did not want to write this post

We were truly hoping to hear something today. No news though. I realize that it is early here (800am) but it is the end of business in Rwanda and we have no news. Not sure when it's coming... sad... I did not want to have to go through another weekend without information about our baby.

Time is quickly slipping by and I honestly don't know when we'll get information, when we will pass court, or when we will get to travel. We have a lot to do in January so the likihood of going then seems dim. I absolutely hate the idea that we have a baby that continues to develop without us.



Sorry for the depressing post but I am having a really hard time be optimistic today. If someone would have told me this would take two years when we started I would be fine.. but when people say 9 months max and you are now in month 16 the tug-of-war of emotions is ridiculous. If you have ever been pregnant or had a bilogical child, imagine how it would feel to go seven months over your due date.

crazy birthday

I did not get a referral for my birthday... So, I had a pity party for myself yesterday and today feel much better :) Our caseworker did let us know that the minister's office is working on the referrals and might have them out by the end of the week. So we're hoping for that.

Please please please please pray for favor and that the courts will allow the adopting families to pass before the end of November. Courts close in December and if we are not able to pass through court before end of November we would have to wait until sometime in January. (someone represents us in court to make the official adoption decree there and we travel after that.)

I sincerely hope I can post an overjoyed email by the end of this week. :)

Birthday Wish

Dear Minister,
I know that you and your staff are working incredibly hard in Rwanda and that families waiting for our referral information are not the only thing you have to take care of.
But.... if you can find time on Tuesday to process paperwork I would appreciate it.
Tuesday is my Birthday and if I could receive the gift of a photo of my baby (and a court date in November) I am pretty sure it would be the best birthday gift ever!

Sincerely,
A Vincent


People not involved in processing paperwork: Join with us in prayer this week. 12 families still waiting for referrals. Courts close in December in Rwanda and if we cannot pass court before end of November then it won't be till (maybe) end of January. (We cannot travel to get our kids for about two weeks after we pass court).

Thanks!

Prayers for sister

This wait is hard. So hard. We received word today that our fingerprints will be expiring and we will have to make an appointment to get them redone. What this means is WE HAVE BEEN WAITING TOO LONG! (in my opinion of course... :) ) It takes 15months for fingerprints to expire... we thought this process would take 6-9 start to finish. Oh how I am hating being so wrong!

Well.. there have been great things that have come out of this process. Lots of valuable life lessons etc. The greatest thing will of course be her.

Each night the boys pray for our dinner. It is sooo cute to hear Oliver (5) pray for his baby sister at the dinner table. Tonight he prayed for "his baby sister that God would give her good food to eat and keep her safe and help her come home soon." Kelton's prayers for his sister are equally compelling. While I love to hear them pray for her my emotions also go crazy as my spirit agrees with their words and longs for her to be home...

Sigh.... soon, please let it be soon.

I'm not a fan of 9am

Well... it's 9 am here in the black hills, which makes it after 5pm in Rwanda, and we haven't heard anything about a referral. I would suspect that since the business day is over there and we have not heard anything that we probably won't today (although I would still love to!). Every day between 8 and 9 my time I am anxious... it's the small hour of time when our caseworker should be in her office receiving notification if there is any... and still within the business day in Rwanda. After 9 when I hear nothing I am sad :(

So... we continue to wait.

HOPE

"For in this hope we were saved... But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it... patiently." (Romans 8:24-25)

Aghhh... Why does the Bible always have to be right?! :)

We are hoping... patiently.

Prayers Please

Ok... so we've received good news this week. Our process is moving! Yeah! Meds are done and our caseworker in Rwanda is getting things lined up. We are hopeing for a referral next week... hopefully...

We do have a HUGE prayer request though. Things have gotten pretty time sensitive on our end and we really really really really really need to be back from Rwanda by January 6th. This means we have to get a really quick court date after we accept our referral... and really fast paperwork processing after our court date so that we can get travel docs lined up. I have accepted an offer to teach college classes three days a week (I've been waiting for this opportunity for the last three years... :)) And... if we cannot be back by Jan. 6th then I will miss this opportunity... If I can pull it off then this teaching position will likely turn into a full professorship next fall. So we really need to be home by then!

So pray for favor... pray against road blocks... pray for peace for me...

Thanks!