The Wait

Heavy Hearted... Yearning to hold my baby...
The wait is so hard. I continue to pray for patience and peace in my mind and heart and in my family's minds and hearts. We all struggle, at times... Not just me, who is blogging.

Never in my life have I put more trust in God, felt so close to God, and relied more heavily on God. I am weak, he makes me strong. I am fearful, he brings me peace. I question, he gives me answers. I ache with pain, he says to "embrace the pain, hold on to the pain, feel the pain, always remember the pain - cry and feel the pain of my people everywhere." In my loneliness, he continues to be here. So, I continue to ache, cry, pray...that's ALL that I can do. But, yet, that is so AMAZING.

I am encouraged and amazed at the stories of some of my blogging families... These 2 families are in Rwanda bringing their babies home :)
http://theschulzfam.blogspot.com/
http://lotstolearnbutmoretolove.blogspot.com/

I pray that we will be in Rwanda at Godspeed :) I pray that we will have comfort in his plan:

Psalm 33:11 (NIV)
11 But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever,
the purposes of his heart through all generations.

(NLT)
11 But the Lord’s plans stand firm forever;
his intentions can never be shaken.

Is 14:24 (NIV)
24 The LORD Almighty has sworn,
“Surely, as I have planned, so it will be,
and as I have purposed, so it will stand.

(NLT)
24 The Lord of Heaven’s Armies has sworn this oath:
“It will all happen as I have planned.
It will be as I have decided.

Is 46:10 (NIV)
10 I make known the end from the beginning,
from ancient times, what is still to come.
I say: My purpose will stand,
and I will do all that I please.

(NLT)
10 Only I can tell you the future
before it even happens.
Everything I plan will come to pass,
for I do whatever I wish.

T-Shirts

THANK YOU so much to all of you who are donating and ordering our shirts! We are truly blessed and grateful! Please email us if you have questions at familybuiltonfaith@gmail.com We will be sending out more info on T-Shirts and our adoption soon!

Also, we are close to ordering our puzzle, in which the puzzle pieces will soon have your names on them :)

Catch-up

We've really had a busy few months! Work has been busy for both Adam and I (and continues), our youngest (A.) had to have sinus surgery (along with adenoids and ear tubes), our niece was born, friends' babies born, trip to Minneapolis, Holidays with family and friends, visit from our dear family from San Diego... The list goes on and on. And, everyone that knows me, knows that I am not a person that enjoys being on the computer more than I already need too! So, least to say, I've neglected my blog. But, really a lot has been happening with the adoption preparation, not a lot of movement in Rwanda, but some...

The wait around the Holidays for our baby and slower movement in Rwanda is sometimes unbearable. I've really struggled with the "ups and downs" - so many joys and blessings and fun times with family and friends and also an aching in my heart wondering and wishing and hoping for our dear baby in Rwanda.

Well, it has been 4 months DTR! A long 4 months waiting, but short with all our joys and blessings. Hard to explain the way I feel - so happy and blessed for my family and friends and at the same time so sad, anxious, and uneasy as we wait for our baby to be part of his/her forever family.

So, in hopes to make the "wait" more bearable, I am going to blog about some of the fun things our family and friends are doing during the wait to prepare, learn, enjoy, and experience our upcoming adoption.

So here are a few happenings to share (We've done so many other things, but I'm just going to start with the latest activities):

Activity #1 1/3/2011
Ordered the shirts we designed ourselves to hopefully help with the adoption process costs. They are super cool! Thanks to my creative and talented husband! We will get more information out soon so you will all know how to donate to our adoption and get your shirt(s) to enjoy & celebrate us bringing our baby home in the future!

Activity #2 1/8/2011
Our family experienced the yumminess of Ethiopian food for the first time! We had: spongy, light, & slightly sour injera; "bits" (delicious pieces of lamb in a savory spicy brown sauce); mango juice (L. and A.'s (our kids) favorite), Ethiopian coffee (knock me off my feet, full bodied, cinnamon flavored, hot, & delicious), and a small veggie side with kale and red beans (yummo!). Such an experience! We truly enjoyed. It is also a African Grocery, too. We highly recommend!

More to come.....

Please continue to pray for us, if you will... Pray for Rwanda, Pray for those who care for the orphans of Rwanda, Pray for the orphans, Pray for the families waiting for their children, Pray for us - peace in mind and heart as we wait!

One More....Prayers from my Blogging Friends

Wow!

I just read my comments after the day of fasting and praying for orphans on Sept 8! My blogging friends - you are truly amazing, and I will be forever grateful for your prayers, support, and education. It is truly amazing to see the bond that God has given us, emabracing us across the States and Nations. Thank You!

*Keep praying and with God's Guidance, we can make a difference and BECOME different because of the orphans of the world.

WooooHoooo! Sept 20th

Here's what we rec'd (slightly modified) from our caseworker:
Dear Rwanda Program Families:

We wanted to share with you good news that we received from our in-country representative. He has informed us that the Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion has accepted your family’s dossier and you are now officially waiting to adopt a child from Rwanda. While the Rwanda program is still very new and continues in its pilot phase, we are anticipating that from dossier submission it will likely take up to a year for families to be matched with a child and bring that child home from Rwanda. As always, we will keep families posted if there are any new developments in the program or your individual case.



Least to say, we have a lot to celebrate. We're going to be bringing our baby home soon! Thank you God for being truly AMAZING! We are so blessed with your Grace, Strength, and Support! We will continue to follow the path you have us on, and we are truly thankful!

Prayers for Rwanda and Bringing Our Baby Home

There's a whole invisible world that gathers under the category of the international adoption blog community. It's amazing. Friends united through the blogging world. Today (Wednesday Sept 8th), we are joining hands and prayers for the orphans of the world. Please consider joining with us by praying and fasting today, or a day this week, for our baby and others. Their stories can be found here (http://aplacecalledsimplicity.blogspot.com/2010/09/why-does-it-have-to-be-so-hard-part-2.html).

Please pray with us that the people in charge of Rwandan adoptions would be able to move quickly through the stack of dossiers that represent families and open arms. Pray for the children who are waiting to be united with their families. Pray for the sisters who run the orphanage where these children live. Pray for everyone involved that they be and do what they need to be and do. May God move mightily and may we see many doors swing open and many kids go home.

July Update

Hello All,
Just a quick update. Well, we are diligently working on our Dossier documents so they are ready to be state certified once we get USCIS Approval of 1-600 A Petition. And then they go off to be authenticated by US Embassy and Rwanda Embassy. And then off to Rwanda - YEAH!

We are all trying to be patient... We are doing a lot of reading, about various adoption-related topics, and a lot of praying.

God keeps speaking to me and showing me signs to keep my strength!