Life on the HOMEfront!

HOMEfront!  I'm still in awe that I am able to say that word and know that it INCLUDES Nora in it!  Yes, we are all home and enjoying the day-to-day life with Nora present.  On one hand it feels a bit surreal still and on the other hand it seems completely normal to see her running through the house with the other kids.  I guess 2+ years of having Nora a part of our family has helped this transition be a bit easier.  We are used to her name being said all the time...now she just comes over when we call it!

Our time in Haiti was as smooth as ever--thank You, Jesus!  We got a message when arriving in Florida that both guest houses at Mountain Top Ministries were super full with mission team members so they had worked out a way for us to have a room at a wonderful hotel between Petionville and Port-Au-Prince called The Hotel Montana.  It was very nice to be there, but we really did miss out on seeing friends of ours who were going to be at MTM the same time as us.  We were appreciative of their extra efforts, however, to make sure we had a place to stay and actually found the quietness of our place to be very positive for our bonding time to Nora.  Nora was very timid when we first got her back to the hotel.  She did not enjoy being looked at or having us touch her much at all (like rubbing her back or tickling her sides).  She would mainly just lay her head on our shoulders so she would be close yet not have to look into our faces.  She had a terrible cough/cold too so we knew she just wasn't feeling very well on top of the upheaval of her life as she knew it.  It seemed as if just the slight movement of our position would make her uneasy and we would have to try to rebuild established trust.

Tuesday morning, however, after getting dressed, I got my first slight smile out of her as she and I built a tower of blocks together.  When she got the last block on the top I would clap and tell her she did it and smile.  She would smile ever so slightly back.  And then came the breakthrough...I asked her to give me a high five for doing a great job and she lit up and gave me one instantly.  I could have just sat there crying tears of joy.  It was beautiful to finally see that smile on her face!  From that point forward, we saw more and more smiles intermixed with set-back moments as we learned what she was comfortable with verses what was asking too much of her already.  It was sort of like taking two steps forward and one step back.  A beautiful and delicate dance of learning how to trust the two people who have loved her as their own for 2 years but she just didn't know it yet.  By the time we left on Wednesday morning, we knew we were heading in the right direction yet also knew it was time to get her home.  With every change in scenery, came more "restarts" on her trust level with us.  We were very ready to simply have her in our own house where all of the craziness of the outside world could be shut out for a bit and better trust could be built.

While at the orphanage we thoroughly enjoyed seeing Nora's birth-mom, Adrienne, again.  We missed seeing her on our last trip to Haiti so we were so glad to be able to visit this time around.  We had some little gifts for her to help her remember Nora and know how much we love and appreciate her.  Mainly we just wanted to thank her again for entrusting her daughter to us to be our own.  We are blessed to know we can send photos and messages to our orphanage director from here on out and Adrienne will come to get them.  She will always hold a special place in our hearts.  We were also very much looking forward to meeting with Mary, the American physical therapist whom has been a God-send to us, but without being able to stay at the guest house, we were unfortunately unable to meet up with her at all.  We were so sad about that.  Thankfully Mary is from the States so we have made promises to stay in touch and someday meet face-to-face here.

We stayed at the hotel Monday and Tuesday and left Wednesday morning to head back to the States.  ALL of our paperwork was completed already before we arrived on Monday morning so our stay was very relaxed...praise God for the answered prayers there!  What a relief to see that stack of paperwork on my lap the moment we got into our director's vehicle.  Amazing to know all of our wait came down to these precious papers being handed over to the correct people at the Immigration room of the Ft. Lauderdale airport and with that...it was finally over!  We celebrated with a meal at Chili's in the airport and Nora began smiling, teasing, and talking with us more than she had been yet on the trip...maybe she sensed the completeness of that moment as well.

 

After an 8 hour layover in Florida, a flight back to Detroit, a late night stay in a hotel there and our 3 hour drive back home (complete with a lovely puking incident 10 minutes away from our house), we arrived HOME!  Grandma and Grandpa had been staying here with the kids and they were all very happy to see us bring Nora into the room.  Her hesitant, more shy act quickly wore off as she got comfortable with Lily, Toby & Quinn.  Within the first half hour of being home she was laughing, talking, and running through the house with the others like she had always lived here.  What felt like 3 days of hard work for Micah and I to break through her walls of protection, our other kids were able to break through in a half hour--wow!  What a beautiful answer to prayer!

Since arriving home, we have enjoyed the quietness (or non-quietness) of our house with 4 children.  Nora is coming out of her shell more and more and she is showing us just how beautiful she is.  She is happy, assertive, very loudly talkative (in Creole still for now but is repeating more and more English words after us), loves to laugh, and really enjoys cuddling up tight in Daddy and Mommy's arms.  She loves to have us skim through books with her, plays with blocks and other toys, knows how to flip through the iPad (thanks Mary!) and really, really LOVES to look in mirrors and wrestle with Daddy.  She HAS to have shoes on her feet at all times and gets very upset when one falls off.  Yesterday when we hadn't put her own on, she ended up finding Lily's shoes and preceded to wear them the entire day even though they were huge on her.

