So....we have moved up the wait list to #3. And that is exciting!! However, the reality is we may remain at #3, #2, or # 1 for a very, very, very long time. Our agency has absolutely no idea or prediction when a child or children will become available for a referral....let alone then court and travel.
I'm not gonna lie to you this is really hard. I am totally out of control and probably 5 out of 7 days of the week I am bordering on feeling like a crazy lady internally. I am learning the power of praise and putting on a thankful heart. I am really learning a lot...but the hard way....the kind of learning that comes through pain, and lots of internal dying. Lotsa fun! Yeah I'm not really the poster child for international adoption right now...BUT on the other hand my passion for adoption only grows each day. The more I learn and the more incredible families I meet and hear their stories...the more passionate I become for these children and what this journey can produce in people that submit their wills and their lives to do whatever the Lord asks. And for the Chapmans the call right now is to wait with blind faith and complete trust in the One who is so very faithful. Oh, and to do it with joyful hearts and God-honoring attitudes. Sounds easy, right? Absolutely not easy.
I was venting (complaining) to a precious new internet friend who has brought her sweet daughter home from Uganda within the last six months and she told me that the only wisdom she had was to point me back to Jesus...to point me to Truth. She shared this article with me and it has really helped....lots of it I already knew but I believe it is a great perspective that I will keep coming back to over the next few days...weeks...months...maybe years. I mean aren't I called to be obedient even if I never see the end of the wait? Yes, yes I am...even though I don't like that answer.
Thank you to all you precious friends that help me get through each day...asking about our journey...bringing me chocolate...letting me talk incessantly about adoption details that you don't really understand at all...people that buy and wear their Ugandan beads (I LOVE seeing them!).......commenting on FB....getting excited with us about the little steps...praying for us...and keeping hope with us...THANK YOU!
This is one of the verses I'm clinging to these days:)
Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who called us is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Hebrews 10:24-25
Showing posts with label waiting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label waiting. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Transparency...
Wish I had great news but honestly this week I am feeling quite discouraged. Our dossier was turned in and our agency has asked us to redo almost half of it. Much of our paperwork was completed in Jan/Feb/March/April of last year. We did lots of it while we were doing our home study paperwork so we could be ready to mail it in as soon as we received our USCIS approval. When Mark's job changed in June before we received that coveted USCIS approval, everything paused. Then once he was rehired in Sept. we had to amend our home study before we could submit our dossier. And now we are in 2012 and that means much of the paperwork in our dossier is almost a year old. Apparently in Uganda when it comes to this kind of paperwork it isn't wise to have it that old.
So we are reordering birth certificates. Did you know a birth certificate in SC costs $12 each and birth certificates from Michigan cost $50 each and birth certificates from Colorado cost $30? Each person in the household has to have 2 new birth certificates. Although we have 6 marriage certificates issued February of 2010, we have to get 2 newer ones:) Thankfully we have the money because of all our wonderful fundraisers but just hate spending it on redoing paperwork!
Do I sound frustrated? Yeah I am. I realize I shouldn't be and it is just part of this process. I am just ready to feel like we are making progress! Okay enough whining:) I am THANKFUL! For what I am learning in the wait...for the way this pressure is prayerfully causing some refining and in the end some beautiful character.
I am thankful that in the delays and waiting God is surely working and although His ways are indeed not my ways...they are so much better! Do I feel thankful? No, at the moment I FEEL like I want to throw a hissy fit and stomp my foot and pout and whine to Jesus about why in the world I have to REDO all this blasted paperwork that I FINALLY just finished!! And why I have to spend all this money again and why does it all have to take SO stinking long!!!
Big cleansing breath....the Lord sees and knows...His timing is amazingly perfect...He has our best interests in mind....and I can always trust His heart...He knows where our littles are and when they will need us...He is preparing the way before us and none of this journey is wasted...none of the pain, none of the frustration, none of the growth opportunities, none of the new relationships made, none of the angst. Gotta keep my eyes on that! Thanks for journeying with us:) In the end...it is going to be blow-our-minds amazing! I just deep-in-my gut KNOW it!
So we are reordering birth certificates. Did you know a birth certificate in SC costs $12 each and birth certificates from Michigan cost $50 each and birth certificates from Colorado cost $30? Each person in the household has to have 2 new birth certificates. Although we have 6 marriage certificates issued February of 2010, we have to get 2 newer ones:) Thankfully we have the money because of all our wonderful fundraisers but just hate spending it on redoing paperwork!
