this and that

i do not have much to share with you.

we were not matched in the february consejo.

our dossier has not been accepted yet.

we are hoping that it will be accepted in time for the march one and that we will be matched.

all we can do is pray.

i do know that our peruvian representative is planning on a meeting with the sna. we are hopeful that will spur them on to complete everything they need to for our acceptance.

we are fortunate that our representative has been in the business for a long time. she has lots and lots of contacts. she knows the director of little lady's orphanage and has spoken with her. several other families from our agency have adopted from this home lately, so both the director and our representative have a good working relationship. little lady is doing well and they are doing everything they can on their end to advocate for her...especially now that a family is interested in her.

not only does she personally know the director of little lady's home, she also met the caregiver of little man. she was in a town nearby his orphanage and stopped in for a visit to meet him and the nuns. we were fortunate to score a few more pictures of him. such sweet blessings for a waiting mommy's heart.

i am thankful, that though she is busy, she is working hard to help us accomplish this adoption.

hopefully she will, by advocating for us with the sna, speed things up a bit.

it would be wonderful to be matched in the march consejo.

today i mailed the addendum to our home study to uscis.

it was not required yet, but it is something that we are pretty sure they would ask for later on. so to (hopefully) save ourselves a wee bit of time after we are matched and while we are waiting for travel permission, we decided to go ahead and get it finished. plus it was nice to have something to do for a while.( i do have to admit that it is strange to write a check to homeland security.)  it's hard to wait without a known end. funny how i would rather do paperwork that wait....huh, who would have ever thought that!

on another note it is time again for little bit's post placement report. we have filled out all of the necessary paperwork and sent all of the photos. now it is time for the visit. we will finish that this week. then it will all be mailed to peru for translation and delivery. it's fun to see the progress that has been made in the last 6 months. even more amazing to see the progress from the last year and 1/2. crazy amazing. she has come so far. watching her life be restored to her, beauty from ashes, longings fulfilled. her english is coming along and she often has conversations about her daily life, or memories from school or activities. she has started praying. she loved school and church activities. she adores her siblings and is thrilled to do absolutely anything with them. she now tells us she loves us and that she misses us when we are away from her. she has started to think about the concept of yesterday, today and tomorrow....no small feat when all the days look the same in an orphanage.

little bit playing a one-girl-garage band gig.

i am glad that we have been busy the last few weeks with paperwork and visits. it has made the time go faster. my goal is to keep really busy over the next month....do ya think that will help?

i may not know when we will travel or even be matched.

but these things i do know:

"for He spoke, and it came to be; He commanded, and it stood firm.the LORD foils the plans of the nations; He thwarts the purposes of the peoples. but the plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations. blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people He chose for his inheritance." psalm 33:9-12

"for I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you." jeremiah 29:11-12

my friend calley and her sweet family have been waiting for 18 long weeks to travel to bring home the little girl they were matched with. please pray that they will be able to travel soon, i cannot begin to imagine the anguish. i though waiting 9ish weeks was bad enough.

waiting...sigh

i wish i was better at waiting.

you sure would think by now i would have this thing nailed.

i do not.

sigh.

we have not heard any news at all lately.

we do not even know if our dossier has been accepted.

we do know that our attorney is out of town with another family who is adopting. so we will not have any news until the beginning of the week.

for some reason that seems like a long, long time from now.

we are praying for a miracle.

i would be honored if you would join us in praying for these children to be matched to us this month. sometime in the next week there will be a matching meeting in peru. we do not know the specific date, it is not even posted on the website. so we wonder. so we pray. so we hope.

i am in sore need of a little encouragement.

the wait is long and hard.

i know others that have been waiting for their sweet children for longer than us. i know families with empty arms. i know friends that are hoping that foreign governments will change their minds.

the good news is that we should have everything ready to send off to uscis very soon. the addendum was completed and mailed today. we also received the additional document we needed from our agency too. so just another little waiting game for all of the documents to come here and then to overnight on to uscis. another check written to homeland security....which feels strange to write to say the least. i need to finish up that paperwork tonight to have it all ready for the hubster to send on friday (if it gets here) or monday if it is when it lands.

we decided to up the age to 12. little lady turned 11 last week, so we are changing things in hopes of making her ours. our agency thought we should go a little higher, just to make sure. then once it is all done a copy will be sent to peru to be added to our file. once we get uscis approval we will send it to all of the agencies and peru too. this was not something that peru specifically asked us for, rather something that uscis will need. so to make our lives a little bit easier, we thought we would go ahead and just "get 'er done". now we just wait for the documents.

have i mentioned i'm not very good at waiting? sigh.

