November 16, 2014 – a Sunday.
WOW. Hard to believe that it has been almost 2 months since I have shared an
update. Forgive me. We have been blessed with a few bits of news; however, our
family has also been under attack. For Christians, the term “under attack”
simply means that the devil is throwing a ton of difficulties at you all at
once. In our case, this was at least three solid weeks of dealing with sudden
behavior issues at school for one of our boys, car problems, forgotten appointments by both myself and other professionals, incredible
stress when my husband was out of town, health issues and a few more things
that I am unable to share at this time. As Believers, we know just to hang on
tight during such times. Christ has already won the battle. Walking through
these times can be tough but holding on to this truth really does help.
Plus, we have been blessed with incredible
friends who really have rallied around us and cheered us on during these tough
times. Again, I stand amazed at how God showers my family with love during
times of trial and times of simple enjoyment. Friends suddenly called me “out
of the blue” when we were most in need. I shared our pain, they shared their
opinions and EVERY TIME I got off the phone feeling relieved, normal, less
stressed and amazed at how God moved to have these dear friends (family,
really) lift us up and offer encouragement.
We are still dealing with a few
things and continue to pray for God to let us know how we should respond. We
wait expectantly and patiently for His reply. He always shows us. There is no
one as faithful as my God.
Fun news: We received unofficial
confirmation that our little girl is HIV Negative! This is HUGE, as we are
unable to adopt a child with HIV as our Little Olaf is immuno-compromised
himself. I remember reading this email vividly, as I burst into tears of joy
and called the Big O immediately.
A few weeks later, a kind lady
who just returned from visiting her soon-to-be-kiddos from Uganda shared some
photos that she had took of our little girl! Both she and the lady who runs the
baby home said identical things about our girl! They both referred to her as “a
doll”! My new, sweet friend who spent time with her while she was at the home
told me that she could not say enough positive things about her! She is sweet,
physically tiny, fun and loves to cuddle! AWWW! I can hardly wait to wrap my
arms around her and keep her close the entire flight home! We were blessed with
two cuddly boys and now we will receive a cuddly little lady, as well! My heart
is full!
Two weeks ago we received a “favorable”
notice back from USCIS. They agreed that we would be allowed to bring sister
back to the States with us in due time. The next step is to get her legal name,
birth date, etc and fill out & send in another fun form. Whatever – bring it!
Also, our agency felt that it was
time that we send the donation portion of our fees to the baby home. This was
such an exciting check! Well, we did it online, but work with me here! A
sizable portion of our fees to Uganda will go directly to the baby home where
Sister is cared for. We were more than happy to send this in. Giving money
feels good.
Unfortunately, to date we are still
waiting on her official social report (which should include details of how
Sister came to the Baby Home). But, last week our sweet adoption agent sent us
a video of our little girl! In it she was happily playing with a baby doll and
even danced! Oh, we treasure this!
We have still not shown the
pictures and video to our boys since she is not quite 100% “ours” yet. I will
say that the concept of patience has become easier to endure. I still do not
like it, but we will endure. It really is like being pregnant with an elephant.
This is good – just painfully long. I yearn to hold this precious person.
Thank you all for your
encouragement during this time! I appreciate all of your questions, posts,
comments and genuine love.
Prayer requests: please
pray for the health of our family both here and in Uganda. It is freezing cold
in our home town right now and I pray that our boys will stay healthy. We pray
that sister will stay safe and healthy were she is at right now, as well.
We plan to send off our official
dossier to Uganda this week! This is a MEGA BIG DEAL! The country of Uganda
will now know that we are serious! And, this involves a fee (Yikes!) and a kind
notary who may indeed donate an hour of their precious time. We will send this
to our amazing agent in Iowa. She will review it and then send it on to our
lawyer in Uganda. Yep! We have an official lawyer in Uganda!
Please, pray that God will let us
know what He wants us to do with our cars. We own two small SUV’s. One is
continuing to give us fits and we are pretty sure it needs a new transmission.
Ugh. It is one of those questions, “Is this care worth paying for a new
transmission?” However, even if we do sell it, we would want to sell it in good
working condition. However, this is all about money. We have set aside what we
can for the adoption. Car repair of this magnitude will eat into that account.
We need prayer here, please. Ideally, I would love to trade this car in for a
larger one with two back seats so that when Sister gets here our Little O will
not be literally squished in the middle. I keep telling myself, this is a want,
not a need. But oh would it be handy. Anyway, if someone would lift this issue
up in prayer, that would be most appreciated.
Please, pray that Sister’s social
report will come in soon. There is still such a long way to go however these
little things are HUGE to our family! We long to show these photos to our boys
and I want to send Sister, and her fellow friends, some fun things for
Christmas. I can send a big box of candy and toys to the Baby Home; however, I
would love to be able to include something special for our little girl.
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