Do I sound frustrated? Yeah I am. I realize I shouldn't be and it is just part of this process. I am just ready to feel like we are making progress! Okay enough whining:) I am THANKFUL! For what I am learning in the wait...for the way this pressure is prayerfully causing some refining and in the end some beautiful character.
I am thankful that in the delays and waiting God is surely working and although His ways are indeed not my ways...they are so much better! Do I feel thankful? No, at the moment I FEEL like I want to throw a hissy fit and stomp my foot and pout and whine to Jesus about why in the world I have to REDO all this blasted paperwork that I FINALLY just finished!! And why I have to spend all this money again and why does it all have to take SO stinking long!!!
Big cleansing breath....the Lord sees and knows...His timing is amazingly perfect...He has our best interests in mind....and I can always trust His heart...He knows where our littles are and when they will need us...He is preparing the way before us and none of this journey is wasted...none of the pain, none of the frustration, none of the growth opportunities, none of the new relationships made, none of the angst. Gotta keep my eyes on that! Thanks for journeying with us:) In the end...it is going to be blow-our-minds amazing! I just deep-in-my gut KNOW it!
Monday, November 28, 2011
Update!! - Finally:)
There has been so much going on that honestly I am a little overwhelmed at where to begin. At the end of this you may actually feel like nothing has really changed but in the world of adoption sometimes you go one step forward and three steps back, yet that is at least movement, which is progress!
Shannon and Lee Burris helped us have another yard sale, which went great! Many of our friends and home group peeps chipped in to donate and work and we made over $800! We are so thankful! I also was blessed to be able to have a booth at the She Event at the Civic Center two weekends ago and sold our Ugandan necklaces from 147 Million Orphans. We sold 40 necklaces but have lots more so please contact me if you are interested in purchasing some for Christmas presents. I will post pictures hopefully tomorrow because we also have put some of the necklaces in pretty clear globes and are selling them for $25 as ornaments with bows on them. You can hang them on the tree and/or take the necklace out to wear them. They would work great for an ornament exchange or just a beautiful way to give the necklaces as a gift in a festive fashion. We will also wrap them up for you. I know you need a picture so I'll post those tomorrow:)
We also have been in the process of resubmitting the financial portion of our home study to be reapproved because of Mark's job change. In the midst of submitting that paperwork in a round about way we became aware of some new children that came into care at the orphanage from which we are adopting. A sibling group of three came into care in mid-October. Mark and I separately could not get them off of our minds and through prayer and conversation decided to inquire about them. We weren't sure if we could be approved to adopt three. Fairly quickly we were approved by our home study agency for three and then submitted our home study with the revisions to the financial forms as well as changing our request from approval for two children to approval for three. That paperwork has gone through DSS hands and is now being processed through USCIS which is Immigration. We are finishing up a few more items that need to be submitted so our dossier will be complete. Once we receive our I71-C, which is Immigration approval, then we will send that on to our agency and they will send our completed dossier to Uganda and we will be considered paper ready, or ready for our referral.
So this is where things become complicated:) We received an email a few days ago explaining that because of the heightened awareness of unethical adoptions the Embassy and the judges are being extremely cautious about awarding legal guardianship to adoptive families. Our agency's desire is to make sure that each adoption is ethical and very thorough in attempting to track down Ugandan family members that might be able to and be willing to adopt the children at the Tender Hearts Babies Home.
So we did make it clear to our agency that we would like to be considered for a referral for this sibling group of three. They can make absolutely no promises or guarantees. They cannot discuss the children in any detail until they are ready to make our referral. We understand that. For all the children that are in their care they have to advertise in newspapers and on radio stations about these children in an attempt to track down family members. They need to do this repeatedly over a six month period. It will also take around six months to make sure the children medically are where they need to be to be considered adoptable.
So the discouraging thing is the reality that even if these little ones are one day called to be Chapmans, it will be at least six months before we are even offered their referral. However, at least we have a little more of a rough and tentative timeline. If we do receive their referral and accept it the lawyer then submits our file for a court date. Then once we receive a court date we go to Uganda with the very real possibility of being over there for at least 4-6 weeks. So we settle back into the pray and wait mode. We do still have some footwork to do in finalizing some paperwork, but for the most part we need to sit back and watch Jesus work all this stuff out.
