Well, that was fast!!!

The finger prints are done.  Well, at least one thing has gone fast and smoothly!  We had such a fun day in Nashville.  Fingerprints and friends!  We got to have coffe with three old friends that happen to be in Nashville, meet a new friend that has a heart for "the least of these" (awesome web-site http://www.ordinaryhero.org/), have lunch and hang out with friends that live in Nashville and the best part was that we got to do it all with our oldest, Kylie.  What a fun day and we are one small, tiny step closer to our sweet children in Haiti.  My heart is aching to see them again!   I will get to spend a day with them in February when we take our dossier to turn in.  Thanks for all of your continued prayers and support!

Finger Prints tomorrow!

No, I'm not cleaning all of the finger prints off the walls and windows at my house.  Steve, Renee' and Kylie will trek to Nashville tomorrow to get our fingerprinting done.  One more baby step!  We will also have lunch with some great friends that happen to be helping us in a BIG way with our adoption.  Looking forward to a fun day.(Now if we could only get the sun to shine!)

Translation Complete!

We FINALLY got our dossier papers translated into French so that we can send them to the Haitian Consulate in Chicago to have approved and stamped.(At a mere $25 a page!!!)  We are thankful to have a step forward. 
Thank you, thank you so much to all of you who have purchased t-shirts to help us get these kiddos home!
We are so grateful for the help that is being brought forth on behalf of Giflore and Kiki...t-shirt sales, Bebo Norman and all the folks that will be attending the benefit concert, a friend that has promised matching funds, generous family, friends running a marathon and getting sponsors, we are truly overwhelmed by your love and support!!

The trip that was!

We finally made it!  The flights started back up into Haiti and we were able to visit our friends and children.  It was a great few days filled with gifts and encouragement!  It was such a blessing to see people face to face and wish them a Merry Christmas!  Renee's job with HaitiServe has been such a great fit with her passion to serve, we are so thankful.
We had the huge blessing of visiting Children of Hope Orphanage and bringing all of the kids stockings for them to have on Christmas morning. Thanks to all of you that gave toward the eight suitcases full of gifts that we took to all of the children and staff, the gifts were a huge encouragement to everyone!
We also got to bring our children, Giflore and Kiki with us to the city for three days.  It was a wonderful time for us to be with them.  We had our friend and translator, Wooby with us to help communicate.  The children know that we are going to be their parents and that we will be visiting them as often as we possibly can until they come home with us forever. It is so heart wrenching to take them back to the orphanage when we leave.  We really don't have a time line and are praying for miracles.  It will be a long journey.  We are thankful that our children are HIS children! We are also beyond thankful for the loving care that they receive at Children of Hope!!
We have completed all of our paper work and are waiting for them to be translated and sent to Chicago for Haitian legalization.  When this step is complete, we will be able to take them to Haiti and the attorney will begin the LONG process there. 

Please pray for our kiddo's hearts as they can't really have an understanding of this process.  Shoot, we don't even understand it!!!  Please pray for our hearts and our children at home as we long for the day that we will all be together.

Don't forget the Bebo Norman benefit concert, February 18th at the square room~more details to follow

the trip that wasn't

Renee' and I and Norris and Melissa Hill headed to Haiti yesterday to visit some of the ministries and people that we are connected with thru HaitiServe, to encourage them and love them with some Christmas presents.  We left Knoxville early and by the time we landed in Miami they had shut down the airport in PAP to all flights due to the unrest around the controversial elections going on there.  We tried several creative ways to get into Haiti but to no avail. So...we took a cab to South Beach for the freak show and had brunch and came back to our hotel.  Dinner of Cuban food and a great visit with Corrigan Clay who is one of the folks that we were going to visit.  Turns out he was stuck in Miami as well.  It was a great time to visit with him and pray with him.  If you are not familiar with The Apparent Project I would encourage you to check out their website (http://www.apparentproject.com/) to see what fantastic things they are doing in their little part of PAP.  They are a bright light in the midst of a very dark country. We will be taking about a dozen college folks (and hopefully our whole family) to stay and work there for a week over spring break.

We ended up rescheduling our tickets for next week, 16th thru 20th.  We will then hop in the car and drive to KC on the 21st for Christmas.  Not our original plan but we'll make it work.

will keep you posted.

Moldy

Unrest - there and here

You may or may not know that they are in the middle of a troubled election in Haiti.  Today they are to release results that could either lead to a new president or to a run-off election.  Either way there will be (and already is) much turmoil and unrest in this fragile country.  Please pray for the process, for the people, for the government, for peace and civility, for justice...

Renee' and I, along with friends Norris and Melissa Hill are scheduled to leave for there early tomorrow morning to visit and encourage a number of the ministries that we are connected with thru HaitiServe.  We are watching the news, trying to be discerning, praying for wisdom and dealing with our own unrest.  Immediate unrest about this trip - do we go or not? ... but moreso the unrest in our hearts about the length of this adopting process.  We want Kiki and Gi in our home so badly.  I wrestle with God about how this timing and process is good for them - I don't think it is. I am, however, convinced that he is very much in charge and that I sure don't have the whole picture.  So I'll continue to press in on him and anyone connected with this adoption.  I'll listen to what the Father is up to in me.  I'll try to prepare for the day they are actually in our home and to love these kids as best I can from here.

A huge blessing to be a part of!

I am so thankful that the Lord took me to Haiti in February of 2009 and I fell in love!  I love these people so much; old, young, educated, illiterate, poor, poorer, dirty, sick, giving, loving people!  I am so blessed to have them in my life!

One of the greatest blessings that I have had lately has been to take our dear friends Dave and Melissa Hogue to Haiti to meet their new son, Wilby.  It was amazing to watch as they first held their three year old son.  He is such a beautiful child with an amazing smile that makes everyone fall in love with him!  He also has Cerebral Palsy and with it some special needs.  I can't wait to see how God is going to use him in the lives of all that he will come in contact with in  Kansas City and beyond.  We have a long adoption road ahead though...please pray for the Hogues and Wilby during this time of waiting, waiting, waiting.

You can follow the Hogue's adoption on facebook.  Become a fan of Wonderful Wilby!  I can't express how much I love seeing God bring children and families together!