We're Approved!!

WHOOOO HOOOO! We got our approval from USCIS on Wednesday! This is awesome news because I've been developing an ulcer since Friday (not really) but I have been overly worried (a horrible habit that I have) because on Friday I received a phone call from a lovely lady named Brenda. She is an officer working for USCIS and unfortunately our agency forgot to sign some very, very important paperwork so she couldn't process our request to return to pick Reese up. Somehow I didn't bust into a million tears but I think she could hear the fear of being set back further in my voice. Let me tell you that the Lord had His hand all over this because this kind woman told me that if I could get a signed copy scanned and emailed to her then she would try to push my file through!! I immediately called my agency and had them do this. I was definitely thanking God for Brenda and asking God to bless her for her kindness to us. On Monday, I emailed Brenda and told her thanks again for everything and today we received our approval!! This is huge because had she not been so kind, we could be waiting for a couple more weeks. Thank you, Brenda!

So it came in the mail on Wednesday. My MeeMaw and sister were watching the mailbox like a hawk. As soon as it got there, Linds took a picture and emailed it to me. I was then able to forward it on to our agency who was going to send it to our in country representative. We now wait for her to get the official paper and take it to the judge to request a court date. Then, we get travel dates!!

Please pray specifically for our travel dates. I know I ask for prayer over and over and over and hope you see that these prayers are heard and answered. At times even to the specific day!! We are praying for travel by the end of March. My PTO at work maxes out then and I stop accruing.

Thanks for staying connected with us and following us through this journey!!

The Current Picture

I'm much worse at this blogging thing than I thought I would be... It's been WAAAYYY too long since I've posted. To be honest, I have a couple posts that I've written but just never felt 100% about posting them.

So let me update you all on what's been going on!!

First, let me tell you about our dessert auction/spaghetti supper we had at Bethel in January. No other word but “AMAZING” comes to mind. We teamed up with the Lytle’s who are adopting from the Congo and had a great night! You see, these crazy and hilarious people that attend Bethel ( J ) helped us raise $1942.00 with the Lytes!!! In ONE night! This is nuts! Once again, “thank you” just doesn’t seem enough. I just can’t wait for Reese to get home to meet her church family!!

Then, my sister threw me an awesome baby shower the weekend after! I think I have been through all the stuff at least a dozen times. We got the cutest stuff and now I’m itching to get her room done and clothes hung up. J The best part of this shower was seeing so many family and friends that I haven’t seen in a long time! I even had 2 friends drive 4 hours for it! That’s what it’s all about…. It humbles me so much thinking that these people love my little girl so much already that they are willing to sacrifice time and energy praying and encouraging us!

Things get even better!! We got a phone call on Friday, Jan 31st that our paperwork had arrived and was being mailed to us! It came last Monday (Feb 3rd) and at 9:10 pm I was dropping it back off with a couple other forms to FedEx this time sending it to USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services). So now we wait. We must receive clearance from the US which is taking at least 1 month to process. Once we get that, we scan it and email it to our agency who forwards it on to our in country represenative and wait on travel dates! Still a lot of waiting but this is a HUGE step.

I honestly don't think it is possible to explain how much I miss my little girl. I mean, I even think I'm crazy when I think about how much I love this little girl that I've only spent 3 days with... Please pray that this last stretch moves smoothly and quickly for us. And please pray for God to start preparing Reese for the huge transition ahead of her.
 

 

One of my favorite pics from the 1st trip (edited of course because of rules)!

I can't wait to get kisses all the time from her!!

"I will not leave you as orphans..."

I can vividly see her face as we rounded the door, standing there in her crib. She was so excited. Someone was coming to get her out of that lonely bed that she spends so much time in. She even had that look like, “Hey, I think I’ve seen y’all before.” Today couldn’t have been a more perfect day with her. She was so happy… smiled and giggled twice as much… and wanted to be held a lot today.  I couldn’t squeeze her more or kiss her cheeks enough before they took her out of our arms.  

No one should ever have to leave their child behind. Just like no child should ever have to be a number, an 8^th crib in one crowded room and the 4^th room in an orphanage, or a baby who cries but barely makes a noise because sometimes there are just too many others to care for at that moment and so your cries might not be heard.

Looking at this picture, I see her holding tight to her Daddy’s shirt and I feel God whispering for me to cling to Him. I am reminded of His promises… “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” (John 14:18).  I pray now that she knows this promise is for her as well.

Fearfully and Wonderfully Made…

Lord, I praise you because my daughter is fearfully and wonderfully made;She is beautiful, full of energy, with big eyes that send any fear or uncertainty far from here. Your works are wonderful,    I know that full well.

How in the world am I going to be able to describe this day… it’s impossible. I mean, how crazy do I sound when I tell you that we were already in love with a child we had never met…  and now, “in love” doesn’t even seem to fit the way we feel about her. Seeing her come through those doors is something I will never forget…

She is amazing. She has so much energy and is into everything! I love it… she will give her cousin, Hollynn, a run for her money. J I guess I don’t know what to compare our 1^st meeting to but I can’t imagine it could have gone any better. She was a little copy-cat and mimicked everything we did! She loves to have her neck tickled and kisses herself in the mirror. I so wish I could post pictures! That can’t come until 2^nd trip.

I’m usually good at this writing stuff, but I honestly feel at a loss for words… All I can do is praise God and thank Him… "She didn't have to be perfect, because she was perfectly loved"... but I can't think of anything that could make her more perfect!

