Three Months Home

Only three months home and this little man is doing amazingly well.  I mean, look at that smile!!

However, it hasn't always been easy.  We read all the books, watched all the videos and went to conferences that spoke of the "not so rosy" side of adoption.  We prepared for the worst.  We were ready to play attachment games with our son to make him feel safe and secure with us as his parents and we are so glad we prepared as much as we did.  We were excited but still very nervous when it came time to pick up Claudy and finally bring him home.  We just didn't know what to expect.  He is five and we are taking him from all he's ever known and we were about to tread on unchartered waters.  

So, as you can all guess or already know, it was amazing to see him and know that he was coming home with us.  The airport was an adventure for him and he had a ball!!  He seemed comfortable with us and was having so much fun.  Lots of smiles and laughs.  We arrived home at one in the morning, our other three kids gave a warm welcome and sleepy hugs then off to bed.  

The first week Claudy seemed confused and a little scared.  Definitely to be expected, but still took us by surprise because of how energetic and happy he seemed on the journey home.  With lots of family games, activities, hugs and cuddles, grace and understanding, he slowly began to pull out of that fog.  Each week something new and challenging would arise, but with lots of hugs, cuddles, paying close attention to teachable moments, grace and understanding, he would be his amazing self and do his best to learn and trust.  This pattern still continues to this day as he grows more comfortable with us.  Note that I wrote hugs and cuddles, grace and understanding twice.  You cannot do this without those things.  It's impossible.  ;)

Claudy also loves to give affection and is a very nurturing little boy.  We will see him be independent and strong but there are many times throughout our days that he just needs to be held, and held tightly.  He thrives on that touch only a momma and daddy can give and we are more than happy to oblige.   We are blessed to see first hand how God is healing this little boy.  We are so happy that we decided to do an older child adoption……we wouldn't change a thing.  Every child deserves the love of a family in their corner.  We are honored to call him our son.

We are still adjusting and figuring things out but we couldn't be happier.  Claudy understands so much English now and he is saying more and more things so it's nice to be able to communicate with him.  We can say that we love him and he knows and he says he loves us too.  He is hilarious, an amazing dancer and very musically inclined.  He loves to draw, sing and wrestle with his "brudder" and Papa. He is as smart as a whip and has a HUGE personality.  I look at all my kids and think that we couldn't possibly be any more blessed.  <3 

Surreal

A little over three years ago I began this blog announcing our international adoption.  I just finished going through all the posts and I am bawling my eyes out.  Wow.  What a journey.  What lessons learned.  I have dreamt of writing this particular blog post since the beginning.  I imagined words of all caps "type screaming" our joyous news that our Haitian sensation is coming home!!  I imagined being jittery and giddy, not knowing what to do with myself because I would be so excited.  For some reason, that's not the case tonight.  This all feels surreal.  (I have to clarify that I wrote this first part the day we found out we could go get him……a few days later the jittery feelings did, in fact, set in. ;)  )

We are so overjoyed that the waiting is finally over, however there is a measure of healthy fear happening in our hearts as well.  Claudy is five, we have missed those important informative years when parents have the best opportunity to help a child build healthy habits.  I do have to say that everyone that has spent time with Claudy say that he has the best temperament.  He seems laid back and has a "go with the flow" mentality, but it's extremely hard to tell how he will be feeling after a couple of months home.  He will go through a grieving period…..after all he's already been through he has to lose everything he's ever known.  We grieve for him.  We pray we will have wisdom in knowing how to help him heal from all the losses in his short five years.  

We also would like to explain to everyone that we will need at the very least, a couple of weeks to lay low and just spend time as a family of six.  We will be doing fun family activities that include all of us so we can begin to bond with Claudy and most importantly, so he can bond with us.  Nate and I will be the only ones to care for him, getting him food, bathing him…..etc.  He needs to know that we are Dad and Mom and he can always count on us to provide for him.  

Our flight leaves tomorrow morning at 6am.  I'm in tears as I think about how this is finally happening and our son will be home with us after three years of this process.  We are so thankful to the Lord for this amazing blessing and giving us another son.  

We will keep everyone posted as best as we can through Facebook and email.  Our deepest gratitude goes out to all of our family and friends who have supported us through prayer, finances and encouraging us when the wait seemed unbearable.  Please remember us after he's home……it will be a huge adjustment and we have been warned that it could get pretty lonely at times.  So please continue praying and keep those encouragements coming our way!  