She is eating just fine as well.  We have been trying to have a more bland diet for her at the beginning because she has been fighting a cold and had been getting sick.  She seems to be doing better each day, however, so we are slowly starting to introduce some more options to her.  Sleep is going fairly well.  She fights the going to sleep part, but once there she sleeps all night long in her crib with no problems.  Lily is enjoying being in the same room with her, although she also can't wait until Nora doesn't go to bed earlier than her so they can talk to each other before falling asleep like the boys do.  Nora's nap time is the only thing that has been a bit of a struggle because she was only sleeping as long as Micah and I were holding her.  Although it was fun to hold her and cuddle her, this just wasn't going to work for 2 hours every day from here on out.  After some experimenting, we discovered she does much better taking those naps on a blanket in the living room where all the action is still happening (like she did in Haiti) than in her bed alone in the other room.  So far this new method seems to be going great!

Another huge praise is we got her parasite stool testing back and she actually doesn't have any!  Praise Jesus!  We have been praying daily for her protection in Haiti and we believe God has answered those prayers for sure.  We will still continue to watch her carefully because I have heard other stories where there are still some "hidden" parasites to deal with even with negative testing results, but for now we trust she is healthy!  We look forward to watching her continue her great health and growth in our own home now and we are thankful for the wonderful care she has been given at Rivers of Hope up until this point.

Lastly, we wanted to say thank you to everyone who has been following our journey these past 2 years and 4 months.  What a journey it has been!  You have each played a role in our support--whether it was financial or prayer, hugs or tears, celebration or heartache.  We were incredibly blessed by each of you.  We got to see many of you on Saturday at our Meet and Greet but there were many of you who we wish we could still see in person to extend our thanks to.  We hope and pray some day we will be able to do that.  If you were not able to join in on the fun on Saturday, here is a link to the Fox 28 news report for you to watch...

Fox 28 News Link of the Nora Thieszen Meet and Greet

I'll end this post with a slideshow of photos I put together of our take home trip to Haiti and our first homecoming moments here in Goshen.  I hope you enjoy!  We will keep you updated as Little Miss continues to thrive in our family.

She's Coming Home!

In all the hub-bub of the moment and then the busyness of the past few days, I finally realized I never officially announced our great news here-ahh!  I'm so sorry to those of you who follow this blog but are not on facebook where I find it much easier to announce short blurbs like this one...

We got our visa appointment date for November 5th at 9 a.m. and the following week we are bringing her home!!!

WooooooHoooooooo!

Yes, our flights are booked and, Lord willing, we will be introducing Toby and Quinn and reuniting Lily with Nora on November 14th.  We are obviously beyond excited for this transition to finally be happening and covet your prayers as we finish up with the paperwork end of this adoption.  Nora's visa appointment still needs to go well on November 5th, which we have no reason to believe it won't, then we need to get the actual visa papers and our IBESR exit letter before we will be allowed to leave the country with Nora in our arms.  Please be praying for each of those steps to go through with no issues so we will be on time for bring Nora home.

Because our fights are getting in late and we want her siblings to meet her in the quite moments of an  less overwhelming/overstimulating atmosphere, we are forgoing the "airport party" that many have come to expect at the ending of the an adoption process.  Instead, our small group from church has offered to host a Meet and Greet party on Saturday, November 16th from 2-4 p.m.  All are welcome to come and help us celebrate the 2 year and 4 month process coming to an end and the lifelong process of raising Nora beginning.

We have no doubt this event will be somewhat overwhelming to Nora so, as a family, we will be sticking to the 2-4 p.m. time frame strictly. We may also have Nora held by Micah or myself at all times during the party depending on her needs. Please know that as much as you have all been dying to give her hugs and kisses and perhaps hold her, she will most likely need more time in transition before these types of greetings are comfortable for her. We humbly ask for you to respect her space and our knowledge of when she may be getting too overwhelmed. We love you all and desire for you to join us this day, but ultimately still need to put Nora's needs above anything else. If you want to extend hugs to Nora through us, we will be more than happy to give those to her for you!

We would also love to have you bring (or send if you can't make the party) notes or cards of welcome or stories of how much Nora has touched peoples' lives already or how you have prayed for her. I will be collecting these treasures for Nora to read throughout her life.

Some have asked us what we "need" for Nora. Honestly, we are pretty set on clothes and toys and such since she is not our first child. If you are desiring to still give, gift cards to stores such as Walmart would be most helpful to pay for items she will continually need such as diapers, hair products, wipes, etc, but please do not feel obligated in any way. Having her HOME is gift enough!

