Presidential Dispensation June 25!

How do I even begin to tell you how it feels to have our paperwork signed by the President of Haiti???  It's just not explainable.....our paperwork has now entered the Haitian court system and the projected home coming date is by Christmas!!!

I was just going about my daily business, actually that's a lie, I wasn't going about my daily business at all I was doing the grocery shopping with my kids, which I very rarely do so it wasn't daily business for us, it's just so much easier without them but we really needed food and I wanted to spend the evening with my family instead of filling my trolley with food (do you get the irony here? filling my trolley with food....anyway I digress) I had just purchased five new pillows for our five kids and was about to head on over to Walmart for one last errand before Woodman's (I know, I said grocery shopping but that means errands as well!) when my phone rang.  It was Joe, no big deal right, my hubby was wondering where the heck we were cause we weren't at home.  

Joe:  "Our kids are out of IBRD!!!"

Me:  Speechless......my mind couldn't quite process what was being said (actually shouted down the phone with a lot of excitement) "Our kids..." well our kids are in the van with me, my heart was skipping some beats so I checked to see if in fact my kids were in the van with me, yep they were, right were I left them last, "...are out of IBRD", what the heck is IBRD???  OH I GET IT!!!!  Our Haitian babies paperwork had been signed and was now out of IBESR.  "What!?!?!??!"   (I had worked it out by this stage but my mouth hadn't quite caught up to my brain at that point and I said what!)

Joe:  "Michelle called and our kids are out of IBRD!!!"

Me:  "Whooooooooooo, Whoooooooooo,  Whoop Whoop!!!  Seriously???  Our paperwork is signed?  That's such great news, I can't believe it, actually I can, God is soooooo good!  Whooooooo!  So...how do you know?"

Joe:  "Michelle called me at work and left a message because you weren't at home."

And on it goes, with a bunch for whoo hooos and shouting and questions that Joe couldn't answer because it was just a message he listened to and I just couldn't wait to get home and call Michelle!  It was the fastest shopping trip ever and I'm pretty sure the kids think I'm crazy.  The kids that were in the van with me that is.  

So that's where we're at as of right now.  I can't wait to wrap my arms around those two babies again, our October mission trip just can't come quick enough.  As far as the rest of the process it looks like the paperwork goes through the courts pretty quickly but then it goes into MOI (Ministry of the Interior) which has a bit of a backlog right now which is holding things up.  After that it looks like the kids get their passports and 6-8 weeks from getting their passports we go get 'em!  The kids that is and their passports!

Thanks for praying and journeying with us.

God is good!

Well I have a few updates to give.  First off the spaghetti dinner was wonderful, thank you so much to all the people involved in putting that together for us we felt truly blessed.  There were so many people that helped, donated, served, and we can't thank you all enough MBC church family and friends!  The dinner itself raised $1,600!!!!!  After everyone who couldn't make it but wanted to contribute had given to us, the grand total was over $2,000!  That's incredible!!!

We also have a wonderful friend from our church who did a cookie drive for us and sold cookies to raise money for our adoption.  What a blessing.  And these weren't your ordinary cookies they were the best cookies I've ever eaten and I don't even care that much for cookies but they were so good I went back for seconds immediately upon finishing my first!  Yep that's right I and I could have eaten two more!  And then there was the bake sale at our Church's annual Stuff Exchange which a number of people baked for and many people contributed to.  Wow!  I just wrote a note to someone saying that just when I think my God is so great He does something that shows me that I really have no idea just how great He really is!!!  And He continues to do it.  Even in my sinful state the God of the universe still loves and blesses me.  It's mind boggling.  The cost of this adoption is nothing to my Heavenly Father and that is none too apparent in this adoption journey.  He has shown us over and over again that it is HE who puts the fatherless into homes and I can't wait to see the blessed day when this adoption is completed and our babies are united with their forever family!

So when will they be united with their forever family?  I've asked myself that question many times and while God knows, He's still not telling so I'm going about my business and trying not to focus in on the things which I do not know.  Our paperwork is still awaiting Presidential dispensation in Haiti and once that's done our paperwork will move into the court system.  I believe that's a three to six month process but don't quote me, so we've still got quite a wait ahead of us.  Please pray that the paperwork would be signed soon so it can get moving along.  On the bright side, Haiti could have stopped adoptions all together while they go through the Hague process but they chose to think about the children and keep pushing adoptions through even though it's slow.  I'll take it!

BUT I have a wonderful distraction right now and that's the mission trip we are planning to take to the orphanage in October!!!  A team of six people including myself are going to go and help out at the orphanage for a week.  Joe will stay home with the State side kiddos and I'll get to love on the Haiti kiddos while we're there.  It will have been seven months since the kids have seen us and while our wee man may not remember me I'm pretty sure our girly will.  We have some fun things planned for the kids and hope to be able to help out with some manual labour about the property while we're there too.  If you're interested in joining us it's not too late we don't leave until September 29 so let me know!

So that's about it for now, thanks for praying and joining us on our journey.

Spaghetti Dinner Benefit

Thanks to our dear friends and church family for going over and above to serve our LORD by assisting us in helping financially to bring our kids home from Haiti!
May God receive the glory in this.

Lemonade Stand out West!

From the heart of a child...

