren't novices to the world of international adoption, but I can say I am very relieved this isn't our first adoption.  This process is nerve wracking!  Praise God, we know Who to trust!

Haitian officials and creches and adoption agencies are all slowly walking out the new procedures with families.  The process is gradually unfolding.  I'd describe it as walking a rickety footbridge with the next wooden plank appearing only after your foot is raised for your next step!

Mario Valenzuela

And then comes the news earlier this month-- Haiti has joined the Hague Intercountry Adoption Convention.  (What is the Hague?  Read here for the details.)  This was expected but no one knew exactly when it would occur.  I have to admit that this news has concerned me (and other adoptive families I know).  In the past, countries have been shut down to international adoption due to failure to correctly implement Hague procedures.  This would be devastating for children and families on so many levels.

"Haiti has deposited their instrument of ratification to the Hague Permanent Bureau as of December 16, 2013, joining the 1993 Hague Intercountry Adoption Convention. The Convention will go into force for Haiti on April 1, 2014, provided the Bureau approves.  The deposit means that following April 1, 2014, adoptions from Haiti must be Hague compliant."  Read more HERE 

To break it down, the U.S. State Department is now preparing to fully evaluate Haiti's adoption procedures to see if they are in full compliance with Hague standards.  In fact, next week representatives from the State Department will travel to Haiti to meet with IBESR officials to begin the evaluation process.  On April 1, 2014, the State Department will announce Haiti's Hague status to the public.  Eric and I and many others are praying that the news will be positive and that there will be no interruptions in Haitian adoptions.  Read more HERE 

Now here's where the happy, hopeful news comes in. :)

I had been debating for several days whether or not to email our adoption coordinator to ask about how this Hague process may affect the progress of our adoption.  The thought of things being put on hold in our journey to W while waiting for 2 nations work out their "issues" is just awful!  Then on Wednesday I received an email from our agency coordinator written to all of her Haiti families.  My heart began to race.  Would this be good news or bad??

Here are a few portions of that email.  My comments are in red.

"Dear Haiti Waiting families,

As you all know the Haitian government submitted their instrument to the Hague in December 2013, and on April 1, 2014 Haiti will be officially a Hague country operating under the Hague convention.  Let me share with you what I know for today and hopefully it will help you with your questions and how we are planning on moving forward.

Right now the US government (USCIS/DOS) will review Haiti’s implementation of the Hague to determine if they are in compliance. Haiti has worked hard over the last couple of years to put everything in place that needed to be done to be compliant, things like; licensing foreign agencies to work in their country, forming and approving new adoption laws that provided for international adoption, and naming a central authority, just to name a few. Haiti is already operating under all these new laws and regulations so hopefully once the US government does their review they will find that Haiti is in compliance and adoptions will continue between US citizens and Haitian born children.

One of the biggest changes to adoption in Haiti is that The Hague does not allow for pre-identified children to be placed for adoption unless it is a relative adoption.  

This is where I got a bit nervous.  Our adoption for W is a pre-identified case.  

There should be no contact with a child prior to being approved by the US government, and a family cannot meet with or have contact with a biological parent/family.

Whew!  Ok, we're good.  We've only "met" our guy via videos and photos and stories from other families who know him.

The US government will give their guidelines and suggest that Haiti honor all cases in process, and we are hopeful that they will, but in the meantime, I will be working closely with the crèches in Haiti so that we get our pre-identified cases into IBESR before March 31. 

We are already in the IBESR review process, as of December 3rd.

I want to note here that members of USCIS and DOS (i.e. U.S. Immigration and U.S. Department of State) will be traveling to Haiti sometime in the next couple of weeks and meeting with government officials and IBESR and going over the current laws and the implementation of the Hague.  They will discuss grandfathering cases on this trip, along with many other things in conjunction with moving ahead with international adoptions under the Hague regulations.

Lastly, I think it is important for everyone to be aware and be prepared that from this point forward the two week visit trip will be required.  Once your case is approved with IBESR and you are officially matched with a child, you will be required to travel to Haiti for the two week visit trip. 

Our family is waiting and praying, and praying and waiting to hear that we've been approved with IBESR!