We do hope to see many of you there! We look forward to celebrating our long adoption "paperwork journey" being completed and the adoption "family life journey" beginning with each of you! You have each been such a valuable and treasured part of this process.

Stay tuned for a follow-up post at some point to what we hope/expect/desire our lives to look like once our sweet one is home.  As always, thank you all for your continued support and prayers!  So very soon this beauty will be coming home!

P.S. The busyness of the last few days has consisted of parent/teacher conferences, Noah's Ark Carnival for "trick or treat", our son, Toby's, annual cardiology appointment/check up, and our other son, Quinn's, 4th birthday party. Busy, busy, busy.  I was glad to have today to gather myself before heading into a week of more appointments and packing!

Approved!!!!!!!!

This will be a shorter blog post, but mainly a post to announce the GREAT news we received today...

WE ARE APPROVED FOR OUR VISA!

We got the visa approval email this morning from the Embassy.  Praise the Lord!  Nora will be coming home soon!

Here is the low-down on the remaining steps....

• In the next 2-3 days we will receive a second email from the Embassy giving us the date of Nora's visa appointment.  This appointment is typically being given out about a week to 2 weeks from the date of approval so we hope/expect that appointment to be around the first week of November.  Our director will take Nora to this appointment for us.
• After that appointment, the actual visa will need to be printed and this typically takes about 2-3 days to obtain.
• After receiving the actual paper visa, we will still need to get one remaining document from the director of IBESR in order to have the ability to leave the country with Nora in our arms.  This exit letter typically takes an additional 2-3 days to obtain after the visa.
• We are free to leave the country with Nora and welcome her to the United States as a US citizen!

So, once we receive the actual date of Nora's visa appointment, we will have a much clearer time frame of when our trip will happen.  We hope she would be home by the middle of November, but only time will tell.  I will update on here again once we have this date and have a bit of a better idea in mind for our travels.

Thank you all for your love and support and, most importantly, your prayers!  I believe firmly that God is completing His Work through the faithfulness of our prayers and our faith that He can do anything.  I posted this photo of Nora on facebook the other day.  One of our friends and fellow adopting Mamas took it while she was visiting Nora last week at the orphanage.  I found it profound because I had just had on my heart to keep praying and praying and praying for God to move on our behalf just as if I was the persistent widow written about in Luke 18:1-8.  That my God, who is love, would come and grant me the answers to my prayers if I would just keep knocking and knocking and knocking on the door of God.  And then...this photo came later that morning.  A photo of our sweet baby girl holding on to a closed door.  It all became so clear to me--Nora is on the other side of that door.  I will not stop knocking until she is in my arms.  Micah and I both commented about how she looked ready for us to come for her.  I am beaming with joy at the fact we will indeed be coming for her so very soon now!  Just hold on, Nora Josephine, Mommy and Daddy are coming to open that door!

For years now I have been daily reading a devotional book entitled God Calling which was edited by A.J. Russell.  Next to the Bible itself, this is the book God has used the absolute most to touch my heart.  I believe it to be divinely inspired.  Each day's entry has some sort of way of touching me deeply.  Today's entry did not disappoint...

October 23-Hill of Sacrifice

     You must trust to the end. You must be ready to go on trusting to the last hour.
     You must know even when you cannot see...You must be ready, like My servant Abraham, to climb the very Hill of Sacrifice, to go to the very last moment, before you see My Deliverance.
      This final test has to come to all who walk by Faith. You must rely on Me alone.
      Look to no other arm, look for no other help. Trust in the Spirit Forces of the Unseen, not in those you see. Trust and fear not.

The Final Countdown

If I could, I would have this song playing in the background for this whole post.  It is what has been in my head ever since I got the email from our director today.  Yes, friends, we can officially say...we're in the final countdown!

This morning our director was able to successfully submit all of our paperwork to the US Embassy in Port Au Prince.  Ahhhhh......what a huge relief and a huge celebration!  2 years, 2 months, 3 weeks, and 5 days in.  Finally, we are at the last major stage of this adoption!  All of our papers were done and waiting for a corrected passport, which we got to see a photo of last night on a separate email from our director.  It was a beautiful sight.  Today, while at the Embassy for another family's visa appointment, she delivered our precious cargo into the hands of the American government.  Normally, this would bring great relief knowing that the US side of things had a bit more predictable time lines, but now with the government shut down, this time line is also completely unpredictable.  It is living proof that the delays and effects of government decisions that hold up adoptions are not JUST on the Haiti end of things.

If all was "normal"--meaning not in a government shut down--the typical time frame for most lately has been about 6 weeks from entering the Embassy to taking their child home.  As much as we were hoping for that, with the shut down, we need to realistically be planning on more.  They are still processing visas within the Embassy, but we have heard from reliable sources to expect much longer delays with that processing.  This is hard to hear, but what else can we do?  Well, pray, of course!

