When I was in Haiti last August a nightmare came true. My luggage didn't make it. I arrived on Monday and my luggage arrived late Thursday. I went home Friday. I truly learned how God provides on that trip! People were so generous.
Well, on Thursday night when I got my luggage I began distributing diapers and wipes and food items that I had brought for the boys, but didn't get to use. Among those items was a container of strawberry apple puffs. If you have toddlers, you probably know what I'm talking about. If not, it's a toddler food put out by Gerber. My boys love them.
Well, that night I was able to give everything away but the puffs. No one wanted them. As I sat at the dinner table with our group, I looked at the expiration date and exclaimed that surely our boys would be home before April 30, 2008 to eat them. The strangest thing happened then. The director of the orphanage heard what I said, looked at me, but made no comment. It struck me as odd then and I wonder now; did she know? Did she know they wouldn't come home by that date? I don't know. I certainly never imagined that my boys would still be in Haiti 9 months later. At that time we were supposedly awaiting judgment, but the following month we learned that we had never exited Parquet as we'd been told months earlier.
As I got ready to toss these puffs in the trash (as I've done with lots of other food) I remembered how certain I was that my boys would be home to eat them and they are not. Sometimes I just can't fathom that this is reality.
As I spent time quietly with God today I was reminded that my eyes need to stay focused on Him. It is easy for my eyes to wander toward the evil that surrounds this adoption. I sometimes stare it in the face and wonder how it is so. I become obsessed by it with such a strong desire to set right the wrongs. But the Lord has quietly shown me that it is His job to bring justice. And He will. We all have to account for our sins. Judgment day is real. I will have to face the Lord for the things I've done and so will those who have had a hand in the evil surrounding our adoption, whoever they are. God has allowed it, but He will deliver justice. So, tonight I choose to keep my eyes focused on Him. I will throw away the puffs and with it my anger and desire to focus on the evil.
This blog was created to share information about bringing our boys home from Haiti. Now that they are home and we've had a baby, we share the day to day craziness that we now call life.
About Us
- Juli
- Mom to three fantastic little boys: Noah and Samuel, 6 year old twins, born in Haiti, who've been with our family since 9/08 and Tristan, our 4 year old handful! God's moved us all over the country and continues to move in our hearts.
Not a Surprise...
Chuck and I have noticed that most people make the assumption that Tristan was a surprise. You know, the idea of, "adopt a child and you'll end up pregnant." While that may be true for some, that is not the case for us. Believe it or not, Tristan was planned. At the time of his conception we were unsure our adoption would ever complete and we decided to stop putting our family on hold. God saw fit to bless us with Tristan, Noah and Samuel all at the same time! While the transition into parenthood was not easy for us, we trust that God knew what He was doing!
April 21, 2009
Brothers
Noah and Samuel, 3 years old
Samuel and Noah at 2 years old
Tristan, 5 months
Tristan, 5 weeks old
Noah and Samuel at 21 months.
Noah at 19 months.
Samuel at 19 months.
Samuel and Noah at 11 months old.
Our Timeline
May 2005 - God began speaking to us individually about adoption.
July 2005 - Decided to move forward with adopting from Haiti.
October 2005 - Applied to adopt through an orphanage.
November 8, 2005 - Approved to adopt through chosen orphanage.
January 19, 2006 - Committed to adopt the boys.
May 15, 2006 - Dossier arrived in Haiti.
July 14, 2006 - Dossier submitted to IBESR.
January 23, 2007 - Dossier exited IBESR.
September 21, 2007 - Exited Parquet.
October 2007 - Received Judgment Granted.
December 2007 - 2nd Legalization completed, which means Noah and Samuel's adoptions are complete. They are ours!!
March 2008 - Finally receive all needed documents from Archives.
March 13, 2008 - Birth parent interview completed.
Late March, 2008 - Submitted to MOI.
May 20, 2008 - Confirmed that our updated fingerprints have reached the USCIS office in Port au Prince.
May 20, 2008 - Received word that our MOI long form has been completed.
June 24, 2008 - Received MOI approval.
July 10, 2008 - Received word that Samuel's passport has been printed.
July 16, 2008 - Received word that Noah's passport has been printed.
July 25, 2008- Confirmed that our passports were presented to the USCIS office in Port au Prince and that out I-600 file has been approved.
July 26, 2008 - Emailed our request for the boys' visa appointment.
July 31, 2008 - Emailed 2nd request for boys' visa appointment.
August 4, 2008 - Spoke with the Embassy, awaiting email confirmation of visa appointment.
August 5, 2008 - Email confirmation of visa appointment received. Our appointment is scheduled for 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday, August 12th.
August 12, 2008 - The visa appointment went well! Visas should be ready tomorrow.
August 13, 2008 - The visas are in hand and the boys CAN COME HOME!!
