Uh Oh! It Happened! :(

This afternoon has been worrisome and stressful.

I received an email from USCIS.

When I first glanced at my phone, I thought, Wow, are we getting our USCIS approval in record time??!

You see, I have been praying we would not receive an RFE, Request for Evidence, from USCIS.  Many families have been receiving them lately, which in serious cases, can delay the adoption by several weeks or even months.

Was this email our Approval Email?  Well,,, No.

Turns out our son's birth certificate, which was submitted with our adoption file, has an incorrect date of birth, essentially a typo. :(  UGH!

This quickly put me in freak-out-and-fix-it mode which set off a flurry of emails, texts and facebook messages...to USCIS, our adoption agency and the creche adoption staff.

(And texts to family) (And lots of praying) (And facebook posts requesting prayer) (And some tears, I admit it..)

Wisly's birth certificate has been a thorn in the side of our adoption this whoooole long process.  I guess it's only apropos that it would cause us a hitch at the end of the process. ;-)

Fortunately, I was able to connect with 2 of the creche staff directly and received their assurances that this would be dealt with right away and be fixed soon.  They contacted USCIS to let them know they are on top of the situation.  Tomorrow morning, a creche staff member plans to pick up a new birth certificate (from where, I forgot to ask..), take it to the civil registrar to be legalized (takes 2-3 days generally), then get it back to USCIS...hopefully first of next week. 

So there is a Silver Lining!  Praise Jesus!!

If you were one of the folks that immediately started praying when you were made aware of the situation, THANK YOU!  It appears it won't be a difficult or lengthy solution.  But would you please continue to pray?  This is Haiti.  Anything could happen. ;-)

Please pray that C4C can accomplish these tasks in record time, all because of God's Hand on this process, and may God receive all the glory!

I do also thank the Lord that USCIS contacted us directly, and today, instead of 6 weeks or more into the process.  I am told that they can tend to be slow at informing adoptive families of errors in their files, so praise God we found out now instead of later! :-)

Will keep ya posted!

4 Weeks in US Immigration

Today marks four weeks in the final stage of our adoption -- US Immigration (USCIS).  Six weeks is the average time frame to receive I-600 approval, at which point, our case goes to the Visa Department to be issued a visa appointment and receive Wisly's visa.  Please pray with us for FAVOR and efficiency!  July is 3 1/2 years into this adoption!

Yard Sale Fundraiser...Success!!

A couple weeks ago we had our last BIG adoption fundraiser...a multi family Yard Sale at our church!  We collected donated items for months, literally, because we had such a difficult time finding a Saturday when my husband and I would both be in town and when people would be available to help.  We settled on Father's Day weekend.  It turned out to be a great day!  (see photos below)

We had several AMAZING helpers who helped organize, price and set up inside the church on Thursday and Friday,,,including several ladies who baked yummy desserts for the Bake Sale portion of the event.  Saturday morning we were there before 6:30am pulling tables and large items outside.  At 6:45am, we had serious shoppers lined up.  Eeeek!!

One of our Yard Sale signs we placed on street corners

The sale went until 3pm and then at 4pm, the guys from Providence Ministries in Dalton, TN arrived with their large moving truck.  We had had SO MANY items donated, that with the "leftovers", we filled up their truck--wow!!

The highlight of the day for me was when my 74 year old dad disappeared for a couple hours and returned to report, "I've been Sign Spinning with one of your yard sale signs!!  Did it help??" 

OH.MY.WORD.  I wish wish WISH I had a photo of THAT!!!  My poor dad was in blue jeans (he's a proper Northern Gentleman in the South who never ever wears shorts or removes his shirt) and a white children's sailor cap (he's a bit thin on top!) to protect him from the sun! lol

And actually it DID help!  

I love my Daddy...and my sweet mom, too, who helped greatly on the inside of the building, out of the sun. :-)

A HUGE thank you to my dear hubby, my girls (who were so very patient all day) and all the friends from church who made the day a big success.  