We are praying that God would use this shut down to our advantage instead of to our disadvantage and miraculously move us through the system much faster than we are planning on.  He alone can do that for us.  Otherwise, we are at the hands of the workers there in Port Au Prince and trust that God can do big things through them.  We are praying that God would simply show His favor on all of these last steps.

So, what are those last steps?  What happens in the Embassy and what still needs to happen to get Nora home?  Basically, we are waiting for them to go through all of our paperwork and approve Nora for a US visa, which we will find out via an email from the Embassy.  That email will tell us we are approved and will let us know that we will get another email in the next few days afterwards letting us know when Nora's visa appointment is.  This has typically been scheduled about 1-2 weeks out from that email.  Once our director takes Nora to that appointment, she will be granted a visa which takes 2-3 days to print.  After that, all we need to leave the country with her is our exit letter from IBESR (Haitian Social Services).  This typically takes just a few days as well to get.  So, after we get that visa and exit letter, we can fly home with her.  We will plan our take home trip only after knowing our visa appointment date.

Please join us in praying for all to go smoothly despite the shutdown and for miraculous speed through this remaining leg of the journey.

As far as our little princess...did you hear she turned 2 this last Monday?  Oh, she was so beautiful in her special birthday dress and crown!  See for yourself...

We got a lovely message from Mary letting us know she had a fabulous day of playing with balloons, eating her heart out of cake (which she wasn't quite sure of), icing (which was amazing), as well as popcorn, candy, and orange pop!  I can't share photos of all the little ones at her party because of privacy issues, but oh how I wish I could!  They were adorable in their name party hats all sitting around the table together.  Our director was there to play with Nora and celebrate the day with her.  She even brought over a few pictures the kids had colored for her.  There is a picture of them looking at Lily's drawing specifically.  There is much love shared between the two of them.  We got an email from Mary again the next day letting us know the special day had wiped our sweetheart out.  She took 2 big naps the following day!  Here are a few more photos I can share...

As much as we wish we could have been together on this special day, we also know it will not be long before we can celebrate together.  Until then, we had our own special evening of celebrating our little girl's life with going out for pizza and then having our own cake and ice cream at our place.  The kids and Micah were just a "bit" hyper that night as you can see in the photos.  We sent the photos as well as a few videos down to Nora so she could see us celebrating her.  Last year we thought we would be together for this birthday, but I think it's pretty safe to say this was the last one we'll celebrate separate from each other!

Heavy Burdens, Choices, and What it Means to Live Life as a Day Hiker

 This morning we got some not so forward-movement news from Haiti and I posted this on facebook:

Well the latest news from Haiti sent early this morning was that our papers did not get dropped off to the Embassy last week as we were led to believe they were. (Shucks) Our director is now waiting until she has the corrected passport and sending them all at the same time. The work we thought the Embassy would be doing while the passport was being corrected will not begin until the passport is corrected and all is turned in together. This could set us back again for several weeks. Please pray for a fast passport correction so we can continue to move forward. We also found out this morning that there is still one more paper she is also waiting on and this is also why our other completed papers were not already sent to the Embassy yet—she is waiting for that paper to save time and gas with the trip to PAP. Please pray for this paper to become available as well as the corrected passport so we can move forward. Thank you!

One of my college friends who has been an active prayer support through this adoption then commented this in reaction to my post, “Oh Angie!! Steps forward one step back. Praying those papers get moving! It has to be frustrating that all the holdup to having your girl at home is because of paper!!!!”

I went to post a reply comment, but several minutes into typing I realized this was not a “comment” type of reply, but instead, an entire blog post reply. So, here is my reply to my friend AND, remarkably, the answer to my previous blog post's question that I mentioned wanting to tackle...the question of “Why is waiting so tiring?” I think you will see the answer unfold before you as you read on.

So without further ado, my thoughts in reply to this: “It has to be frustrating that all the holdup to having your girl at home is because of paper!!!!”:

Well, paper, yes, AND human mistakes when working on those papers! Yes, there is no doubt about it, it IS frustrating. It's frustrating to know that what one person with our form on their desk could most likely get it done in a matter of a day (or even a few hours of a day) but hasn't yet will potentially hold up our homecoming date by 3 weeks now. That if the person typing up our passport would have just double checked their typing for 30 more seconds to see the one wrong letter, I could be holding my girl in my arms for potentially 3 extra weeks beyond what I now get to. Yes, “frustrating” is the word I would pick. Basically it boils down to this...if humans weren't involved in the process then Nora would be celebrating her 2nd birthday with her family at the end of this month instead of celebrating it in the orphanage still. There isn't much about the adoption process that isn't frustrating if you look at it through the lens of logical thinking. And that is the ongoing battle....logical thinking verses the higher call of Christ. The higher call of extending grace, forgiveness, and peace in the midst of a broken world with broken processes all being carried out by broken people.

