Please Pray!!!

We covet your prayers right now.  We finally were granted a court date, but it is for June 11th.  Our tickets home are for June 7th and that was giving ourself an extra week 'just in case'.  As I understood it, other families were given court dates just days from when they applied.  Early tomorrow morning we are going to the court to ask the president of the court to grant us a much earlier date. 
God is great no matter what happens.  We do hope though that He will intervene in a mighty way!  Please pray.  God is continually teaching us to trust Him and to choose joy rather than worry.

O Lord, how many are my foes!
How many rise up against me!
I will not fear the tens of thousands
    drawn up against me on every side.
Arise, O Lord!
                                 Psalm 3:1,6,7

Day #5 Patience is a virtue

Well it's another day of waiting.  Hopefully our lawyer can convince the ministry to give us a court date.  They seem to be trying every excuse to make this difficult for us.  They said that our medicals should be updated every 3 months so ours are out of date.  They wanted us to fly home, find the same doctor and get a new medical.  I don't think that's really going to happen.  Then they said that we need a new dossier because the child is almost 5 years old and we're only approved for a child under the age of 4... our boy is actually 3 years old.  Hmm, it feels like they're just trying to make this difficult for us.  But my God is greater than all of this.  I am so encouraged by all the prayers that are being offered on behalf of our family.  This is just another opportunity to stand and see the Glory of God. 

Okay, so this has nothing to do with the above paragraph, but I just love how Rwandans transport things!  If I had 25 mattresses, I would never think that they would/could fit in a truck this size.  Apparently I would have been very wrong.

While waiting at a government building the other day we got to just sit on the grass and look at the beautiful landscape. 

Day #4 All Dressed up and Nowhere to go

       
It seems like we started this week with a bang and lots of running around.  These last 2 days has slowed right down.  It’s hard just waiting in the guest house knowing that each ‘rest’ day means another day longer at the end of this journey.  Please continue to pray for us. 
-Please pray that all our papers are up to date. 
-Please pray that we can get appointments with the people we need to see. 
-Please pray for a quick court date. 
-Please pray that we can figure out the whole immigration process and that it goes quickly. 
-Please pray that the money we brought will miraculously stretch (we were told that our transportation was already paid for before we came, then we were told that we’d have to pay it when we got home, now we’re told that we have to pay for it while we’re here).  
God has made just a few fish and loaves feed thousands of people, I truly believe that if He desires it to, our money will stretch.  I have to choose not to worry and choose to constantly hand my concerns over to Him.  Please pray that I can do this (I want to give Him the praise and glory that He deserves).

We’re hopefully going to visit our little guy this afternoon... he had a cough yesterday and so we’re hoping he’s not worse today.  Thank you for all your prayers and support!

This is a picture of the sisters signing the Act of Adoption. 

Very exciting for us!

We went for a long walk yesterday and went to a canadian restaruant.  It was very tasty, but because it was a burger & Fry place the grease just made us feel icky.  It was cheaper than eating at the guest house but I like the healthy meals at the house better!

Day #3 Lovely Day for a Walk

We kinda have a day off today.  Our Lawyer is running around trying to do stuff for us so the only thing we need to do is to go and visit our little guy this afternoon.  So we went for a long 2 hour walk this morning and it was so much fun.   I love the busy streets of Kigali.  On our way home we were met with what seems like torrential rain and had to walk for about 15 minutes in it.  By the end we were just laughing because we could hardly even see.  When we got back to the guest house the staff just burst out laughing at the sight of us (we were quite the sight!!!)  I’m glad someone got to enjoy it.

Yesterday was filled with opportunities for us to see so many hurdles and watch God take care of everything.  Every office we come to to try to complete a step tells us “we’re not doing adoptions anymore” and so our lawyer has to explain that ours is still open.  That phrase breaks my heart.   I hope they will open adoptions again very soon.

We finally did get everything worked out so that the sisters could sign the Act of Adoption which is very good!  Our Lawyer is so encouraging and positive and is constantly telling us that “it’s not a problem, it will all be fine”.  That’s what I need to constantly hear!!  I am certain that our Lawyer is a gift from God.

******************************

We just came back from our visit with our little guy and he’s still cute J.  He now has a cough and seems tired and not as perky.   Yesterday he had some red marks on his arm and head and now he has a few more on his head—I’m not sure if they’re bug bites or what.  Oh, the worries of parenthood.

I wanted to share a couple of pictures from yesterday and today but the internet is just SOOOO slow going so I'll try to do that later when my patience has rebooted. 

Thanks for all your prayers!!  There are many roadblock and God is showing Himself to be Mighty!

Note:  Shawn has already pointed out about 3 spelling mistakes and now has left the room due to an unfortunate angry stare from his wife.  Please excuse all mistakes you find in my post.

Yay, We're Here!

