2 Outta 4 Ain't Bad...

...but it isn't that good either! Remaining needed paperwork:

Birth certificate...check! In hand.

Relinquishment...check! In hand.

Dad's death certificate...check. In hand. Oops...there's an error with the name. Uncheck.

Adoption Decree...nope. We were told it would be ready today, but no dice.

It's been five full weeks since we passed court in Ghana so we are really at a loss as to why we don't have the decree. The weeks drag by waiting for this silly paperwork that is separating us from our daughter. I wonder what Mercy is thinking and if she worries I'm never coming back for her. I pray her little heart is protected during this season of continued waiting.

I love the Lord because he hears my voice
and my prayer for mercy.
Because he bends down to listen,
I will pray as long as I have breath!
Psalm 116:1-2

Denial Is Not Just a River in Egypt

I've been putting it off and putting it off, but I officially need to get my butt in gear and send in a request to be fingerprinted again. Sigh.

I'm already regretting informing USCIS of their error on our new I-171H, but I didn't want it to cause problems in the long run. So tomorrow I will begrudgingly draft a letter requesting a new appointment. I will mutter under my breath about my husband having to take an unpaid day from work, arranging for childcare x3 and possibly an overnight stay to drive 4 hours each way to have this done.

Most of all I will remember the words spoken to me a few months ago...

"If she is not home by the time your fingerprints expire, then I'm not doing my job".

C'est la vie...

Breaking News

Our facilitator spent 5 hours at the birth and death register, but I am thrilled to report we have a birth certificate. We also have the death medical needed to get the letter. It is expected we will have the adoption order by mid next week and then we can file our I-600! Once we have this approval it is just waiting for the visa and then I can travel and bring her home.

The potential hold up is that Mercy's passport has not yet been applied for. I am told it will be applied for on Monday and that it can take 6-8 weeks or longer to be approved. I am praying that somehow her paperwork will get in the right hands and we will have quick approval.

Please pray for speedy approvals for all necessary paperwork. We are praying for God's continued provision for the pick up trip. What seems to be impossible for us has always been proven POSSIBLE with God. It seems we could be in the home stretch...thank you Lord!

Next Week

Today was the big day - the day I would get an update on the status of my needed paperwork. Here goes:

Adoption Decree: person who signs them has been out for two weeks. He did happen to come in today and managed to sign two decrees. The assistant took them to foreign affairs to be stamped, but can't remember which two names were signed for.

Verdict: It will be ready for sure by NEXT WEEK.

Birth Certificate: New and efficiently done computerized (?) birth certificate process vs. handwritten. I am in the middle of this new and improved process.

Verdict: It will be ready for sure by NEXT WEEK.

Death Certificate: Oops...did we need that?

Verdict: It will be ready for sure by NEXT WEEK.

It's been a downer of a week for me so I was really hoping for some positive news. I know I've had a bad attitude, but I need to choose to praise instead of feel down. I am reminded how weak my flesh is. I am ashamed when doubt creeps in and I am blinded to the fact that God is faithful. I am saddened that I so quickly forget the amazing ways God has provided for this journey. I hate that!

I am hoping and praying that NEXT WEEK I will be able to report that I actually have all of these things. Please join me in that prayer.

So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.
Hebrews 10:35-36

WHEN is She Coming Home?

That is a superb question my friends! I only wish I knew the answer. We were thinking it would be 4-6 weeks from when I left Ghana, but alot depends on a few sheets of paper.

We are needing some specific paperwork (one of which I THINK we will get for sure this week):
~ birth certificate
~ passport (can't get without the birth certificate)
~ adoption decree
~ father's death certificate

Once we get these papers we can file our I-600 locally. I've talked to the gentleman who handles our case in our local office and he told me to e-mail him when I was overnighting our paperwork so he could watch for it. Once we have I-600 approval we will just be waiting for her visa to be issued and she can come home.

I am going to be an optimist and say she will be home in the next couple of months. I am praying somehow it is before October 29th when our fingerprints expire. Nothing is definite in this process, but all in all I would say we have had a pretty good timeline. God is able, so we just keep on praying and believing!

The State of the Union

When I first heard the phrase "adoption is not for the faint of heart" I could never have imagined the enormity of truth that it contained. The last few days I have been truly struggling - tired, overwhelmed, tears come easily. I have been praying for wisdom. I have been praying for peace. I have been asking God to help me praise Him even when I feel like I can't. I have asked a few close friends to pray specifically for me and I can feel the difference your prayers have made. Today is a new day and thankfully His mercies are new every morning.

Our dossier was fortunate enough to make it to Ghana at a time when the adoption process was beginning to be scrutinized more closely. Of course it is difficult to find fault with that. If I was sending a child off to another country I would want to be sure they were going to be well cared for and loved also.

So where are we at? Waiting for court. Our case cannot go to court until the social welfare report is received and that is not done yet. Another mom I've become friends with is in Ghana right now and had the opportunity to sit in on a meeting with our attorney. He is saying that at this point they are not requiring parents to travel to Ghana for court, but that it couldn't hurt and would most likely be beneficial in the long run. We are praying about when/if I will travel to Ghana and how we will find the resources to do that. We are trying to discern if this is what I am meant to do.