We are so thankful for the way you all encourage us by asking about the process and praying for us! Thank you for understanding when we seem a little discouraged with the wait. And please forgive us if at times we seem unenthusiastic when we talk about it! It just is hard waiting at times! We know the Lord is working even when we don't see it and we also rest in the fact that He has a plan and His ways are not our ways!
We try not to talk at length about these kinds of details with the boys because the waiting is a hard concept for them too. We still may only receive a referral for one child, or two...or it may end up being three. Until we have more concrete details we simply pray for our little ones together daily and ask for eyes of faith. We have such an amazing community of people that we know are praying for us and watching to see what the Lord will do through this process.
Shannon and Lee Burris helped us have another yard sale, which went great! Many of our friends and home group peeps chipped in to donate and work and we made over $800! We are so thankful! I also was blessed to be able to have a booth at the She Event at the Civic Center two weekends ago and sold our Ugandan necklaces from 147 Million Orphans. We sold 40 necklaces but have lots more so please contact me if you are interested in purchasing some for Christmas presents. I will post pictures hopefully tomorrow because we also have put some of the necklaces in pretty clear globes and are selling them for $25 as ornaments with bows on them. You can hang them on the tree and/or take the necklace out to wear them. They would work great for an ornament exchange or just a beautiful way to give the necklaces as a gift in a festive fashion. We will also wrap them up for you. I know you need a picture so I'll post those tomorrow:)
We also have been in the process of resubmitting the financial portion of our home study to be reapproved because of Mark's job change. In the midst of submitting that paperwork in a round about way we became aware of some new children that came into care at the orphanage from which we are adopting. A sibling group of three came into care in mid-October. Mark and I separately could not get them off of our minds and through prayer and conversation decided to inquire about them. We weren't sure if we could be approved to adopt three. Fairly quickly we were approved by our home study agency for three and then submitted our home study with the revisions to the financial forms as well as changing our request from approval for two children to approval for three. That paperwork has gone through DSS hands and is now being processed through USCIS which is Immigration. We are finishing up a few more items that need to be submitted so our dossier will be complete. Once we receive our I71-C, which is Immigration approval, then we will send that on to our agency and they will send our completed dossier to Uganda and we will be considered paper ready, or ready for our referral.
So this is where things become complicated:) We received an email a few days ago explaining that because of the heightened awareness of unethical adoptions the Embassy and the judges are being extremely cautious about awarding legal guardianship to adoptive families. Our agency's desire is to make sure that each adoption is ethical and very thorough in attempting to track down Ugandan family members that might be able to and be willing to adopt the children at the Tender Hearts Babies Home.
So we did make it clear to our agency that we would like to be considered for a referral for this sibling group of three. They can make absolutely no promises or guarantees. They cannot discuss the children in any detail until they are ready to make our referral. We understand that. For all the children that are in their care they have to advertise in newspapers and on radio stations about these children in an attempt to track down family members. They need to do this repeatedly over a six month period. It will also take around six months to make sure the children medically are where they need to be to be considered adoptable.
So the discouraging thing is the reality that even if these little ones are one day called to be Chapmans, it will be at least six months before we are even offered their referral. However, at least we have a little more of a rough and tentative timeline. If we do receive their referral and accept it the lawyer then submits our file for a court date. Then once we receive a court date we go to Uganda with the very real possibility of being over there for at least 4-6 weeks. So we settle back into the pray and wait mode. We do still have some footwork to do in finalizing some paperwork, but for the most part we need to sit back and watch Jesus work all this stuff out.
We are so thankful for the way you all encourage us by asking about the process and praying for us! Thank you for understanding when we seem a little discouraged with the wait. And please forgive us if at times we seem unenthusiastic when we talk about it! It just is hard waiting at times! We know the Lord is working even when we don't see it and we also rest in the fact that He has a plan and His ways are not our ways!
We try not to talk at length about these kinds of details with the boys because the waiting is a hard concept for them too. We still may only receive a referral for one child, or two...or it may end up being three. Until we have more concrete details we simply pray for our little ones together daily and ask for eyes of faith. We have such an amazing community of people that we know are praying for us and watching to see what the Lord will do through this process.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
The Waiting Room
Mark is sitting in a waiting room. He just finished an interview and is waiting to hear if he got the job or not. I am sitting on our couch waiting to hear from him. We've been doing a lot of waiting these days...
