OFFICIALLY WAITING

We received word on January 8th, 2013 that we are officially accepted into the Honduras International Program and we are number #111 on the waiting list! We were so excited!! We've been in this process for 16 months now and we have been waiting for this big milestone since our dossier arrived in Honduras in July of 2012. Our number is a lot higher than we thought it would be when we signed up but we know God has a plan for all of this!

We were told recently by our agency that once we make it onto the waiting list we could be looking at 2-3 years before we receive a referral. We are praying it's before then because we are so ready to welcome our little man home! No matter what, we still have a while ahead of us. At least now we're "waiting with a purpose". As Nathan told some friends this weekend...the past 6 months we've been in the lobby and now we're in the actual waiting room.

One of the neat things adoptive families like to do is post creative pictures of each number they receive. It's a fun way to look back at the numbers you've received, makes cute pictures to be in a "baby book", and helps to pass the time as you go down the list. I can't wait to post lots of number pictures because each time will mean we are little bit closer! Here is our first picture.

Daddy was taking the picture little man. Mommy, Addison, and Weston are all holding up a finger for our first number, #111. We can't wait to keep moving down the list so we can bring you home!!!

Small Update

Romans 8:28 "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those that love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

Today we received word from our family coordinator that not only were the psychology evals recevied, but apparently they were the ideal addendums that the IHNFA wants to see! So that is great news! We are still "under review" so PLEASE keep praying! We are really praying and believing to still have our official log-in number and be on the waiting list by the end of the year! Sounds like an awesome Christmas present to me!

We are taking our Christmas family photos soon and while it is hard to think of my precious boy not being in them for at least another year, I have found a way to incorporate the adoption in our pictures! I'm very excited about it. :)

Waiting for Positive Words

It's been almost two months since I've updated our adoption blog. Honestly, I was waiting...hoping...to have more to say. We received word a few weeks ago that we needed some addendums to our psychology reports. The first draft was turned down by the attorney in Honduras that is working with/for our agency. I received the approved addendums this week and mailed them to be apostilled. Hoping to receive them next week and send to our agency to be sent to Honduras.

There is some sort of strike going on in Honduras right now. I've read different articles that speculate who is on strike and what they are on strike for but its bits and pieces and confusing to me. I've also been told that there are several holidays between now and the end of the year.

It's all been very sad and discouraging to me. It almost seems silly to say but last year at Christmas time I had a tiny glimmer of hope that our son would be with us for Christmas of 2012. I knew that it was a long shot and at the time we were told it would be closer to Spring/Summer of 2013. Now, my only prayer is that we will get on the waiting list by the end of the year. I feel as though we were given false hopes as to how quickly this could happen. I'm not the most patient person and I've been dreaming of our son for so many years, so the thought of waiting another 2-3 years is hard.

There have been people talking about leaving the Honduras program and adopting from somewhere else and that scares me. I just keep relying on the Promise that God gave me. IT IS DONE. These prophetic words bring me comfort when nothing else can. I'm so thankful for the people who have posted scriptures, prayers, and encouraging words in the message boards because I needed to hear them! I'm not giving up. I'm not changing courses. It's hard to have people ask me how the adoption is coming and reply that nothing is happening right now, but I'm so thankful they aren't forgetting! A friend posted some encouraging words that she received from a book called Relentless Hope. It was so touching I had to order the book right away. I need more of those encouraging words right now.

I can see my son when I close my eyes, I can picture him with our family, I'm praying about names for him, dreaming of decorating his room, praying over him daily...I KNOW he is out there. I believe we were called to adopt from Honduras, but even if God calls us to somewhere else down the road, I know that he will bring my son HOME!

Until then, Lord give me Relentless Hope and show me how to find the treasures in the process and not just the end result. Please show me how to find something precious in what seems like a waste of time. Help me to remember that even when it looks like things are standing still, you are moving!

Any news is good news!

This morning I was praying for some news. Anything positive. Praying that we would continue to move forward in our process. Guess what...I got some news! Our family coordinator said that our attorney in Honduras said they are requesting additional photos from us. Honestly, I held my breath when I saw the email come through on my phone. The title indication additional things were needed for our dossier so I was preparing myself for something really hard, expensive, complicated. So when I saw that not only did we need photos, but that they could be EMAILED to them I was relieved!! So as soon as I got home I started working on it. I've already emailed everything to our family coordinator. We have no clue if they will ask for anything else or want something else changed, but I'm so thankful to have heard anything at all. It's heartbreaking hearing of other families that have waited 4 or 5 months to even find out if they were approved. Praying this means we will know SOON!!

