Biometrics done today!

So we went in a week early for our appointment, praying all the way there that they were open. They don't have a website with hours etc, so I was guessing they would be open. FYI the one here is open Mon-Friday 8-4pm. We got there at 9am and were the only ones there. So thankful! So we were in and out in 30 minutes. Now to email our USCSI worker to inform her they are done. I am praying we will receive our approval letter by Dec 21st so we can mail it to Bulgaria before Xmas. They probably won't get to it anyway before the 2nd week of January because of the holidays but I have done all I can to move things forward.

What is the rush for you ask? A little boy on the moj site who has a special need. I can't go into what his need is until we receive his referral. Hoping to have some good news in January 2011. On another note, we got an email from our Bulgarian agency saying that some healthy young children have been registered and 2008 dossiers from the US will start receiving referrals. The rate they are making referrals though that would be probably Spring or Summer time for us. IF this little boy falls through then I guess we will go that route. God's will not mine!

Thankful Day 30....God's mercies are new each morning.

Thanksgiving

This thanksgiving we celebrated with my inlaws. We had 20 people for the thanksgiving meal. We had a wonderful time with family. We are so blessed. Calvin, you were on my mind alot. Praying you will be with us next year to celebrate with our family. Praying for all the orphans around the world. We have so much and they have so little.

It is kind of crazy here in America how people go shopping the day after Thanksgiving to get a good deal on something. Really shows us how materialistic we are. I did go out the day after thanksgiving with my mother and sister in law. We were not up at the crack of dawn. We went out for breakfast (while the men babysat the kids) and then we just checked out a few stores. We enjoy the time together.

What I love most, is being able to put up our Christmas tree and decorate for Christmas, once Thanksgiving is over. This year we didn't go and cut our own tree, we were just exhausted from Thanksgiving. So Chris and the girls went to a lot and chose one. The girls and I then decorated it, with Christmas music in the background and drinking hot chocolate. I do the lights and they get to help with the ornaments. We also have a fake tree that we put upstairs in the hallway (9ft). We put our our nativity scene, and Dickins Village. We put lights in the windows but I have yet to convince my husband to get on the roof to put lights up on the house. I love Christmas time, the meaning of Christmas and the anticipation of Christmas day with my family. This is the second year that we have a stocking for Calvin hanging from our mantel and he is still not here. We will be going Tuesday morning for our last set of fingerprints at USCIS. Praying that 2011 is the year we bring our son home.

Thankful 18-21

Baby it's cold outside! Thankful for my warm home and chili cooking in the crockpot.

Thankful for our church where we have been worshiping since this summer. LOVE the music (always brings me to tears) and really enjoy the sermons (learning and convicting). We started with a lady reading from John 4 (Samaritin woman who had 5 husbands and was not married to the present man she was with). At the end of the reading the lady reading says' I was that woman, living a life going from one man to another, until I met Jesus'. It was so powerful. God meets us where we are, He is the LIVING water. He fill us, and only He can fill us. Not other religions, or addictions, or work, or our children, or our spouse.

Thankful for the good friends we have made, God is so good.

Thankful for children coming home from orphanages. Shelley will be travelling in a week to bring her daughter home (she has a heart issue) and Viviane recently visited her son in his orphanage. Praying it will be us soon.

Christmas

This is the first year that Cathryn is part of a Christmas program. She was too young last year to do it. She joined the children's choir this year and they are doing the program 'Back to the Manger'. It is a very cute story about some kids who travel to the past and see baby Jesus' birth. The main message is 'love your neighbor', 'help others' and remember Christmas is about the birth of Jesus and not getting presents but giving to others in need. At church for the Wednesday night program they are memorizing the book of James. This also talks about loving your neighbor as yourself, and not showing favoritism. The kids this week did the boxes for Operation Christmas Child. This is a box of goodies that is mailed to another country to a child in need through Samartians Purse. The girls love to do this and chose what to put in them. This year we sent one to a boy and one to a girl. I remember the first year the girls did this they didn't want to part with what we bought, this year they did much better.

When the kids are older, I would love to not do presents but rather go as a family on a mission trip to help others. What stuff do we really need anyway? This Christmas season lets think on what the true meaning is....what Christ did for us and how we can be 'Jesus' to someone else. Did I mention Christmas is my favorite time of year?

Difficult Week, glad it is over

So this week has just been difficult for me. At the beginning of the week I was sick with some sort of stomache bug. Cathryn has not been enjoying homeschooling the last few weeks, so we have slowed down a bit on the math. We were doing a chapter a day but now it is starting to get more difficult. So we are doing 2-3 days on a chapter. She is doing really well. She is already halfway through the Alpha course of Math U See. We also slowed down a bit on the All About Spelling, not because she was finding it difficult but because of her attention span. After 1 hour of school work she is ready to move around. I tease her that she is so skinny because she can't sit still. Even when eating a meal, she is up all the time. Drives me crazy!