After I started this post I was able to talk with Mercy on Skype. It was such a blessing to hear her bossy little voice (she has no problem saying what's on her mind). She asked when she could come to America and got very sad when it was time to say goodbye. She did have a special request for when I come to Ghana - she wants a pink mesh scrubby for the bath. I think I can handle that one.

Thank you Lord for my praying friends. Thank you Lord for sustaining me during these difficult days of waiting. Thank you Lord for letting me talk to our sweet girl. You are worthy of my praise.

Praise the LORD.

Praise God in his sanctuary;

praise him in his mighty heavens.
Praise him for his acts of power;

praise him for his surpassing greatness.
Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,

praise him with the harp and lyre,
praise him with tambourine and dancing,

praise him with the strings and flute,

praise him with the clash of cymbals,

praise him with resounding cymbals.
Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.

Praise the LORD.

Psalm 150:1-6

How Do You Spell Efficient? U-S-C-I-S

Back in April I was waiting for USCIS to process our updated country change. I sent them letters. I called them. I e-mailed them week after week after week. No response for WEEKS.

This past weekend I was looking at our updated I-171H for Ghana and noticed the fingerprint expiration date said 10/29/10 instead of the previous 10/29/09. At first I was thrilled at the thought of not having to travel 4 hours to have our fingerprints re-done in October. Reality did set in and trying to avoid any problems down the road I let them know of this potential error via e-mail.

Of course, being the prompt and efficient office that they are I quickly received an e-mail this morning stating: The error in your fingerprint data (10/29/2010 instead of the correct expiration of 10/29/2009) has been amended.

Thanks...I think.

Wordless Wednesday - Got It!

For more Wordless Wednesday fun head on over to 5 Minutes for Moms.

Hallelujah & Praise the Lord!

I don't believe it! After thoughtfully composing my letter to Senator Kohl's office this morning I went to my e-mail and found a response from USCIS. Praise the Lord!

The e-mail simply said that that processing of our country change had been completed and we should receive our new notice in the next 2-3 days. Woo hoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our agency director is leaving for Ghana today so we are praying we will be hearing something about a court date very soon.

Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.
I Thessalonians 5:16-18

Need Your Advice

I'm still waiting to hear back from USCIS. They received our country change request on March 30th and I have not heard from them. After we were fingerprinted last year it only took two weeks to get our approval in the mail. What is taking so long?????

I did e-mail them on the 8th. The website says to give them seven business days to respond. I am trying really hard not to be impatient, but seriously how hard is it to change one piece of paper to say Ghana instead of Haiti?

So my question is this...how aggressive should I be in dealing with USCIS? How soon should I e-mail them again? Should I sent another written/certified letter? I don't want to tick these people off so how should I handle this situation? Any advice would be appreciated.

To Ghana with Love

I just learned our dossier did make it to Ghana safe & sound at the end of last week. Hooray! We are now praying for a court date and hope to hear of this "magic" number soon.

I do expect, however, that it could easily be rescheduled once or more since that seems to be the norm. No matter what, knowing a date will certainly give me something to hold on to.

The agency handling our adoption is going to try to get our court date scheduled with another adoptive family we know in hopes that we could travel together so we are praying for that as well.

To quote Rhino from the movie Bolt, "Let it begin! Let it begin!"

A Day of Good News

Several of the families adopting from Three Angels have gotten good news today and it makes me so happy. There are kids coming home, needed approvals have been received, and others who can now officially start the process. It is definitely a day to rejoice and a reminder that God continues to be faithful to those who call on Him.

There was also good news posted to our Ghana adoption group today from the National Visa Center which will affect everyone filing an I-600. This news can potentially cut 3-5 weeks of waiting off of our already short process. It looks like I'd better make bed shopping a bigger priority!

The Next Steps

Now that our dossier is on it's way to Ghana things are suddenly feeling really real. Like this really could happen. It may not be a dream after all. Wow!

I got an e-mail from our agency today saying that the folks in Ghana have Mercy's paperwork ready to go and will combine our stuff with hers when it gets there next week. Once everything is ready they will schedule a court date. We are thinking sometime in the next month (maybe a little more or less). After court is done and our adoption has been granted, we will file our I-600 and wait for her visa to be approved.

Our specific prayer requests include:

• that we will be awarded a grant from Shaohannah's Hope
• that we will have a speedy court date with a full adoption granted
• that we will receive our country change approval and a new I-171H for Ghana from USCIS soon
• that God will prepare everyone's hearts for the big change that could be happening sooner than we think

Thanks for your prayers...have a great weekend!

Where For Art Thou USCIS?

It's been one month since USCIS received our country change request. I realize in USCIS time that's not really long, but it still makes me nervous. It might be easier to be confident if it wasn't so darn difficult to get a hold of these people.

The toll free number is maddening. The online case search says my receipt number is not valid (this is the receipt number that is printed on my correspondence from them, mind you). I did manage to get an e-mail address, but it says you should only use it if it is an emergency. I have to wonder if I chose to use it for a non-emergency, would my case get moved to the bottom of the pile as punishment for my inability to comply?

