Im Back!

I know it has been a while since I have posted on our blog.

My mother always told me, "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all."

So I have kept quiet. 

In the past few months, we have had to update our home study, update the kids visas, paid out a ton of money for all of these updates, and our kids have had bouts of sickness including malaria.

We have prayed and prayed with the same answer....wait.

Not what we WANT to hear but we certainly know the Lord has PERFECT timing.

Recently five more children went to be with Jesus in the D.R.C.

That brings the grand total up to 13 children, with American families, who died of sicknesses that could have been avoided or treated here in the U.S.

We are signing back onto our blog to say enough is enough!

These kids have families and lives that are waiting for them.

They have bright futures.

The D.R.C. is trying to take those things away from them and it is unacceptable.

We still have a chance of having our happily ever after with our sweet children.  

Many families have lost that chance....they can not change the death of their children.

We can't even imagine the uncontrollable grief they must be feeling.

So we are calling the white house as often as possible to request, beg, and demand that president Obama does something to get our children home...before we lose anymore little lives.

Please Join us!

Many of us called in yesterday and gained sympathy from the white house phone operators.

The squeaky wheel gets the oil right?

Just a reminder(for my sake really).

President Kabila is just a man.

Jesus is KING!

Preparing for the Holidays

Here we are again...

Preparing for Thanksgiving and Christmas...

I really thought last year was the last time we would sit down to a thanksgiving meal with only half of our family.

I thought it would be the last time I sent Christmas presents across the world to my babies who can't be home.

But here I am on my living room floor packing a box to send to the D.R.C.

The box is full of goodies for our little ones so they can feel a little bit of the love that we have for them over here in the U.S.

They deserve better...plain and simple...

They should be home with us telling us what they are thankful for.

They should be here to open their stockings on Christmas morning and to celebrate Jesus birth with their sisters.

There are so many things in the world that just don't make sense.

I must say that the absence of our children in our lives is one of the greatest mysteries I have ever encountered.

I pray this will be our last thanksgiving, our last Christmas, without little Isryelle and Boaz.

On a happier note, the D.R.C. has chosen to give exit letters to the medically fragile adopted children.

There are multiple children who desperately needed to come home who will be with their families for this holiday season.

God is good...ALL THE TIME.

Wish I had good news....

I can't wait for the day that I can get on here and share some good news with you guys!

Unfortunately, it seems like things just continue to unravel in the D.R.C. and our kids are stuck in the middle of it.

I thought they would be safe in our arms by now....

Its almost too much to bear.

We have a prayer request.

First please keep praying that the D.R.C. would just be humbled and choose to let our children go.

Second....

Our agency is needing to charge us monthly for foster care fees.

We had paid lump sums for foster care so far and our kids should have been home by now.

It only makes sense that we pay for their care but that doesn't make it any more affordable.

This particular time in our life has us dealing with a lot of financial responsibility and the Lord has been providing.

Taking on another $400 payment every month feels a bit overwhelming.

I almost didn't even want to mention this little issue we are running into as I feel like all I do lately is complain about this adoption situation.

To be honest...this is the part of the adoption where not much good seems to be coming out of it.

Not paying the fee is not an option.

Congolese orphanages are horrendous.

Children usually get fed a small bowl of porridge every other day and one glass of water a day in a very hot and unforgiving climate.

On top of that, they also tend to be mistreated physically and sexually.

Our kids are unhealthy enough as it is living at their foster homes getting two meals a day.

We can not let them go back to an orphanage.

I think that many of us adoptive parents are just started to feel desperate and overwhelmed with sadness.

We all continue our efforts to ask our country representatives to do something to get our children home.  

We are not giving up...ever.

So again, if the children of the D.R.C. and their families are not already on your list of things to pray for, please add it.

We need a miracle.

We got some not so great news today.

It seems the president of the D.R.C. simply does not want to let our children go.

There is no rhyme or reason to why he is keeping the children other than pride and political struggle

All we know is we are dealing with some very evil people and they appear to be winning.

We are all so heart broken for our kids and I think most of us are asking one thing...

Why?

Why is God allowing this to happen?

Why won't He just step in, the almighty, and save these innocent children?

Why are more and more adopted children dying in Africa instead of coming home?

Why does one evil man get to control whether or not these children get to live with their families?

