We've Been Approved!!!

FINALLY....the biggest hurdle that we have had to jump is over! The last adoption agency that we have had to deal with has said YES to us! It has been a really strange situation since we have been approved by everyone else a long time ago but because of the unusual situation with our little boy, the original placing adoption agency had to say ok as well! And they just did so....now it is in the hands of the attorneys who will hand it over to the courts and then they will tell us when to sign the papers and go get our little guy!

I took a picture of his room and sent it to his foster mom. He didn't say much about it at first. He is really apprehensive about everything as I certainly understand that he would be that way! Poor little guy....all these different homes and different rules...different "moms and dads"....

He asked me once if I was going to take care of him for his life....imagine having to worry about that! Most of us have never been concerned about that as a six year old child. My life as a little six year old was filled with love, laughter, baby dolls and farm life...not starvation, abuse, neglect, major illnesses, and rejection.

There will be a time of adjustment for our little guy. He will have to learn to trust us and eventually understand love. We know it is going to be a struggle for all of us from time to time. We can't expect everything to go smoothly all the time but God is with us. He is the One Who set our feet on this path. He is the One Who knew Israel before he was even born. He is the One Who brought him out of the Congo and set his course to coincide with ours. He is the only One who can make things ok for all of us. He is the One Who loved Israel enough to take care of him when Israel was dying in Africa and prepared the way for him. He is an amazing God! He is the only God! He is the omniscient, omnipotent loving Father to us all....

Blessings,
Beth

Still....no Israel.....

It is certainly becoming discouraging to us while we wait and wait with no news of when we can go get our little boy. He, however, is at this moment "vacationing" in northern Wisconsin. You know, six year old boys are badly in need of vacations.....His latest foster mother, who is wonderful, by the way, has sent me two pictures of him having fun with her children. My biggest concern is that he is attaching too much to them and that it will be very hard for him to attach to us.....His bedroom here at home is just adorable...I need to do a little more and then I can send HIM pictures and post some on here as well!

I have some really interesting and sad news that I heard regarding Israel's life in the Congo. I want to think about how I want to write it so I will fill you in in a few days.

Jennie is having a great time in England! She is in the county of Surrey and is experiencing what it is like to live in England. She has six more weeks of being away from us.....sad for me, but I know she is loving it. She seems to really like Chris' family and I know that she feels more than "like" for Chris.....

Becca and I are on our way to stay for the day with my precious daughter in law, Erin, and their little boy Liam. Erin is on bed rest until she can safely deliver "Parker", our latest grandson, due in about six weeks. I love spending time with them!

The 4H fair is coming up and that is always a really busy time for us! Becca has cut down the amount of projects this year to 5 and Gideon has 2. We usually spend a great deal of time at the fairgrounds and we even have church at the fairgrounds! (Yeah....you're right....we live in a fairly "redneck" part of Indiana...but I LOVE IT!!!)

Well, Erin is waiting for our arrival...and her hubby Danny has requested that I bring her Wendy's french fries....so I need to "make haste!"

Blessings to you,
Beth

Talked to Israel!

I was able to talk to little Israel yesterday. He was a little distracted with the other kids in the house. I THINK he had gotten himself  into a little bit of trouble...he had to write sentences! Kinda hard for a little boy just out of kindergarten!

Hopefully the adoption agency is processing our case...then it all goes to the New York Courts and then to the courts here in Indianapolis. All a very long process for this little guy.

But the upside is that he gets to go on vacation to northern Wisconsin next week! It is about 5 miles from the Canadian border and from what I understand, very remote. He is excited to do that so I'm happy for him!

My own Jennie leaves for her six week long England trip on Tuesday. I'm going to MISS her sooooo much! She's growing up....(mommy wiping tears away....) She is such a big part of my life. The hardest part is knowing that this is all kind of a trial period to see if she really wants to live there permanently. The love of her life lives there.......So I want it to work out but then again, she will no longer be part of my every day life. Her BIG sister is moving to Seattle with her new husband. (Weep, sob, find a Kleenex....) I guess that is just the way it is when your kids become independent! Yeah, I need that little six year old very very soon.....

Have a lovely day!
Beth

Adoption Update....

I talked to one of the adoption agencies by phone a few times yesterday and had a lengthy "interview" by an adoption liaison for that agency. Whew....it was an exhausting 45 minutes. It was just an emotional kind of thing and I felt as though I was going to "blow" it.... but I think it went well!