winner and a giveaway

we are enjoying a lazy saturday morning here. still in my jammies. ahhhh...

owl jammies!

but the day after a migraine, i think it is well deserved.

i figure i better be a little bit lazy while i can, 'cuz the next couple of months could get really crazy!

so, i know the real reason you checked in this morning...you wanna know who won the giveaway!

before the big reveal i want to share someone elses giveaway with you.

my dear friend, who is a fellow adoptive mommy, who has a huge heart for orphans and the lost....

i am proud to call her friend. it was her family's obedience to the call that spurred us on to bring home our little bit. her constant encouragement has been a lifeline to me at times.

she has a giveaway and while i would really, really like to win it....you might want to too!

check out her blog post and follow the directions...

http://gatheringpeeps.typepad.com/gathering_peeps/

ok.

ready?

time for the reveal....little bit is my lovely assistant.

drawing out a name.

how about this one? 

a little peruvian "cheese" for you.

why don't they say queso?

and the winner is.....drumroll please.

JANET!

so, janet, shoot me an email or a message with your contact info and we will get this in the mail for you.

thanks for playing folks!

happy saturday!

because i wanna

i've been thinking a lot about what i can do to make a difference. how i can help. how i can encourage others.

i've been thinking about how blessed i am. how God has used others to encourage me. how when i am hurt there is always someone God puts in my path for me to love and to love on me in return. that i only have to look around and see someone who needs what i have to offer. someone who needs.

i've been amazed at conversations i have had today. conversations i had yesterday. watching God work. seeing beauty in others. being reminded myself how beautiful His people are. how beautiful the family of God is. how we are all just broken clay pots that He wants to use to bring glory to His name so the whole world can see Him. if He wants to pick up the shards of my heart and use me to bring Him glory...well i am all for it. i am glad though He needs to reshape me, that He is always ready to use me.

while there are a few things in the works that i cannot reveal yet, to help tide you over.....

it's time to give back.

so i am doing another giveaway.

yours can say a name or a place. i just happened to make this one for a young lady at our church to celebrate her graduation from high school.

it could say....africa or peru or china or russia....

or it could say....emma or micah or haley or sam....

or you could put....family or hope or faith or blessings

maybe when you look at it you see a teardrop...and you remember.

maybe when you look at it you see a guitar pick....and you want to sing.

it can be either.

it's up to you.

sooooooooo.......

here's what you need to do:
1. leave a comment on this post
2. make sure to leave your name
3. tell me what is your favorite thing about spring

we will draw a name out of the basket on saturday morning. look for the big reveal.

ready?

set.

go!

just because you asked so nicely

first of all i want to thank you if you've have asked what's new. if you've asked if we've heard anything. if you've asked for an update.

you probably don't know how good it makes me feel to know that you care.

keep asking...i probably won't know anything new...but keep asking anyway.

we are still waiting to hear that our dossier has been accepted. i have no idea when we will hear. just one day we will probably get an email with the good news.

it kinda reminds me of being pregnant. someone would call and ask if i had the baby yet....as if i would not call them and let them know the good news. too funny!

trust me, when we know something, you will too. we will be shouting from the mountain tops. ok..no mountains in kansas. so i will drive over to the sledding hill on centennial road and shout from the top of it instead!

what i do know is this...when our dossier is finally accepted we will be receiving an assignment paper directly from the sna. hopefully we will see two sweet names attached to the good news.

i would love nothing more that to be matched at the february meeting. it may or may not happen. we may have to wait until march or april or....

we have started looking at plane ticket prices {gasp} and getting some lodging ideas. i would love to stay in an apartment in lima. a little room would be nice, hotels are hard to stay in for a month with kids. of course no concrete plans as of yet.

we are still waiting to here from our home study agency that our addendum is finished. we were hoping to see something today, maybe we will have it tomorrow. i would just like to have it signed, sealed and delivered to uscis. one more step in the right direction.

why an addendum? our original home study went up to age 10 and our little lady turned 11 today. so we needed to make an adjustment. just one of those things that uscis will ask us to update, we thought we would get it done before they asked.

if you think of our little lady today, will you please pray for her? pray that God is already preparing her heart to accept her family. pray that she will have someone wish her a happy birthday, that someone will celebrate her life, that someone will whisper words of love to her. i wish i could call her. no, actually i wish i could hold her today, and tell her that she is beautiful and loved and wanted. i would tell her that she is already loved by 5 siblings. that she has grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins and friends that can't wait to meet her. that she has a cousin her very own age. that she has a baby sister who talks about her all the time. and that Jesus loves her.

