We have an appointment...

Things are moving with our adoption. Woohoo! We have an appointment at the embassy September 28. Phillip will go without me due to the cost of travel. The purpose of this is for Phillip to sign papers for Jack at the US Embassy.
The process is still 4-6 months from being complete (we think). We still have a long way to go but are definitely on the downhill side of all of this. We are thankful for the good news and another step. Keep praying...

WE HAVE EXITED IBESR...

We received word today that our file has exited IBESR! WooHoo! Thank you Lord.
This is a major step. We now are in the court system of Haiti, whatever that may be :)
Keep praying with us! We are full of joy this afternoon. Tears of joy are raining down in our home. No one can really understand the emotion this encompasses and I don't expect anyone to understand. Just rejoice with us!!!!
We still don't know when Jack will be home but that is not important to us today. What matters is that we have completed a step and have moved on to the next one. We are so excited!!!!!! Keep praying for Jack and all the other children around the world waiting for their forever home. Jack will soon know what it means when love takes him in!

TShirt Frenzy

In order to finish our T-Shirt Fundraising...I need to get rid of the rest of them. I'm willing to let them go at $10 per shirt, that's what I paid. This will go toward the airline ticket expenses. Here what I have left:


2 Youth S
2 Youth M
1 Youth L
1 Adult M
11 Adult L
5 Adult XL
1 Adult XXL

You can use the Adoption Fund link to order and I'll ship to you or hand deliver. Please help us finish this fundraiser...We thank you in advance.

While I'm Waiting

Powerful song that God keeps bringing to me!

Emma...It's been a good 2 months!!!

Well...Let me brag a little on my Emma. I don't do it very often but she deserves it :)

On May 4, our had our Awana Awards Ceremony at church. Oh My Goodness. We had so many kids accomplish so much, it was our best awards yet! Emma finished her final Sparks book and made the 1500 points club. Since this was her last year is Sparks (sniff, sniff), she also received the Sparky Award which means she finished all three Sparks books. Awesome. The Word of God is indeed in her brain. She is so much better off than me!!

On May 7, we had Emma's dance recital. What an event. This year she took ballet, tap and jazz. So, we had three outfits and three different numbers. She was awesome. She also got perfect attendance for the first time. She was so excited about her trophy. Also, we found out that she made dance team. She is super excited about competing in dance this next year. I'm sure she'll do great.

On Thursday, June 2, she had her 2nd grade awards. We knew she made A/B honor roll so Phillip and I attended. She was super excited that we came. She is so proud of her medal for A/B honor roll.

On June 4, Emma ran in the Blueberry Festival 1 Mile Run in Alma, GA. She was amazing! She came finished in a little over 8 minutes winning1st Female and 4th overall. We are so proud of her. She said she LOVED it! Her dad came in 11th overall in the 5K and 3rd in his age group. I'm proud of him too. He's getting old you know :)

Emma's trophy is the biggest one.

This is just a few rambling of how proud I am of Emma. She is growing up so fast and I know God has something big in mind for this little girl. I think she's up to the challenge! 

Time is standing still...so it seems

You Carry Me Shannon J. Wexelberg

Insufficient for the task I will always be I can’t lift a single finger Without Your grace

To strengthen me Who am I to think I could hold my own When Heaven knows I’m not alone?

You carry me You point the way You steady my feet You hold my hand You are the Strength of who I am The world down here may think I’m strong But they’re wrong You carry me

There are times I’ve felt alone Seems I’ve called but no one came I couldn’t sense the hand of heaven But I know it was there just the same In the darkest moments of my life I believe You hold me tight

I need You, oh, I need You Like the flower needs the rain I need You, oh, I need You With every breath I take

As I seek to gracefully and faithfully walk this adoption road, I must admit there are times that I'm tired and frustrated. This is one of those times. God has shown Himself to us repeatedly during this LONG process but the wait continues. This morning, I woke up to Shannon Wexelberg's song, "You Carry Me". God always knows what we need when we need it. Thank you, Lord.

I am consistently trying to be positive throughout this process. I surely do not want to be a stumbling block to someone considering adoption. However, please understand that I, too, am human and do sometimes get frustrated and tired. It has become increasingly more difficult as the time get longer and longer. We try not to focus on the things we have missed with Jack and look forward to the things we having coming our way!

Pray with us still. We are still at IBESR, the step we should have exited in January. UGH! We've been told that we should exit any day now. In Haiti, that could be anytime. We are not anticipating anything. We are just trying to WAIT WELL. 

Thank you for praying and caring. Keep it up! One day, we will be able to rejoice as Jack is home!!!

Adoption Update

Well...it's been while. Life stays pretty crazy around here so just a quick adoption update today and more life updates this week (hopefully) :)

While in Haiti in December we were told that we would be exiting IBESR by the end of January. WooHoo, right. However, we received a call last week stating there are some question marks on Jack's family's psych evaluations that had to be completed. So...it's April and we are STILL IN IBESR. UGH! We have been told not to worry that this is not a problem, just questions that needed to be answered. So, our Haitian faciliator is working diligently on this. However, logistically, it's difficult. Pray that this can be completed ASAP.
During our conversation, our agency informed us that one of us needs to return to Haiti soon and sign papers at the embassy. After much questioning as to the reason for this (the cost to fly to Haiti is substantial-around $800), we discovered the only way for Jack to be an immediate citizen is for one or both the parent to sign papers at the US Embassy in Port Au Prince. So...Phillip will be making a very busy 1 day trip to Haiti soon. We are waiting on travel dates from our Haitian facilitator since she will meet Phillip at airport and take him to appointment at embassy. Ah...more waiting.
We are still 100% confident that God is in control. We are continuing to lean on him and learning a lot about Him and ourselves. Keep praying that our paperwork moves quickly.
Many of you have asked about finances. Yes, adopting is very expensive but God has shown us his provision over and over again. If you would like to contribute to our adoption expenses, you may use the link on the left to donate. More than financially though, we ask you to pray.

Pray for:

• paperwork to move quickly and Jack will be home before the summer is over!!!!
• God will continue to watch over Jack and our family during our time of waiting
• Phillip and I will continue to be positive and look for God in our time of waiting
• Emma will continue to be excited about her brother
• God to help Emma during this waiting--She finds this very difficult and gets very upset that Jack's not home
• the people that we come in contact with everyday--People don't understand what we are doing and can be very negative. Give us the words that encourage them. 
• for Jack and us as we prepare to adjust to our new family

Here's a few pictures from our trip in December...Enjoy