We are all unsure of what will happen next and what the next steps will be.
There is very little that can be done besides continuing to try and negotiate with the D.R.C. president....who as of right now, does not want to talk.

One thing we know for sure...

We will not leave our children to rot.

They are ours and we will do whatever we have to so that they grow up in our loving family.
If they are never released, we will have to move there which is not exactly in our life plan.
We are being told that we could be looking at waiting a couple more years before having an exact answer as to if the children will come home.
We sure are praying for a miracle!

"Can the lawful captive be delivered or the prey of the terrible be set free? For I will contend with him who contends against you and I will save thy children" Isaiah 49: 24-25

So Much News!

I have to apologize for not updating my blog for so long. 

I know most of you are part of our Facebook group and were still getting regular updates.

For those of you who are still waiting for updates, here they are!

Tah-nee Matiana is ours and she couldn't be any more perfect.

The process was smooth and beautiful although hard and unpredictable. 

We are sooo relieved that the birth parents rights have been severed and we are now the legal parents.  

We still have to work with the county to get all the T's crossed and I's dotted but no one can take her away from us.

What an amazing feeling that is!

Things seem to be moving in a VERY positive direction with Isryelle and Boaz as well.

The D.R.C is voting on new laws on Monday.

If all goes well, this should be the last step they need to get done to lift the suspension and let our children come home.

After thinking about them and praying about them for so long, the idea of them coming home soon seems completely unbelievable.

The  thought of holding them in my arms runs shivers up my spine.

Lord bring those babies home!

Meanwhile, our last appointment for our visas was on the 11th.  

We should have visas in hand any day.

We already have their passports.

We are ready to go!

If all of these kids coming home wasn't enough excitement, we just found out we are pregnant!

The Lords timing seems pretty crazy in all of this and I am not going to lie, I have NO idea what He is doing.

I know that children are always blessing.

The offer on our house also feel through.  

So please be praying that the house would sell in the Lords timing.  

The last thing we want to do right now is try to sell our house but our situation with the house isn't a great one for us financially and we really need to sell it.

Thank you all for all your support and love throughout this process. 

I promise I will keep you updated more often.

Friday Induction!

We had a crazy last couple of days.

First, We drove down to where "S" is going to deliver baby Tah-nee because we thought she was going to be induced.

We then learned that the doctor did not want to induce that night but if we stayed one more night in town, they will try to talk to him the next day.

We ended up being very blessed by getting to be at "S" doctors appointment.

It was a wonderful opportunity to get to know her better and hopefully help her feel more peaceful about what she has decided to do.

At the end of her doctors appointment, the doctor told her that he will induce her on Friday! 

We are so excited!

 

There are so many things running through my mind as we get closer to Friday.

The first thing I am is just plain excited.

We have prayed for this child for a VERY long time and the fact that it is only two short days away makes me incredibly joyful.

I am feeling the need to prepare(yet again) but also not wanted to prepare for fear of something bad happening.

I am also feeling a bit nervous about how we are going to pay for this.

So, there are plenty of things you guys can be praying about!

 

The one thing I am completely sure about is that we are VERY ready to have this sweet baby in our arms and in our family.

Your prayers over the next couple of days would be very appreciated!

 

Also, if you are not on our "secret" facebook page yet, I will be giving more detailed updates on there...so just let me know and I will add you!

God IS Faithful

There have been a lot of heartbreaking things that have happened during this adoption process.

I am sure that we have yet to experience all of the heart break that adoption can cause.

The thing that hearts the heart the most,

The one thing that I just can't accept,

is the people who have decided against adoption because of our difficult journey.

 

There are not many, but there are some, who were thinking about or planning on adoption.

After seeing us lose tons of money and go through what I can only explain as emotional chaos, they have decided adoption is not for them.

 

I feel as if I have failed in some area.

I feel like I have whined and complained far too much.

I feel like there is something I should have done differently.

 

Because this journey we have been on has been nothing short of a life changing miracle.

I would not trade the journey for 100 adopted kids.

The man and woman who started an adoption from Ethiopia 2 1/2 years ago are long gone.

They have been replaced by braver, more faithful, more Godly people.

 

This journey has been full of more agonizing waiting and bad news than I could have thought I could survive.

 

But...

 

The Lord is soooo good!

He has drawn us close to Him.

He has shown us how to REALLY persevere.

He has shown us how to TRUST.

He has shown us how to LOVE.

