Waiting for court..

A bit of news but not what we wanted to hear.

The non-court document submitted this summer 'was not sufficient' for IBESR so they did not accept it.

So we continue to wait for courts to open, likely sometime in October after the Presidential election Oct. 9th.

So what we understand needs to happen:

1. Staff member goes to court to get them to request that the family come in to sign the needed documents
2. Family has 12 days to appear in court to sign. [Praying everyone is healthy, understands why this is needed and shows up!]
3.  Documents signed.
4. Documents presented to IBESR and hopefully accepted
5. Final signature give for us to exit IBESR
6. Exit IBESR

The staff have tried everything they can think of but IBESR remains firm on needing the court documents. So we wait.

And pray.

16 + 16...nearly 1,000 days.

Waiting for our referral, the time added up to one week less than 16 months.

This week we reached 16 months since our socialization visit and continue to wait for word about the final document being accepted, the last signature and our exit out of IBESR.

We continue to pray and wait, wait and pray.

Someone wrote recently on a Facebook group that they didn't know how we can stand it... my answer is more than just words.

Heart felt and true..."only with the Lord's help".

And the Lord's help comes with supportive people and lots of prayers.

While we don't know everyone who's praying we do know some and thankful for each one:

• supporting churches
• small groups
• other adopting families
• F's foster families
• those who connected with F during a visit
• homeschooling families
• friends around the world
• family
• friends we met on work teams
• adoption agencies and staff
• creche workers
• other missionaries
• our Haitian churches in the northern district 

October 10th will make 1,000 days of our chart being in IBESR,  the Haitian social services office.

Praying for the Lord's will. For F to be learning about the Lord's love along with growing in mind, body and spirit. 

For F's biological family, his foster family and nannies, his case workers and our family to keep our eye's fixed on the Lord and be filled with hope in His plan. 

Praises

No, we haven't moved a step forward, but we have some good news anyway.

• This week we signed a new Power-of-Attorney adding the newest member of our adoption team, bringing the number of people who can sign for us up to four. Papers are already printed [in French and English], notarized, scanned, and sent to the USA electronically. 
• Originals will either be mailed to the USA or delivered to the creche soon.
• Thankful for the staff working in two countries to bring F home.
• Thankful for people in numerous countries praying for F and our adoption.
•  The staff continue to work on F's case in two ways:
• a different agency that was asked for similar paperwork submitted something that "apparently was accepted by IBESR". So this method will be tried in F's case this month. Praying it works.
• Thankful for sharing of information while working together to bring children home as well as keeping Haitian families together.
• meanwhile they continue to work on the paper that was requested to have it ready for courts when they reconvene in October. 

• Praying this isn't needed as there could be a delay due to a back log of cases or delays associated with political instability with presidential elections set for Oct. 9th
• Better understanding on our I-600 visa. The November expiration date that had us wondering about needing to file for a new type of visa was for our I-600a. Last May, after meeting F we filed an I-600 which we now understand will not expire. So as long as we continue to let the USCIS know that the case is active we can submit the requested documents when they become available once we move forward after exiting IBESR. PRAISE THE LORD!!
• We hear that F continues to do well despite the long wait. His foster aunt remains impressed when they talk about the waiting on how well he can express his feelings, even the hard ones.

Prayers, hope, waiting....

Seconds melt into minutes. Minutes add up to hours. Hours accumulate into days, and days to months. Relentlessly the months join together into years as time marches on....

No real news but don't let that stop you from praying!

• Thankful for the new attorney working on our case.
• The legal counsel she's been waiting to talk to about our case should have returned to work today after being gone on vacation.
• Thankful she and the agencies are looking into all possible answers
• Asking the Lord to show the best way for us.
• Asking the Lord to grant everyone wisdom, efficiency, and integrity.
• Asking the Lord for forward progress and that He get the glory and honor. 
• Sent in our 3 month renewal request for F's I-600 visa and received a different response.
• Thankful for our agency looking into this.
• Thankful there looks to be a few different paths for a visa when this one expires
• Asking the Lord for wisdom and direction.
• The first child will be leaving F's foster home this week to join his new family.



• Thankful for the wonderful housemates F has and nannies
• Thankful for the adults pouring love into the kids during these hard, confusing times of change.
• Thankful for progress and the first home going party for this house! Thankful for the other 4 children from the creche who've gone home during 2016. 
• Praying for each during this week of transition and for the good-byes to occur on Friday.
• Praying for progress for F's case as well as the other 4 children in the home. 
• Thankful that F's foster aunt agreed to spend some extra time with him reading books and working on some kindergarten stuff.He will continue to attend pre-school three times a week as well
• Thankful the books arrived to the family before they returned to Haiti and that they were willing to carry the books in for us.
• Praying for F to learn well and continue to enjoy school
• Thankful for those praying and supporting us and especially those supporting F.
• Praying that F can put his trust in the Lord and the adults telling him that we love him. At this time the staff does not think that F would understand if we were to visit him why he can't go home with us. So we wait, longing to interact, hug and tell him in person that we love him. Waiting for the day the Lord opens the door for us to be a 'real' family when F legally becomes ours in name and place, not just in our hearts and minds. 

Four years...the door opened.

I just went back and read my first two posts...

African desert roses

That Friday morning we did not have a clue about the journey that the Lord was about to start us on by opening our hearts up for adoption.

No idea of the ups and downs, confusion, hurt, frustration that would occur before and after the joy of meeting F and spending time with him.

No notion that four years later we would remain in IBESR and not have one or more children at home bonding as part of our family.

