Himself

This morning we received a call from our agency-  Kylie and I were just coming home from walking the big girls to school.  I heard the phone ringing and rushed to answer it as I saw our social worker's name in the display.  Breathlessly I said, "Hi, Debbie!"  Debbie greeted me and went on to share the latest news.
Turns out that the Russian family who was interested in L has not been back to the orphanage since they met her and expressed an interest in pursuing adoption.  Our agency and the orphanage feel like this is good news for us.  The orphanage is going to give the family another week to contact them regarding L, and then they will call the Russian Child Welfare Services and let them know that a local family was interested in L.  The RCWS will contact the family to be certain that they are no longer planning on pursuing L's adoption.  If the family is no longer interested, we will be able to re-schedule our trip and move forward.  We aren't sure about the time-line...but we are cautiously optimistic.  And always grateful for information.

Today I pulled out an old, favorite book (my Kindle finally lost all of its charge, and I had to plug it in) called Joy in the Journey-  it's a compilation by Michael Card and Timothy Botts...you remember Michael Card, an incredible singer/songwriter who was popular in certain circles during the 80s and 90s?  Timothy Botts is a wonderfully gifted calligrapher.  The two men united their talents in one book-  Michael's lyrics and Timothy's art...  I probably haven't looked at the book in at least 5 years.

But it was exactly what my soul needed this afternoon.

After reading the lyrics to "El Shaddai" (& the story behind it) and gazing upon the beautiful art, my soul was stirred.  Upon reading the words of God to Job, and Job's response, my heart was humbled.  My heart rejoiced as I read (and sang in my head) "Jubilee..."  "debts forgiven, slaves set free, Jesus is our Jubilee!"

All of this adoption stuff is such a mystery to us.  We are grateful that God is in control of it all and we pray that we would continue to trust Him on this journey.

To be honest, it's hard not to want answers.  Ok, the truth is, we really want answers!  It's hard not to badger people for answers-

And, in reality-  God doesn't always give us answers...but He always gives us Himself.


(ps-  that little nugget is not original, it's something that I read this afternoon- love it.)


(pps-  we've received several (very short!) emails from our friends from Minnesota -  they made it to Russia safely and have met and spent time with the child they are pursuing.  AND, they got to meet L and give her the clothes and toys we sent!  yay!)

Screech!

That's the adoption process (as we know it) coming to a sudden halt...
Just as we were finishing up last minute details for our first trip to Russia, we received a phone call from our agency.  I'm including the emails we sent out to explain-  thanks (in advance) for your prayers!

(This is the email we sent out Saturday evening...)

Hi friends- We just wanted to let you know the latest news regarding the adoption... We received a phone call today from our agency to let us know that our trip to meet L is being delayed. Our agency director called to tell us that they received a phone call from L's orphanage conveying the message that we needed to delay our trip-  evidently, something has come up with the birth family.  While our director communicated that we would need to cancel our travel plans, she does not feel that we are going to lose L.  The orphanage said to delay our trip, not cancel our plans (I know there is not much of a distinction there, but our agency director seemed very hopeful).  We are waiting for more information from the orphanage, but because of the time difference, language barriers, waiting for translation, etc-  it's slow-going! We are grateful that the orphanage gave us a "head's up" before we arrived in Biro-  there are definitely folks who have made the trip only to arrive and discover that there has been a paperwork or familial "snag."  It's better to work out the kinks before we travel than after our arrival.  We are not sure how long the delay might be, but our agency director is hoping that we will be able to use our current Russian visas (that we received last week), and they expire in about 40 days.  Clearly, we are disappointed, but we are not without hope.  First and foremost, our hope is in Christ and our confidence that God is fully in control...even when we can't understand His plan for this chapter of our lives.  Secondly, we have been given every indication that this is truly a delay, not a closed door.  We will proceed with hope!!   We have a couple of prayer requests: 1.  Please pray for L-  that she would be safe and healthy.  That the orphanage (and her birth family and the Russian courts) would make her safety  and well-being their priority and that they would act in her best interest. 2.  Please pray that we would continue to rest in the Lord-  that we would not be anxious, but that our peace would surpass even our own understanding and that we would know that God's mighty right hand holds us, L, and all of the children who are waiting for their "forever families." 3.  Finally, please pray for the couple who we were going to be with in Russia (there's a couple from Minnesota that is with the same agency we have that is going to get to travel to Biro next week...we were even going to be on the same flight coming home)-  that they would continue to have a smooth path, that they would meet their child next week (as planned), and that all would go well. It has been great to process this with the girls-  as we share truth with them, we are reminded ourselves, and it is truly a sweet time. Thanks, friends, for your continued prayers!  We hope to travel soon and we're taking it one day at a time.  We'll let you know more as soon as possible!  Have a great night- Amby and Jenny

(this is the email we sent out early this afternoon)
Hello again-

We wanted to quickly update you on our latest adoption news...

buckle up-  it's a little bit of a roller coaster.

