New Role

In the last few weeks, I have begun serving my community through our church, Christ Community Church, in a new way. Our church has had a relationship with World Relief for several years, but had no one to take up the role of being the point person. This new role will have me developing a cadre of volunteers who are willing to welcome new refugees into our area. It is a role which fits the call of Jesus on my life which is to embody Micah 6:8.

He has shown you, O man, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly^[a] with your God. Micah 6:8 NIV84

Our goal (mine and that of Christ Community Church’s Community Impact team and the beginnings of our team of volunteers) is to build relationships with refugees in the hopes that one day we will be able to share Jesus Christ with them and see them begin a personal relationship with him.

I have been super excited about this new role and have studied all that it entails. I’m daily reading and educating myself on who is a refugee, the process for identifying them and approving them for resettlement and what happens when they arrive on our soil. I’m reading leadership books and spending a lot of time planning. I am a researcher, it’s a passion of mine. I like to really understand things and dig deep. And I have done so on this issue and especially on this community partner, World Relief.

I’m excited to share with you what I have learned. Look for new blog posts over the next few days. I’m dividing the posts as it is a lot of information to digest. I will be linking to factual data, so please follow the links. I hope you will read all of them.  Feel free to share them with others who are wondering about refugees, particularly those who fear an influx of Syrian Refugees.

It is my humble prayer that God will use these posts to bring about a change of hearts and minds.

Eve, Captivating, and Xena, Warrior Princess

I am a huge fan of John Eldredge’s books, I even subscribe to his daily readings. I have to admit, though, to never being able to get through his wife, Stasi Eldredge’s book, Captivating.  This week, I received a daily reading called “Haunted by Eve”.  Here’s the link:  Haunted by Eve

Honestly, I don’t see myself haunted by the question, “Am I lovely?” I identify much more easily with the generalized every little boy question, “Do I have what it takes?”  I accepted long ago, that God made me the way he saw fit.  Brian finds me lovely and I know God does and so I have no need to ask that question.

Much more important to me is “Do I have what it takes?”  I would so much rather don my spiritual armor and be a warrior for God fighting alongside the son of Man and the angels, than be a little girl twirling around in a pretty party dress.

Any other women feel that way? If so, join me in the Warrior Princess for God club!

Settling in!

It’s been just over a month since we’ve been home.  The boys are settling in well and making friends and we just took a vacation for over a week.  I wondered if they would be overwhelmed, but overall they managed very well.

Lowenski will officially become Peter in the next few weeks.  He is currently in the 4th grade and while he was never able to read while in Haiti, he is picking things up very quickly here.  His first day of school on March 11 was awesome.  He came home with a picture and a letter from every student in his class welcoming him to America and to school at his elementary.  He was so proud.  He’s made a friend in the neighborhood and is often out riding his bike around the block.  His favorite American food is grilled cheese sandwiches!

Daveson, soon to be David is in Kindergarten at the same school with Peter.  He’s working on writing his letters and counting to 30 and 100 in English.  He can count to 30 easily in French.  He loves his teacher and his classroom.  But nothing lights up his face more than when Marley comes over! 🙂 He is so sweet to her and she to him.

Healthwise, they are both doing great – gaining weight and growing.

We had a few adjustments as a family to make with their arrival, but overall, Marcus and Denny have been incredibly helpful with their little brothers.  Yesterday was a banner day when we went to Silver Dollar City in Branson and everyone was laughing and having a great time.

We still occasionally have some “You’re not my real mom moments”, but they are becoming few and far between.

We so appreciate your prayers for our family.  I truly believe things are going as well as they are because so many people are covering our family in prayer.

I’m in Haiti!

I made it to Haiti this afternoon!  It’s great to see the boys and they are anxious to get on the plane.

I have some specific prayer requests for this week and would love it if you would be praying for them:

• Tomorrow we go to the Embassy for the Visa interview.  Once we complete that it could be the same day or the next day that we pick up the visa.  Please pray that it is same day so that there are not additional transportation charges to pay.
• Once the visa is in our hands, I will go with a social worker to IBESR (Haitian Children’s Services) to pick up the exit letter. Please pray that we are able to get this with little to no delay.
• On Friday, we will fly out, assuming there are no delays, to Miami.  We’ll overnight in Miami and then fly to St. Louis on Saturday morning.