We have also had some behavioral issues with our youngest this week which has been very difficult to deal with as she has been a pretty easy child. Today I decided I would go and get a Chia Latte at Panera after dropping my eldest at school and what did I do, I locked my keys in the car ( at least I had my wallett). So ordered my tea, chocolate croissant, muffin for Cathryn and then called Chris at work to please come and rescue us. My knight in shining armor saved us.

A high this week has been getting to know some other couples better that go to our new church. We got together for pizza last night with all our kids. It was a lot of fun. And the Chai tea was a high too.

HIV information for National Adoption month...

http://jcics.org/final%20hiv%20fact%20sheet.pdf

Finger print appointment...

Got our appointment dates today for the 1st week of December....that is like 4 weeks away. Should I go in earlier?

Thankful 10-11

11. Reminded today to be thankful for my health and the health of family members. Please pray for a friend today who found out that her baby has fluid on his/her brain. Pray for healing and that God will provide what they need to get through this.Thank you.

12. At the same time, I am thankful for the healthcare we have in our country. That we can go to any specialist and get the help we need. In socialist countries you have to wait on a waiting list and see a doctor the government assigns you. This exercise in thankfullness really shows me what I take for granted. We should give thanks in all things (I Thes 3).

Thankful Day 8-9

Thankful for our support systems (family and friends). I remember how hard it was for me to receive from others, it is so much easier to give but very humbling to receive. I learned this lesson when I was in college and continue to learn this. For me it was probably pride and just the way I grew up.

This adoption is another teaching/learning situation for me. When we started our adoption we didn't want to ask friends and family for financial support, so without going into too much personal information we made sure we had the money before we started. However, God's plans aren't our own. We started in one country program (Ukraine) and then switched to Bulgaria. When we switched we lost some money and we have now had to update our paperwork numerous times (homestudy, fingerprints, extentions, notarizing, apostilling, medicals etc) so we 'lost' some money in the process. We decided we would apply to different organizations that help families with adoption costs. We were turned down by one organization because they had too many applicants and not enough funds. The question they all ask is ' have you asked friends, family and your church?' We applied to another organization that works with your church and we received a matching grant from them. However, we had to send a letter to friends and family requesting they join us in our prayers and fundraising. We mailed out 50 letters and received help from 10. It was very difficult for us to send those letters, and we felt so blessed by what we received. We met our match from ABBA so we received our money which has gone towards our international fees. Now as we get ready to accept a referral, soon hopefully, we will need to think about what we will be taking with us to the give to the orphanages. I mentioned I was going to start knitting hats and a friend from our last church donated some hats and sweaters to take with us when we go. I have also put aside some clothes and bought a few things to take. Once we do receive a referral and travel, I believe our agency will give us a list of possible donation items such as vitamins, money for diapers, diaper cream, and shoes.

So thank-you to our friends and family who have been so supportive during this long journey. We covert your prayers most of all and are thankful for you all.

Thankful Day 6-7

6. Thankful for the children God has blessed me with. Caroline who has a great sense of humor, loves to wash dishes for me, loves anything sweet and loves to play soccer and watch t.v. Cathryn who is my snuggle bug, loves giving hugs and kisses, is an encourager to me and loves to sing and swim. Calvin, who is born from my heart and who we don't know yet. God created you in your mothers womb and knew that you would be apart of our family. We can't wait to meet you.

7. Thankful for good friends who laugh with us, cry with us and encourage us.

uscis

Heard back today that NBC (national benefits center ) recieved our i800a extention paperwork in Texas Oct 28th and then it was forwarded on and the NBC logged us in Nov 1. So maybe a couple more weeks until our fingerprint appointment?

On another note, we had snowflakes today and it is very cold. Thankful for a warm home:)

Quick question for other PAP's, did you mail a copy of your homestudy to your agency and to Bulgaria? Does it need to be apostilled? My agency isn't replying to my emails asking them this questions. Thanks

Day 3-4 of thanksgiving

3. Thankful for God's word, the Bible. This is where I find truth and how to live my life. If I weren't a christian it would be so hard to know what is right or wrong. Feelings and situations change, but God's word doesn't. Thank you Lord for your words that lead us, encourage us, convict us, guide us and point us to you.

4. Thankful for forgiveness and grace. Forgiveness of my sins, and that I am able to forgive others because of Christ's example. Grace, without God's grace we would all be condemned to hell. Thank you Jesus for paying our debt on the cross.

30 days of Thanksgiving....

Day 1....thankful for my husband who works tirelessly for his family, day in and day out. I know he would rather be a theologian, teaching, studying and debating . He strives to be a better husband, father and child of God each day and because of this I love him and appreciate him.

Day 2...thankful that our country has the freedom to vote (even though I can't vote as I am not a citizen).