Adoption News - Court This Friday!!!

So yep, we really are adopting again!

And yep, we really are pretty far along in the process ... already!

Soooooooooooooooo yep, we once again are asking for your prayers!

We are going to COURT IN GHANA THIS FRIDAY (October 17)!!Nope, we are not literally going to be there ... but a TEAM representing us and our new daughter will be there - and our new daughter will be there as well (ooohhhh, aren't even her feet sweet)!

The reality that we are already very far along in the process is again ALL GOD'S doing and so not ours! This time I mean it literally! For this next adoption Sam and I actually had decided that we were going to take our time, and we had a "plan" that we would get our homestudy updated by the end of October or so! We really did not feel in a hurry as we are sooooo loving being mommy and daddy to our new wonderful little Kody (and of course the other 3 as well), I was still recovering from Tyhpoid, and the financial thing (you know having to pay more money that really we don't have ... I know you other adoptive families will understand this) ... so we were going to take our time! Although in both of our hearts was also the reality that our new daughter is living in an orphanage right now! Now don't get me wrong, Beacon House is AMAZING, it really is and we truly don't worry at all about our new daughter! But who wants to leave their child in even a wonderful orphanage for a long time!

About September 8 we got news that there were to be some potential changes happening within Ghana adoptions, that could impact travel time within Ghana! At this point typhoid was still such a huge reality so we started questioning God's leading to adopt again if we had to go under the new rules (I don't think any of them are fully clear yet)! So in attempt to be faithful to God's leading we thought we will get our homestudy done ASAP and get our dossier off to make it in before the changes!

We got our homestudy updated and completed in about 36 hours and our dossier was off on Wednesday September 10, and arrived the following Monday September 15! Nope for all you families just starting the adoption process, this is not the norm! You cannot normally get a homestudy done this fast! We had already started the process for the update, and had already met with our AMAZING and WONDERFUL social worker, who then got it typed up and notarized VERY QUICKLY!!! JoAnn really is wonderful!

In my mind I thought if we don't make it in before the changes, it will be a closed door! I assumed my husband was on the same page, he totally was not! He didn't think it signaled a close door at all and we were supposed to keep on pursuing this adoption! At this point for me, all the fears I have every time we adopt crept in ... how are we going to pay for it ... we already have enough kids ... what if the new one will be so disruptive and destructive to our family and what we have now which is awesome will be gone ... 5 kids, who in the world has five kids (I know lots of you do, but I never thought that I could be a great mommy to more than 2 kids)?

This post is getting longer than I intended ... but I'll keep on sharing ...

Well, do you think we made it in before the changes? Of course NOT!!! Sooooooooo began another time of me wrestling with God! I doubted, I questioned, I said I didn't want to ... but in the end God's voice and direction was persistent!

About 2 weeks ago now, God TOTALLY CONVICTED me that I was NOT listening! He convicted me that I had already gone right back to the person I was before our trip to Ghana in May! I wanted convenience and comfort, instead of His will for me (and my family)!!! Ohhhh, it was hard to hear and take ... but it was so true! I wanted the North American ideal life (although I don't think 4 kids is the ideal, more like 2 or possibly 3 kids), instead of truly living my life for Him! And once again I was not willing to trust that He would take care of our family, financially and emotionally!

Ohhhhhh the tears that day ... they would not stop! I would have to say that my kids now are used to mommy crying, as during Kody's process they saw me cry lots and they used to worry when I cry but now they don't :)

After God convicted me He then broke my heart for our new daughter (and that of the other 148 million orphans) who have to live their whole lives without a family of their own, sometimes growing up in an orphanage! He also reminded of how wonderful our new daughter is and of the experiences I had already had with her!

So at this point we started "doing" again, and started doing things to keep moving forward! We decided to file our I-600A orphan visa ... which we had waited to do! We made our appointment and also made the plan to make the long 4 hour drive! And in our hearts we truly thought it would be months before we moved forward in Ghana at all, as we knew there was so much going on there ... and with the uncertainty of the changes we just thought it would be a while! Well the night before our visa appointment, we found out that we WERE INDEED GOING TO COURT NEXT WEEK!!!

Soooooooooooooooooooo ...
we are going to court this Friday!
PLEASE PRAY FOR PROTECTION OVER THE COURT HEARING!
Please pray for the lawyer, the social worker, Romana, Bernard ... that God would give them WISDOM and the words to say all and any of the judges question ...

PLEASE PRAY for a spirit of peace and faith for all involved!

Please pray that we would trust God's timing for when our new daughter is to come home, WHEN EVER it might be! We sooo understand that although we have court on Friday, it does not mean it will actually happen then ... as the court date could get bumped for too many reasons to list, or the judge also could delay making a decision and the court case could be very long and drawn out ... we are trying to manage our expectations!

(WE are still waiting for a death certificate before we can fly to Ghana and file ... that will be next on our prayer list ...)

(Romana & Kody)
(The laywer, Heidi and Kody, and the social worker)