Until next time……..

Chickungunya

Chickungunya is a virus that is spreading like crazy in Haiti.  Mosquitos are to blame.  Please pray for the people of Haiti. It's a nasty virus that consists of fever, headache and debilitating joint pain that lasts about a week.   Our agency has informed us that it has hit one of their orphanages, BRESMA.  I'm sure it's only a matter of time before it hits AUBE, where our son still sits and waits.   Thankfully it is generally not a fatal virus but an awful one all the same.  One of the infants at BRESMA is currently hospitalized receiving IV fluids because he is so fragile.  Breaks my heart.  Thanks for your prayers!

Happy Birthday

Thinking of this precious one today.  Well, especially today.

He is a big five year old today!  We were almost certain that he would be home with us to celebrate this special day with him.  Honestly, my heart aches so very much today.  Every year on each one of my children's birthdays I custom make a banner just for them. I choose themes they are into for that year. I try to come up with new designs and colors they love and I write a special note, all by hand.  It gives me time to reflect on the past year and pray for them for the coming year. I look forward to it every time.  I had planned Claudy's banner and I think I may still make it today….could be therapeutic.  

To say we miss him seems such a teeny, tiny way to describe what we feel.  We need to come up with a new word for the longing.  Yes, we know God's timing is perfect and yes we know he will come home eventually, but that does not take away our sadness and frustration that he is not here. 

Happy Birthday sweet Claudy.  We love you and can't wait to bring you home.  Soon, son.  Soon.

A Minor Set Back and Things I've Learned

We found out a couple of weeks ago that MOI lost our son's birth certificate.  Ugh.  It's a common occurrence but that doesn't soften the blow.  I had a very bad week last week.  We are praying so hard that we can get him home before his 5th birthday on May 14th.  Our hearts desire is to not let another birthday go by without all of us together.  It's starting to look as if it's a real possibility that it won't work out that way.  We continue to trust in God's timing.  We know, without a doubt, that He knows what He's doing and there is a peace with that.  I used to equate sadness and disappointment with lack of faith.  However, I can still have faith AND feel sad.  I'm human with built-in emotions so it's only natural that I feel discouraged with how things are going.  That is just one of the things that I have learned on this journey. Here's a list of the others:

1.  Throwing a fit over not getting what I want does NOT change God's mind nor does it help any situation. 

2.  Because of my revelation in number 1, I have a closer walk with the Lord AND I still don't have what I want.  Something only He can do.  :)

3.  It's important for me to be disciplined.  Sleeping in until the last minute only encourages a spirit of grogginess in my soul and lack of motivation.

4.  For me, exercise is really important. Instead of sleeping in until the last minute, I get up at 6:30 to help Nate and Kaitlyn out the door and then I exercise.  I actually love it now and miss it when I can't fit it into my day (this my friends, is a miracle!).  I feel great physically and mentally.

5.  Eating right is a must.  Comfort eating was only dragging me down and it did nothing to change the waiting process of this adoption.  Imagine that.    I control what I eat.  I have lost weight and have tons more energy and motivation.  Most of the time.  Hey, I'm human.  

6.  I learned that I can't fret over the people in my life that have hurt me or have seemed to turn their back on us.  God has shown me who is in our corner, cheering us on, and supporting us and He wants me to focus on them.  

7.  I have learned that my kids are amazing.  They have grown so much as they wait for their brother.   They teach me so much everyday.

8.  I love my husband more now than ever.  He is wonderful.  He is my best friend and I can't imagine going through this life without him by my side.  God has blessed me richly.

9.  I have learned what it feels like to have a child living across the ocean, waiting for us to come get him and how heart wrenching that is.  It hits us like a ton of bricks at times, when we least expect it, but God is enough to soothe away the ache.

10.  Cleaning house, a.k.a, myself, is hard work and doesn't feel great.  God has been so gracious to stir up some of the muck in my soul so He can help me get rid of it all.  I will be a better wife and a better mom to all four of my kids.  

11.  Everyday is a gift and I look for all the blessings, they are everywhere.  When you look, really look, you'll be overwhelmed by His desire to give you good things.  

12.  My parents are the best.  I'm thankful for them and what they have done for us all throughout this journey and to see and hear the excitement when we talk about their newest grandson just touches my heart.  I love them so much.