 

We have never felt him so powerfully blessing our lives as we have since we started adopting.

There is so much JOY when Jesus is living in you.

It does not matter how much this world tries to bring us down.

We feel happy when we feel the Lord holding us up.

 

So yes...

We have experienced more heart ache than we ever thought we could handle.

But we have also felt more JOY than we ever thought could exist.

Meeting "S"

We just got home from spending the day down in Phoenix meeting "S".

It went so much better than I could have even hoped!

She was beyond wonderful.

She was so sweet and so open with us.

 

She had a lot of good questions that really showed how much she cares about the baby.

It fascinates me to discover a little about what is on a woman's mind as she chooses a family for her child.

She asked us questions about why we are adopting.

She asked about our faith and our involvement in church.

She was concerned that we wouldn't love the baby as much as we love our biological children.

She was concerned we would have an issue with the fact that the baby will be "brown".

 

If only she could understand the LOVE we have for the child she is carrying.

This journey that we have gone through for her has been nothing short of exhausting and it is completely worth it!

The moment we saw the ultrasound picture, we were completely in love.

We hope that our meeting gave her peace that we will love and care for her child just as if she came from my own body.

 

"S" is completely ready to be induced and had some really bad complications with the last baby.

The doctor wants to give her one more week and let that baby really get ready before he considers induction.

I of course want the baby to be here...like yesterday...but I know that Gods timing is perfect and if the baby is not ready, shes not ready.

"S" has an appointment scheduled for Monday July 21st. 

She is going to request to be induced again, we will see what happens!

 

For now, we are enjoying our sweet little babies face.

 

I can't wait to kiss those chubby cheeks.

At only 35 weeks, the ultrasound said she weighed 7 pounds!

Shes going to be a big girl!

Meeting the Birth Mom Part - 1

We drove down to Phoenix today to meet "S".

We left at 7am because we wanted to take Irelyn to Butterfly Wonderland.

We got there at 9am and as soon as we got there, we got a call from our agency saying that they are not sure if the meeting is going to happen.

 

Oh Brother!  Here we go again!

That was my initial reaction.

It really was not a big deal.

 

"S" had something come up with her kiddos and couldn't find someone to watch them.

She did not want to bring them to our meeting (understandable) and canceled.

We were disappointed that it did not work out but we were so pleased with how well she communicated with the agency.

It was so nice to just know what was going on.

 

We of course can not wait to meet her and rescheduled for Friday afternoon.

Hopefully that meeting will work out and I will have a much more interesting story to share next time:)

God Pulls Through...Every Single Time!

Tonight, we have a whole lot of good news.

The Lord has blessed us with a match to another birth mom.

This mama is having a GIRL and is due in just 4 SHORT WEEKS!!!!

 

We are beyond thrilled and feeling so blessed and so "in line" with Gods will.

We feel this peace and excitement about this birth mom that we have never felt before.

The fact that God orchestrated such an unimaginable series of events to bring us to this baby gives me butterflies and fills my heart with excitement for what the Lord has next.

 

I will call this birth mother "S" to maintain her privacy.

She seems so sweet and so open.

She is asking for an open adoption which we are just thrilled about.

We can't wait to start loving on her!

We are meeting her for the first time tomorrow afternoon. 

We are praying that this meeting is the beginning of a lifelong friendship.

  Below is a little meeting gift we picked up for "S".

 

Pray for...

 

Please pray for our meeting to go well tomorrow.  This "S's" first adoption and she is bound to be nervous to meet us.  I get pretty nervous myself.

 

Please pray for God to provide for this financially.  This second match is putting a pretty big strain on us to come up with money very quickly.  We know the Lord will provide.

Please pray for "S's" heart as she makes this very difficult decision. I can't even imagine what she is going through right now.

 

Our Decision

We have taken a week to really pray and reflect on our current situation.

We have had such a rough go in our international adoption journey, we just thought our domestic journey would be a breeze.

We were pretty shocked by the loss of Penelope and it left us feeling completely helpless and confused.

 

Last week, we really weren't sure if we would keep pursuing a domestic adoption or not.

Emotionally, we are exhausted and don't really feel like going through the process again.

Its hard waiting for a match and then waiting for a due date....never really knowing if you are really going to end up with a child at the end.

We love ALL of these children so deeply that having two of them living on the other side of the world and one who will never come home is incredibly draining.