We would love to have you meet us at the St. Louis airport to welcome the boys home! Our arrival time is 11:30 and we are flying in on American Airlines.

Look for posts on my facebook account for more detail a little later in the week.

Blessings on your week! Thanks for your prayers!

It is Finished!!! (Well, almost…)

We finally have a visa appointment!!  I’ll be traveling to Haiti on Monday and going to the Embassy on Tuesday morning for the appointment.  As soon as the visa is printed, we’re going to IBESR for the exit letter.  Please pray that all goes smoothly!

Our current plan is to fly to Miami on Friday, March 1 and stay overnight to get a little space, then fly to St. Louis on Saturday morning. It looks like we might make that 2 year-to-the day mark after all!!

Once we’re home, we’re going into a cocooning stage to give the boys time to acclimate to a  new family and an entirely new way of life and some space to grieve as they leave their old life behind. We’ll also be busy with a multitude of appointments as we begin baseline health evaluations for them.  We’re not sure how long this will take, but we’re planning on at least three weeks.  So, you’ll see either Brian and I and the older boys around, but probably not the whole family for a while.  In the meantime, I’ll be updating the blog with how things are going.

We would love to have you welcome us home at the airport.  We’re flying American home and our flight arrives at 11:30 am.  Check my facebook account for updates throughout the week!

It’s Valentine’s Day, so I thought I’d post a love story…

But it’s not your typical love story.  Instead, it’s the story of how Brian and I fell in love with two boys back in November 2008 and adopted them as our sons.

For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God.  For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!”  The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.”  Romans 8:14-17

This post was originally shared on our facebook group, The Ames Fusion Experience. Please feel free to join that group if you’d like.  We’ll be updating the group with information on the adoption of Lowenski and Daveson and how they are settling in.  But I digress….  Here’s the story.

In November of 2008, Natalie ran across pictures of two young boys and had to do a double take. They were part of a gallery of pictures of children who were available for adoption out of the foster care system. There were small descriptions of the boys attached to the pictures and one of the boys said he wanted a family that liked to camp (well, Brian does, and Natalie will learn to like it again) and has a german shepherd (ok, we have a dog that sort of looks like one). The other boy said he loved sports and liked dogs too.

The gallery was put together by our church’s foster and adoption ministry so Natalie checked into the boys and discovered they were still available. She prayed for five days before talking to Brian and each time she did she kept getting a mental picture of Brian sitting on the couch between the boys and reading to them. She also kept hearing the phrase “bring them home” every time she prayed. When she told Brian, he agreed and the journey began.

Amazingly, every worry and barrier at the beginning of the process fell as fast as we could think about it. For instance, our worry about how much it would cost, turned out to be completely unfounded as it costs nothing to adopt from the foster system. We knew we wouldn’t be able to start the training that would be required until after Doug and Whitney’s wedding in January, so we were scheduled to begin our first of 9 foster parenting classes on January 17.

On January 16, we received a call that made our heart sink. The boys were going to be “staffed” and we were not going to be allowed to be presented. A “staffing” is when the child’s decision-making team gathers to make a decision as to which family the child will be adopted by. The staffing was to take place in February, about three weeks into our training. We did find out later that neither family was selected and we were back in consideration.

That brings us to today. We have finished our foster parenting classes and are in the middle of our adoption class (last weekend and this coming weekend – March 29). Next week, we’ll finish up the home study, at least I think we will. Then we should be ready for the staffing.Ok, there you go, you’re now up to date.So what happens next?Once the class is over and the home study is completed, then we submit it for the next staffing. If we are chosen as the family to adopt them, then we will begin the transition process. From what we understand, that will probably begin with a few trips to McDonalds, the park, etc and eventually going to an overnight visit to a weekend visit. We’re 95% sure they will not move in until after the school year is over. Once they move in, then that begins a six month to nine month “trial” period before the adoption becomes finalized.

****BREAKING NEWS******************

April 30 – The staffing was held this morning and Marcus and Denny will be joining our family very soon!! We’ll meet the boys for the first time next weekend! We’ll have a meeting early next week to discuss the transition into our home.