Today, friends, much the same as every day on this adoption journey (or through life for that matter) I have a choice to make. I can choose to dwell on the “what if's” and the “if only's” that come with every bit of news from Haiti. I can choose to be disappointed in the efforts of those I will never meet who have touched our paperwork and not moved it along fast enough for my liking. I can choose to dwell on the logical and be completely frustrated OR I can choose to set aside the rational thinking and the frustrations that come with it and look to God to overcome it with a peace that passes all understanding. I can look to a God who has power and authority to move things that would otherwise be at a standstill. To trust that God is bigger and more good than any human effort ever will be. To trust that God's grace covers not only me, but all those who are working on our papers.

When I got the email this morning, for example, at the same moment of feeling frustration and disappointment, I have to admit I also was thinking this, "Okay, God, here we are again! This isn't working out like we hoped and I need You to show up with Your power and authority that goes beyond what humans can even imagine. You are in control and when all else seems hopeless, You are STILL alive, active, and moving on our behalf. Like Toby Mac's song says, 'If you want to steal my show, I'll sit back and watch You go.' So, GO, God, GO!" With those two contradictory thoughts/feelings simultaneously happening in my mind this morning I am left with a choice to make...which one do I believe, which one do I base my attitude on, which one do I focus on for the remainder of the day? The disappointment or the hope. The heavy burden or the light?

For me, honestly, I need to do both and I think it is actually GOOD to briefly carry the heavy burden before giving it up, but let me explain why. For a moment of time, first, I need to be frustrated and disappointed and feel the weight of that burden on my own shoulders. I need to remain in my heartache long enough to acknowledge it properly and know what it feels like to be weighed down like that. I am not one who likes to be numb to the pain of life--to push it aside and try to pretend it isn't there. Nope, I'm the one that will live intensely right in it and get everything and anything the Lord has for me there before moving on. I want to KNOW the weight of what I am eventually handing over to Christ to carry for me. When I allow myself to carry it for a bit of time (and that time frame varies with each situation) I find myself even more grateful for a God who willingly and lovingly takes it from me and carries it for me. Wow, such sacrifice He gives for me. If I never allow myself to carry the weight of it all, would I ever comprehend even a fraction of that sacrifice? Would I be able to truly thank Him for what He has done for me if I don't even know what it was?

If you are like me, however, and choose to carry those burdens on your own for a short amount of time, there comes a critical moment where you also have to make the decision to give them up or you will quickly sink into living the life God never intended for you to live. A life of relying on our human, sinful, imperfect self or other human, sinful imperfect selves to bring lasting relief, comfort, and help. Such a lie. We have no ability to do such things. Only Christ. I was never created to carry heavy burdens. You were never created to carry heavy burdens. Christ was. This decision to lay your burden—your frustrations—your pain—at Christ's feet is harder than you think. In the heat of the pain, Satan encourages us to believe the lie that the burden of carrying it really is not as bad as admitting to Christ we need help to carry it. It's subtle, but it's there and if we choose to believe it, we forfeit God's gift of grace and move on through life carrying weights we were never meant to carry. After carrying it just long enough to know the weight of it, I have to give it up if I want the fullness of God in me. If I want the freedom of a lighter load.

So, what does that look like? What does leaving your burdens at the foot of the cross really mean? It sounds nice, but what does it mean practically for us humans? What does the lighter load look like on a daily basis? For me, I am not a person who can go through life empty handed—I am wired to carry something. If I'm not carrying a heavy load of burdens and God wants me to give it up and let Him carry it, I've still got to hold onto something so I don't pick it right back up again. Maybe it's because tend to be a person of compassion towards others—I can visualize Jesus carrying all my crap and I feel bad enough that I think I should take it back (see Satan's lie covertly slipping right back in there!). So, for me, leaving it all with Him requires picking something else up to replace it or I'll end up right where I started again. I personally replace the burden with Scriptural Truth. That is what I carry so I'm not empty handed...Scripture. Pure and simple...and quite frankly, much easier and lighter to carry. Today, for example, the Scripture I chose to carry instead of my frustration of this current set-back in our adoption is this: John 16:33, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” I can dump my burden on Christ and chose to carry the Truth that even though I will have trouble in this world, God Himself has overcome it. Much more refreshing, hopeful, and energizing to my soul. Truth for a weary traveler who still feels the need to carry something along the road, but is tired of carrying the heavy stuff. Yes, I had to look the Scripture up. I wish I had more memorized, but I just don't. I had to work to find it, but the release of the heavy weight and current carrying of this lighter load was worth the 10 minutes it took for me to find it. In even more practical terms, perhaps writing this short verse of Truth out and actually carrying it around with you for the day would be a great way of constantly reminding yourself of how you have chosen to not carry the burden.