A social worker will observe you with your child/children  {eeek!}  and make a report that is submitted to IBESR as the final portion of the matching process.  {Ohhhh I hope that last part is fast!}  We do not have word as to how IBESR is monitoring these trips, but from this point forward we know that it is a requirement. 

We are hopeful that we will be able to travel to Haiti before the winter ends!  This is our continual prayer. :)

I just want to end by saying that I am very optimistic that Haiti is Hague ready and that they will be able to continue processing adoptions after March 31, 2014. There should only be a few changes to the process at this point, as many have already been made and we have been able to work through them. I am planning on forging ahead with a positive attitude!"

Yay!!  This is very good news!!  Thank you SO much for this encouraging and informative email. :)

I felt SO much better after reading her email.  But I did have one more very pertinent question:  How would this affect adoptions currently in IBESR (like ours)?  Will IBESR halt with processing cases currently the system until Haiti is Hague approved?  Gulp... 

I shot our coordinator a quick email and she responded very quickly:

Good question Jennifer and the answer is they will in fact try to process as many as possible!

Hallelujah!  That sounds really, really hopeful.  

"...process as many {cases, like ours} as possible {before the March 31st deadline}!"  

Like maybe we receive our approval soon and actually travel to Haiti before the end of March to meet W!?!  Oh my heart...  

Our dear friends, if you've made it to the end of this post, Bless you, you are awesome!  I know my posts tend to be long.  (My sweet hubs agrees with this--ha!)  There are just so many thoughts swirling around in my head and heart. ;)

I do ask one thing:  Will you please pray continually with us for W and this whole adoption process? 

Thank you all! 

image from poweryourparenting.com

Two Days & Three Little Lives

Warning:  this post is emotional.

My heart is full today as I reflect upon the lives of 3 precious children and their families.  It is full with the mixed emotions of love and happiness, concern and sadness.  Each one of these little lives is in the midst of huge change in their world.  I've been talking with God, both thanking and praising Him, and imploring Him to intervene.

...I am thinking about the toddler girl in Haiti who is meeting our friends, her future adoptive parents.
...I am thinking of the 7 year old Taiwanese girl now living in America with her forever family, the girl who was almost our own.
...I am thinking of the heartbroken 9 year old boy and his dad, who may be losing each other.

One of these situations brings great joy!  One a mixture of happiness and concern.  And the other brings sadness with a little "dare we hope" mixed in.

The toddler girl in Haiti...is experiencing a first time visit with her future family. Friends of ours are spending two weeks in Haiti, interacting daily with their future daughter.  This is referred to as the Socialization Visit.  This trip is brand new to the Haiti adoption process, and our friends are one of the very first families required to attend this period of "observed bonding".  Our sweet friends have loved and prayed for this girl for many months, yet this is her first experience with them-- like an arranged marriage where only one party knows anything about the other.  And the sticking point is that a complete stranger, a Haitian government social worker, is meeting with our friends and their future child to observe them bond.

Umm not awkward at all.  Not a bit emotionally demanding, intimidating, exhausting or confusing (for both child and parents).  No big deal, because it's not like heads and hearts are full of emotions trying to grasp the enormity of the situation.  And besides, it's not like the social worker will be writing a report whether or not to recommend the couple to become parents to this little girl or not.  Ugg.  Double ugg.  Oh how I feel for my friends!  (psst! this is what we will be doing with W, hopefully before the end of winter)

Adoption is an amazing, beautiful thing.  It is God's idea, in fact.  But adoption is also borne from pain and loss.  Something awful happened in a child's life to create the need for her to be adopted.  Therefore, creating a healthy bond takes time.  Building true attachment takes even more time.  Hurts don't heal overnight and trust develops with time after time, after time, after time, etc.  So now imagine trying to start this journey of connecting with your future child..with an audience.

I say all of this to ask for prayer for my friends.  Please pray for God to strengthen and sustain them, to give them wisdom and peace.  Please pray for this sweet toddler as she tries to comprehend who these people are and why they have entered her life.  Pray that the seeds of trust and love would be planted deep within her heart...so that one day when my friends return for their daughter, she will be ready to start the forever family journey with them.  God chose this little girl for their family a year ago (no, before time began), and I believe that He is working out all the details.  He is creating beauty from ashes!

