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!