No concept of the prayer and emotional support this walk would require from our friends or about the new friends we would gain along with way.

Chou Chou beach-old picture

I think the biggest surprise for me remains..how the process changed me and my faith.

Stretched, refined, sifted, shaken, blown to dust-my expectations now look nothing like they did at the beginning.

As I shared in the last blog, the Lord just keeps whispering to me " Trust me".

While we continue to pray for miracles and movement, we worship and wait.

We are F's family. We don't need a paper or signature to tell us what we know in our hearts and minds. We will be in his life, for as long and as much as as the Lord will allow us.

Doesn't mean we like waiting but we will wait. F's more than worth it.

The lesson--trust

Found with no dirt, no leaves but still beautiful. 

Yesterday we heard from our social worker...

-they are insisting on the new paperwork about F's parents
-the creche is asking other creches for help and a sample letter
-it could be October before they get this paper if it has to go before a judge
-a new staff member with law background has been asked to work on our case

I'm struggling.

-it is very likely our visa paperwork will expire.
     -options for new visa not clear as we live in Haiti, not the USA.
-'any day now' now looking at months
-what could happen if they can't get this paperwork or it isn't want IBERS needs/wants?

I had the following in draft written just before we learned of the new paperwork issue -guess I need to listen to myself.

Written a week or so ago...

Cory called it the 'never give up' flower.

I do better with waiting and delays when I understand why. So I've asked lots of questions during our adoption journey especially in the last few years of waiting in IBESR for our referral and now to exit.

The limbo of unknowns remains uncomfortable to me. So I keep trying to figure out the why, the reason, the lessons.

While my head knows that the Lord's reasons may not be revealed to us now or later I keep looking. Lessons to learn...maybe if I learn that one, it will be the key to progress and moving forward. 

So in the last couple of years some things I've pondered or tried: increased church, increased prayer, fasting, different prayers, lots of books on prayer and waiting, increased gratitude, thanking before something happens, working on problem areas, being content, reading more about adoption-prayers-worship-attachement-contentment..... 

Results: I've changed. I think I've improved in some areas with the Lord's help [maybe hard to see yesterday and today]. But I think most of the lessons boil down to 'Trust me'. 

Why the wait?                                                                        Trust me.

Why can't F come home?                                                       Trust me.

Wouldn't it have be better to be a family of 5 for a bit.           Trust me.

What if our visa paperwork expires?                                      Trust me.

What if its hard to get a visa as we live overseas?                  Trust me. 

What about school?                                                                 Trust me.

What if our papers are lost or misplaced?                               Trust me.

What if corruption or revenge is causing the delay.                Trust me.

What if the government destabilizes?                                     Trust me.

What if we can't travel for another year or so with F?            Trust me.

What if he thinks we don't love him and gets discouraged?    Trust me.

Should we be doing more?                                                       Trust me.

What should we do?                      Just trust me.

Added today...
       What if the new requested document takes months?                        Trust me.

       What if the information is not what they want or need?                   Trust me.
        What if.........TRUST ME!

Additional prayers needed!!

Listening to my adoption songs of hope to help offset my frustration and remind me that the Lord remains in control. He's sovereign. He's all powerful. His plan will come in His timing. He cares for F and us. He is good. He is love. He is justice.

Instead of good news from our social worker today we learned that IBESR has not released our chart but is requesting additional information about F's parents.

We do not understand this, as any additional request for information from the family or orphanage should have come before we received our referral. The information requested is not law, not a requirement and not something our agency has been asked for in any other case. The judge doesn't even understand what is being asked for or why.

On the bright side our social worker plans on being in Haiti next week. Procedure is to go, sit, and wait to see the person or persons you need to see. We pray that anyone she needs to see will be working and have time to talk early next week.

Her flights to and from Haiti are early Tuesday morning and mid-afternoon on Friday.

We would love it if she can update us sooner than the 12th when she plans to return to work. At the least on Friday the 8th before leaving Haiti we’d love to hear that she was successful in some way/shape/form to advance our case. Details can wait until her return to work.

More and more this feels like a spiritual battle and less about being disorganized or ineffective. Other cases with our organization and the orphanage are also stuck. We know that Satan does not want children placed in Christian homes, but our God is stronger, His plan will prevail! The battle and victory will be His, along with all glory and honor.

Please pray:
  -over this trip and for our social worker [travels, health, safety].
-that Port-au-Prince stays calm politically so that the meetings can take place at IBESR
-that someone even today decides that the requested paper is NOT needed !
-she can meet with the correct people to work out the issues on her cases.
              [earlier in the week the better]
-that she can get IBESR to release our file for the courts.
-that she would find the time to update us next week so we don’t need to wait over the weekend.
-that F remains hopeful and trusting in the Lord.
-that our next steps move forward rapidly so that visa paperwork can be completed in time.

We have been allowed twice in June to talk online with F. We heard about his goat [gifted from a friend], loosing a tooth, school, and more. He asked the second time to see ‘his cat’, having been introduced the first visit. He also saw his room.

Not the family time with all five of us we’d prayed for but great to see his smiling face and hear his voice and giggles. Eli leaves for the USA on July 7th and then on to Germany on July 15th.

F’s current foster family will be visiting the USA the end of July for summer break. Changes in ‘routine’ are hard for F and we’re asking the Lord to give him peace.

40 days of more intensive prayer, with at least one person/family fasting each day.  June 23- August 5 is the time frame.

Thank you for your partnership and support of our family.
Cory, Kris, Eli, Anna, & F.