Anyway, not that it is currently an urgent matter, but now that my dossier is off my plate it would just be good to have that updated I-171H in my hot little hands. It would also cut down on the incessant stalking of my mailbox every day between noon & 1...

Bye Bye Dossier

I got Jeff's employment letter today and was happy, no - thrilled, to overnight the dossier to our agency in Washington. I also had the opportunity to talk with the nice lady at the Post Office about our family and adoption. Good stuff!

My most favorite part of our Post Office excursion was Delaney. I had gone in and while standing in line I realized that I hadn't written out the check to pay our country fee (I suspect they may want that). I went back out to the van and Delaney asked how much money I had to send. When I showed her the written out check her eyes got big as saucers and she let out a little gasp. She looked at me at said, "Did you see that reaction? That's what you call the dossier flinch." I started laughing hysterically. I love my girls sense of humor.

Let the "official" waiting begin!

Life on Fast Forward

It seems there is SO MUCH going on these days! In honor of the Livesay family I have decided to do a bullet point post:

• We rescheduled our brat fry fundraiser that was supposed to be held today. The weather forecast was miserable with storms/rain/cold so we decided to forgo the torture and trust God that another day will work out better.

• We spent the afternoon pricing stuff for our adoption garage sale fundraiser. When Jeff offered to let me use his price gun I was in pricing heaven! Just set the dial and click away. It was almost fun to see how fast I could price stuff (yes, I realize that is quite pathetic to say out loud). It also brought back a lot of memories going through the clothes that the kids used to wear.

• Here's a quick shout out to our good friends the Streckert family! They are an amazing bunch so we just have to say, "hey". Check your calendar guys and let us know when you can come over for dinner.

• There has been much talk about selling our home. The warehouse where Jeff works out of is relocating and it would be nice to be closer to where the new one is being built. Don't really relish the idea of the act of moving, but having a different house is very appealing. Our kitchen is small and drives me crazy on a daily basis with the lack of cupboard/counter space. Delaney's bedroom is also small and the girls will be sharing. We've also had lots of conversations and checking around for what to do about beds. Her room is too small for a double bed, but we really don't want bunk beds either. We thought a trundle bed would be nice for space, but we don't want Mercy to feel like a second class citizen having her bed pull out from underneath. I have a feeling we'll end up with bunks.

• We've tentatively been van shopping. Our van is burning oil like crazy, the driver's side window doesn't roll down, the passenger side mirror is broken off, rust spots are in the beginning stages and we've recently learned the air conditioning is no longer working. Sigh. We really don't want a car payment, so we're praying about what direction to take with this. It's amazing how easy it is to get caught up in the idea of owning a new vehicle. I feel like we need to keep the spending to a minimum and not get trapped by a fancy vehicle. When I think about how I can stop, take a step back and recognize that, I thank God for the work He has done in me. It used to be fairly easy for us to get caught up in worldly trappings. We've made a lot of progress in determining needs vs. wants. Praise the Lord!

• I was planning to send in our dossier on Friday and then realized I didn't have Jeff's employment letter. That's the only piece of paper I'm waiting on and I'm hoping it arrives tomorrow so I can overnight the whole thing to our agency. Since God already has her homecoming day figured out a few days wait won't matter anyway.

• Lots going on with the school year wrapping up and dance recital coming. I will surely be glad when summer break is here and life's pace slows down.

I pray you all have a blessed week!

What a Difference!

On the left measuring at a sturdy 3" is my Haiti dossier. On the right measuring in at a whopping 3/16" is my entire Ghana dossier. I kid you not - that's the whole thing. Why does this seem like it should be much more painful?

WE GOT IT!!!!!

I just had the feeling as I walked to the mailbox that I would find our I-171H inside. Hallelujah it was there!!!! I wonder what people think when they see a woman crying at the mailbox?

Basically, the I-171H states that we are approved to adopt a child from Haiti. This was the piece of paper that I needed to have in order to file our I-600 on my trip to Haiti in September. Woo hoo & thank you Jesus!

How Do You Spell Precious?

At our house, one of the four ways we spell it is A-N-C-H-I-S-E!

More dossier progress today...I got all but the authentication confirmations mailed to the translator & the Wisconsin authentications were expressed to the secretary of state. I told the lady at the shipping center that I was mailing documents for our adoption. She was excited for us & asked where the child was from. I told her our daughter was from Haiti & I got "the" question again...is she black? Yes, people, she is black - well actually a beautiful shade of brown. Oh brother!

We are now at the mercy of others to get these things back to us. Once they are back we will only have to have our few items legalized by the Haitian consulate & then we are D-O-N-E baby! Oh yeah! Please pray donations come in for the remainder of our fee so we can send our dossier as soon as everything comes back.

It's Official - We're NOT Certifiable!

I'm excited to report we passed our psychiatric evaluation. I know some of you thought the adoption process would come to a screeching halt after this appointment, but I'm excited to report we can proceed as planned!

One step closer...

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

Romans 12:1-2