What a way to find out! We have a Visa appointment for Wilna and Lovence!
Thanking God for this amazing news so long in coming, and for the way He told us!
Two of our babies are coming home – Lord willing, very soon!
Click here for the three minute update.
Forgive me – that was a blog post meant for my other blog – God has Dimples.
Not by her name, “Hannah,” but by her relationship. Like she calls us Mama and Papa and Oma, Hannah was Cousin.
And she said it a lot.
Savannah adored the time with Hannah, her 14 year-old cousin visiting from South Carolina. They swam, they jumped on the trampoline, they played chase around the kitchen.
Savannah called to her cousin with such love, such longing – and she does the same thing with other people in her life.
The terms coming out of a three-year-old are endearing. Adorable. Cute.
It made me wonder – what if I did the same thing? Addressed people solely based on their relationship to me?
God does it. Not the pain in the tushie part, but calls us by our role in his eyes.
So that’s my random thought for the day, friends. You are his beloved, his treasure. Defined by love. He’s calling you.
Rest in your name on his lips, your meaning to his heart.
I feel grumpy and I don’t like it.
We received an e-mail from USCIS yesterday. They are the US folks (In Haiti) who are reviewing all the documents for Wilna and Lovence (Laurentz is not in this step yet). We had hoped to get an e-mail of approval, meaning we would bring Wilna and Lovence home in three weeks or so. The e-mail instead asked for an extract of their birth certificates from the National Archives. An extract is essentially a short-form of their birth information. It legally summarizes the data and confirms that the birth certificate they have on hand is valid.
I guess they ask for this a lot.
I’m all for certifying, verifying, authenticating. But we estimate this will delay their homecoming another 4 weeks – at least.
And I’m so ready to have our children home.
I was the picture of spiritual maturity yesterday, trusting God in the timing, spending very little time upset and more time calculating dates and figuring out possible details. I reasoned that with the delay, maybe Laurentz would be able to come home with them. That would be good, right?
I nearly cried when Savannah refused to eat her turkey burger.
I felt my stress level grow exponentially (and irrationally) when I noticed the cluttered countertop and spotted the crumbs on my carpet.
I about jumped down Brian’s throat when he didn’t hear me ask a question.
I walked away. Stomped a foot. Pouted.
I’m sad. And as I write that, the tears come again.
Yes, I trust God, with all my heart and soul. And at the same time I also feel the emotions of another four weeks without our children home. Mostly for Wilna. Lovence doesn’t understand it quite as well, but I told Wilna I would do my best to come back for her in June. Now it will be July. Maybe August. Maybe I shouldn’t have specified a time frame, but we had been told April or May, so I figured June was pretty safe.
She’s growing up. She’s shedding childhood.
And yes, she’s strong and brave, a little stoic even.
But after I left last time, I found out she cried under the big mango tree.
She’s still a little girl in need of a mom and I miss her.
It’s been nearly four years. It’s time.
The whole story. The ups. The downs. The joy. The heartbreak.
I’ve been wanting to capture our whole adoption story in video. I’ve been working on it for weeks. I’ve cried every time I’ve edited, watched, uploaded. I love hearing other stories… and it was time to share ours. Click here to watch the journey.
It’s a Good, Good (adoption) Day!
And then there’s a day like yesterday – when great things happen and the tears flow.
Yesterday afternoon we received three pieces of news that have us doing the happy adoption jig.
We have passports for Wilna and Lovence!
Wilna Colopy. Lovence Colopy. It’s enough to give us goosebumps!
We also received the adoption decree for Laurentz. For those of you who know what a journey this has been, it’s a miracle to see his name: Laurentz Claury Colopy.
And finally, Wilna and Lovence have been submitted to USCIS. That means we should get the news that it’s time to pick them up in about 5 – 7 weeks.
Goosebumps, tears and great joy!
We are so grateful to God for this wonderful news, so excited, so nervous, so full of every type of emotion you could possibly imagine.
Thanking God for you and for this exciting new step!
We’ve prepared their rooms and prepared our hearts.
Wilna’s room – delighted in making this ready for her!
Full size bunk beds for the boys so we can cuddle them as they fall asleep!
My nephew, Andrew, will join me on this trip and I’m praying for safety, sweet moments with him, great connection to the kids and intimate moments with my God.
I’m also praying for my hubby and my mama – who will be watching over Savannah while I’m away. At three, she is go, go, go. I’m praying that Brian is still able to get some work done in between playing dolls, doing gymnastics and building pink lego houses.
Our go, go, go girl!
Will you pray those things with me?