maybe it won't be too long and i can tell her face to face.
"a father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families, He leads forth the prisoners with singing;" psalm 68:5-6a

just a glimmer of hope

well, i still have not received any word on how the meeting went.

waiting....waiting....waiting....

however, we do know that the final bits have all been submitted.

so far the sna has not asked for anything else...so far...

that could still happen.

we are praying that everything will be accepted in time for the february consejo. it is a long shot, but hey...isn't that what prayer is all about? praying in faith for what is not humanly possible? if God can stop rain from falling for 7 years, or make the entire earth flood, or make the sun stand still....well then He surely can do this little thing.

please continue to pray that we will be matched at the february consejo.

the other glimmer of hope came in the form of an email from a friend this afternoon. she too is waiting for a dossier to be accepted. waiting to be matched to a little boy.

the two we have asked to be matched to have typed in the empty box by their names, " solicitud de adopcion", or in english "adoption requested". then a date and our agency's name.

oh how that made my heart sing. to see their names are being set aside for us as we finish up the process. right now i do not need to worry that someone will snatch them up. peace...such a beautiful thing.

so thank you becky!

i have to confess that i have made a few purchases for the kids. risky? yes, it is, but i did it anyway. somehow it helps a little bit to buy cute girly pjs for my two girls or a plaid shirt for my boy. i am just guessing at sizes, but that's okay, my first peruvian was super tiny, if anything they will grow into the things i am getting for them. i will not know real sizes until after we are matched...hopefully the orphanages will cooperate and get some sizes out to us. i am sure that the tweener and i will be doing some shopping regardless of what i bring for her.

as soon as i hear more news, i will pass it along to you.

when i was at the created for care retreat we has some amazing worship times. sometimes i sang, other times i stood there with raised arm and cried. but one song we sang touched me deeply. if you could have a theme song for an adoption this would be ours. it is "our God is greater" by chris tomlin.

water You turned into wine, opened the eyes of the blind
there's no one like You, none like You

into the darkness You shine, out of the ashes we rise
there's no one like You, none like You

our God is greater, our God is stronger
God You are higher than any other
our God is healer, awesome in power
our God, our God

into the darkness You shine, our of the ashes we rise
there's no one like You, none like You

and if our God is for us, then who could ever stop us
and if our God is with us, then what could stand against us

did you see that last part? that is the prayer of my heart...exactly...

AND IF OUR GOD IS FOR US, THEN WHO COULD EVER STOP US
AND IF OUR GOD IS WITH US, THEN WHAT COULD STAND AGAINST US

am i shouting? YES! i cannot say or sing these words enough. ever.


"praise be to the LORD my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle. He is my loving God and my Fortress, my Stronghold and my deliverer, my Shield, in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples under me.  o LORD, what is man that you care for him, the son of man that you think of him?" psalm 144:1-3

please pray

we are in need of prayer.

it's just that simple.

i found out this afternoon that our representative in peru has all of our paperwork. tomorrow a meeting is scheduled for her to hand it in the the sna and discuss our case.

to say i have a wee bit of nervous energy is a huge understatement right now.

maybe this is what i need to kick myself in high gear.

these are the things i am asking for you to pray on our behalf.
1. that the sna will look favorably on us and our case.
2. that they will see our heart for these two specific children.
3. that they will accept our dossier and match us to these children.
4. that God's will for our lives will be accomplished.

i will keep you posted about the outcome. maybe we will even hear something tomorrow evening. wouldn't that be lovely?

in the meantime...the nesting continues. at a furious pace. we are finishing up the laundry room/craft room project. i painted walls and trim, and then the hubster agreed to put in a ceiling. now i don't have to worry about spiders dropping on me....not that i've seen any in the rafters, but you know...

i still have that quilt to finish. then some new jewelry to put in my etsy shop and my friend's shop downtown. plus this weekend our small group is coming over for the super bowl. not that i watch football. i have an amazing ability to appear like i am watching the sporting event and yet not be paying attention at all. i can even converse about it and ask appropriate questions. that must be one reason my hubby likes me so much...well that and the queso and chips i provide.

right now little bit is playing with her potato heads. she makes one for each member of the family. i am lucky because my look-alike potato head always wears the yellow beehive hair-do. jealous? well you should be. right now the cat is wearing green glasses. she is sitting over there giggling at how hilarious she is.

"do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." philippians 4:6-7

so for right now i am going to do my best to not worry about the outcome of the meeting. i will pray for the peace that comes only from the One who is able to guard my heart and my mind. i will pray that God will match these children to us, that He will move the hearts and minds of the authorities in peru to look favorably on us, that above all else His will is done.

will you join me in prayer?