Plane Ticket

I bought Michael's plane ticket tonight!!!! Lord willing he will be home in about 2.5 weeks. I can't believe this is actually finally happening. Please continue to pray that his visa will be issued in time.

Praise God!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Michael's birthmother was found and had her interview with the embassy today! Everything is now turned in to the embassy and the embassy will contact the orphanage soon with an appointment for his visa. He is really coming home. The tentative schedule is for him to fly home with the orphanage director on June 17th. Please continue to pray that everything falls into place.

Also please do me a favor and pray for Michael's birthmother. I can't imagine having to make the choice to give up my child. Please pray that she will have peace and that she will come to know Jesus Christ in a personal way. Thanks.

My Niece is Home

Thank you for your prayers. My niece is home and doing fine. Thank you to all the friends and family that stepped in and helped us out. It was a very long weekend and a bit stressful, but we are all fine.

Please continue to pray that Micheal's birthmother would be found soon and Michael's visa would be issued so he can come home.

My Niece is in the Hospital

My 2-month old niece, Emma, is in the hospital. She is very ill. Fever, high white blood cell count... They are trying to figure out what is going on. Please pray for wisdom for the doctor's and strength for all of our family. My parents are out of town. So I had my three kids and three of my sisters all day today. I am picking up her three from my brother-in-law in the morning on my way to church and will have them until my niece gets out of the hospital. Please pray for strength and that my niece will be released on Monday. If not, pray that we will be able to arrange childcare for the 6 kids while we go to work.

Also pray for two friends of mine from college that lost their little girl this morning.

Please Pray for Steven Curtis Chapman and his family

Maria Sue Chapman (2003-2008)
Maria Sue Chapman, adopted and youngest daughter to Mary Beth and Steven Curtis Chapman, was killed Wednesday night in a tragic accident in the family driveway on Wednesday evening. She was LifeFlighted to Vanderbilt Children's Hospital but for only reasons God can explain she went home to Him... not to Franklin as we all so desperately wanted.
Your prayers are needed for all in the Chapman family. This is a family who has so generously loved and given to so many. Just hours before this close knit family was celebrating the engagement of the oldest daughter Emily Chapman, and were just hours away from a graduation party marking Caleb Chapman's completion of high school. Now, they are preparing to bury a child who blew out 5 candles on a birthday cake less than 10 days ago. These words are unthinkable to type. And yet we trust in a God who was not surprised by this and because of Jesus I am certain through faith in Him we will see Maria again. - Jim Houser (Manager)

Birthmother Update

The orphanage director sent this update in regard to finding Michael's birthmother: "We do not expect our contact lady until the last Sat. of the month when she regularly visits. We have no good phone number or address for her as they all live in Ciy Soleil, the most dangerous area of the country. That is why we cannot go there looking for them. If we have any other visitors from there before then we will ask them to check it out. This Monday is the appointment day for families on the waiting list and will pray that someone on the list will find her. We have contacted the Embassy and have your paperwork ready for the appt, we just need her. Will go ahead and drop off documents so they can get them ready for when she shows up."

Still Waiting

We are still waiting on word about whether Michael's birthmother has contacted the orphanage. Please continue to pray.

“The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.” (Zephaniah 3:17)

Please Pray

We received word from the orphanage today that Michael had his medical for his visa today. Now we are just waiting on finding his birthmother. They have sent out contacts to try to reach her but have not heard from her yet. Please pray that she will be found and come in soon for the interview.

I found this on another blog and it really touched my heart today.

"Bring me joy, bring me peace

Bring the chance to be free

Bring me anything that brings your glory

And I know there'll be days

When this life brings me pain

But if that's what it takes to praise You

Jesus, bring the rain"

Mercy Me, "Bring the Rain"