I'm still not very good at it. I realized recently that waiting is less stressful when we have confidence in Who we are waiting on. It really goes back to trust. If I am waiting in line at Burger King I don't have a lot of patience because I always have to wait a really long time there and I don't usually have a positive experience. On the other hand when I wait at Chick-fil-a I expect a short wait, with good service and a pleasant "My pleasure" at the end. That is because of my history of great experiences at that wonderful chicken place!
I traveled this summer with our youth group at Newspring Church to their week long youth camp, the Gauntlet, in Daytona, Florida. When it was time to travel home the leaders had to get 2000 people onto buses to travel home to five different cities. That involved lots of "hurry and wait." We worked hard to get downstairs to the lobby and then had to just wait..and wait...and wait some more. We knew eventually there would be a bus and we would get on it and drive home. We couldn't see the bus or hear the bus and we couldn't even see the door outside to the bus. We simply knew we were promised by our leaders a return journey on a bus. Our leaders had faithfully done everything they promised over the last five days. We chose to trust them because they had a history of following through. We were moved from one room to another and the wait was long and frustrating, but we never really doubted that we would actually finally get on the bus! We had no control over the journey to the bus. I did, however, have a choice as to my attitude during the wait. And that significantly affected my journey. My attitude affected the people around me and my experience. Although my physical surroundings and circumstances were uncomfortable and did not guarantee a positive outcome...I trusted that what was promised would come about and it would be for my eventual good. I could have complained and fretted and tried to speed things up...but in reality it simply would have made the waiting more difficult for me and the people around me...and not sped up the end result one bit.
Trust comes as a result of relationship. I trust more and more deeply the stronger my relationship is with someone. Relationship takes time and experience and sometimes difficulty. I believe that as I wait the Lord doesn't simply want my surrender and/or obedience, He also wants my trust. He doesn't want me to throw my hands up in the air in surrender out of defeat....He wants me to place my hand in His and follow Him because I trust Him! When I trust Him in that way I am recognizing His heart and that His intentions for me are good!
Just as I waited for that bus...I am waiting now. I am choosing to trust that He sees ahead. That the process and what it is doing in us/me is just as significant...maybe more so than what the actual outcome of all this is. He is faithful and as I press in and draw close and get to know Him better...I trust more. He's always after the heart and that is where trust rests. My heart trusts His heart. No matter what...
I'm still not very good at it. I realized recently that waiting is less stressful when we have confidence in Who we are waiting on. It really goes back to trust. If I am waiting in line at Burger King I don't have a lot of patience because I always have to wait a really long time there and I don't usually have a positive experience. On the other hand when I wait at Chick-fil-a I expect a short wait, with good service and a pleasant "My pleasure" at the end. That is because of my history of great experiences at that wonderful chicken place!
I traveled this summer with our youth group at Newspring Church to their week long youth camp, the Gauntlet, in Daytona, Florida. When it was time to travel home the leaders had to get 2000 people onto buses to travel home to five different cities. That involved lots of "hurry and wait." We worked hard to get downstairs to the lobby and then had to just wait..and wait...and wait some more. We knew eventually there would be a bus and we would get on it and drive home. We couldn't see the bus or hear the bus and we couldn't even see the door outside to the bus. We simply knew we were promised by our leaders a return journey on a bus. Our leaders had faithfully done everything they promised over the last five days. We chose to trust them because they had a history of following through. We were moved from one room to another and the wait was long and frustrating, but we never really doubted that we would actually finally get on the bus! We had no control over the journey to the bus. I did, however, have a choice as to my attitude during the wait. And that significantly affected my journey. My attitude affected the people around me and my experience. Although my physical surroundings and circumstances were uncomfortable and did not guarantee a positive outcome...I trusted that what was promised would come about and it would be for my eventual good. I could have complained and fretted and tried to speed things up...but in reality it simply would have made the waiting more difficult for me and the people around me...and not sped up the end result one bit.
Trust comes as a result of relationship. I trust more and more deeply the stronger my relationship is with someone. Relationship takes time and experience and sometimes difficulty. I believe that as I wait the Lord doesn't simply want my surrender and/or obedience, He also wants my trust. He doesn't want me to throw my hands up in the air in surrender out of defeat....He wants me to place my hand in His and follow Him because I trust Him! When I trust Him in that way I am recognizing His heart and that His intentions for me are good!