Part of us wanted to just give up on domestic adoption and start building our family the "old fashion way."

Part of us still felt God's gentle nudging to continue on.

 

We are also feeling pretty stretched financially.

When thinking about if we should continue on to another match or not, fiances were something we were definitely considering.

We want to be good Stuarts of the Lords money and want to be sure where He is telling us to spend it.

 

We also had some people come to us and tell us that they do not believe its Gods will for us to continue on this road.

There are people who feel like this failed adoption is a sign that we need to stop adopting kids.

People that feel that our own desire to adopt a child is keeping us from doing what the Lord wants us to do.

 

So we spent a week with the Lord...

Praising Him

Seeking Him

Asking Him for wisdom.

He came through for us in a big way.

 

A scripture that really stuck out to me this week is found in Romans 12:4-5

"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

 

After really focusing on Christ, and seeking Him this week, we have come to a decision as a couple to pursue another child here in the U.S.

 

We are not sure what this will look like or when it will happen.

We do feel like the Lord has a baby out there for us and wants us to continue pursuing that child.

We couldn't help Penelope.

We could not get her out of the awful situation she was born into.

Maybe if we keep fighting, we will be able to make a difference in another little ones life.

After all, if we don't fight for these orphans...

If we don't fight for these mothers who need someone to love their babies....

If we don't fight for the unwanted children....

Who will?

 

So we are going to move into this next week full of hope and feeling encouraged.

We asked for wisdom and God provided!

Thank you all so much for your prayers.



Taking a Break.

I just enjoyed a weekend away with my sister-in-law and her husband.

I was blessed by deep conversation, lots of laughter, and plenty of relaxation.

It was a joy to watch their excitement as they wait on the birth of their first little miracle.

 

I had hoped that a little time away would bring us clarity, but it hasn't.

We are still as confused as ever why the Lord did not allow us to adoption Penelope and what we should do next.

So we have decided to take the next week, and avoid adoption.

We are not going to talk about and not going to let it consume our thoughts.

At the end of the week, we are hoping the Lord will have given us some wisdom or peace about a certain direction.

We would sure appreciate your prayers during this time.

 

We do, however have a bit of good new....

Isryelle and Boaz's investigations are complete and their visa interviews are scheduled for July 23rd.

This means, shortly after July 23rd, they will be completely ready to come home.

Unfortunately, the suspension has not been lifted and they can not come home until it is.

So we keep praying, and keep waiting.

When you don't have the words...

It seems like whenever I do not know the words to describe how I am feeling, someone comes up with them.

Whether its my husband, or a friend, someone always seems to say exactly what I need to hear.

Jason and Dawn Wright are our wonderful adoption consultants who have been there for us through this whole process.

It has been such a blessing having Dawn's compassionate words and caring attitude even in my "neediest" of moments.

Then when everything seems to fall apart, Jason comes in with some wise words that just calm this mama's heart.

Two families that are working with them have recently had failed matches.

Despite what you hear in the media, when a family is working with a good agency, disruptions are not all that common.

The other day, Jason wrote what has been on their hearts for all of us adoptive parents to see.

I thought it was worth sharing with all of you.

 

"It's interesting how many people 'weighed in' on what God's plan must have been for us. Believe or n...ot we even had a man say to our face that "Maybe God is trying to tell you that 7 children is enough" right after we heard that USCIS denied our Ethiopian adoption.

I'm NEVER going to try and make an explanation of God's plan. God's ways are WAY too mysterious and amazing for us to really comprehend, and yes, it is possible that God orchestrates certain things to happen that may be difficult for us to walk through (Growth is never easy, right?), BUT, and this is a BIG but, I do not believe that our loving heavenly Father's will is one that causes bad things to happen.

My only way to explain this is to use the example of a tragedy like Columbine. This was NOT God's plan. Human beings who had free will made terrible choices that day. God allowed this to happen because he gave those two young men freedom to wake up and choose to either bless or curse him. They chose the latter. God could have reached down and stopped it, but he chose not to. Not because he's sick, but because he gave us the freedom to make choices.

All this to say, that there are times when humans intervene in what God has chosen to happen and 'derail' the perfect plan he has set forth. I believe that when this happens God ALWAYS grieves and sheds tears for us. He is grieving and knows the pain you are going through right now. He is not pleased with the choices some have made to cause you this pain.

