Praising God in the Bittersweet...

Happy Friday!  We are praising God this morning as we woke up to great news from our agency today...we have moved out of Parquet in just 2 short weeks!!  For those of you who aren't quite as well acquainted with the Haitian adoption process as we are, Parquet is the first step in the Haitian legal process that our paperwork has to go through after our first trip down to Haiti.  This step has been averaging 1-2 months and I know of some families who have been stuck in this step for several months for one reason or another.  So, to pass through this step in just 2 weeks is a MIRACLE!!  We are so excited that we are one step closer to bringing our girls home...albeit, still several months away from that great day.

Here is what the process looks like from the first trip on...

• First trip to Haiti (to file I600 form at the US embassy in Haiti and to "appear" in the Haitian courts...also known as, somebody came and took a copy of our passports proving that we were in Haiti and that was our "court appearance".)

• Parquet (Haitian legal side of the process) -- averaging 1-2 months, Praise God that we sped through in 2 weeks!

• Courts (paperwork goes through the Haitian courts and when we exit courts, the girls will be legally ours and will legally have our last name!) -- averaging 1-2 months.

• Random legalization process (after courts, our paperwork has to be legalized, attested, and some other random steps just to make sure it's all good to go.  Basically, about 5 people in various offices have to sign off on the legality of the whole thing and attest to each others' signatures) -- averaging 5-10 weeks total for all those steps combined

• MOI/Passport printing (after everything is all legalized and official, then we get submitted to the Ministry of the Interior for our girls' passports to be printed).  -- averaging 1 month but have seen some that are taking longer than that.

• US Visa/I-600 (Once it gets to this point, it is out of the Haitian government's hands and into the US government's hands.  They must approve the Visa for us to bring our girls into the US and when this is done and we come home, I believe that this will complete their adoption and we won't need to "re-adopt" them here as is sometimes the case.  This step also includes a birth-parent interview on July 3rd (my birthday!) where our girls have to come to the US Embassy and their birth father has to show up and confirm that he is indeed willing to give them up for adoption.  Don't even get me started on the timing and logistics of this particular step.  They will not have seen him for 2 years and I can't imagine how hard this is for ALL involved, especially at this point in the process when they know that they are going to be coming home with us.   Like I said, don't get me started!) -- averaging 1-2 months.  When this is done, we'll get notice that we can finally go back to Haiti and bring Chelley and Naika home!!

So, you can see, every step that we move through on this process brings us closer to that long-awaited day that we can bring them home.  We thank God that He allowed us to move quickly through this step and ask that He continue to show us favor in the next steps so that we can get Chelley and Naika home where they belong.

The bittersweet comes as we remember that there are so many other families adopting from our orphanage who have been waiting for SO LONG and who are stuck in various steps of the process.  Please join us in fervently praying that ALL of these families and kids would get to move forward towards the day when they can all be home where they belong.  The waiting is indescribably hard, especially for those stuck for months with no explanation.  We know and trust that God's timing is perfect but we also know He is moved by the prayers of His people, so please pray for the families that are "stuck" and the kids that are waiting for their families.

Also, this has been a week of grief and heart break for those connected with GLA.  For those of you that aren't on face book, you may not have heard that an 18 month old little girl died at GLA this week as the result of a virus that's going through all the babies and little ones at the Main House.  Her adoptive family was farther along in the process than we are and were only a month or two away from bringing her home.  The adoptive family, their friends, the staff at GLA (and the rest of the adoptive families) are overwhelmed by shock, grief, and heartbreak.  And on top of that, the nannies and nurses at GLA are trying to care for 70 little ones that are all sick with vomiting, diarrhea, and fever.  Please lift up this heartbroken family and the GLA staff in your prayers as they deal with this terrible reality.  Pray for healing and strength for the rest of these precious babies (including our sweet Naika) as they fight off this virus.

I have many more details, experiences, and pictures to share from our trip but that will have to wait for another day.  For now, have a blessed weekend and if you have the privilege of having your family safe and all in one place, squeeze them tight and tell them how much you love them...even if they're driving you crazy with their "boredom" on the first day of summer.  Thank you again for celebrating the highs and lows of this journey with us.