The original agency who first placed Israel with his adoptive parents are now "in charge" of his adoption. It kind of scares me because we have already been "chosen" by another agency to adopt him. But legally, we had to have this other agency involved, too, in order to have him able to cross state lines and come home to us. So it seems that THEY have to accept us as well....

But, God is over Kings and Heads of State, so I am SURE He has no problem with Adoption Agencies.....

I talked to our little Israel on Friday. His first adoptive parents said "Goodbye" to him that day and told him that they were no longer going to be his parents. He, of course, cried....and so did the Daddy. I am sure it was sooo difficult for them.  But I got the phone call from his foster Mom and then talked to Israel. He said, "I really like you guys a whole lot!" I had tears in my eyes when I told him we like him a whole lot, too....and that I miss him and have been thinking about him all the time!

I know it will work out, it is just taking much longer than we wanted it to. Jennie is leaving for England one week from today and we had hoped that he would already be in our home by then. I do want her to meet him before she leaves.

It is possible that we will have him by then...but increasingly unlikely. However, his foster parents are going to Wisconsin for 8 weeks starting on Sunday and they will be driving though Indiana!!!! Hmmmmm.............makes me think that I will be making a road trip..............Anything it takes just to see my boy!

Blessings!
Beth

Not Good News...but God is at Work!

The court news we received today wasn't good news. But all is not lost...God is at work and He may have once again gone behind the scenes to get done what we could not have done on our own. The short story is that the "guardian" that the first adoptive parents picked was not accepted by the court so now the only thing left to do is the RIGHT thing that we wanted to have done all along...for privacy issues, I can't say WHAT exactly...but it is a GOOD thing...it is just going to take a little longer than we had hoped.

The sweet thing that happened today was that I got to talk to my little boy on the phone!! He was told by the foster Mom that his other family wasn't going to keep him but that WE wanted him! He cried because he wants to go home to what he knows...but he is happy that we want him! So when I talked to him the very first thing he asked was, "Are you going to be my forever and ever Mommy?" To which I replied, "OH YES, HONEY!"
Then he asked, "Are you going to take care of me for my life?"
I said, "Yes, everyone in our house wants to take care of you because we take care of each other!"
He sniffled a little but he felt happy about it!
I told him that we were painting his room and he turned to his Foster Mom and with excitement in his voice he told her...she asked him to ask me what color we were painting it.
I told him "a construction truck yellow" and that our grandson Dylan was helping me and was standing in front of me grinning from ear to ear.
"I would like to have a friend." he said with a smile in his voice.
I assured him that he would have Dylan as a friend!
Later, Foster Mom Debbie told me that it was a very good sign that  the ONLY thing that he was concerned about was if we were going to be his forever Mommy and Daddy. He didn't care about materials things, just his Mommy and Daddy.  Children with attachment issues, which he is working though, are not concerned about relationships, just what they can "get." He has come a long way....baby......

It is taking a while and we are saddened that we can't just go and get our little boy. A six year old is too young not to have a "for life Mommy and Daddy" with him all the time!

So, please pray for Israel and our newest development in our adoption journey. I know that God is working!

Blessings,
Beth

No News Yet....

We are waiting on news from the lawyers/adoption agency regarding our little Israel. His case should have been presented to the judge on Monday so I feel as though we should hear very soon....possibly on Wednesday. I feel bad that he is there without us, although he has his WONDERFUL foster mom...but it's not quite the same as having a "for life" Mommy and Daddy of your very own!

So, for now, this For Life Mommy and Daddy have been painting Mr. Israel's room a bright "boy" yellow...kind of a construction vehicle yellow...and getting ready to be parents again, this time, together!

Blessings,
Beth

Court Date!

From what we understand, our little boy's case will be heard in court today in the other state in which he is a legal resident. They are trying to switch custody of him to a third party who can then give us custody!

Pray that it goes well! If that doesn't work, I was told that there is a "plan B"...but I'd love for it to work!

We are busy switching rooms around, stirring up dust and making me really sick with allergies! We have two cats and one dog in the house as well as living in the country with lots of dusty tractors and fields around. I told my hubby that I thought I had two options regarding dust and pet allergies...

#1....keep a very very clean house.
#2...leave everything alone and just never stir up dust...

I thought option #2 was the better and more likely solution but dear hubby opted for number 1.
(But there is always allergy medications, so I guess there is an option #3....)