That is just a few of the many things I have come to realize or learn and I can't wait to see what else God wants to teach me.  I have a feeling I will learn MANY new things once Claudy comes home.  ;)  I better hang on tight for the ride!

Please pray we get that new birth certificate soon so we can get back on track!  Thank you!!

To My Son

Dear Claudy,

I'm sitting here at the kitchen table waiting for dinner to be done.  Outside the snow is falling and I'm thinking about you.  I wonder how you will react to your first sight of snow.  Will you even want to venture out and play in it with your siblings?  This is one of the many, many, things I dream about when you come home.  

I'm thinking of you and your sweet little boy-ness.  I remember how goofy and funny you were while your daddy and I were visiting you.  You loved the stickers we brought you.  We cracked up laughing when you grabbed a hat sticker, stuck on the top of your head and did a crazy dance while saying, "chapo".  You taught us yet another creole word.  We still laugh when we talk about how every time daddy used the punching balloon, you always did jumping jacks to the rhythm.  You are so delightfully silly!  Daddy and I always imitate the way you would close one eye half way and had this crooked grin…..we never really new why you did that, but you knew it made us belly laugh so you did it a lot! :)  I hope that when we bring you home you will still sing your sweet little song for us, "day la la, day la la!"  

We still have so much to learn about you, little man, and there is so much growing and bonding that needs to take place in our home.  There will be hard times as well as beautiful moments we will cherish as a family.  I want you to know that we are ready.   All five of us are ready for you to join this family.   To be there for you in every way possible.  Our home will be a place of love, laughter, security, healing…..etc.  I look back to when I was so upset and sad over how long this process was taking.  I naively thought that things would go quickly for us, without a hitch.  HA!!  Was I dead wrong.  I would have not been ready to be the momma I needed to be if it went my way, on my timeline.  Also, we wouldn't have you, my son.  You were so worth the wait.  We are yours.  Our hearts dream of the day you come home.  We love you with all our hearts.

Love,

 Your Momma Blanc   

Jwa Nou

I felt that it was high time I changed the header to this blog.  Those of you following us from day one of our adoption journey, know that we started out with Ethiopia.  The old header said, "Desta", pronounced de-set-ah, means, our joy, in amharic.  The header now says, "Jwa Nou", pronounced, zshwah-noo, means, our joy, in Haitian creole.  It only makes sense to change it.  ;)   

We are feeling joy over the movement in our process.  We will be in MOI soon, which is another MAJOR step in movement for us.  It seems to be going faster than we anticipated.  I think.  Every time I think this, I'm usually wrong.  So, really, only God knows.  :)  We can't wait to get him home.  We can't wait to start the transition.  We know that the hard part really hasn't started yet, but we are ready to roll up our sleeves and get this party started!! 

Keep the prayers coming! 

Love Will Grow

Love will grow

Do you trust me
little boy?
When your merry eyes
seemed dimmed with dreaming
do you grieve?
In their troubled depths
lie memories
of other mothers -
this I know
Do you trust me
little boy?
Realize that after me
there will be
no other Mothers -
that for this human measure
of "forever"
I am yours
Trust me first
my darling...
Love will grow.
- Grace Sandness -

The original poem says "little girl", but I changed it, obviously, because of our little man.  This author, so beautifully put into words, what I could not.  

A Piece of Our Hearts…..

January 5th will forever be etched in my heart.  We arrived in Haiti.  Found the orphanage director holding a sign with our name and in a flurry of activity we were loading up our luggage in her car and on our way.  We had no idea if we were headed to her house to unload and unwind a bit or straight to our little boy.  Communication was difficult, to say the least.  We learned quickly that driving in Haiti is a chaotic, herky-jerky adventure, although we never felt unsafe, the driver was very good.  We also learned that there is absolutely no road rage in Haiti which is very refreshing.  

Okay, wow, got sidetracked there.  Anyway, we had no idea where we were going until we stopped outside a gate.  The driver honked and someone came and opened the gate for us.  I immediately recognized that we were at the orphanage, based on pictures we have.  After we unloaded our luggage (not safe to leave in a car) we stood there for maybe 5 seconds before a door was thrown open by Claudy (kloe-dee).  He came barreling down the stairs right towards us, gave us high fives and promptly started showing us what was in his bag he was bringing for his stay with us.  I was speechless, it felt so surreal that I was finally face to face with this precious child.  He was so outgoing and sweet!  He then helped himself to our luggage and gave them a thorough check. :)  It was at that moment Nate handed him his white hat and to this day, Claudy still wears it.  