August 15, 2008 - Baby brother Tristan was born.
September 1, 2008 - Flew to Miami and spent the night.
September 2, 2008 - Woke very early only to learn that our flight to Haiti was cancelled due to Hurricane Hanna hitting Haiti. We spent the next few days visiting friends and family in Florida.
September 5, 2008 - The boys are HOME!! However, we are stuck in Miami for the night because Hurricane Hanna hit Virginia, too, and our flight home was cancelled. Hoping to get home tomorrow.
September 6, 2008 - We are FINALLY home. To God be all the glory!
July 2005 - Decided to move forward with adopting from Haiti.
October 2005 - Applied to adopt through an orphanage.
November 8, 2005 - Approved to adopt through chosen orphanage.
January 19, 2006 - Committed to adopt the boys.
May 15, 2006 - Dossier arrived in Haiti.
July 14, 2006 - Dossier submitted to IBESR.
January 23, 2007 - Dossier exited IBESR.
September 21, 2007 - Exited Parquet.
October 2007 - Received Judgment Granted.
December 2007 - 2nd Legalization completed, which means Noah and Samuel's adoptions are complete. They are ours!!
March 2008 - Finally receive all needed documents from Archives.
March 13, 2008 - Birth parent interview completed.
Late March, 2008 - Submitted to MOI.
May 20, 2008 - Confirmed that our updated fingerprints have reached the USCIS office in Port au Prince.
May 20, 2008 - Received word that our MOI long form has been completed.
June 24, 2008 - Received MOI approval.
July 10, 2008 - Received word that Samuel's passport has been printed.
July 16, 2008 - Received word that Noah's passport has been printed.
July 25, 2008- Confirmed that our passports were presented to the USCIS office in Port au Prince and that out I-600 file has been approved.
July 26, 2008 - Emailed our request for the boys' visa appointment.
July 31, 2008 - Emailed 2nd request for boys' visa appointment.
August 4, 2008 - Spoke with the Embassy, awaiting email confirmation of visa appointment.
August 5, 2008 - Email confirmation of visa appointment received. Our appointment is scheduled for 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday, August 12th.
August 12, 2008 - The visa appointment went well! Visas should be ready tomorrow.
August 13, 2008 - The visas are in hand and the boys CAN COME HOME!!
August 15, 2008 - Baby brother Tristan was born.
September 1, 2008 - Flew to Miami and spent the night.
September 2, 2008 - Woke very early only to learn that our flight to Haiti was cancelled due to Hurricane Hanna hitting Haiti. We spent the next few days visiting friends and family in Florida.
September 5, 2008 - The boys are HOME!! However, we are stuck in Miami for the night because Hurricane Hanna hit Virginia, too, and our flight home was cancelled. Hoping to get home tomorrow.
September 6, 2008 - We are FINALLY home. To God be all the glory!
Labels
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10 comments:
I'm so sorry for the pain you are experiencing. Keeping your eyes on Him is the right thing to do. Praying here...
Stephanie
I am so sorry. GOd is bigger than this and HE will deliver on His promise to you.
I'm so sorry. I just sold many brand new summer-weight clothing items that were purchased last Spring for my kids when I was so sure they'd be home by summer. I had waited months & months (a year or more actually) to go shopping as I wanted to get the right sizes. I was so sure there was no way we would miss the summer together. I finally wouldn't buy a thing. When they did come home in November, I was in a scramble to get winter-weight clothing.
All of which to say, I'm so sorry and I do feel the pain like it was yesterday. How could you expect this many long months more? I sure didn't.
Know I'm praying for you and your family! And I pray God will redeem these many long months He is asking you to wait to start your family together.
All the clothes I bought for the last trip--several outfits I didn't even use--are all way too small now.
I sent puffs in our Christmas package.
After reading this months update about Kaleb, I really want to get him home. It sounds like he has both physical and emotional needs better met in a home environment.
I hope your wait is almost over.
I hope your precious little ones come home soon. I know how hard it is to wait. Our family is in waiting for Guatemala to open back up so we can proceed with bringing home our baby girl. I have to use a lot of Puffs....the tissue kind through all of this.
blessings
Michelle
www.journeytomercy.blogspot.com
I am so sorry for all that you are going through. Waiting for our children to come home is downright painful..... but we need to stay focused on God. You have a great attitude and God will bless you and your boys waiting for you in Haiti.
my heart sunk reading this. i'm so sorry for everything that surrounds you in this adoption.
hugs from someone who gets the anger associated in this.
Thank you all for your encouragement. Yes, the wait is hard, but it's harder when my focus is off of God. I'm glad I know that now.
heart wrenching. I am so sorry.
Thanks for the reminder in the last paragraph of this post. I struggle with the same things in waiting for our son to come home from Haiti. Good words, thanks for sharing.
Amy
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