Do you see it, friends? Do you see the answer to why this wait is so tiring? Because every day I am faced with choice after choice after choice of whether I carry the heavy burden or trade it in for much lighter Truth. My brain/my spirit has to constantly be in decision mode of what I'm going to carry that day. Some days I'm still carrying the heavy load and those days are much more tiring, while other days I chose to take the time to look up Truth to replace the burden. It still takes work to get to the easier load, but it is worth it in the end. To conclude, I'd like to leave you with this illustration. I'm a visual learner, so for those like me, hopefully this will help etch all I have written above into a neat little image you can think of in a split second when you need it.

God wants us to be a day-hiker. Yep, a day hiker. Life and every situation within life is a hike. We are on the move—we are going somewhere—we are hiking. I say “we” because God sent His Son, Jesus, to hike right alongside us. Sometimes there are even others on the trail too, but eventually all the others will have to stop to tie their shoe or take in a breath-taking scene and we will find ourselves with only Christ by our side. To prepare for the hike, we have packed all we think we will need for the life-long journey. It is all jammed into our mammoth backpack and let me tell you—it is HEAVY! However, it truly is what we need to make it through every situation that may come at us along the trail so it is essential to have that backpack with us. We begin this hike thinking we are the one who is supposed to carry that darn heavy backpack each and every day of the hike, but actually that is not Truth. Remember, we were never created to carry heavy burdens. Christ was.

Christ is not hiking the trail beside us just to keep us company, He is hiking it beside us so that He can carry that backpack for us. He desires us to use Him and all His crazy amount of strength along the journey. Instead of carrying that backpack, Christ is offering us the chance to life life—hike the trail—as if we were a day-hiker. Do you know the major difference between a through-hiker (one who is on the trail for longer periods of time) and a day-hiker? A through-hiker has to carry the heavy backpack because their journey is multiple days and a day-hiker has to carry a water bottle and some small amounts of food—only the essential needed for their body to successfully get through ONE DAY of hiking. That's it. One day. They carry only what they need for that day. This is what God created us to do. To hike the life-long trail one day at a time. To hike with all that we will need for an entire life-long journey on the back of Jesus while we carry the water and bread we need to make it for that day only.

And what has He said in Scripture is the “water and bread” we need to make it through that day? Dt. 8:3 says that “man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” Scripture, friends! Scriptural Truth is the water and bread that will keep our bodies readily able to walk the day-hike before us. If we need anything else, we have nothing to fear because it is still within our reach—just carried for us by Jesus, ready for our time in need. All we need to carry is the light load of Scripture—that little piece of paper with Scripture written on it or that compact Bible that can fit in your purse or pocket. Can you picture how amazing this way of life is? You are still hiking—still putting forth effort, still working, still climbing, still facing challenges and dangers along the trail, but you are doing it all with very little weight on your shoulders and much more energy to enjoy the view, help fellow travelers, and have amazing conversations with your Traveling Buddy. Seems like the way to live...the way to hike. As a day-hiker.

Don't take my word for it though. Take His:

• Ps. 68:19, "Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens."
• Mt. 6:11, “Give us today our daily bread.”
• Ps. 81:6, “I removed the burden from their shoulders; their hands were set free from the basket.”
• Mt. 11:28-30, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
• Mt. 6:31-34, “So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
• Romans 12:2, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
• 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
• Philippians 4:19, “And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.”
• John 6:63, “The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life.”
• Psalm 55:22, “Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.”
  
  And, as far as the "steps forward and then a step back" thing my friend mentioned in her comment...I found this photo once along this journey and it brought a smile to my face.  It's all in our perspective.  I've been known to say I think I'll be a Latin dancer when I get to Heaven because I love it so much but don't quite have what it takes in my human form...ha!
  
  

  

  
   

Waiting and Gleaning

One of the questions that rings through my head towards the end of a current 2 year, 2 month process is "Have I waited well?"  There is much talk about "waiting" in the adoption world because, unfortunately, much of the process of adopting is just that...waiting.  In a nut shell, you work like a crazy person to complete every piece of paperwork you have to and then the rest is waiting for those papers to get passed through governmental office after governmental office until they give you the green light to bring your child home.  You hurry to wait then hurry to wait and then hurry to wait again, but the majority of the time, you are waiting.  Waiting for a referral, waiting for signatures, waiting for the mail, waiting for approval, waiting for a birth, waiting for a plane, waiting for news, waiting for weekends like this one to be over so offices will reopen and movement is a possibility again, waiting for anything and what seems like everything.  It's tiring, to be honest, which is weird because when you are "waiting" it's like you are in a holding pattern instead of actively doing something.  Why is waiting so tiring?  Hmm...maybe that should be my next question to contemplate, but for today I will continue to address the subject of waiting and gleaning.

Have I waited well?  The answer...no.  Well, yes.  Maybe.  Umm...does it really even matter?  What is "well" anyway?  Who determines what "well" is?  My "well" could be someone else's "terrible" and yet another person's "amazing".  It's a silly question in the end because it really can't be answered factually.  It's all based on opinions.  I've come to see, for myself at least, that there is a better question than if I've been waiting well through our adoption process.  My better question is "Have I gleaned all God had for me during the wait?"  That one can be personally answered...at least as well as our limited human mind can answer it.

