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