It was time to go to the director's house, so we climbed in the car.  Claudy was flip-flopping all over the place because of the driving so I drew him close to me with my arm around to hold him steady.  My heart soared when he willingly settled in and let me hold him.  After about 15 minutes, we were both a sweaty mess so Nate took over, again, Claudy willingly settled into Nate's arms.  We were in tears.

The next few days were a combination of getting to know our son, going to the Embassy to file a form for immigration, going to two courts and visiting the orphanage.  There were wonderful moments of bonding and falling in love and then, not so wonderful moments because we missed naps or communication was shoddy or simply because he's four.  ;)  All in all, we know without a doubt that he is our son.  We still have a lot to do, a lot to plan for and find our new normal once he's home.  One thing we do know for sure is that we miss him so much.  As our plane was taking off for home it was heart wrenching knowing we were leaving our son, a piece of our hearts, behind.  We were not prepared for just how hard it was going to be to leave him. 

Thank you all for the love and support while we were away, it meant so much to have so many cheerleaders.  I also want to thank my parents for loving on our kids and taking such great care of them while we were gone.  The peace of mind we had was priceless. 

I have a quick update to share:  as I was typing this, I received an email from our agency coordinator saying that should have our adoption decree tomorrow!!  It's only been two weeks since we were in court, it usually takes about 6!! So thankful for more movement. One step closer!

Blessings!

Jean-Claude, Here We Come, Little Man!!!!

On November 20, 2013, I checked Le Mon.  Le Mon is Haiti's legal journal.  Whenever a family receives dispensation (don't ask, just trust that this step was super important!) they post on the legal journal the name of the child the family is adopting.  I had zero notions that my little guy's name would be on that list.  It never is.  Day after day of checking, sighing, begging God a little, that tomorrow would be the day turned into shock, squinting, more squinting and then elation.  There it was, Claudy's precious name on the list.  Apparently we had received dispensation from the President on Nov. 13, it just took a whole week to get it published.  

We are scheduled to travel to Haiti from Jan. 5th through the 10th.  Claudy will be staying with us at the guest house the entire time we are there.  He will also be attending court with us.  We are so excited to be able to have this time with our son.  I have been busy working on creole labels for everything around the house.  Making travel shopping lists......we are so excited to bring him and his friends gifts and treats. I have been working on more paperwork...UGH!!!  But, it's all worth it and I'm thankful because it sure beats all the silence in the waiting!  We are anxious to know how our first initial meeting will be.  From what Diana, our agency director, says, he sounds JUST like our Nathan.  :)  He's very friendly, affectionate, loving and thinks just about anything is fun.  Most of the children in the orphanage have major stranger anxiety, but not our guy.  I say all this knowing full well that all this can change when he sees two strange white people smiling at him and take him to the guest house with them, if you think about it, it's really weird!  When I put myself in his shoes I can't help but grieve for him.  What a major jolt in his little life.  As if being orphaned isn't enough.  Pray for him with us.  

Pray for us as well.  Our kids are feeling a little stress with us leaving, but they're also excited for the movement in this adoption.  I am also having the strangest dreams!  The other night I dreamt that Claudy was a fifteen year old!!  They are also looking forward to face timing with us while we are there.  My wonderful parents are staying with the kids which gives us HUGE peace of mind.  Also, pray for safety, and that this snow will calm a bit while we are traveling so we won't have to cancel our trip!!  

Thanks for the love and support.  We will be able to post pictures when we get back because he will offically be ours!!  

My Rights as an Adopted Daughter of the King

Nate and I are reading a book called "Reclaiming Adoption" written by Dan Cruver, John Piper, Scotty Smith, Richard D. Phillips and Jason Kovacs.  It's probably the single most eye opening book I have ever read.  I always knew, since I was five, that I belong to Jesus, but when your whole entire life is immersed in church and all that goes with it, you tend to (or at least I tend to) get so used to it loses it's wonder.

We started out on this adoption journey because we wanted more children and decided that adoption was a wonderful choice.  Not only would we grow our family and become mommy and daddy to another child, but we would also be joining God as He cares for the orphan.  In this process of adopting another child, God has shown us in such profound ways, the beauty of our adoption by Him through His Son, Jesus.  There is so much to share but I am going to focus on only a few things today. 