So, have I gleaned all God had for me during the wait?  Yes.  With all of my knowledge, I can confidently answer that question with a big ole' "YES!"  Now don't get me wrong, there have been what I call my "human days" where I have simply gone numb to what all God was doing around me and focused only on the tears that dropped out of the pain and deep sadness I was feeling.  BUT, even on those days--those human days--I know deep down inside that God was using them.  Using the raw emotions of a tired Mama to draw me closer to Him.  Nothing is wasted with God.  Nothing is wasted.  Not one day was journeyed in vain in the past 2+ years of this adoption.

Jesus had hard days too when His feet graced the earth.  His best friend died.  His church building was being corrupted.  His closest family and friends denied knowing Him.  He wept too.  However, the Bible doesn't dismiss mentioning the hard times.  God uses the hard times just as much as the highlight reel.  There is something to be gleaned from the most difficult moments.  That has remained True for me in this journey.  God's Presence has been felt intimately on those human days through whispers of reassurance..."It's okay to cry, Angie.  It's okay to weep.  It's okay to zone out, check out, be frustrated, be tired, be "so done with this", be angry...because you are still doing all those things IN MY PRESENCE.  My Spirit, remember, takes all those inward and outward groans that you can't even fully make sense of yourself and turns them into something miraculously beautiful.  He turns them into what My Father hears as the sweet music of a child who is committed to following His Call to completion no matter how hard, how long, how grueling the journey becomes."  In those deeply difficult days, I still had a Father who loved me right where I was at and ushered me into the beautiful right in the middle of the pain.  I gleaned, and because I chose to glean, I experienced His love, grace, joy, and hope in the midst of the battle...in the midst of the wait.  And, just for the record, this same amazing love, grace, joy, and hope from the Lord was also experienced in the moments of HUGE celebration along the road too.  Both the painful and the joyful have something to glean from, and unfortunately, you can miss out on God's glory in both if you are not mindful/heartful towards the gift God is offering.  God's Presence is always there for you to soak in and glean from.

So, yes, I believe I have sucked the holy of each and every moment along this journey as best I could and it has brought me joy unspeakable and a peace that passes my own understanding!  As long and hard as the wait has been, I know without a shadow of doubt that this has been an amazing journey that I was MEANT to be on.  By gleaning all God has for me on each step, I have transformed from who I was into a bit more of the "Angie" God originally made me to be.  By walking each step with Him, I have been able to say I have enjoyed the journey, can end it thankful for what I have experienced (the good, the bad, and the ugly of it), and can encourage others to take the leap of faith and answer the call of adoption themselves.  I can also go into the hands-on part of parenting Nora knowing I have gleaned all that God wanted for me along the waiting journey and will be a much better parent to her because of it.  (Now, to just get this girl home to do that very thing!)  By the world's standards, I could have complained less, been more active, stayed more prayerful, perhaps not have used as many tissues, etc, etc, etc, but between God and me, I have heard deep down in my heart the blessed words "Well done my good and faithful servant.  In you I am well pleased."  I know I am far from perfect, but by sticking this out with the grace of Christ, it has been a remarkable, beautiful, messy, perfectly life-altering experience that I am forever grateful He called me--invited me--to wait through and glean from.

Prayers for TODAY

I know this post is long and it's not something I post about in depth very frequently, but I ask humbly for my friends to take several minutes out of your 24 hour day and read this post.  Please join me in this prayer TODAY.  Thank you in advance for standing in the gap with me.  Please feel free to link this, and/or comment with your own prayers or with any word the Lord has put on your heart in response.  To God be the Glory.

Feeling heavy today.  Not heavy as in weight.  Not heavy as in a depressed mood.  Heavy as in I believe the Lord is up to something GOOD in the Haitian adoption world but is being restricted by the powers of this world.  I believe this because I see so much opposition growing and trying to stand in His way.

I humbly ask that any who desire to, to join me in praying for God's Will to have its full power and authority in the adoptions of Haiti TODAY.  That any schemes of Satan to cause division, corruption, and ultimately endings to adoptions of these beautiful Haitian children be thwarted, stopped, demolished, and conquered.  That those of us who have answered a call to adopt through Haiti would be strengthened in our journeys and even more determined to see His call to us through to completion.  That our trust in His Plan and our faith in His Ability to see it finalized would never be shaken, but only strengthened with each day we wait for our little ones to come home.

And that TODAY an impact so BIG would be seen across Haiti in the realm of adoptions that no one would be able to deny the presence of the Almighty God.  That He would be gloried and honored and loved because of what He can do for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.  That children who are already matched to their families would be moved one step closer to their homes TODAY.  That those waiting simply to be matched would be given hope through the faces of others going before them.