Hopefully we will hear good news very soon and will have a date to go get our Israel! Leaving Sunday afternoon would be the very very best time for us but I'm not sure that it will work for the foster Mom...a.k.a. Mrs. Wonderful. She really is incredible and gives all the credit to God, which makes her even more wonderful!

God was wonderful to us and made our trip to the D.C. area a sweet time for our marriage... holding hands and talking to each other.  We are hoping to take the girls with us when we come back. Unfortunately, Gideon has some commitments that will not make it possible for him to go. We didn't get to actually go to D.C. or the other historic areas on this fast trip so we want to take a little extra time this next trip with the girls. I haven't seen Washington D.C. since I was 15 or so....and that has been a couple of years for me. (yeah. At least a couple.)

We had heard some car noises when we were about to make the trip home and Roger thought it would be best to have it checked out. He made the statement that we could just pray and trust God to help us get back over the mountains in our little Aveo.....but he also said that God gave us sense and we should take care of what He has provided for us.

All checked out well and our trip home was non eventful....except that we had a wonderful time. At one point, we were entertaining each other by trying to name all the Duggar children in order. We kept missing one. Poor little Jason.
Speaking of Duggars, I bought some DVD's of their show since we no longer have "TV"...just videos. We have gone over a year with no real TV. Anyway, 19 year old Jennie walked into the room last night and noticed that we had just turned the TV/DVD player on.
 She said, "Time for our 'Daily Dose of Duggars?'"
We thought it was pretty funny! We were excited because we were getting ready to watch an episode of the Bates family with the Duggars! I just love those families! They really helped us decide to adopt....even though they haven't the slightest idea who we are!

Well, back to work! Possibly tomorrow I can work on painting Israel's room! It's going to be a kind of antique yellow...in a boyish sort of way. I'm decorating it with retro pictures of cars, trucks, and airplanes. I bought a reversible quilt with navy, burgundy and that yellow color on one side  and dark green, navy and yellow on the other side. (That is, until he arrives home and makes it his own with his ideas and likes and dislikes!) I also thought it would be really cute to decorate it with John Deere tractors....but for a little boy from the Congo who has spent the last two years in New York city or the D.C. area, it may be a little soon to throw John Deeres at him!

Blessings,
Beth

He is Wonderful!

What a whirlwind we have been riding the last few days! We were able to meet our little guy on Wednesday and we ended up spending all afternoon and into the early evening with him! His foster mom is great...what a blessing she is in these kids' lives. She is doing some really hard work with children who have had traumatic pasts.
Israel is just wonderful and really ready to have a Mommy and a Daddy who is committed to him. He has big brown puppy dog eyes and curly eye lashes. He has a smile that lights up his face and the room! We were able to visit with the "family" and then we all went to lunch together. He sat with Roger and myself and his foster mom and her little girl (who is also a child with trauma in her past.) He still had no idea that we were really there to see him. Eventually we took him to Chuckie Cheese alone to play games. He had a ball and so did we! We gave him a little birthday present...a model that he and Roger put together...and a build a bear frog in soccer clothes. He was quite happy.
Then, we went to the park to meet up with the "family" again. When it was time to go, we promised we would be back the next day. (There was an issue with the model that I bought...it was missing a piece and Roger had to superglue it...God works in mysterious ways, doesn't He? I mean, it was easily fixed, but we got to visit again! Israel is learning to TRUST people so when we said we would bring it fixed the next day, he could start learning to trust us.) We got to talk a little more to him and he told us that he wished we could be his MOMMY and DADDY! Oh how hard it was not to just break down and cry at that. Foster Mommy had some tears rolling down her face, too! How sweet it was!
She told him that we wanted to adopt a little child so maybe we could work something out! We have to be a little "guarded" at this point for him until all the papers are signed and we have a date to receive custody of him. We don't want to hurt him any more than he has already been hurt.
When we got ready to leave, he told us that he was happy and sad...two emotions that he is learning to recognize. He was happy to be with us but sad to have us have to leave. We promised to come back very soon and when we left, his foster Mommy was holding him and he was crying.

So was I...but it was all good. We are pretty much in love with this little boy!

Now it is up to the two states we each live in to get it together so that we can have our boy. Although he is originally from the Congo, he is now a United States citizen. The Lord is good. I am so ashamed that I was so impatient and upset that I felt He wasn't helping us with our adoption. But all along, He was doing some wonderful, secret work that only He could do for us and for Israel. What a blessing our Lord is in our lives...and we have the incredible privilege to share Him with Israel!

Blessings,
Beth