Radical Gratitude

Our senior pastor talked about Radical Gratitude in his sermon this past Sunday. Here is a summary of what makes up Radical Gratitude.

1. Thank God in advance. Make your requests known to God.
2. Trust that God is doing more than you can see.
3. Count your Blessings No Matter What

Here is how that message of Radical Gratitude resonates with me this Thanksgiving.

1. Thanking God in advance. Joracin is not yet home and we still have some work to do to make that happen. However, the opportunities and education already bestowed on my family and me through this process is priceless. I am thankful, knowing that those opportunities and education will continue even after Joracin is home.
2. Trust that God is doing more than you can see. For me this applies both literally and figuratively. We can’t see the daily care, love and attention that Joracin receives, but we know that it happens and that gives us peace. I also know that God is great and he is doing things that are truly humbling all around the world. I am so thankful to be part of His grand plan.
3. Count your blessing no matter what. I had lunch with a friend today and he was telling me about a caregiver working for members of his family. This caregiver is from a foreign country and is in the US legally. However, his wife and child are still back in his home country. Every night he Skypes with his wife and son. It is a young son that he has never held in his arms. He is working hard to bring his family to the US, but it will be at least two more years. Two more years until you can hold your child for the first time. That puts our adoption journey into perspective and makes me thankful for our blessings.

I hope that you can experience some Radical Gratitude this Thanksgiving.

Continuing to make progress

Lots and lots of people have been asking if we have any updates in the weeks following our trip to Haiti. The answer to that is "Yes and No". Yes, we took another step in that our application was submitted to Parquet (District Attorney) last week. No, in the sense that we can't give folks a definitive answer on when we get to go back and bring him home.

I've included the chart below in previous blog posts. I wanted to update it and post it again.

Looking at this chart and the conservative side of the time frame is overwhelming at times. However, we consistently get encouragement from various sources that keeps us going. All of your inquiries and well wishes keep us going. We also continue to see good progress and the right things happening with adoptions in Haiti. Thank you all for your continued thoughts and prayers.

I do want to point out an upcoming milestone that could use your prayers. Part of the process requires the US Embassy to meet with his birth mother. On November 27th, that interview will take place. Please join us in praying that the orphanage can get her to the Embassy and that the interview goes as God intends. We know that God is leading us on this journey and that the outcome is up to him. But, we still have moments of nervousness and concern and the interview with the birth mother is one of those moments.

Sweet and Sour

Sweet and Sour is a good summary of our feelings upon getting home Thursday night. It was sweet to be back in Indiana and know that we would sleep in our own beds and be able to hug and squeeze Katie and Eli in the morning. At the same time it was terribly sour having to leave Joracin and know that it could be 4, maybe 8 months until we get to see him again.

Along with getting a chance to meet, hug, tickle and love him in person, it also helped reinforce the comforting notion that he is well loved and well cared for. GLA is an amazing orphanage and organization. We truly thank God for leading us to this orphanage and to Joracin. We have an email address of the folks running the Toddler house where Joracin is living so we can send him emails and let him know what we are up too.

Here are some photos of our last day with him.

Here is my room and bed.

Not American football, but a start

Time to boogie.

Day Three

Wednesday in Haiti was very low key. We got to spend the morning (8-12) with Joracin with a little trip to see a local judge in the middle. Later today we are going to spend another couple of hours with him. Today was very different than yesterday. We got a running hug across the playground when we walked in today. We also dumped out all the toys and played with everything we could. Yesterday he was more contained and kept everything in it's place.Today he was more like a 5 year old boy. We've had tickle fights and a pillow fight where he kicked Papa's butt. His laugh is just as infectious as he smile. It is hard to believe we leave to head home tomorrow. Saying goodbye is going to be very very difficult. This will be a true test of patience.

Thanks (Mesi Anpil) to all of you for encouragement, good thoughts and prayers. We truly can feel you with us.

The view from the balcony at the guest house

Adventure - Adrenaline - AMAZING

Kind of a cheesy title, but what do you expect from a guy who makes up the four thumbs riddle?

We set off for Haiti Sunday night on our adventure with a stop over in Miami.We got to our hotel about 10 PM and had a 4 AM wake up call. I am fairly certain that I didn't get any sleep at all. Our flight into Port Au Prince was effortless and it didn't take much work to find our ride after we cleared customs. I was running on adrenaline

We had about an hour ride from the airport up to the Orphanage. It was a ride like I remember from the last trip, windy, bumpy, narrow and dusty. Port Au Prince was much cleaner and in much better shape compared to my last trip in Sept of 2010.

Once we got settled at the guest house, we had a chance to head to the Toddler house and meet Joracin. He was there waiting for us. It was a warm greeting with very little trepidation on his part. It also didn't take long for him to flash us that smile. We were able to be with him in a room by ourselves. We played blocks. We colored. We gave him his goody bag and we showed him photos of Katie and Eli, the house and other things around town.

On Tuesday we left early for a trip back to Port Au Prince for an appointment at the Embassy and then one at Civil court. It was my first trip to an Embassy and we lost power while at the Civil Court. Quite the eventful day filled with a lot of hurry up and wait. Everything has gone smoothly and we have one more appointment with a local judge. Tomorrow will be a lot of time with Joracin.

Our time with him on Tuesday was great as well. More coloring, more blocks and more toys. He has been very quiet, but started to talk a little more as our time on Tues day went on. We can't wait for Wednesday.

We fly out on Thursday mid-day, so we will have some time with him then as well. Every minute is precious.

A riddle

What has four thumbs and is taking a trip to Haiti?
.
.
.

Yep, that's right. IT'S US.

We found out Wednesday mid-day that our appointment with the US Embassy is set for Tuesday October 9th. So ... we are in full scramble mode to get everything ready for our trip, because it is coming up FAST.

We are flying to Miami late Sunday and then have a very early flight into Port Au Prince on Monday morning. We will have three full days to be in country. Our flight home leaves mid day on Thursday.

We have three "legal" appointments next week. One with the Embassy, one with a local judge, and one with the civil court. We will also get to spend lots and lots of time with our son.

Katie and Eli are super excited. We got hugs and hi fives from them when we told them the news after school yesterday. Katie did think the riddle and photo of us with our thumbs out was "cheesy". I said, "Sweetheart, get used to it cause your Dad is really cheesy". Eli on the other hand loved it.

One theme of this whole journey has been hurry up and wait. We are certainly in the "hurry up" stage right now.

Lot's of people have also asked what the timing is after this step. We have two trips to Haiti. The first trip is the one we are taking next week. The second trip is of similar length, but that is the trip where we get to bring him home. They estimate that the wait time between the two trips is 6-8 months. So, we a hoping and praying that he is home around the start of next summer.

I am hopeful that we can blog and update everyone via this format how things are going next week. If we can't do it "live". We will have lots of photos when we get back.

What an exciting step in our adventure.

Getting ready to start school

Big Step Forward

We got the news we have been waiting the past few months for today. We found out that our adoption application has been APPROVED by Haitian Social Services (IBESR). Here is what the orphanage sent to us.

"Your adoption has just been approved by IBESR. We are so happy that you have reached this important milestone in the Haitian adoption process. At this time, we will require you to make your first trip to Haiti to see the judges, file your I-600, and of course, meet your son!"

This means that our next step is to travel to Haiti and complete some legal work in country and meet Little Mister. We need to get an appointment with the US Embassy in Haiti to file our I-600 paperwork. The date of that appointment to determine when we travel. We hope to know travel dates in the next few weeks and perhaps even travel in October.

Super Exciting News!