First of all, we've been so encouraged by your kind words, prayers, and reminders that God is indeed sovereign and we can trust in Him-  thank you.

Second-  the scoop:

We talked to our agency this morning to find out more details regarding our trip delay.  Our social worker told us that the information they were given on Saturday was not entirely accurate-  the birth family is not interested in adopting L, nor is there a missing signature on the paperwork.  

Here's what's happening:  a different Russian family is potentially interested in adopting L. However, our agency has informed us that the orphanage feels strongly that they can find another child for the Russian family.  

A couple of things:  we are so encouraged and thankful that a Russian family is hoping to adopt a child that's been in an orphanage for an extended period of time...we would love for each and every child to be adopted in to a loving home that will share their culture and life.

We are heart-sick that the child they may adopt is L...a girl to whom we've grown very attached-  we've talked about her, prayed for her, dreamed about her-  we love her.  But, truly-  she is not ours...so we are holding her very loosely.  Even as I type these words, my heart is pounding.  The truth is sometimes hard to type.  

We are praying that the Russian family will fall in love with another child that the orphanage introduces to them.  The orphanage and our agency are very hopeful about this-  we are not sure why, but we're trusting the orphanage (and the Lord!) to place these kiddos where they need to be.

We should know something either this week or next-  and we'll go from there.

Please pray that the Russian family would be open to another child-  is that a selfish prayer?  Maybe.  But, regardless of the answer to this prayer, we are choosing to trust the Lord and His sovereignty-  we are confident that He has hand-picked our child for us.  We can't wait to meet her.  And we'll keep praying for all of the kids who are waiting for their forever family.

Thanks, friends, for letting me ramble!

y'all have a great day-

Jenny (and Amby)

ps-  remember our new friends from Minnesota? The couple traveling next week to meet their child?  The wife sent me the sweetest email...and she offered to look for L at the orphanage.  She told me that they would take any toys that we might want to send L.  We are so grateful...

When it rains, it pours!

 A Dozen Things We Did For The Adoption This Week-

12.  Dropped off our financial information to our tax guy (hurray for John Boynton!) to have him write our Housing Statement.

11.  Filled out our Visa Applications on-line...again, and again...and again.

10.  Sent our Visa Applications (twice) to Olga- she's our American/Russian helper.

9.  Received our official certified Marriage Certificate in the mail.

8.  Bought 2 European plug adaptors for our trip to Russia.

7.  Got our appointment for our biometric fingerprints!!!!

6.  Said Yes, Yes, Yes when Missy offered to make family picture cards to leave with L (kind of like a fancy photo album).

5.  Went shopping for toys for L and the other kids in her group.

4.  Received our Poverty Level Agreement letter and Home Study Agency letter in the mail from our Texas agency.

3.  Learned that there would be another American family that would be traveling with us to Biro to meet their child!

2.  Booked our flights and hotel (actually, Amby's parents booked our flights and hotel- such a sweet gift) for our trip to Russia.

1.  Amby brought home his Employment Verification Letter AND Jan (Amby's mom) brought over the Housing Financial Statement Letter!!

What a great (and slightly crazy!) week!  Numerous pieces of paperwork came in this week-  we are so grateful to have so much completed.  Our hope is to have most of our paperwork for our foreign dossier BEFORE we leave for our first trip.  That's the goal, but it's kind of a lofty goal-  evidently we are still a couple of months away from our FBI clearance.  However, we are going to keep plugging away!

Hard to believe we are headed to Russia in just 2 weeks...

GREAT NEWS!

Hi friends- We wanted to let you know that we received GREAT NEWS, and our hearts are overflowing with thanksgiving... We have been given the travel dates for our first trip to Russia-  this is the trip where we will meet L!  It's literally just around the corner- We will be flying out of Dallas the morning of October 21st & arrive in Biro (where the orphanage is located) on October 23rd.  We will land back in Dallas on October 28th- We can't wait to meet our sweet girl and have the opportunity to spend time with her each day while we are in Biro. (1 1/2 hours in the morning and 1 1/2 hours in the afternoon for each of the 3 days that we are actually in Biro) Please pray that the details of our trip would work out smoothly.  Thankfully, our agency is doing most of the "heavy lifting" of all of the planning.  Amby and I still have LOTS of paperwork to do, but our agency has a detailed itinerary for us as well as support staff both in the US and Russia. Please continue to pray for L-  that she would be healthy and well-cared for, and that she would know that she has a Father in Heaven (and a mom and dad in the US!) who loves her. Thanks for celebrating and praying with us- y'all have a great day!! Amby and Jenny