************************************************

May 8th – The boys will be coming tomorrow and spending the night. They’ll move in permanently on the 21st or 22nd. 😀

Marcus and Denny have been our sons now for almost 4 years and our life is much richer since they joined the family.  We are so grateful that God led us to them!

Here are the pictures of them that I first saw.

Marcus at age 10

Denny at age 9

And here’s a great picture of the whole family on adoption day!

And here is a picture of them at Christmas this year.

 

 

 

Do you have a love story to share this Valentine’s Day?

If not, I hope you will let this one become yours:

But to all who believed Him [Jesus] and accepted Him, He gave the right to become children of God – John 1:12

Visa Update

Thank you all for praying! The US Consular Section in Haiti has begun again to schedule these appointments. Families who received approval from USCIS and who began the wait for the visa in mid-January are seeing appointments scheduled for February 20 and later.  We received our USCIS approval on January 28.

March 1, 2011 was the date of our first court appearance in Haiti.  It would be ironic if our visa appointment were scheduled for that day.  We certainly did not expect a 2 year process at that point.

On that trip in March 2011, our orphanage director told me we were looking at an 15-18 month process in Haiti.  I refused to believe her because I knew I had a big God who could move mountains and the laborious process was nothing against His power.  And I maintain that all of that is still true!  The pace of my adoption does not negate His power and does not mean that He wasn’t involved, didn’t care about me or my family.  Instead, He used these 24 months to teach me a lot about myself and to sculpt and mold me more closely to His image.

I don’t regret the last two years of this process. I am a different woman because of them.  He’s not done molding me yet and the arrival of our boys will start a new chapter in that process.

Thank you for praying for my family.

How can I be praying for you?

Adoption Update – January 11, 2013

Finally after weeks of playing a back and forth game with the US Embassy, we have received some documents that needed to be translated, sent them off to a translator and are waiting for their return.  When they arrive, we should have final approval on orphan status for the boys.

From there, our file moves to the Consular Section and a Visa appointment will be set. The boys have already been cleared by the embassy-approved doctor for travel to the US, so this should be an easy step.  Visa appointments have been scheduled pretty quickly after final approval on orphan status.

It’s looking like a very real possibility that the boys will be home very soon.

We appreciate you all praying with us throughout this adoption process, we’ve needed every one of them to stand strong in faith that they would come home. We’ll need them even more when they arrive home and begin the transition to our family.

I’ll update as soon as orphan status is approved and the Visa appointment set!

Brian and I offer our most humble thanks for all of you.

Natalie

Latest Prayer Request

Ok, so you may have read on twitter/facebook that birth certificates had been issued with our last names on them in late August.  From there, there are just a few more steps.

1. File needs to be finished being legalized (every signature checked and verified as legal)

2. File enters MOI – another verification step and then recommendation for passport issuance with our last names.

3. Passport issuance

4. Entire dossier heads to the US Embassy for final approval of our I-600 (already have in writing, they are just waiting for paperwork to be in their hands).

5. File moves to the US Consular section at the Embassy for the Visa issuance (entails a visa interview and then the visa will be issued a few days later).

6. Visas issued

7. We go and get the boys.

Seven small steps, but each one seems to take forever.  Would you please pray with us that we would move into MOI this week?

The truth…

Someone recently said to me, “I so admire what you and your husband are doing by adopting all these boys.”

Please do not admire me. It is neither me, nor my husband, who has any reason to be admired. Five years ago, we both had far different plans for the rest of our lives. Our son was in the middle of his senior year and the day we had been waiting for for 22 years was fast approaching. We were going to retire in Florida and spend the rest of our years doing exactly what we had not done in our early twenties.  We had our children early and so we were not out doing what we wanted to do, we were raising and supporting children and broke most of the time. We ached for the day they were out of the house and our lives would finally be about us. We’d buy whatever we wanted, go wherever we wanted, do whatever we wanted.

I promised you the truth… some days I still ache for that day, especially when the parenting road gets difficult.

But God wooed us and we fell in love with Him and we changed.

“I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and delivered Himself up for me.” Galatians 2:20

Our adoptions (both of them) have been about obedience to the Lord’s call and hoping to bring glory to His name, not our own.

Admire God, for it is to Him that we direct all the glory!