| Day by Day |
| If you return to the Main Page, we hope that you will sign our guestbook. We hope to share the encouragement and kind words with Maria someday. |
 |
 |
|
 |
| 3/6/20006 Psalm 103:1 "Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless His Holy name." We have a YES! We received word today from our agency that the Hogar director has CONFIRMED that we have a birth certificate. We are now (REALLY!) in the adoption stage! We are excited and blessed beyond words. God is GOOD. He was GOOD yesterday when we didn't know that, and He is GOOD today in His faithfulness. We also found out we will not have to do another POA (power of attorney) which would have delayed us. Well, at least unless the courts come back and say, "Do this!" Then we will! My heart is overflowing with gratitude. Especially to God for this answer to prayer. We really were at such a point of discouragement, but even with that, God heard us. And we are so grateful for YOU prayer warriors. We received some really neat comments from people just today who said, "I have specifically been praying for this certificate to arrive." So, where are we now? Well, we are where we thought we were when I started this site. We are awaiting pre-approval from the US Embassy. (That will come via an e-mail when it does arrive) And we are awaiting family court approval. We will probably not get many updates until major things happen. And we really don't know how long we have been in the beginning stage (when the certificate arrived) so we will just estimate that today is Day 1 and if it happened earlier, that will be a pleasant surprise. :) Specific requests: (Please don't stop praying...we are SO thankful for your prayers...) That we will receive preapproval quickly. Part of preapproval is typically DNA testing, which we cannot do as an abandonment. We are hoping though that deleting a step will NOT confuse the issue at the Embassy. Please pray for a quick family court approval (via a social worker in Guatemala) Please pray for our patience as we wait and don't hear anything. This will be VERY difficult for me. Please continue to pray for Maria's homecoming to be before or near her birthday. And if not, that we will know what to do as far as visiting. Please pray for the lawyer and the Hogar director, that God will bless them for their hard work and that they will not have many difficulties as we try to finish this adoption. And please say a prayer of thanks that we know our daughter is thriving, that the certificate has arrived, and that we are closer to bringing her home than we were yesterday. May God bless your day tomorrow! |
| 3/7/2006 Psalms 119:114: Thou art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy word." Well, obviously we are still excited by yesterday's news. Yet today I find myself wanting to pray about as much as I did last week. I have read some very discouraging stories about delays in getting preapproval from the Embassy in Guatemala. So I am coming to you asking for prayer that our lawyer will be able to get our paperwork submitted quickly and that it will be approved quickly. Daily I am asked, "Do you have your daughter yet?" (followed by look of surprise we don't...) Then, "Won't you have her soon?" All I can do is shrug. I think it is like when you find out you are pregnant early in the pregnancy...it seems to take that much longer. We accepted her referral early into it...but our heart just longs to bring her home with us. Please pray with us. Thank you! |
| 3/8/2006 Romans 12:12 "Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;" I think that verse pretty much sums up where we are right now. We are rejoicing in the hope that we have finally started moving forward with the adoption. What a joy that is! And such a blessing. While we wanted to always be hopeful, we both had come to a point that we were just at the altar of Christ each day saying, "This is yours...there is NOTHING we can do." And of course rejoicing in our daughter to be; she is not legally our daughter yet, but in our hearts, we love her like Lauren and Hunter. The tribulation...well, besides the waiting period since we made the decision (which we expected somewhat, but maybe not quite as long). And of course the tribulation of being SO far from our little girl. We know she is in such good hands at the Hogar. And we were so thrilled with the gift God gave us by getting an unexpected and in some ways random report on how well she is doing. But we long to have her in our arms. Each day that she is gone is another day we missed with her...missed seeing who she is, what she likes and doesn't like, missed hugs and kisses, missed the many firsts young children experience. In some ways it feels like torture, though I know from checking in on so many sweet children with illnesses each night via Internet...our difficulty cannot compare. And the tribulation about where we are right now. I continue to hear horror stories about what lawyers have to endure to even get a case into the Embassy in Guatemala for preapproval (a necessary step). Some are camping out overnight in hopes that they will get a number for an appointment that day. It sounds like it has always been a difficult situation...a lot of people are adopting from Guatemala these days. But just recently procedures have changed...I think the Embassy is trying to reorganize, but for the time being, it is becoming more and more difficult. I just pray that our lawyer will continue to try to get our case in, that he will get in, and that we will receive that preapproval e-mail very quickly. But in God's timing of course... So that leaves the constant in prayer. Steadfast. Thank you for being a part of that with us. Please pray about the preapproval situation as well as family court. Please pray that we will hear updates and that our hearts will be calm while we wait. And we still pray for the miracle that we can have Maria home for at least part of the summer. Thank you for praying with us. |
 |