In "Reclaiming Adoption" the author writes,

"The Christian life is a lifelong journey of coming alive to the multifaceted freedoms we've been given as the beloved children of God."

How exciting is this statement?  I love the "coming alive" part, because that is exactly what is happening in my heart.  I am so overjoyed that I get to be a precious daughter of the King!  There is a renewing in my heart over what it means to be adopted by God.  

We have legal rights as adopted children of God. "Biblical adoption secures us in a state of objective blessings.  As with our justification, so with our adoption, God generously gives us a stunning status that has absolutely nothing to do with our effort, deserving, or feelings."   

Such love He has for us!  We don't have to do anything to be loved by Him.  Wow.

Finally, Romans 8:15-17 says,

For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, "Abba! Father!"  The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

"The cry "Abba, Father" reveals a deep awareness of His intimate love for you, an assurance that in every season of life, you enjoy the freedom to say, "Oh God, your mercy had better be a match for my heart, because right now I am a mess."

"Even when we violate our peace with God through selfishness, we have freedom to cry out to Him, to crawl into His lap, to be made whole.  This is why we must continually preach the gospel to our hearts and to one another.  Only in the assurance of God's love for us as Abba, will we surrender all the chaos, weariness, brokenness, and longings of our hearts to him."

Such beautiful and freeing truth!  Oh how He loves us, so freely, so graciously, so mercifully and so perfectly.  

Today, I choose to crawl into His lap and let Him soothe my aching heart as I continue to wait for my son.  I would not change one thing on this journey He has chosen for us.  I am honored that He would care so much for me to really change my heart for His glory.  

Financial Home Stretch

It's been four months since we've been matched with our little guy.  I can't believe we've have done that much waiting already.  It could be any day now that we get that wonderful email telling us when we are expected at court in Haiti.  I try not to obsess over my email......it's so hard.  

We weren't going to do any more fundraisers until I found this amazing website, bonfirefunds.com.  There are no upfront costs and anyone with any sort of cause can do this.  I love what they do.  They helped us design the shirt in our fundraiser and I just love it.  The shirt says adopted.  The word "adopt" supports the beauty of adoption and the entire word "adopted" speaks of our adoption by God through Christ.  Cool, right?  Anyway, if you are interested, you can pledge to buy a shirt (or just donate) and if we sell 50 or more shirts by the end of our fundraising period they will print and ship the shirts for us!  All we need is to sell 49 shirts.....we already sold one.  :)  You can check out the website here:

www.bonfirefunds.com/bringing-jean-claude-home

or click on the link at the upper right corner above our family picture.  The last agency fee is $2750 and since we have saved some of our own money and from other donations made we only need to raise $1700.  That's it!  I remember when we were trying to raise $28,000.  We have come so far! 

We would also ask that you pray with us that God move the barriers that are keeping us from our boy.  Haiti is STILL making changes in their adoption process which is slowing things down for us.  So please pray that we will get word that we can go meet him and go to court to officially adopt him.  Thank you for your support!

Rejoicing!!

Our hearts are full to overflowing with the joyous news that our dossier has been submitted to social services in Haiti and........

WE'VE BEEN MATCHED!!

He is a gorgeous little four year old with enormous brown eyes and an infectious smile.  We are already in love and so enamored with him and cannot wait to bring him home someday.  He is just so precious.  His siblings are giddy with joy to have a new little brother.  Unfortunately we cannot post his picture (of his face anyway) until we go to court in Haiti and make him officially a Warner.  

This is a huge hurdle that we've gotten over but there is still a long and probably agonizing wait ahead with new hurdles to jump over but we are so thankful for movement.  We will most likely be traveling to Haiti sometime this summer to meet him and go to court so keep those prayers coming and we will continue to keep you posted.  

Celebrate and thank God with us for this new little blessing He's entrusting to us!

Psalm 37:4

Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.

The Weight of the Wait

Hey there.  It's been a while, I know.  As you can probably guess, nothing happened for us in March.  *sigh*  That's okay, I really mean it.  About six months into this whole adoption process I was an expert "fit thrower" when things didn't happen as smoothly or fast as I felt it should go.  Ask Nate.  It wasn't pretty.  However, God in His grace and mercy in my life has changed me and I have grown by leaps and bounds.  I used to say things to God like, 

"Look, I'm not getting any younger here."  or
"This wasn't supposed to take this long, there's been a mistake."  or
"Um, God, maybe you didn't see my timeline.....I had the perfect plan!"  or
"Thanks a lot, I thought you cared about this child, what in the world are You doing?"  (Whew, I seriously hate admitting that last one.)