That directors, lawyers, or representatives of these children and their families would have direct access to the papers, people, or answers they need to work on our behalf TODAY and move us forward.  That nothing--not weather, not money, not rallies, not roadblocks, not sickness, not time, not lack of gasoline, not traffic, not lies, not pride, not past rules or current rules or future potential rules, not lack of ink, not broken machines, not fraud, not government issues, not agency issues, not orphanage issues, not human issues, not ANYTHING--would be used by Satan to block the path of forward movement in each and every adoption.

That these precious waiting children would be filled with the unexplainable Spirit of the Living God in their hearts TODAY so that they know in the core of their being they are loved, being fought for, and are not forgotten.  That every Mama and Daddy heart would be comforted TODAY with a peace that transcends our own understanding that God is fully at work for us where we can not be.

And that TODAY, we would believe that our prayers--our conversations with the Most High--are cherished, treasured, desired, heard, and will be answered by a God who loves us more dearly than any other ever can.  May all who believe in Christ see Him at work TODAY and be inspired by His Holiness and Faithfulness towards GOOD.  May all who do not believe yet be given eyes that are opened and a heart that is changed because of the work God will do today as Satan is bound and God's Spirit is given full reign in all of the adoptions in Haiti.

Thank you, friends, for praying and standing in the gap with me for something so dear to our family.  We have had a daughter for 2 years among those children in the orphanages across Haiti who needs her God to have full access TODAY on earth as it is in Heaven with no hindrances, no barriers, and no limitations.  We have a daughter who needs her God to have full reign to work His GOOD for her today.  Will you each please pray for Him to have all these things and more TODAY?

Thank You, God, for loving Nora so.  Thank You for loving me so.  Thank You for loving each and every child and family represented on papers in Haiti trying desperately to be united.  Thank You for always being at work for the good of those You love.  Have full reign TODAY, Sweet Jesus, have Your Full Reign in the adoption process in Haiti.  Have Your Full Reign in me.  Amen.

Please, read these Holy Words of Romans 8 and pray them over this situation during your prayer time...

"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.  For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.  The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.  The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.  Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.

You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.  But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness.  And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.

Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.

For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.  The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”  The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.  Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.  For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed.  For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope  that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.

We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.  Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies.  For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have?  But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.  And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.  For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.  And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?  He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?  Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies.  Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?  As it is written:

'For your sake we face death all day long;
    we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.'

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.  For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

***Update/Answer to Prayer!!!!!!  September 4, 2013***

Adoption Prayer Update: On August 16th I felt an undeniable urge to pray of the world of adoptions in Haiti and asked you all to join in with me in that prayer. Many of you did...thank you! Although I hadn't heard of any big answer to prayer that day or any direction really as to why God put that on my heart, I simply chalked it up to a reason God had that I just wouldn't understand or know. Just because I didn't know what was happening, didn't mean He wasn't hearing my prayers or that they were not needed that day...I just didn't know why. Low and behold, just yesterday a huge miracle was announced that had happened over the course of the last few weeks in the Haiti adoption world! It was confirmed that a change in the law of requirements to adopt through Haiti has finally been approved and will begin to be implemented in the next several months. This law has been on the table in Haiti's government to be approved for over a decade and has consistently been denied....until this past week. Praise the Lord! The old laws made the requirements to adopt through Haiti one person in the married couple had to be 35 years old, you had to be married 10 years at least, and you were not allowed to have any biological children (singles were allowed to adopt as well, but I'm mainly talking about married couple rules here). Obviously, we didn't meet these requirements but we are still adopting through Haiti. To bypass these requirements, we (and MANY, MANY others) had to get a signature from the President of Haiti (called dispensation) waiving us through. With the new law, there will be no dispensations at all and the new requirements will be one person has to be 30 years old, 5 years of marriage at least, and you are allowed to have biological children. Some of the people who have been waiting for dispensation currently have been on the President's desk for a whole year...others less, others more. Doing away with this step will quicken the pace of adoptions across Haiti by a HUGE margin. Lowering these requirements will also allow SO MANY MORE families to adopt the beautiful children of Haiti into loving homes. I can not say enough how grateful I am to be a witness to this change in the system. God is on the move, friends, and I believe my sense of urgency to pray for the world of adoptions in Haiti was miraculously answered! God is doing amazing things around the world if we open our eyes and hearts towards them and cover them in prayer. Thank you, thank you, thank you for praying! God is hearing your prayers and breaking down literally a decade and more of strongholds. Children are being given a better chance at their dreams of a family. It doesn't get much better than that. Praise the Lord, oh my soul, praise the Lord! Please keep praying! The new laws have to still be signed by the President and printed in a public governmental newspaper/journal to take affect. Also, we personally are still needing prayer for Nora's papers to get out of MOI. We are coming up on week 18 this Friday of being stuck in this department and are beyond ready to exit and move on to passports. We want our baby girl HOME! Thank you everyone!!!