When you add up sales, donations (and a few IOU's)...we raised approximately $1250!!  Nearly enough for our final creche payment and visa fees!!  Thank you, Lord Jesus!!

Enjoy the photos from Friday when we were setting up:

Our sweet Noelle made this poster to display at the sale

Never hurts to put out a donation jar, right? :)  We had quite a few people add to the jar after they paid for their items!

Silly Noelle found a crazy hat and crazy glasses to model!

Love our church family in Chattanooga!!!

Step Number LAST!!!

Wisly's passport was printed May 27th but we've been waiting to find out when our adoption case would actually enter the final stage, USCIS (US Immigration) at the Embassy in Port-Au-Prince.  We have some friends living in Haiti who are adopting two kiddos from Chances for Children.  Our two families have been essentially in the same stage together for several weeks.  Their file was submitted to USCIS on Tuesday May 31st.  We've all been hopeful that our file was submitted along with theirs.

Since I had not received any updates or confirmation from our agency, I decided to send an extremely brief email this morning to the Adoption Unit at the Embassy.  It can't hurt to just check, right? :-)

I was pleasantly suprised to hear back from them this afternoon!  It looks like our file was submitted on May 31st along with our friends' file!  Thank you, Jesus!

And to answer everyone's question,  "When do you get to pick him up?"... Hopefully by the end of July.  You see, the final stage is actually a series of steps, just like most of the adoption process.  It looks like this:

~Our adoption file/dossier is submitted to USCIS for final I-600 approval (They are saying 6 weeks for approval at this point.)

~After approval, our dossier is transferred to the Consular Section (DOS) of the embassy to issue Wisly's Visa appointment.  (We will get an email with instructions on filling out the DS-260 form online.)

~Medical documents are issued and Wisly's exit medical exam is completed.

~The creche staff attends the visa appointment on our behalf.

~We start planning travel with our agency!

~The visa is approved!

~The visa packet is taken to IBESR (Haiti Social Services) for the travel approval document.

~The IBESR travel document is issued.

~We travel to Haiti to pick up our boy!!!

Exciting times!!  Keep praying!!  We're almost there!!

We Have the Passport!!!

Praise God!!!  We received the news from our agency that Wisly's passport was printed/issued last Friday!

Now we are waiting for confirmation to see if/when our file was submitted to US Immigration.  Hopefully it's already been submitted!  They are saying it takes approximately 6 weeks to get approval.  Then the VISA appointment so our boy can come home!

Our prayer request during this final phase is for our file to be complete and error free.  I have known lots of families to receive an RFE = Request for Evidence.  In other words, more paperwork, more documentation, more proof of a proper adoption process...which equals MORE TIME.  Hopefully this will not happen with our case!!!

So ready for our sweet fella to be home! 😃

Haiti Trip #4 - Wisly's Birthday Surprise!

First, the photos (and videos), because I know that's what ya really want. ;-)

Later, I will write a post describing all the crazy twists and turns from our wonderful trip.

We are so blessed to be in our lil man's life.  Thank you, Jesus!

Click HERE to go to the photo album.

One Week!

 

In just one week we will be in Haiti, surprising Wisly for his 9th birthday!!!  I am so psyched!  Noelle is getting very excited, as well.  This will be her first time on a plane and traveling out of the country (well, aside from when she came home from China as a lil tyke, of course).  I can hardly wait to see our sweet fella's face when we show up!  We are so very blessed that God has provided the way for us to go on this trip and continue the bonding process.  Please pray that our time there is fruitful and that God accomplishes all that He desires in us and through us.

And Wisly's passport still hasn't been printed!  It's taking longer than usual.  So prayers appreciated for that as well.  Would sure love to have our boy home this summer! :)

TOT(T): Dear Christ-Followers

This post below is actually something I shared with my friends on Facebook yesterday morning.  From the moment I woke, these thoughts were firmly on my mind and in my heart.  I felt compelled to share.  I knew the Holy Spirit was nudging me gently (or maybe firmly?) to share what He had laid on my heart.  So here you go, blog world!