I'm not proud of those things but it's real and I'm pretty sure I'm not the only momma who has felt those things during the wait.  The Lord, in His goodness, has been carefully and lovingly working in me, especially when I've been the most resistant to give everything over to Him.  

I am one of those people that when I want something, I want it. Period.  I will become obsessive over it.  I think that once I have what I'm wanting, then I will be happy.  God has been showing me that He is my only source of Joy.  Yes, I knew it in my head and all the churchy stuff I've been taught all my life, but to really apply it and to really be experiencing true joy I had to see who I am in Him. I didn't just want to know it anymore, I wanted to live it and experience how He sees me.  During the Summit 9 conference at every breakout session and general session I heard how much the Lord delights in me.  Sounds simple, but God used those words to do something deep within me.  I can let go of my timeline for this adoption because my true, pure and lasting joy is the Lord.....and nothing will completely satisfy like God can.  Sure I still want this adoption to happen quickly, but if it had happened when I wanted it to, I'm not sure I could be the mother this little Haitian will need.  

God has done some serious cleaning house inside this momma.  It hurts, it's humbling and most importantly it's freeing.  My heart still aches for this little guy and sometimes the weight of the wait feels unbearable, but then I ask my Father to sustain me and nurture my soul and He always comes through.  

This little boy will walk through our front door at just the right moment, and not a moment too soon.  It will be scary, beautiful and adventurous and I'm thankful I'm not in charge!  

The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves.  He will take great delight in you; in His love He will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.
Zeph. 3:17

Please Pray

Hey, just blogging to ask everyone to please join us in prayer for the month of March.  Like I said in my last post, I can't give lots of information, we've been asked not to for the time being.  However, there is potential that March could be a very significant month for our family.  As we have learned over this last year, it could very well be nothing and the wait continues, however, based on what our coordinator told us we need to be praying.  Of course we will be sure to keep you posted as things unfold.  Thank you everyone!!

Progress

There's not much I can tell you because I'm not allowed to give details.  However, I can tell you that progress is being made.  We had a conference call with our coordinator and all the families adopting from Haiti or at least considering it.  The call was very informative and answered a lot of questions for us.  One thing I have learned is that these changes IBESR (social services in Haiti) are making in the adoption process is designed to protect children from human trafficking, which we support whole heartedly.  This delay in our journey is worth it if it means protection of these innocent children. Adoptions will continue and all I can say is that we received some very positive news in regards to our process.  We are very encouraged and excited and continue to wait on Gods perfect timing.

1 Sam. 1:27

For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition that I made to Him.

Please continue to pray this very special little child home to us.  Thank you!

A Mountain Crumbles!

I almost can't believe I'm writing this for the waiting seems to never end.  We received word today that our agency has been chosen by IBESR (Haiti's Social Services)!!  We are so thrilled and so thankful to the Lord for crumbling this mountain!  I have been holding this in since 3:30 this afternoon because I wanted to tell Nate first.  I felt it necessary because I cannot imagine walking this journey with any one else.....he has been so amazing, so supportive of my roller coaster feelings, my rock. My absolute best friend and has shepherded my heart when I waiver spiritually by always pointing me to my Saviour.  God has richly blessed me with this man. 

There is still a long road ahead.   Now we wait for a referral.  Once we get one and accept it we will travel probably within the month of the referral (not exactly sure on this one but it sounds right).  Then we come home, without our child :(, and wait for him to move out of IBESR.  This process could take months and months, it just depends on his situation and paperwork and such.  Every case is different so it is so hard to predict the outcome.  For tonight, however, we celebrate this victory and dance on top of the mountain's remains and thank our Heavenly Father.

Keep those prayers coming!  Thank you.

Yep, We're Still Here

I know things have been quiet here on this blog, but believe me stuff is happening.  Haiti is changing some things about how they handle adoptions, which is good in the long run because it will basically prevent children from being trafficked.  I'm not going to go through exactly what these changes are, I barely understand them myself so I will spare you the details.  I will share that Haiti is in the process of choosing which American adoption agencies they will continue to use, only about 4 or 5.  We are waiting to see, hopefully sometime this week, if All Blessings is chosen.

