Dossier to Gladney

So at the encouragement of our caseworker we sent our dossier (the paperwork that will eventually go to the Rwandan government) to our agency in Texas yesterday. The agency will recommend adjustments if they are needed and then eventually send it to the Rwandan embassy in the US who has to approve it before it goes to Rwanda. Anyway we are STILL waiting for CIS approval, and might be waiting for awhile. (Please join us in praying that it arrives soon!) That approval has to go with the dossier, but the caseworker had us send her the paperwork without it for now so that they can at least look over all the other documents (and there are a lot of them). As soon as the CIS approval comes in we will send it to be added to the other docs and then off to the embassy. It's not much but at least gives us a sense that something else is happening in the process and we are not sitting ducks :) I also ordered some DVD's from amazon for Christmas presents today (hopefully my husband doesn't read this blog in the next few days or he'll know what he's getting :)). I'm excited to have some visual pictures of Rwanda. One of them is a PBS special that looks really great. They'll be fun to view during this waiting process for sure!

simple prayer request

Hello everyone who is keeping updated on our adoption journey via this blog!!! We have a simple prayer request for you. There has been a series of delays with our paperwork from the citizen and immigration office. We are asking people to join in prayer for a quick approval from CIS for our I-600. We started paperwork for this back in August and were notified today that it could be another 60 days before we hear anything. If there is a major hang up here then we wouldn't even be able to adopt... so please pray that it passes with "FLYING colors!!!" :)

Thanks,
Alisha

Love is patient...

Love... it's a funny thing sometimes. Sometimes an emotion, sometimes an act of will. It requires truth, honesty, kindness, understanding and patients. Perhaps only God can really understand the full meaning of Love... after all He is it! When it comes to our love, I know without a moment's hesitation that Buster and I already love these babies in Rwanda... We truly believe that this process was and is part of God's plan for our lives. His plan to give us an even large picture of how much He cares and how much He loves. What an honor. I don't, for one second, believe that we are being a blessing to these babies nearly as much as our Father in heaven is blessing us with the chance to be their parents.

It is funny to see how differently Buster and I embrace the reality of our family in Africa. I seem to internalize things a lot. I imagine what they look like, what our first encounter will be like, what their little hands and feet will feel like. Buster, on the other hand, shows up today with a suburban and excitedly demonstrates how well the car seats will fit here and there, how easily the boys can help out from the backseat, and all the fun features that will make life just a little bit easier for our growing family. What a provider!!! :)

The process that we are in right now is a lot of waiting, waiting that requires patience, patients is a process of pruning, patients is part of love, and this pruning will only make us better parents who can more wholy love their children. So... we find joy in in all.. the waiting, the paperwork, the waiting, the daydreaming, and even the waiting :) We believe that our paths have already crossed with Rwanda... now its just a matter of process until we actually put our feet on the ground in Africa and hold our children in our hands.

Until then... my heart is full of thanks, awe, and... love