knee-deep

what's that verse again?  Ask and you shall receive...
well-  we asked.  and we've received!
Paperwork, I mean.
It's all part of the journey.  I'm pretty sure our road will be paved in paper!
Today Amby and I started filling out the paperwork that we'll need for our 2nd trip to Russia to bring L home.
And, no-  we haven't taken our first trip (to meet L) yet.  However, some of the paperwork takes months to process, so we decided to go ahead and get the ball rolling.  The form that we printed off today was the I-600A form.  It basically says that you plan on pursuing adoption in a foreign country.  We'll send it in to the US Government and they'll say, "Great!" (we hope)  Then they'll schedule a date for us to go get biometric fingerprints (I'm not entirely sure why we need biometric fingerprints...possibly to ensure that we won't be planning any espionage on our trip?  I probably shouldn't joke about that).  THEN, when our fingerprints are done, 4-8 weeks later, we'll be approved to adopt.
But first we need to figure out how to fill out the I-600A form.
Let me put it this way-  the 3 page form has a 6 page instructional guide...and I'm not kidding.
AND, as we started to answer the first question- "name of adoptive parent," we were stumped.  I mean, is that me?  Is that Amby?  Does it matter?  (on the next page you have to answer the question, "Who is the spouse of the adoptive parent?")
sigh.
Don't worry-  we already sent an email to our adoption agency asking them to clarify.
And my plan is to spend tomorrow working on paperwork!  Yay!
Every day we get a little closer to bringing home L...

waiting...

hello!
Just a quick update on the adoption front...
we are waiting!

• we made a match with L-  she turned 2 on August 8th.
• our hope is to adopt L and bring her home early next year  :)
• our paperwork has been submitted to Russia, and we are waiting for our trip dates (Russia is a "2 trip country"-  a trip to meet your child and a trip to bring your child home)
• we are hopeful that our trip to meet L will be in October (please pray!)
• the big girls have started school-  we love our teachers and are off to a great start
• we've moved back in to our Fieldcrest house...it's incredible.  Way to go, Christman and Missy!
• we are praying for L all day long...the girls talk about her constantly
• we can't wait for the next step in adoption

Thank you for your prayers!
More to come soon-

We made a match!!

It has been a very exciting couple of weeks here in Big D! Of course, it's summer and we are loving being out of school. We swim a LOT, play lots of Legos and Lily "teaches" school, we swim some more, go check on our house on Fieldcrest (did I mention that we are renovating our house this summer??) and play some more. We've gotten to go to Houston-  and had an awesome time with our cousins swimming, playing, and touring the Blue Bell Ice Cream Factory in Brenham. But, best of all...we accepted a referral for adoption. We wanted to ask y'all to pray with us as we process our latest adoption news... About a 2 weeks ago, we were given the names/pictures/bios for several Waiting Children from Russia. After looking over the information, we asked our agency to send us details on 3 little girls:  a 10 month old named E, a 21 month old named L, and a 20 month old named K. Finally, we received detailed medical histories and adoption information for both L and K.  We did not receive any information on E, so we are guessing that she has already been placed for adoption...hurrah!! L has been approved for adoption, but K has not been approved for adoption-  evidently, she has a number of unknown potential health issues that our caseworker is concerned about.  Of course, this is heart-breaking, and we are praying for her like crazy. At this point, we have put a "hold" on L...amazing to think that this could be our new daughter!!  We are all excited- the girls talk about her often, and she is never very far from my heart and prayers.  There are still so many steps to take- yesterday we over-nighted several documents to our agency and we will have to go to immigration and submit paperwork & fingerprints for Russia...more forms!! We are THRILLED to be filling out more forms and answering questions!  We are grateful for the opportunity to get to pray for these sweet girls by name, regardless of where they end up-  we pray that their "forever family" will find them soon.   To be honest, one of the hardest aspects of this situation is that we have "options."  When you have a biological child, you "get what you get and you don't throw a fit."  :) Adoption is different.  You have choices:  and it's almost overwhelming.  It feels like every time you make a choice in one direction (we are hoping for a girl), you eliminate other opportunities (what about all of those sweet boys who need a family??).  I have cried many tears as we turn toward one child and turn away from another.  I have realized that I often trust in myself and not the Lord.  I am constantly reminded- often times by y'all!- that God is in control, that He is sovereign, and that I can trust Him.  And, again, that He loves each and every one of these children. Thanks, friends, for your prayers...keep praying.