However, He is a God of miracles, and He is ALWAYS going out of his way to bless us continually. The enemy is always (And I mean always) prowling around like a lion looking for someone to devour, and HE IS A LIAR - do not listen to his lies - and he will use many crafty ways to get to you (Maybe even through family, a pastor or close friend). God, however, is victorious, and we are more than conquerors through Christ. God WILL ALWAYS bring redemption, joy from sorrow, PERFECT peace all for His glory. Hold onto the truth that "Joy will come in the morning".

Dawn, our children and I are living testimonies to beauty from brokenness - and HE IS FAITHFUL. Continue in obedience, praising him in the storm even through tears of brokenness, and He will blow you away with his goodness and deep, deep JOY. And I also believe that as you delight yourselves in his Word and truth that HE WILL GIVE YOU THE DESIRES OF YOUR HEART - and he will bring you the amazing treasure of precious children into your arms."

 

 

Many people seem to feel that this failed match was God's way of saying no.

The problem with that is, he has been saying yes for years.

He said yes every day of this domestic adoption.

We think its Gods way of saying, "not yet."

 

We hear Him reminding to

Be still and KNOW that He is God!

Help! Call your Congressman!

This last week, tons of DRC adoptive parents went to Washington D.C. to try to get our stuck children home.

We could not make it because we were still waiting for Penelope but we were so blessed to see all of the families over there fighting for our children's rights!

They got a lot of media attention and met with a lot of politicians who seem to want to help get something moving for our children!

 

Here is what you can all do to help pass a House Resolution that will get our babies home!

 

 

Now, get everyone you know to call their Congressman and say this:

I am calling to let you know that House Resolution 588 regarding the international adoption crisis in DRC just cleared the House Foreign Affairs Committee without opposition, and to ask that you vote in favor of HR588 when it reaches the House Floor.

...

And then ask them to call Speaker Boehner's office and say this:

Please ask Speaker Boehner to move House Resolution 588 forward to a vote immediately. This resolution is needed to resolve the international adoption crisis in DRC and there is no time for delay.

 

 

So far we have had a lot of support but we need to keep this thing moving!

God is God

I took a little break from updating our blog while we got some stuff figured out.

I am sorry for those of you who were left sitting on the edge of your seats after my last blog post.

We have had a long and hard few weeks and were just waiting until we had some answers to share with everyone.

 

With heavy hearts, we have had to say goodbye to little Penelope.

"K" disappeared about two weeks ago from her apartment and has not been heard from since.

There was a very dramatic phone call in which the birth father said he wanted the baby, while "K" screamed in the back ground that she didn't want her.

The next day, they were gone.

The agency, knowing "K" better than we do, feels like she was likely made to leave against her will.

The father has a history of abusive controlling behavior.

 

So here we are, seven months after being matched with our sweet Penelope, being told that it is time to move on.

We are heart broken and grieving over the loss of our sweet baby girl.

We are sad for "K" who was doing so so well before the birth father came back into her life.

We do not understand the reasoning behind any of this.

But we know that God is always good.

God gives and he takes away.

 

We will be praying for little Penelope's salvation for the rest of our lives.

That right there makes this whole journey worth it.

We have been called to be obedient and we will be obedient whether what God is doing makes sense or not.

The Lord has moved in our lives and hearts during the last few weeks and he has made himself more real to us than ever before.

 

When we look at her cradle with her hand made quilt perfectly draped over the side and we cry,

God cries too.

When we are angered by the fact that this little girl will have to suffer CPS,

God is angry too.

He is with us through this and He loves Penelope more than we ever could!

 

Despite how difficult this loss is, we have peace and we have joy.

The Lord loves us and has a plan for us.

We are not giving up as we still feel called to this adoption.

We are going to throw our hands up and leave room for God to be God.

 

Romans 8:28

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

 



Praising Him in the Storm.

First of all, I want to thank all of you who I know have been praying since I posted we needed prayer on facebook.

I don't know what I would do without our prayer warriors and we are truly blessed.

 

I went back and forth trying to decide if I wanted to share everything that is going on publicly.

Our hearts are hurting right now and part of me just wanted to bottle it all up, sit in my room with a tub of ice cream, and have a pity party.

After spending time in prayer, I realized that sharing our story is an important part of giving God glory.

I am not sure what the ending of this story is going to look like, but I know it will be for our good and God's glory.

