Making Progress

Well, it continues to be a busy summer. It seems that is my normal state...if you ask me how I am it's always, busy. And a bit stressed and tired too. We have settled into somewhat of a rhythm, preparing for Farmer's Market each week, making lotion, GF bread, and blueberry muffins, among other things, and trying to keep up with housework, potty training, getting more organized, ordering homeschool material and planning for the school year.

It's been a cool, rainy summer this year, which is ok, but I would not mind a more seasonal temp after the long, bitter winter we had. The children have enjoyed getting outside quite a bit though. They still splash around the kiddy pool and love going to the park.

We are thrilled that our home study is done, finalized, notarized, and we have all the copies we need (we had to have 7 originals!!!) I sent in our immigration paperwork July 5th, the earliest we would expect to see that approved is in about a month. Once that is approved we can finish our adoption paperwork and send in our dossier!!!

We are almost done with our dossier, all the hard parts have been completed, we just need to make a few photo copies and take some pictures. It's been a 3 month process so far, 4 months if you count the application process, and 5 months since we saw that first little picture of A on a social media site and decided to find out if we were meant to be her parents.

The Lord is certainly preparing our hearts, filling us with more and more anticipation for her homecoming. I think about the difference between bringing home a newborn and bringing home an older child. To us, it will be a momentous occasion, but to the world, maybe not so much. Seeing a newborn people comment, and ooh and aahh. Seeing a 4 year old, dealing with the loss of her home and "family" and trying to adjust to a new culture and language, will certainly not evoke the same reaction.

I hope we can make up for some of A's losses, or at least soften them in some way, with the Lord, the healer of the brokenhearted. We are trying to prepare ourselves for the grief that she will feel, being separated from the only home she's ever known, and no longer surrounded by friendly, brown faces, under the warm Uganda sun. What a tremendous change that will be for a 4 year old.

The big question continues to be, "When?"

The answer is still hard. Hopefully February, more likely March, quite possibly April, May or June of 2015.
Please pray!
For the right amount of patience and that the Lord would mercifully speed the process along.
For A's physical, emotional and spiritual safety and health.
For the remaining funds we need to submit with the dossier.
For blessed fundraising for what we will need for travel.
For the Lord's peace and wisdom during this season of much pressure and strain. That we would respond in a godly manner in every challenging situation.

Update, and Farmer's Market Adventures

The days are flying by. We are in almost constant preparation for A and her adoption. Currently I'm going through the entire house, top to bottom, cleaning and organizing. My progress is slow but steady, one room is done! I've needed to do this for a while now, but extra motivation for me is that we'll be photographing our family and home for the dossier.

We've started selling items at the Mahtomedi Farmer's Market...things like Gluten-free bread, handcrafted lotion and lip balm, hand knit items, and handmade jewelry.

So far we've sold a few things, but are hoping as the season matures we'll see more traffic.

We are so grateful to see the donations continuing, the need is still very much there. We are working on what the next fundraiser will be, probably near the end of September.

It's been 4 months since we found out about A. We found out we would be her parents in March. We began the process immediately, and still are up to a year away from placement. What we have experienced so far in this process is that everything takes a bit longer than projected. We would love to travel to Uganda in February, but that's beginning to look like an impossibility. We're still waiting for our approved home study. It's been written for a few weeks now, but the approval process is proving to be longer than we had anticipated. We just found out today that it's in the mail, and that sort of feels like Christmas for me!

Once we have our home study, there are two more steps, paperwork-wise till we're finished. Our next step is the CIS application, which is asking for advanced immigration approval. This could take up to three months to get approved. Hopefully more like a month or less. Then the dossier gets submitted. Once CIS approval comes through the dossier will be ready to send right away (because we do all that mostly ourselves.) Once the dossier is in, then they start A's paperwork, which can take up to 9 months. It may seem like impatience, but we are praying and hoping for a best-case scenario, quickest-case scenario. I cannot explain the urgency we feel. It's like running a marathon. Each step takes energy, and the farther you go, the harder it is. You are glad you're doing it, but you can't wait for it to be over, because each day we love her a little more and want to meet her, hear her voice and start being her mama and daddy.

Please pray
~For A, to be surrounded with love, to be safe from everything that could harm her so far away from us, to stay healthy (there is limited medical treatment available, to have all her physical needs met till we can go to her.
~That the total amount we will need when we submit the dossier (around $15,000) will be there when we need it!
~That our travel expenses could be kept low, and that fundraising would continue to be blessed.
~For our kids already at home, that they learn through this process to have faith in a God who provides and how much He loves us ( as parents we can learn this lesson too)! And that we as parents would be able to keep their stress level low, despite how busy and worn out we are:)
~For Dan and I, for the spiritual and physical endurance and strength to handle everything coming our way right now. It's the hardest/best thing we've done, I think.