Officially, this means that our girls' birth father, as well as Chelley and Naika, must appear -- together -- at the U.S. embassy at 10 a.m. and go through an interview process with an embassy representative. The purpose of the interview is to assure that their father has voluntarily relinquished them for adoption and to make sure that they are legally orphans and are indeed able to be adopted and brought into the U.S. as our legal children. The girls will be accompanied by a wonderful woman who works for GLA and who was the same person to see us through the maze at the U.S. Embassy 6 weeks ago.
Emotionally, there is just nothing good about this step of the process for anyone involved. The girls will be overwhelmed and uncomfortable out of the familiar walls of the orphanage and they will be seeing their birth father for the first time in over 2 years. To Naika, he will be a stranger and she will just be completely confused and probably afraid. For Chelley, I can't even imagine what she will think or feel in seeing him again after all this time. She will know and understand all that is being said and the potential is great for even deeper wounds of rejection and loss in her precious heart.
My heart breaks for their father. I don't know much about him, but I know that he made an excruciating decision and sacrifice for the well-being of his girls 2 years ago. I also cannot begin to fathom his feelings tomorrow as he sees how the girls have changed over the last 2 years and as he stands in front of them and confirms that he is indeed willingly relinquishing them to adoption. He will know that this will most likely be the last time he will see them in this life and I simply cannot imagine what emotions and pain he will be dealing with. This can also be a very intimidating and confusing experience for the birth parents as they come for this official U.S. Embassy interview.
This is not an easy day for us either. It is hard to be this far away and know that your children are going to be confused, uncomfortable, and sad and there is nothing that you can do about it. We grieve for all of the difficult emotions that each of them (including the girls AND their birth father) will experience throughout this day and the days to come. And there is always a bit of unrest as some birth parents have used this opportunity to say that they've changed their minds and they no longer wish to place their children for adoption. This doesn't necessarily stop the whole process but could add a great deal of time, money, and stress to complete the adoption. We don't have reason to believe that their birth father will do that, but it's just one of the many factors that make this a hard milestone.
So, we covet your prayers for all of us during this day. The interview is scheduled for 10 a.m. (9 a.m. Central Time). Please pray for their birth father, as he experiences for a second time the grief and sadness that no parent should have to experience. And pray for our girls to sense God's presence, comfort, and protection with them throughout the entire process. And lastly, pray for Matt and I and our girls here...for peace as we wait to hear word of how it went. Pray that we would rest and trust in the faithfulness of our God. As one of my favorite songs declares,
"Never once, did we ever walk alone.
Never once, did you leave us on our own.
You are faithful, God, You are faithful."
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