 

The other night, we got the call from our agency that every adoptive parents dreads.

The birth father, who has been no where to be found for months, has come back and is saying that he wants the baby and will fight the adoption.

 

As scary as this is, it does not necessarily mean that we will not bring Penelope home.

"K" still does NOT want the baby.

She was very adamant on the phone with the agency that she has no interest in parenting.

Unfortunately, the birth father is a large, abusive man and will no longer let "K" communicate with the agency.

 

So as of right now, the agency has no contact with her. 

As far as they know, she does not want the baby...he does.

An alert has been sent out to the local hospitals to call the agency if "K" showed up at the hospital.

"K" and the birth father will not be allowed to go home with Penelope.

If they decide they want to parents, CPS will step in and take her.

If CPS gets her, we will never see her.

 

We are hoping that the chances of that happening are slim.

We got to have a long visit with "K" in which she explained her dislike of CPS.

She really believes that they are the worst possible place for a child to go and I really do believe that she will call the agency before letting her child be turned over to the government.

If she decides she wants us to have the baby, hopefully the hospital will work with her and our agency will get a call.

 

If she decides she wants to give us the baby, we will still have to deal with the birth father.

He will have to take a paternity test to make sure he is the father.

Birth fathers have to pay for their own tests and get their own transportation.

Therefore, many of them never follow through with getting the test.

Now if he got the test, and turned out to be the real father, CPS would take the baby away from us and we would never see her again.

 

The emotions that I have been dealing with the past couple of days have been unreal but we are doing good.

God is good ALL the time....I truly believe that.

I think about why God calls people to serve him.

He doesn't call us so we can live easy, happy, lives where we get everything we want.

He calls us so we can further the kingdom of God.

He calls us so we can carry out His will here on earth.

He calls us to mold us into Godly individuals.

 

When I first heard this news, I immediately thought, "Why wont he just bless us with our children coming home?  What did we do wrong?"

I had a few moments of weakness where I was angry and felt like giving up.

I felt like maybe God just forgot about us.

 

But He didn't.

I am sitting here with 3/4 of my children stuck in dangerous awful situations that I can do nothing about.

Sure I am sad and there are tears.

But I am joyful.

I am hopeful.

I am praising God for how awesome he has shown himself in my life.

I am praising the God who gives, and the God who takes away.

Ever since becoming a believer, I struggled with the idea of praising God even in a storm.

I wondered how it could even be possible.

I now, I am blessed with the chance and the ability to praise Him through this storm and it feels so powerful.

 

God has given us a peace that truly does pass all understanding.

In my head I know I should be freaking out.

But my heart is so calm.

My heart knows that He has got this.

 

PRAYER REQUESTS

 

First, please continue praying that we feel peace through this process.  I know the next couple of weeks of waiting for a call and not knowing if we even will get one are going to be rough.

 

Second, there are certain hospitals that are pro-adoption and certain ones that are anti-adoption.  The anti-adoption hospitals would prefer that the baby go into foster care than be adopted.  Please pray that "K" ends up at one of the pro-adoption hospitals and that they call our agency right away. 

 

Third, Please pray for the hearts of the birth family.  They were created in the image of God just like you and me and we love them.  We are praying for their salvation and praying that they see that CPS is just not a good option for little Penelope.

 

I will keep you guys updated just as soon as I know anything.

 



Everything is Ready!

I did it.

I finally got everything ready for Penelope's arrival.

Preparing for an adopted child can be a gut wrenching experience.

I used to love gathering clothes for our adopted kids.

I used to love decorating their bedrooms.

I used to love sewing them stuffed animals and making sure everything is in the right place for their arrival.

 

That was before I realized that while adoption is beautiful and joyful, it is full of waiting and disappointment.

I think the third time I started setting up Isryelle and Boaz's rooms just to take them apart again, I decided to stop.

I completely stopped preparing anything for them until we are sure they are coming home soon.

 

So when we got matched with little Penelope, I figured I better get started on getting set up for her since she was do in April.

In April, we found out she was not due until June/July!

I was so thrilled to get to meet her birth mom, I just let the disappointment go of having to wait another two months.

 

Her official due date is July 5th...or June 23rd. 

I have been wanting to set up her cradle and get her car seat ready until July 5th because that way I wont be disappointed if she does not come before that.

