An Anniversary Rainbow

Today marks the 1 year anniversary of the day we started our paperwork. We never thought we’d be here, still waiting for our dossier to be submitted to the Ministry of Women & Children! We thought we’d at least be close to getting a referral by now. It’s been a journey.

First, the paper chase (8 months to complete our dossier – longer than most for those of you considering international adoption).

Then the completion (finally receiving our I-171H from Homeland Security)!

Then the wondering and nail biting (will the US pull out of Nepal?).

Then the confusion (is our agency telling us to drop out of Nepal?).

Now the “real” waiting (waiting to be matched to our little girl).

Has it been worth it? Absolutely! How are we dealing with it? We have the faith to believe that He who began a good work in us will see it to completion. There was a beautiful, bright rainbow to the west this morning and I am reminded that God keeps His promises. Are we anxious? Sure! How can you help us? Pray!

We can’t move the mountains of finances and time. But God can! Add us to your prayer lists. Tell your children about our journey and involve them in praying for a little girl who needs hope and a future. Ask the prayer teams at your church to pray for us (WCCC and LBC are already doing so)!

What can you pray for? Pray that our wait won’t be another whole calendar year like it has been for so many waiting families (our dear friends among them)! Pray for our daughter, that she is safe, healthy and lovingly cared for in Nepal. Pray for the government of Nepal to work quickly and diligently to match our daughter to us. Pray for Jay and I to enjoy and relish the time we have with our boys here at home while we long to travel across the world and bring home our daughter.

Find ways to help financially if you can. Tell others about our cause and see if they can lend a hand. Ask us questions! We love to talk about this journey and want to share it with you. Share your stories of adoption. Reading blogs and hearing stories of God’s faithfulness to other adoptive families keeps us going along this long, long, winding road.

And I can't end without thanking our parents for supporting us as we try to live out Psalms 82:3. Your granddaughter is already so blessed to have you praying for her and trying to help bring her home. And to our friends and family for writing dozens of letters of reference, praying countless prayers, sharing verses that we need at just that exact moment, and walking through this with us, we are honored by you. And to new friends through blogland, thanks for allowing us to follow your adoption stories. What a journey we share! Thank you, everyone! Thank you!

Hoping and praying it won’t be another year!

Set...

Our dossier is on its way to Nepal!

It will be reviewed by our agency's representative and they will be issued a Guarantee Letter from the US Embassy in Kathmandu. The Letter verifies that the immigration approval and fingerprint information have been forwarded from the US to Nepal. That letter must accompany our dossier. Once it's received, our dossier will be submitted to the Ministry of Women and Children.

I have no clue how long the wait will be for the Letter. Anyone? I know the letter is there because I received a notice from Homeland Security after our fingerprints were processed and we received our I-171H. And I have no idea how long our wait will be for our daughter. Anyone? I'm thinking 6-12 months for a referral. Depends on the new government.

We'll update again when our dossier is submitted to the Ministry and our "official" wait begins.

For those of you praying for my husband and our current medical situation, he gets his injection tomorrow at the local pain clinic. We'll see if this helps his back so that he can enjoy the summer with the family. They say the shot takes up to a week to take full effect. No medical bills are coming in yet, but I'm sure they'll start rolling in soon. Still praying God will provide a way for us to manage it all.

Grant # 2 Denied…

I’m not surprised by this one. This particular agency we applied to (Help Us Adopt) stated that they gave preference to childless families. I’m still happy I tried and I’m glad that there will be money going to other deserving families. God is just asking me to trust Him a little more.

Admittedly, I’m finding it hard to trust right now. Really hard!!! Jay just had a MRI this week for his 20-year long battle with back problems. We now have a diagnosis and it is most certainly not muscular. He has a bulging disc between L5 & S1 and he also has stenosis (narrowing of the spinal column). So, the MRI itself will be pricey to pay. Our maximum out-of-pocket is still in the thousands, including the deductible. But now we’re looking at 1 round of steroid injections to see if that will help Jay get through the summer. Then we’ll face back surgery this fall or winter. Contrary to popular belief, I’m not made of money.

I know God has a plan for us, but I’m really feeling clobbered right now (did I mention our lawn mower also died and we’ll need to get a new one?). How are we going to get through this larger than life financial mountain in the midst of an international adoption? I have absolutely no stinking clue.

I’m going to be really selfish and beg for your prayers for me right now! It’s really hard for me to find faith with all these goings on. I just want to be on the other side of this, laughing at my lack of faith and in awe of how God conquered it all for us. I know He will.

Psalms 46:1