Near the end of September, our dossier finally arrived back at our agency, after months of circulating through many different hands. Haiti was in the midst of making law changes, changes that are going to be good but they seemingly put our adoption in jeopardy and we were worried. Well I was worried...faith is not my spiritual gift! Haiti was going to stop accepting dossiers under the old laws at some point and implemented a deadline. The way our paperwork was going, we would not make that deadline. Then a miracle! They extended the deadline, they offered grace to the families scrambling and praying that a miracle would take place because that was the only alternative left. Kevin was invited to Haiti for work on a project HFAP was doing. The week he was traveling our dossier arrived at our home so that he could transport it to Haiti himself. After he landed in PAP, they drove to the lawyers office and he laid in on her desk. Relief.
And now, we wait. We still have about $5,000 to raise plus travel. We have done multiple fundraisers this fall. They've been such a gift and people have been so beautiful and generous!
We pray for provision for the rest....knowing that somehow it will come. We know that because we are working hard for it and we've seen too much of God's hand moving in our lives to doubt it.
This holiday season has been emotional for me. One, because a third of our family is in another country and two, because we had one of them in our arms last Christmas. There is no way to not feel that pain....if i didn't feel it I'd be worried.
Again, I see and feel how the inexplicable connection that adoption creates is only possible because, I believe, God writes the story.
These stories do not always have the endings we plan, our family knows that all too well. Honestly, finding the ability to praise Him despite that still proves difficult for me sometimes, even now.
But without Him, I always, always come to the end of myself and that is a very cold and empty place to be.
So we continue to wait and trust and look forward to the next year. We pray 2013 will be the year our boys come home and that next Christmas, there will be 6 of us around the Christmas tree:)
Merry Christmas from our family to yours!
