Brian's Post

All,

We made our best run at it, and God has closed the door to Rwanda to us for good. He answered our prayers and was very clear that this is not where we are supposed to be. I would be lying if I said this didn't hurt a lot, but I am thanking him for answering our prayers and telling us now instead of after we were fully committed to Rwanda. Psalm 27:1, 13, 14 has been an encouragement to me now. Indeed, who shall I fear? I will mourn, but I cannot and will not despair. We'll be strong, take courage, and wait for the LORD. Thank you for your prayers and support. I'll let you know more when I am able.

His, -Brian

God's Plan

Brian and I have decided to take the ultimate journey with our documents to see what exactly God's plans are for us. We had finally come to terms with Rwanda's closing and were awfully close to making the switch to Ethiopia. Last night, I was checking a family's blog who is going through the same journey. Here I discovered something that would make me crazy all over again. They posted that a couple of families were going to turn in their dossier without the USCIS approval (I 171-H form). This is the document we were missing and the reason we initially thought we had no chance of getting our dossier in before Rwanda closed on Aug.31. Is it possible for us to do the same thing? Well, we will soon find out. We wrote a long email to our family coordinator asking lots of questions about this and I will be calling her first thing in the morning. If we do not have the support of the adoption agency on this impulsive move, we will end our journey to Rwanda and immediately transfer to the Ethiopia program. The last thing we need is to finish this adoption without an agency. If we get the go ahead, then we pursue. Brian is on his way to Tallahassee this evening so that he will be at the secretary of state first thing in the morning. Here he will authenticate all of our documents. I will drop the kids at school and drive to Orlando to get 3 simple papers I need from our social worker (a copy of their license, non-profit agreement, and the post placement agreement). After we both get our paperwork, we will fly independently to DC and meet up. Their we will need to get to the state office between 7-10 am to get our dossier certified AGAIN, make copies of everything and turn it in at the Rwandan Embassy in DC. The Rwandan govt. recently stated that dossiers will be accepted by any Rwandan embassy before the deadline, not only in Rwanda. We were told, not from the agency, that we could send in the missing document to Rwanda later. The final variable is that we don't exactly know when the deadline is, and since it is the weekend, we have no way of knowing until tomm. The wording was a bit confusing and many of us are confused whether we have until the 30th or the 31st. The 31st is possible, the 30th is most definitely not. The good news is that we will know God's plan for us by the end of tomm. (I HOPE). The bad news is I am a nervous wreck and a tad moody =). Good night for now. Off to check flights to DC.

comforting verses

I came across these verses this morning and found great comfort in these. It is amazing how God directs you to the verses you need most at various times.

2 Corinthians 12:10 (NIV)
That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecution, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Romans 5: 3-4 (NIV)
Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.

By the way, Thank you so much Stephanie for the songs you sent me. I really enjoyed them. It is so nice to have the support of others going through the same hardships.

Halt in Rwandan Adoptions

WOW! What an emotional roller coaster we have been through in the last 24 hrs. Yesterday, in car line, I was checking email and was pleased to see an email from our family coordinator. As I read the 1st line, my jaw dropped. I felt like I was punched in the stomach. With adoption, things are always changing and anything can happen. She was emailing us to let us know that Rwanda has decided to pursue being a hague country and thus will not be accepting any more dossiers as of August 31 (5 days). No one knows how long they will be closed. It could be 1 month or many years. That is the stinky part. I do know they are bombarded with dossiers now and some have been waiting 11-12 months. I think this, in the long run will be great for the orphans, it just stinks for those of us so close to the cut off. That brings us to "To Wait or Not To Wait." We are doing lots of praying about our next step and of course lots of research. We are coming to peace with a decision, but won't disclose until we know 100 % what we are doing. Brian and I hugely dislike change. For now, the tears have stopped and my brain is working on overdrive.

1st day of school!!!

Here are a few pictures of the kids first day of school. Mom is one happy camper. STRUCTURE IS GOOD!!!!!!!

Rwanda's Presidential Election

Rwanda's Presidential Election is coming up on August 9. Posted below is a link to an article that shared an interesting perspective on the election. My prayer is for the safety of the country during this time.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6741LR20100805