Thank you for your prayers! We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our precious son. There have been changes again in Honduras and we are hearing/reading conflicting reports, but overall it seems to be pretty positive! It's hard when you start the process thinking that in 18 months you could have your child already home and in your arms...only to be 10 months into it and still waiting to even get on the long waiting list. It is in God's timing. He called us to this! But our journey does not come without it's hurdles and we appreciate all the love, support, and prayers. I'm trying not to focus on the fact that it could be a few years before he is home. I'm just taking each day at a time and thanking God for any news and progress we receive!!

Psalm 34:8 Oh taste and see that the Lord is GOOD: Blessed is the man that trusts in him!

Today I woke up feeling like I needed to hear something about our adoption. As I mentioned in the last post, the process for having our Dossier translated would take several weeks and then it could be a couple weeks more before going before the IHNFA. I sent our Family Coordinator an email to see if she could tell us if it had started to be translated or what was going on. Fully prepared to hear that it wasn't finished or maybe even still in line to be translated.

Johnna wrote me back this afternoon.

She said that she had to admit that she was surprised and impressed. She checked in with the agency's/our attorney in Honduras and she confirmed that not only had our dossier been translated, but it's already been presented before the IHNFA!! Isn't God good?!

Now we wait for requests for additions/changes or for approval/login#!! Praying for a first time approval.

We're so happy! A long road ahead, but we just got a few steps closer to our destination... our precious son!!

DTH

I was planning to update earlier this week but was waiting for some official news.

I believe that I mentioned after we sent out dossier to our agency, we received word of a few things we needed to add. Additional photos, a notarized & apostilled cover letter for IHNFA in English, and a missing bank page that needed to go with our dossier so it had to be notarized and apostilled as well. We had all of that taken care of, sent to Atlanta, and then back to us so we could over night it to our agency!

And each day since I've been anxiously awaiting the message I received today:

Dear Nathan & Jennifer,

Congratulations on making it through the paper chase stage of the adoption process! Your dossier has been officially mailed to Honduras. Please consider today your Dossier to Honduras (DTH) date. (There was more to the email but these are the important words!!)

PRAISE THE LORD! - As one fellow adoptive family put it...our paper pregnancy is complete!!

Where do we go from here?

Now we wait. It will take several weeks for our entire file to be translated. Then it goes before the IHNFA to be reveiwed. There they will look over our dossier and decide if they want anything updated or changed. If so, we will have to do whatever they ask of us before being approved. Even if nothing needs to be changed or added, this process also takes several weeks. Once we are approved, we will wait for our first official wait list number!! (I can't wait for that day!)

From other people who are in the Honduras program, I am reading that from the time their dossier was sent to Honduras until the time they received their first number on the waiting list, is around 4-5 months. When I read that, my heart sunk a little. I long for our little boy to be home. I've been looking at pictures of the orphanages there and even the tiny bits of stories I hear just breaks my heart. All I can do at this point is pray, trust, have faith, and pray some more. For the most part, our work is done for right now. It's all in God's hands! (Which is much better than in ours!)

I ask that you continue praying for us. Pray for our family as God prepares our hearts for the long wait we may have to endure from now until our son is home. Please pray that this process moves quickly and smoothly! Pray for our little boy that even beyond his understanding he will have HOPE and PEACE!

One step closer son!!! One step closer...

DTH date: July 19, 2012 - Tonight, we celebrate!! :)

Too Good to Be True...

The day our Family Coordinator wrote to tell me our Dossier arrived, we received another messages saying there were a couple of changes. One of which we had already heard about and done. Before doctor's letters were only written if an explanation was needed. (Example: We had one written to state that because Weston was only one we did not have any blood work done. How his doctor had seen him since birth, excellent health, not exposed to anything that would make them concerned, etc.) Now there is a standard letter that much be written for each family member by their doctor. The other two things were additional photo pages which will be simple and a document that we were once told we didn't need, now has to be notarized and apostilled. Really not difficult, just time consuming to send it off and get it back.

The good news is that they are going to send off our Dossier to be reviewed while we do these last minute things!