What this means is, if ABI is chosen we can proceed with our adoption.....super exciting!  If they are not chosen, our paperwork will then be transferred to an agency that has been chosen and we can move forward with them, also exciting but I really love our agency and our coordinator....she's amazing and I'll be so sad if she can't do the referral for us.  

Some good news is that we have enough money to move forward with one child (YAY!!! Thank you God!!) and since things are a little on the rocky side with Haitian adoptions we feel we better make a move now rather than wait indefinitely.  Hey, you never know, there could be another little one somewhere out there in this great big world needing us!  Buuuut, we have a long way to go before we even entertain that thought some more! :)  

Prayer requests:

1. That we hear sometime this week (we were told we should know at the beginning of Nov.) if ABI has been chosen.

2. That we can get our referral before the end of the year.  I think my heart may break over this waiting, it's getting harder and harder.  :/  My kids are fed up too!  They've been praying him home for Christmas, which at this point will require a miracle! 

Thanks everyone! 

Gourmet Italian Dinner Fundraiser

There is going to be an Italian Dinner Fundraiser at our church, Hillside Chapel in Beavercreek, Ohio on October 7, 2012.  While we have successfully raised close to $10,000 ($4000 of which is from a Show Hope grant, which we cannot use for the international fee, it's to be used for travel time) we still need so much more.  Remember, we feel that God is leading us to adopt a sibling group......sibling groups do not move out of the orphanage as quickly as one child.  They also, almost always include an older child....who also does not move out as quickly.  I know from past experiences that we could be wrong on what God wants for us, but this is a desire that has been put into our hearts so we will continue to work our butts off for two precious ones.  

Simply put, we need a miracle.  Getting the additional $22,000 seems impossible to our human minds, but NOTHING is impossible with God, Luke 1:37.  I know we have asked so much of you, like donating, sharing links on Facebook and getting the word out to people in your circles, but please remember that you are not giving the Warners money.  You are helping the orphan, and our Heavenly Father loves the orphan, so please consider joining us for dinner, Oct. 7th. and being a part of God's call to help the orphan.

Psalm 68:5-6a
A father to the fatherless, a defender of the widows, is God in his holy dwelling.  God sets the lonely in families,

Will you help us, in any way you can, bring home two children who desperately need a family?  We are on a mission, but we cannot do this alone.  Pray with us for a miracle.  Our goal is to be matched with two children before Christmas, since having all the money and being matched prior to Oct 1st is obviously not going to work out now.  Just a reminder, we cannot be matched until we are ready to submit the international fee of $14000/child.  This is NOT an adoption agency fee, this is required by the country of Haiti.  We have spent $10,000 of our own money (with the exception of about $2000 in donations) and have raised $9800.....we are exhausting all options, humanly speaking, so pray.  

Also, be in prayer for social services in Haiti (IBESR) as they are still implementing some changes in how they handle adoption cases.  Our family coordinator is traveling to Haiti in a couple of days to be able to attend a meeting.  Pray that we don't have any hang ups in our process because of the changes and we can still meet our goal to have the money and be matched by Christmas.

I know it's a lot to take in, but this is serious business and we need your help.  Thank you.

http://www.hillsidecma.org/#/events/gourmet-italian-dinner

Climbing This Steep Mountain

International adoption is a lot like climbing a very steep mountain.  You know the mountain is huge and will take a while to get to the top but since you know what glorious view awaits you, you choose to start climbing anyway.  It's rough at first, especially if you've never done this before but you learn quickly to take it easy and work hard.  Once you start getting a feel for the climb you become more confident and before you know it you are making headway, gaining ground and getting closer.  Just as you start getting excited at the thought of being closer than ever and you are almost done,  your foot slips, what you thought would be a great help in your climb ended up being an unstable rock and it gives way.  Before you know it, you've fallen back, lose momentum and several feet.  Discouraged and bruised, still thinking of that glorious view, you get back up and start again.  You experience the same feelings of discouragement and excitement, slip and fall over and over, and it feels as if you'll never make it.  You are exhausted, battered and still determined.  You can't help but feel discouraged and even lonely at times.  You get back up and keep trying, keep pressing on.  Just when you think you are going to fall, there, right before you, are some stable places to firmly plant your feet and you gain momentum and get further than you have before, thankful for the help.