We Made It!

We made it to Poland! We are tired but happy we got here safely. We had to sprint to make connecting flights but it was fun and better than a long layover in DC or Germany. We arrived a little after 10 am (so 3 am your time) and when we finally got to our hotel decided to shower and take a short nap. We got to meet with a person associated with our agency for just a short time to discuss tomorrow’s plans. Originally, we were to meet with the Polish Authority today however this was postponed until tomorrow. Our day starts at 8 (1 am your time). We get to meet our daughter tomorrow and as tired as I am, I’m not sure how much sleep I will get…

Everyone has been nice so far! Will is trying to spruce up on his Polish and surprisingly (or not) he tends to quickly add in Spanish words! Ha! I hope to take tons of pictures tomorrow and give a better update. Thanks for all the prayers. 

Travel Dates... Whoohooo!

We have travel dates!! We found out yesterday that we will be heading to Poland December 9^th-14^th. I can’t believe this has happened so fast. We will arrive in Poland on December 10^th (because of the flight and time change.) We meet with the Polish authority first then we get to meet our little girl on the 11^th. We get to spend time with her twice a day on the 11^th, 12^th, and 13^th then we fly back home on the 14^th. We are sooooo pumped! 

 

On another note, we have an Origami Owl party active right now until tomorrow evening so if you want to order anything please visit www.aspann.origamiowl.com if you want to order. It would make a great Christmas gift. Just check our party at check out. Amanda is so sweet to donate back to us to help fund our adoption!!

 

I can’t tell you all how encouraging all your sweet words have meant to us. We are beyond blessed!

Are Y'all Ready For This...

This blog post comes with nothing less than a million emotions all trying to escape this 5’5” body I have.  On Friday, November 8^th, 2013 at 12:49, we received the best call ever! 

We have a referral! I can’t even explain the joy, nervousness, and tears that followed! A little over 2 months after turning in our dossier, we actually have a child waiting for us! I wish I could tell you all about this child, however, there are laws to protect children and families and therefore we must keep things a secret until everything becomes more official…

I will tell you HER big blue eyes have already captured her daddy. She is beautiful. With all this joy however comes a lot of fear…. You see, she is not a “typical child” as most people would expect. She is an orphan, living in an orphanage. She has not had a mother and a father to hold her tight to keep her warm, wipe her tears when she is sick or hurt, or kiss her sweet cheeks to hear her laugh. She has some complications that honestly frighten us and has made us question if we can handle what we are in. She has concerned the doctors and specialists with some of her medical issues and has even been labeled “high risk”… I want you to read this and I want you to think on this because she is not a “typical child,” like I said…  but...SHE IS GOD’S CHILD… She has had a father who surpasses all fathers this entire time. She has had Him love her more in her short life span than Will and I could ever imagine loving her in our entire life. And you know what? She was NO SURPRISE to Him… her diagnosis doesn’t scare Him. He didn’t ask the doctors what they thought before He made His plan to “knit her together in her mother’s womb” or ask a specialist where at in the charts she should be (Psalm 139:13). He sure isn’t concerned with how her "referral" reads now. But how will she know this if she never has someone tell her how “fearfully and wonderfully made” she is?

Lord, how grateful I am that you didn’t ask the doctors what they thought of me when I came needing your salvation… what a mess of a referral I was, definitely not a “typical child.” All the development delays in my life as a sinful person… You know I wasn’t walking by faith when I should have been. I still need your hand to hold when taking my 1^st, 2^nd, and even last steps. There is no way my heart is fully developed to reflect Jesus’ character. But you still looked at me and gave me a chance. You saved me from this world, You wrap your arms around me, You wipe my tears, and You kiss my cheeks.                     

 JJ Heller’s song says…

“Who will love me for me
Not for what I have done or what I will become
Who will love me for me
'Cause nobody has shown me what love
What love really means”

Thank you, Lord, for loving me for me and showing me what love really means. Please flood our heart so we can show this type of love to this special little girl.    

I was reminded of Abram (Genesis 12) by a friend who I know is praying earnestly for us. He made a journey into a land he had never seen. NEVER! As the devotion states, “for the time being the call is enough.”  Now I want to be clear about something… I’m not here to stand and say that any of this is simple or easy or that I understand why this is the way it is. All I know is that this child at least deserves a chance and for right now, the call to go and meet her is enough.  And that is what Will and I are going to do… give her a chance and with the Lord willing, so much more.

We were advised to wait to hear back from the Polish Authority to see if they would answer more questions on her medical complications and today we finally got the information! We “accepted her” and will be going to Poland to meet this Princess of the King of Kings.  

So this is what I know so far… we’ve accepted and the Polish authority will be receiving our email (hopefully as we sleep). We will have travel dates for our first trip hopefully by the end of the week and were told to expect to travel soon. This will be our 1^st of 2 trips. This first trip will be short and we will meet her and find out more about her. I’m pretty sure that we then go before a judge and “officially accept her” before the court. We then will come back home for more paperwork and prepare for our 2^nd trip for when we travel and stay for 6 weeks. We really need your prayers on this! Please pray that travel will come quickly. It would be much more beneficial, for Will especially, to travel in the winter when grass isn’t growing. But more importantly, we don’t want to be away from our daughter any longer than necessary.

I honestly can’t say thank you enough for everything y’all have done for us! We love y’all and can’t wait to tell our LITTLE GIRL about all the awesome people that have played such an important role in her coming home.all