A little piece of my heart…

I just wanted to share a little piece of my heart today. Aaron and I have faced a number of trials over the almost 8 years that we have been married. We have had times where Aaron didn’t have a job. We were told that our baby most likely had Down’s Syndrome when we were expecting Matthew. After Matthew was born, we faced secondary infertility. Then there was Alisha’s adoption. Although she came to us quickly, the birthmother changed her mind several times. Then we lost a baby through an ectopic pregnancy. Then we started fertility treatments and shortly thereafter started our second adoption. It took a full year of fertility treatments before Kevin was conceived. It has been 27 months since we started Michael’s adoption. And on top of that, I have a very stressful job.
However, God IS Awesome. He has taught me so much over the past several years.
1.) I cannot do anything through my own strength. But God is strong enough to do all things according to His will.
2.) My timing is not always God’s timing. But even if we don’t ever get to see why, He does know what is best. (i.e. – had we gotten pregnant right away after Matthew, maybe we never would have adopted and then we would have missed out)
3.) I have learned that God is God no matter where I am or what I am going through. And because He is God, I should praise Him. We should all praise Him in the good times and the bad times (even though that is very hard to do at times).
4.) When God asks us “to jump”, we just need to say “how high”. God will not let you jump too high. He is higher than we can jump and He will not let us fall. Sometimes it feels like I am falling fast and the ground is quickly approaching. But I have learned at those times to cry out to God to catch me, because I can’t do anything about it but trust in Him.
5.) No matter how you “feel”, God is with you and He is in control.

Woohoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our orphanage director picked up Michael's passport today. Now we just need his visa and he can come home! I'm not sure of the exact order, but the following needs to happen in order to get his visa:
- Michael's birthmom must come in to be interviewed. The US wants to verify that she is really the mother. Pray that they don't request DNA, because that will add at least a month onto the wait.
-Michael has to get a physical.
-The final step is the visa appointment and then pick up the visa usually that same afternoon.

PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY!! I would love to have all my kids together to celebrate Father's day with their daddy. Wouldn't that be awesome.
PRAISE GOD FOR HIS BLESSINGS!!!

Happy Birthday to my Matthew!! What a great birthday present. Too bad, I don't think he will understand.

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all of you that are Moms! I got to talk to Michael today. The orphanage let him call as a special Mother's Day treat. The older girls got him to say Happy Mother's Day and I love you. Then I spent time working with him on naming the parts of his face. We found our noses, ears, eyes, and mouth. It will be so much more fun when I tickle his little nose or belly as I am teaching him what they are called. PLEASE pray with us this week that a lot happens. We need his passport picked up this week and his visa to be applied for. Also pray for our emotional state as we are very weary of this long process and it makes it difficult to be patient with the other kids. Also, Kevin is teething so he is not very happy. Pray that his teeth would come in and he would feel better. I hate to see him so sad.

Still Waiting

The orphanage director was in bed sick with a fever today. So she plans to go on Monday morning to get Michael's passport. Please pray that this time it really does happen. This waiting and waiting and waiting some more thing is just plain dumb! Please pray for us to continue trusting in God. Also just pray for us emotionally as it is hard to not let everything get to you when you are so emotionally drained.

Please Keep Praying

The guy from the orphanage went to check on Michael's passport today. He was told that according to their records it is done and ready to be picked up. He couldn't pick it up, however, because he does not have the power of attorney. So the orphanage director is supposed to go pick it up in the morning. Please continue to pray with us.

“Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

Passport Update

As most of you know, we have been in the adoption process since February of 2006. We received an email from the orphanage this afternoon. They informed us that when the orphanage worker was downtown checking on all the paperwork today he was informed by the immigration office that he could come back Thursday at 11am and pick up Michael's passport. Now as you may have learned along with us, nothing is for sure in Haitian adoption, but this is progress. Please pray with us that Michael's passport will be ready when Junior goes back to get it on Thursday. Once we have his passport, we will be done with the Haitian government and will just need his US visa for him to enter the US. Please pray that the visa process will go smoothly. Pray especially that Michael's birthmother will have peace as she has to meet with the US immigration officer to verify that Michael is her son. If the officer has any doubts, they can require DNA testing which would add at least a month onto the wait time and cost several hundred dollars. Please pray with us that Michael would be able to get his visa without any complications. Thank you in advance for your support. I will keep you posted when we hear anything on Thursday.

“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7)

“Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;” (Romans 12:12)

Another week gone by...

...and no adoption news. I tried chatting with the orphanage online last night. I asked if there was any news on the passport booklets coming in and they responded by saying that it was a holiday and everything was closed. I asked if there had been estimated timeframe for the booklets to come in, but I got no response. Please pray for us as we are very weary.

Also, please pray for my cousin, Sarah. Her 4-month old son has been diagnosed with hemophelia. It seems to be the more serious type of hemophelia. Please pray for her whole family. They go to a specialist in a few days.

Praise the Lord, my friend was able to bring her daughter home from Haiti this week. She started before us, but her dossier arrived to the lawyer about three weeks after ours. This whole process does not make any sense. I am very thrilled for my friend and her daughter, but I was so sure that when she came home she would be bringing Michael with her. Well, that didn't happen. So please keep praying for us and for Michael's passport.