We have such a wonderful church family it's not hard to understand why we endure these terribly cold Wisconsin winters.  I couldn't imagine leaving them.

Anyway I digress, getting to the point.  Two kiddos just back from a western vacation told me of their very own fundraising efforts to help bring our children home from Haiti.  I was informed that whilst in the hot sunny part of the country they made some yummy lemonade in which their parents said "rocks".  Well this got the kiddos to thinking and the gears started turning and they came up with the idea of a Lemonade Stand.  They sold lemonade to whomever they could and raised a whooping $23 to go towards our fund.  That's 92 cups of lemonade at .25c a cup.  (Well not including donations but it's still impressive!).  Pretty darn impressive if you ask me.  The lady of the operation, only 8 years old, was turning flips in the front yard in order to attract customers.  They were doing some serious business out there.  My heart is full to bursting, I have no words to convey how much their gesture means to me and my family.  And there are two kiddos in Haiti who will not have to wait due to finances.  We sure do serve a MIGHTY GOD!!!  May all the glory and honour be given to HIM.

So what's going on.....

We knew this would be a long process going in.  We were told it would take 18-24 months from the time we started our paperwork until the time we would bring our kids home.  We were ready for it.  Yes we were ready!  So for the first six months we gathered paperwork, we traveled to Milwaukee, we paid lots of money, yes we were getting things done, it felt good.  I thought to myself:

 "Boy once this part is done and out of my hands (because I'm in control right!?!?! Just in case you don't know me I say that tongue in cheek!) I can sit back and watch what God does!"

Yes what a wonderful day it was when we sent in ALL of our paperwork......

Okay so now what?

Well, I thought I was going to sit back and watch what God did.  The ball was back in His court right!?!?!  Well yes it's always in His court but now about that sitting back and watching what God does.....that part, the part I thought would be the best, the easiest, turns out to be the hardest, most awful wait I've ever had to endure, and by my calculations we have approximately, well let me see, umm....hmmmmm...well I have no stinkin' idea how long to wait!  Nobody really knows, (well God does but He's not telling) and I just have to learn how to trust all over again.  I thought I trusted God already but it turns out I go through these phases where I just don't, I think I do but then I find myself sitting in my room rocking back and forth and thinking:

...what if the Haitian government stops adoptions from Haiti???
...what if the kids go back whence they came???
...what if something happens??? (???)
...what if...
...what if...
...what if...

.....now does that sound like a women who trusts that God has it all worked out??????

And do you know what the worst part for me is?  It's the fact that I went there, I held those babies in my arms and told them I love them.  What must they be thinking when they see other kids white folks come in to see them or worse take them HOME and they are still there waiting for their white folks to come back for them.  I can't begin to imagine how they must feel.  I know they are young and probably won't remember any of this (so please don't tell me that again) but what about RIGHT NOW.  This is when I need to stop rocking and cry out to my God for His comfort and His strength to endure this seemingly unbearable wait.  He not only holds me in the palm of His hand but He also holds our babies too.  And as one great preacher told us once, while we have to say goodbye, God doesn't, He is with us all, all the time and there is a lot of comfort in that.  The God who is here with me, right now, is there in Haiti with my kids too, right now.  And what better presence to be in than the One who created the heavens and the earth and all that is in them!

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight."  Proverbs 3:5

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."  Romans 15:13

As it turns out, adoption isn't just about care for orphans, while that's a key component of the equation, it's not all there is to it.  God uses what we've messed up to shape us into what He wants us to become.  So while I wait I WILL trust God, I'll go back to what I said I would do at the beginning and I'll take it one day at a time.  Just for today LORD I will trust YOU.  I will wait with joy and with a cheerful heart.  I will laugh at the beginning of each new day.

Side note about the laughing:  I read somewhere that if you laugh before you get out of bed, even if it's a forced laugh it really helps set the tone for the day.  So I've been trying it and it works.  My first day was great, I laughed out loud Ha Ha Ha (real corny like) and sure enough I sounded so ridiculous I laughed for real.  What a treat Joe will have to wake up to on the weekends aye?

Anyway, I will enjoy my family of five before we become a family of seven (YIKES....) because there is no time like today.  I will rejoice for this is the day that the LORD has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Spaghetti Dinner Benefit

Some very dear friends of ours from right here in Wisconsin have taken it upon themselves to be a really big part of our adoption fundraising efforts.  Words cannot begin to describe how much it means to us to see our church family rally around us and our family as we follow the LORD's call on our lives.  Thank you for joining us in this journey.  As a result they will be hosting and organizing a Spaghetti Dinner Benefit at our Church (Memorial Baptist Church in Verona) on April 27 at 5pm.  Please stay tuned more details to follow.

Bracelet Update

What an overwhelming response to the bracelet fundraising we've had.  Thanks so much to so many people for purchasing bracelets, telling friends about bracelets, and selling bracelets for us.  We have sold roughly 100 bracelets!!!  It's not just our adoption fund that is impacted by your generosity it's the many Haitian artisans that have spent countless hours working on those bracelets so that they can earn a living to make a better live for themselves and their families amidst a poverty stricken nation.  On behalf of the many Haitian artisans who brought us their handy work and the Koper Family:

~THANK YOU~