Monday-the start of the week, the start of the process?

Monday. Today is the start of another week. I know Sunday is the actual start of a week, but for some reason I have always associated Sunday with the end of a week and Monday as the start to another. Maybe I need to rethink that...it wouldn't make Mondays seem so doom and gloom--it would instead make them the second day of the week and one more day closer to the weekend...hmmm...that actually really sounds nice. Anyway, no matter how you look at it, it is Monday and it is the start of many people's "work" week I guess. With the start of a new week, I find myself sitting here wondering if today will also be the start of something bigger for our family...the start of the Haitian end of this adoption process.

We received an email from our orphanage director late last week explaining she had talked with her Haitian lawyer and our paperwork as well as Nora's paperwork were ready to go to IBESR. He told her he planned to take them to IBESR (Haitian Social Services) on Monday....that's TODAY!!! I'm not holding my breath that this will actually happen today because a "Haitian Monday" could very well be today or some other day this week or perhaps whenever he can get to IBESR. I can only hope and pray that it will actually be today. I would LOVE for it to be today! What a wonderful Valentine's Day gift that would be--a true act of love.

So you may be asking what all this means? Why would it mean so much to get the paperwork to IBESR today? Well, it would mean our 1-2 year wait timeline will f.i.n.a.l.l.y. begin. We are just over 7 months into our own timeline now, but have yet to start the 1-2 year time frame we were given as far as how long it takes to adopt a child from Haiti. Yep, 222 days ago Micah and I agreed this adoption was something God was indeed calling us to and we began the very next morning by contacting the orphanage and beginning the paperwork. 222 days. Ooftah. Let me show you that in a more visual way...


These are the paper chain links we have been forming in Lily and Nora's room. At the very beginning of this process we knew this wait would be very, very hard for our kids to understand. They are all under the age of 6 and they typically want things instantly. We don't even tell them what the weekend plans are until it's Friday if we don't want to be asked about it every minute of every day until it actually is the weekend. However, with this process, we knew we wanted them to be a vital part of everything--including the decision for us to adopt in the first place so that meant we needed to tell them right away about our plans. With their blessing we began this process and it didn't take long before we began hearing the daily question from Lily, "Is Nora coming home today?" Ahhh...we knew then we had to do something to help pass the time for her so we started looping these chains. One chain link for every day we are waiting for Nora to come home. Some links have super special meanings like this one...


Yes, this chain will most likely encompass the top rim of their room many times over by the time the last link is placed on, but what a beautiful mess of chain links it will be. It has certainly helped. It gives Lily, especially, a way to track this process and be involved. Typically she adds a link or reminds us to add a link to it each night before going to bed...it's a nice way to end the day. We pray for Nora's safety, pray that God would move this adoption along quickly, and then add a link to the chain. Here is what's left before we start our second time round the room--maybe we'll get to our second trip before those links overlap. Who knows...


My prayer is we can tag today's link with another special message--"Feb. 13-Entered IBESR". Will you pray the same prayer with us? We appreciate your love and support of us and Nora in this process...especially today, on day 222...a purple, flowered chain link that needs a message written on it with love! Thank you for your prayers!