Her doctor feels Penelope will come early since all "K's" other babies were early and she has a condition causing her to have too much amniotic fluid in her uterus.

I just don't want to get my heart set on her coming early and then have to wait until July.

So I have been guarding my heart against getting too excited.

 

Gavin talked me into setting up her cradle.

After all, "K" will be either 36 or 38 weeks along this weekend and she went into labor with her other children around 36 weeks.

I do want to be prepared if Penelope comes early.

Now that I set up her cradle, I could not be more excited.

I think about her constantly!

I daydream all day about what it will be like to get "the call" and  what it will be like to see her sweet face for the first time.

I haved packed her a sweet little bag full of frilly baby hats and adorable booties.

I am full of anticipation thinking about what it will be like to experience Gods gift of adoption in a new way.
So far the blessing of adoption in our family has been most evident in our heart changes and our growing relationships with our Savior.
How exciting it will be to really get to hold one of these little treasures in my arms and call it mine.
God is good all the time!

 

I feel so ready, sometimes I wonder why she has not been born yet...what are we waiting for?!?!

Oh that's right....Gods PERFECT timing. 

After all, whats a few weeks after a couple of years!


Tick Tock

Time seems to be moving at a glacial pace lately. I am soooo ready for Penelope to be here. I am starting to feel slightly impatient but am trying to keep my cool.  "K" will be 36 weeks on Saturday. Her other babies were born at about 36 weeks. She also has a condition that causes her to have too much amniotic fluid in her uterus which can also cause early labor. So basically we are being told to plan for an early baby and I am trying my hardest to not get my hopes up. She could just decide to stay in there all the way up to forty weeks.  Only God knows and I don't want to be disappointed if she does not come in the next couple weeks.

It's crazy to think how long we have been waiting for our adopted children to join our family. You would think another 3-4 weeks would be nothing but it feels like an eternity!  I have finally let myself get over-the-top excited for this baby to be in my arms and can not wait to experience this amazing blessing from God. I keep going over in my head what I think it's going to be like to drive down to Phoenix and meet our daughter. What an amazing experience to walk this path with my amazing husband and this sweet birth mom who will soon become an important part of our family. The future is certainly looking bright for the Pehl family. The Lord has indeed blessed us!

On the Congo front, it's still looking like there is positive movement towards getting our kids home. It is difficult to give out a timeline just yet but The Lord is moving on behalf of the orphaned children in the Congo!

There is still HOPE!

So after waiting a couple of days to hear what people and agencies had to say about the statement sent out by DOS, we have come to the conclusion that the U.S. government is wrong about what is going on in the Congo.  It appears they are not working very closely with the DGM and are not being well informed.

 

We have heard from numerous agencies and lawyers that are in the DRC talking with the DGM that they are in fact making huge steps towards getting our kids home.

It looks like they are giving 15 exit letters out and it just the beginning.

From what agencies are saying, the movement is VERY positive and ALL of our children will be coming home.

Its just a matter of time.

 

So thank you so much for your prayers and keep praying!

Thank the Lord, the DOS gave us an inaccurate report and it looks like our children will come home.

Nevermind.....

 

An official statement has come out from the U.S. in Congo that the suspension is in no way lifted.

They were letting a very small portion of families go home based on how long ago they had their exit letters.

They said that rest of us will be waiting until the Congo reforms their adoption laws and sets them in motion to get our exit letters. 

 

I am still hoping that maybe by some miracle the U.S. has no idea what they are talking about.

This morning we were told by multiple people who are in the DRC that the new station in Congo was saying the suspension was over.  Throughout the day people had multiple reports of the suspension being at least close to over.  I just do not understand how all of the sudden, everything we were told today can just be taken back.

Apparently the DRC said that they have no idea how long it will take to reform their laws. There have been many countries that reformed their laws during peoples adoption processes and it was in no way a fast process.

 

We heard some very conflicting information today and again are hoping this information is somehow wrong.

I feel like this is the definition of unjust and to be perfectly honest I am just really angry tonight.

Please be praying for us tonight as well as for all the other families who are receiving this terrible news.  After spending a day thinking our children could come home soon, this information really hurts.

Please pray for some clear information for all of us waiting families.
Nothing that we are hearing makes sense and its frustrating and infuriating.
We know that Gods plan is beautiful but I am just having a really hard time seeing the beauty in this right now.