Rwanda Full day #!

Things last night didn’t all go as planned.  It seems like the fact that we took so long (thank you Canadian government) might make things difficult.  To Rwanda, it’ appears as though we really weren’t interested in the child.  There have also been a few little bumps in the road already.  So of course, I had my cry last night (which Shawn is convinced is mostly due to 36 hours of no sleep).  I am so thankful that my friend Katherine has been telling me about being inspired to “choose joy” and I really felt last night that God was wanting me to let go of trying to put everything in a little box and make it neat and perfect and just trust Him.  Seriously, look what He’s accomplished already—look what mountains He’s moved... He will take care of it all.  I am choosing not to worry.  I am choosing not to be angry with the Canadian government.  I am choosing to see where we are right now, realizing that I can rest in the knowledge that He is in control, He is a good God and I can praise Him no matter what is going on.  What Joy and peace that gives me in my heart and soul.  Thank you Lord!  Funny enough, one of the books I brought with me is entitled “Choose Joy” by Kay Warren—it was a free gift from a women’s conference I went to a few months ago (Thanks for taking me Shelley!).

So today is Mother’s day.  We got to meet our little guy today!!!!  I was so prepared for him to cry and not want to see us but it was amazing!!!  He smiles, he laughs, he hugs and loves copying.  He already calls us mommy and daddy.  When we were leaving, he waved by and said bye bye mommy—my heart melted for the millionth time.  He’s soooo happy and playful.  Not at all surprising is how amazing Shawn is with him.  They were running and giggling together in no time.  What a great dad he is!   It’s funny because I felt last night that there were a bunch of untidy loose ends and bumps in the road, but when I see what a gift this meeting was today, the rest is so forgettable.  And it will all get taken care of and in a few weeks we will come home and marvel at the amazing God we have!

Rwanda day #2

Well, neither Shawn nor I slept well.  We went to bed early because I couldn’t stay awake, but then it seems that neither of us could stay asleep.  So we’re working on roughly 5ish hours of sleep today.  Needless to say I’m hoping that there won’t been ‘not enough sleep crying’ tonight.  I look forward to giving everything over to God today and watching Him do great things.  I think for now, I’m going to try to have a little nap before it’s time to wake up :P

Can't Sleep .... Too Excited!!!

Okay, so this is really happening!

We’ve bought our tickets and we leave on Friday.  Liam (our 8 year old will stay here with his grandparents and be well loved/spoiled while we’re gone.) 

I keep getting waves of realization that I’m going to meet my son in about a week—that’s crazy!  Three years of waiting, hoping, battling, and wondering and in less than a week we start our trek over to Rwanda to meet our boy.   Our adoption agency is now thinking that we might not have to travel to Kenya for the visa thing.  We’re going to try currier it there and back (if that doesn’t work, Shawn will fly over and try to deal with it while our boy and I are back in Rwanda).  I’m hoping we can stay in Rwanda the whole time.  I love it there and it would be nice just to be in one place.

 

Did I mention at all that I’m excited??!!

 
So the house is a mess as I wander around trying to figure out what to do.  I’m also trying to enjoy each and every hug and smile from Liam while I can.  He is such a fun easy boy.  He’ll be sitting beside me and then just blurt out, “I can’t believe it, I’m going to be a big brother!”

I can’t wait to share pictures with all of you.  I can’t wait to see my son.  He’s not smiling in any of his pictures and so we’re excited to eventually see his smile … hoping that he has a sense of humour.  I can’t wait to hear his laugh. 

Okay, I have to go wander around my messy house and figure out what to do.  Thanks for all your prayers. 

 
Juanita

Some Questions

I have some questions for some of you who have recently been through the adoption process.  I’ve been trying to join the yahoo Rwanda adoption forum, but for the last week or more it’s been pending so I think this is my next best option for picking your brains.  If you have any answers I would really appreciate you sharing,

1. In Kenya (where we have to get his travel visa) did you hire a driver?  Was he just your driver for the entire time you were there?  Can you recommend him to me?  How much did it cost per day or week?  How & when do you go about contacting him?  Anything else we know about this???

2. For those of you who adopted older children (three or four years old)… did they speak any French or English?  Did they understand any French or English?

3. How did you book your place to stay in Kenya when you couldn’t be sure when you’d actually leave Rwanda and arrive in Kenya? 

4. Our child will be a little over 3 years old, do you think he will be toilet trained?  How about at night?

    5.  Where did you stay in Kenya?  Our agency suggested some guest houses, but the least  expensive is about $30 per person per night.  I see other hotels online but I'm not sure if they are 'good'  We are trying to do this as inexpensivly as possible while still being safe.

 I’m SURE I have so many more questions.

Thanks for answering any of these questions … or, if you have answers to questions I haven’t asked, please share!!!

Juanita