Just as I waited for that bus...I am waiting now. I am choosing to trust that He sees ahead. That the process and what it is doing in us/me is just as significant...maybe more so than what the actual outcome of all this is. He is faithful and as I press in and draw close and get to know Him better...I trust more. He's always after the heart and that is where trust rests. My heart trusts His heart. No matter what...
Friday, July 1, 2011
Waiting, waiting and more waiting...
We keep checking our mailbox each day hoping to find a letter from USCIS with our date for fingerprinting. At that point we, (meaning Mark, Erika, Ben, Midge and Leo), will travel to Charleston to be fingerprinted. Then we wait again:) for the letter that says we were approved. That could take a few weeks. Then we will send our dossier on to our agency and they will send it to Uganda.
Then, hopefully and prayerfully we will receive our referral, which means actually being matched with a child and receiving her picture and information. We also have a few other significant events that can/will affect this process going on in our lives! You can read about them on my (Erika's) blog over here...
In the meantime, we wait...
Then, hopefully and prayerfully we will receive our referral, which means actually being matched with a child and receiving her picture and information. We also have a few other significant events that can/will affect this process going on in our lives! You can read about them on my (Erika's) blog over here...
In the meantime, we wait...
Monday, May 2, 2011
...in the waiting
We are in a waiting period. Waiting to hear if our home study has been mailed to the right office so we can mail money to the right office and on and on and on:) Definitely God is doing mighty things in us as we wait and that is one of our prayers...that we would become who He wants us to be through this process. We do believe that none of this journey, especially the waiting, is a mistake. There is a purpose for each day.
There are lots of days now where there is NOTHING physically that I can do to make things happen any faster. So I trust and He is teaching me to pray. I do love to pray and have seen the power of prayer. However I am learning anew that prayer is not really about changing God's plan but about aligning my heart and will with what He is currently doing and about to do.
So I wanted to share some of the verses that I am newly praying over this adoption process, over our family, over our child/children. These are just a couple but we would LOVE it if you would join us in praying. And if the Lord gives you verses to pray for and over us...we humbly ask you to share them with us. It would be such an encouragement:)
Right now we are praying for God's favor with the judges and lawyers in Uganda. There are so many wonderful Ugandan officials, judges and lawyers that have so much on their plates right now. We are praying FOR them and that the families that are in line before us waiting would be processed soon as well...then we can move forward on the list.
I just picture Jesus covering them with His protective wings, so they feel safe and love and protected. I pray that they will have strong identities in Him. They will understand in their spirits that they are the apple of His eye!! That they will not feel abandoned or forgotten, but secure...deep down secure.
There are lots of days now where there is NOTHING physically that I can do to make things happen any faster. So I trust and He is teaching me to pray. I do love to pray and have seen the power of prayer. However I am learning anew that prayer is not really about changing God's plan but about aligning my heart and will with what He is currently doing and about to do.
So I wanted to share some of the verses that I am newly praying over this adoption process, over our family, over our child/children. These are just a couple but we would LOVE it if you would join us in praying. And if the Lord gives you verses to pray for and over us...we humbly ask you to share them with us. It would be such an encouragement:)
Right now we are praying for God's favor with the judges and lawyers in Uganda. There are so many wonderful Ugandan officials, judges and lawyers that have so much on their plates right now. We are praying FOR them and that the families that are in line before us waiting would be processed soon as well...then we can move forward on the list.
Matthew 21:21-22
" Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”
Matthew 17:20
He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
We are asking Jesus for great faith, and for Him to move mountains on the behalf of these sweet children.
As I pray for the children throughout the day I pray these for them...it brings me comfort too:)
Psalm 17:8
Keep me as the apple of your eye;
hide me in the shadow of your wings
I just picture Jesus covering them with His protective wings, so they feel safe and love and protected. I pray that they will have strong identities in Him. They will understand in their spirits that they are the apple of His eye!! That they will not feel abandoned or forgotten, but secure...deep down secure.
Psalm 27:5
For in the day of trouble
he will keep me safe in his dwelling;
he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent
and set me high upon a rock.
he will keep me safe in his dwelling;
he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent
and set me high upon a rock.
I pray for their safety. That emotionally, mentally, physically and spiritually He will place a hedge of His protection over them and that He will set them high upon the rock. He is the Rock. That they will be in His shelter and safe in His dwelling. As they sleep, as they eat, as they play, as they learn, as they grow.
So this is where we are at the moment in the waiting...thanks for letting me share and thank you for praying...we covet your prayers!
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