11 days remain.

Yesterday was a promising day: several emails teasing us with progress and dossier submission on the horizon.

Today was silent.

Holy roller coaster

 

UP    and                UP   and                  UP    and  

                        down,                     down,                       down . . .

 

 

Ugh.

Get a load of this!

So, this is kinda funny.

Not ha ha ha, but more like are you freaking kidding me?!

18 days to submit paperwork . . .
and I sent a couple more emails last night.
I contacted Father Joe with a plea to intervene and talk with Mr. Law face-to-face on our behalf.

I also emailed The Man. This time, we offered a "financial incentive" for Mr. Law to get off his tail and act. The response I received describes his efforts on our behalf, while the nuns are apparently trying to sabotage this adoption.

WOW

My GI system was not acting quite right this morning,
before the aforementioned communication,
but it's difficult to describe the state it's in now.

This man must be very confident in his position to say such things.

Oh, and there is surely a special place in hell for individuals who have such generous resources and means in a country plagued by corruption and destitution, but display the level of apathy and indolence as this.

To state that all of his efforts have been for our case, when so many months have passed with my begging for his intervention and assistance, is more than absurd.

There have been no secrets or underestimation on my part about the lack of resources in Fondwa available to the Sisters, yet he now has the audacity to blame them for our lack of progression and goes as far to say that it may be intentional.

Yes, I've heard that devastating poverty and kind hearts will make people vindictive and malicious.

WTH?

Oh my word, Mister.
I'm glad you don't answer to me ultimately. I'm sure I could never give you what you rightly deserve.

Along this journey, many obstacles have entered our path, but if the enemy thinks we will give up and crawl away with our sad tails between our legs, he is going to be greatly disappointed.
We are supported and loved and faithful.

There are too many children waiting for families . . .

I may not be the strongest or the toughest or the most patient of waiting mothers,
but I'm not going anywhere.

(and I could probably get in trouble for all of this)

Dimitry is our son.
Someday, this journey will be a memory, but the outcome will be such a wondrous blessing.

20 days to submit.

Watching Isaac.
Praying the forecast is wrong and it won't hit Haiti with hurricane force winds.

21 days to submit . . .
and the finger pointing has begun.

"I have done my part, but (this person) . . ."

Yeah, tell to someone who cares.

Just get it done.

tick tock, tick tock . . .

23 days left to submit paperwork.

I'm not anxious or anything.

I'm not tapping my foot
or spasming each time a new email comes across my phone.
No, I'm not dying to send another email asking my attorney
Are you there yet?!

Yesterday, we may have received our miracle.
Sister has a death certificate.
Yeah, that's right! We got it. We got it!

That means we only need the hand off to occur from the Sisters to Mr. Attorney
and he needs to feel the fire lit under his behind to submit the dossier.

23 days . . .
and if it happens
(as it should),
Dimitry will get a forever family.

Otherwise?
The Hague requirements go into effect in October
and it could be another two years.

No, that is not a misprint.

Dear God,
I know you hear me.
I know you love your children.
I know your hand is in this . . .
and we are in the palm of your hand.
Please bless this process
and the people driving the process
and the paperwork
and the families who love these children and need you to bring them home.

Thank you for this desire in my heart.
Thank you for the resources and the support you have blessed us with.
Thank you. Thank you.

A Plea for Prayer Warriors

 For anyone who has bitten their fingernails down into the quick and cried themselves to sleep over adoption stress, you'll understand the urgency of this post.

On August 16th, Haiti's IBESR reopened for adoption dossiers
for 30 days only.
Attorneys and agencies have a window of 1 month's time to submit dossiers before IBESR will, once again, close and then reopen at the end of October under the Hague Convention rules & regulations.
That's the plan, anyway.

In a nut shell, for us that means the loss of a lot of money and starting the process near the beginning with an agency.
It may also mean the loss of Dimitry . . . that remains to be seen.

Our paperwork has been sitting in Port-au-Prince since October 21, 2011 where it has gathered dust, waiting for one, single piece of paper.
Despite obtaining legal parental relinquishment from Dimmy's father, we have had no proof of maternal status . . . which, is apparently the end all in Haiti.

I have prayed.
I have pouted.
I have recently been grieving and feeling helpless, soaking in self-pity at the loss of this child's potential future.

You see, if we are unable to obtain a death certificate for this child's mother, he will be labeled unadoptable.

So
very
wrong.

I am asking
no,
I am pleading
for your prayers.

Not only for our family and my child in an orphanage in Haiti,
but for ALL the orphans in Haiti.
So many families' hopes and dreams are tied into this time frame.
So many what ifs exist right now.

Please join our family in the inundation of prayers for Haiti's orphans.
There really is only One Being who has control over the fate of these children,
and while HIS plan is unknown to us,
I cannot believe that He wishes for his children to live a life that continues the cycle of poverty.

Starting today, the self-pity and depression stops.
No more tears and sadness,
napping and knoshing.
Off the couch and off my butt.
I will take care of myself and get serious about caring for the body God has given me,
while praying intently for the bodies and souls of His children in Haiti.

I may not have the power to push paperwork through in a foreign country . . .
I may not have the ability to feed thousands
or provide life-sustaining care to children who have little,
but I can pray
and I can fast
and I can be an example of God's love on this earth
while supporting organizations and charities that do have the power to make a difference.

On October 6th, Eric and I will participate in the 2nd annual
Hope for Haiti 5K in Kirkwood, Missouri.
100% of the registration fees and donations from this event go towards The Haiti Orphan Project's building of a school in Village de Vie, Haiti.

http://haitiorphanproject.org/engage/events/annual-hope-5k/

People, working together, can make a difference.
People, praying for a miracle, can make a difference.

Please, please join us in this endeavor.
Prayer can change lives . . . I believe this
and I'm asking for your help.

We need a miracle.
My son needs a miracle.

New Start

While I've been wallowing in self-pity over our adoption,

my babies have been busy growing up.

Today was the first day of a new school year,

and for my five year old,

a whole new adventure.

It was like Christmas morning around here today.

6AM and the singing, dancing and excitement began.

The second grader thought his little sister was

Crazy.

My husband suggested we should've recorded it,

to remind her, many years from now,

how very, very excited she was

to go to school.

She literally skipped to the bus stop.

Let's hope the joy lasts.

Now, this mama is going grocery shopping . . .

Alone.

(hee hee)