About the 7 year old Taiwanese girl I mentioned... I found out yesterday that she finally got her forever family a few months ago.  Before that she was being raised in a home for HIV and AIDS patients.  Beautiful, smart, funny, sweet little girl, longing for a family...long overlooked due to her diagnosis of HIV+.  Why is this little girl significant?  She is significant because our family almost adopted her.

Yes, in 2012 "Jane" almost became a Johnson.  She would have practically been Noelle's twin, as their birthdays are only 3 days apart, and their size and physical features are also similar.  A Taiwanese friend and orphan care/adoption advocate contacted us in early 2012 to tell us about a little girl that lived in the care center where she worked.  She dearly loved (loves!) "Jane" and wanted to know if we would be interested in adopting her.  Loooooong story short, we did end up starting the process to adopt her.  We told very few family members and friends, as we hoped to get further into the process before we shared the news.  We were also debating how to share her HIV+ status with people.  We had educated and prepared ourselves for raising a child with HIV, but were aware that this reality could be difficult for some to understand or accept.

Note:  HIV is actually a chronic condition rather than a dreaded disease.  It is very manageable condition that is treated with daily medications.  People who properly manage their condition live long, full and healthy lives,,,AND it is essentially impossible to pass the disease along to others even in close family interactions.

About 4 months into praying and hoping and saving and staring at her photo, we had to come to the recognition that God was calling us in another direction.  It was sad and disappointing for us to pull out of the adoption (yes, there were tears), but we knew God was working out a bigger plan both for her and for our family.

So...yesterday I was thrilled that our friend in Taiwan contacted me to say that "Jane" is home with a forever family in the U.S., is happy and doing extremely well.  I got to see some photos with her and her 3 brothers--so cute!  And ok, I cried some, but happy tears this time.  Even better, she was evaluated by doctors here in the States and was recently determined that she does not have HIV!  Well, Hallelujah and Glory to Jesus!!

As for the 9 year old boy...  G.  G is the 9 year old son a friend of mine named B.  Well, truly, B started out as a coffee customer of mine about 3 1/2 years ago (at my previous part time coffee shop "gig" and now at my current "gig") but "regular customer" quickly turned into "friend" for me and another Christian co-worker.  The story is that B has pretty much raised G since babyhood.  G's mother is quite familiar with the "inner" workings of the criminal justice system, and B was the bail bondsman on her case.  Here's the catch-- G is not B's son.  B saw a messed up mama and a needy baby and stepped in.  These fellas are truly father and son, as much as I am mother to my daughters.  B has been the loving, stable person in this boy's life, all his life.  He has been fighting for custody for years, as G's bio mom runs from trouble to trouble, in and out of jail.  Last year, her poor life choices finally caught up with her...she is going to federal prison for several years.  B thought that now, surely now, he would be granted custody of this boy.  He had gotten his life right (doing his best to walk with Jesus) a year or so ago.  G was doing so well with him during their part time living arrangements.  The few family members left in bio mom's life had shown a complete lack of interest in G.  Being granted permanent custody seemed like a no-brainer.

The official custody hearing was this morning.

When B walked into the coffee shop, he looked like a beaten man.  I was making a drink at the espresso machine at that moment, so all I could say was, "What?..  What?.."  B couldn't speak.  He merely repeatedly shook his head.  I could not believe it!  Talk about messed up, unjust, wrong decision by the judge!

Some time later I was able to speak with B.  He said that G was in custody of the state and would presumably enter the foster care system.  One word for these fellas, my little friend and my grown up friend--heartbreak.

OK bloggy friends...Eric and I have prayed with B for many months about this situation and are praying even more now.  Will you join me?  I know God cares about G and B and their future!  Let us pray that true justice will win for this boy who needs a family, and this man, who loves Jesus, and wants to be that family!

I told you this post was an emotional one.  I'm sorry if I've been a downer here at the end (lots of other things to praise God for, tho!).  I just want to get ya'll involved in praying for these 3 situations.  Thank you.  Love you guys!  ~Jennifer