Christ-followers...my heart is disturbed and heavy today. Our society is in a moral mess. We could make it a better place, but too often we get emotionally caught up in whatever is the Current Political Debate,,,and have forgotten to seek God in how to respond, or even how/what to believe...

We live in this broken world and are surrounded by its ungodly influences. Yet, I think we Christians tend to become complacent, and before we even know it, worldly points of view have influenced us. The world has changed our hearts and minds, and we are completely unaware. frown emoticon

We assume, "I'm a Christian! Of course, what I think or feel about current events/politics/situations around me MUST come from God, right?"

Oh dear friends!
If we are not daily asking God to transform our minds (to have the mind of Christ), if we are not daily asking God to give us HIS wisdom (not wisdom as the world gives),,,then we need to check, double check, and check again with God's Word and the leading of the Holy Spirit:

"Is my heart and mind fully aligned with You, Lord? Do my beliefs (and subsequent actions) fall in line with Your plan?"

Because we Christians fail at times to seek out God's Thoughts about current events, we have unwittingly helped to further ungodly causes! Worldly Wisdom has crept in and influenced what we think,,,and how we respond. frown emoticon

Friends, please know, this post today comes from my heart. heart emoticon
My tears fall as I write this, because we Christ-followers are charged with such an important calling...to make DISCIPLES of those all around us...to help others grow and become the very Image of Christ in this world, shining the light and exposing darkness, so God can come bring restoration and healing!! smile emoticon

If we find ourselves being more passionate about fighting in some "political" battle, or fighting "the system" than about helping to transform people's hearts and minds for Christ,,,then maybe we have forgotten our real job and purpose here on earth---to make this broken place a little more like the Kingdom of God!! smile emoticon

My friends, if this post encourages you to daily seek more of God's wisdom, then praise Him! If this post causes you to become quiet and reflective, then awesome!

On the other hand, if reading these words really irk you and you'd like to shout a bit, that's okay too, cuz you're not actually upset with me. Think about it... smile emoticon

Lord, lead me in Your ways today!

James 1:5 & Romans 12:2 & Matthew 28:16-20

TOT = Totally Off Topic

I've been thinking for a while that I needed  a clever way to brain-purge all the words floating around in my cranium.  I heard some time ago that men have approx. 12,000 words a day and women have approx. 40,000.  There's just not enough time in my day (or people to listen..) to get all 40,000 words in!  Can I get a witness??

Seriously though... ;-)  Aside from being passionate about adoption, I care deeply about others things, too.  For starters-- Serving Jesus, Authentic Worship, Creating Healthy Families, even Politics (oh no she DID'nt!).  And I really like stuff like essential oils, furry friends, #thm and more.

Sooo back to my clever idea...today I introduce my new *Series of Posts* entitled Totally Off Topic (Tuesday).  Ta da!!

Okay, so you are probably visiting my blog today because you want to keep up with Wisly's adoption journey, or maybe it's because you are interested in Haiti or adoption in general.  You aren't here because Social Media is lacking in stimulating articles, videos, memes and dramatic discussions.  You have plenty of other things to read without me adding to them.

I guess what I'm trying to say, is that TOT(T) posts are for me more than they are for you.  Sometimes I have such loud thoughts in my head, I need to write (type) them down.  Sometimes they keep me up at night!  {ugh}  Writing helps me organize and focus my thinking.  It helps me understand what it is I really feel and believe.  So I guess TOT(T) is kind of an "out loud journal" -- a journal that I'm letting anyone within hearing (reading) distance have access to.

Hopefully these posts will encourage some of you, or to others, they might be thought-provoking.  And the rest of you?  Well, if you aren't interested in TOT(T)'s, that is A OK.  Just don't stop by on Tuesdays.  No worries.  Come back on Hump-Day for "Wisly Wednesdays".

[({i'm wondering if i could be any cheesier. heehee.})]

Have Passport, Will Travel

Our sweet girl received her

U.S. Passport in the mail!!

She is so excited and proud.

Haiti, here we come!