Amazing, isn't it!? Josiah's been home 6 months. Where has the time gone? We've been so busy with moving an stuff, life has definitely been a little crazy.
Demarie and the kids even took this past week to go visit her parents. A friend even flew out to drive with them. Her parents are even graciously going to keep Jake (the beagle) for a while.
We are in the midst of moving out of company paid temporary housing to one we've found. Please keep us in your prayers as we continue to look for something more permanent.
One thing we have found out here already is Christian friendship. It is a blessing to know that relatives of friends are out here and they want to get to know us and help us out how ever they can. God is definitely watching over us.
Showing posts with label Adoption. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Adoption. Show all posts
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Monday, July 28, 2008
Friday, July 11, 2008
What do you do...
...when you are so excited and anxious about all the amazing things happening in adoption all around you that you can think of nothing else? Pray, pray, pray...and blog. (I'm not sure how Biblical the second part is, but sometimes a girl just has to talk to "someone", and all of the other someones in my house are sleeping right now :-))
PRAISE GOD!!!! Our dear friends have bought their plane tickets to Guatemala and will be holding their precious son on MONDAY!!!! Oh, I am so excited for them!!! Please pray for their safe travels and for their children at home. Pray for this dear little boy whose world is about to turn upside down....in an incredible way...but still very scary for a little guy. Also, pray that no person, paperwork, or anything else will stand in the way of them meeting and enjoying this time they have to get to know their son.
On the other side of the WORLD, in a matter of hours, the cases of three families will go before the judge in Ethiopia. Please pray for continued peace for these families as they wait to hear if the court approves their adoptions. Pray for God's perfect timing in bringing these children home to their forever families.
It is just so amazing to imagine what God has in store for His beautiful children and their families!
PRAISE GOD!!!! Our dear friends have bought their plane tickets to Guatemala and will be holding their precious son on MONDAY!!!! Oh, I am so excited for them!!! Please pray for their safe travels and for their children at home. Pray for this dear little boy whose world is about to turn upside down....in an incredible way...but still very scary for a little guy. Also, pray that no person, paperwork, or anything else will stand in the way of them meeting and enjoying this time they have to get to know their son.
On the other side of the WORLD, in a matter of hours, the cases of three families will go before the judge in Ethiopia. Please pray for continued peace for these families as they wait to hear if the court approves their adoptions. Pray for God's perfect timing in bringing these children home to their forever families.
It is just so amazing to imagine what God has in store for His beautiful children and their families!
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Name
We've decided we are going give our son the name Josiah!
We'll use his birth names as middle names. (In Ethiopia, people generally only have two names, a given name and then the father's first name is their last name.) This way, when he is older, he can have the choice of being called Josiah or his birth name. When we meet him and first bring him home, we are planning to use both names until he is comfortable with Josiah.
We also went to our closest Bethany office to sign the acceptance document for Josiah. It's being faxed up to the home office, and then the originals will be overnighted tomorrow! YEA!
We'll use his birth names as middle names. (In Ethiopia, people generally only have two names, a given name and then the father's first name is their last name.) This way, when he is older, he can have the choice of being called Josiah or his birth name. When we meet him and first bring him home, we are planning to use both names until he is comfortable with Josiah.
We also went to our closest Bethany office to sign the acceptance document for Josiah. It's being faxed up to the home office, and then the originals will be overnighted tomorrow! YEA!
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
It's A...
...BOY!
We received THE CALL today. We have a referral for an absolutely BEAUTIFUL boy. He is pre-school aged. I wish we could show you his picture because he is just precious! Let's just say, with eyes like that, we are in BIG trouble when he gets older ;-).
We were definitely not expecting to hear anything this early. I'll tell you about getting the call a little later. Right now my thoughts are too scattered to make any sense!
We received THE CALL today. We have a referral for an absolutely BEAUTIFUL boy. He is pre-school aged. I wish we could show you his picture because he is just precious! Let's just say, with eyes like that, we are in BIG trouble when he gets older ;-).
We were definitely not expecting to hear anything this early. I'll tell you about getting the call a little later. Right now my thoughts are too scattered to make any sense!
Friday, June 20, 2008
I just want to know...
...who God has for our family! I actually don't mind waiting a LITTLE bit for him/her/them to come home (I say that NOW!), but I want to know who is coming. Will there be one or two? Girls or boy? What ages? For one thing, I want to be able to pray more specifically. For another, I want to be able to choose names, and I don't feel we can properly do that until we see the children and know their given names. Third, I don't know how to prepare bedrooms, and the resulting rearranging of the rest of the house. I feel so unsettled because there are so many decisions that are waiting.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Memories
Last night I stayed with Elizabeth for a little while before she went to sleep. We were talking about what it might be like when the child or children we adopt come to our house. Eventually Elizabeth asked me to tell her about when she was a baby. I feel guilty because I have been very bad about recording things. Information in her baby book is rather sparse. But then it makes me sad for other reasons. I can at least tell her about my memories from when she was born (or bor-en as she says), and I can work on writing these down. But I won’t have those memories for children we adopt. I can and will tell them about their adoptions and about their country. But they have a history before us…being adopted doesn’t wipe that out. And when they ask, there is so much I won’t be able to tell them.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Great News Day!
Today was a bit of a rough day with Elizabeth and myself (we were both tired and not going to sleep, David came home from work later than normal). But it has turned out to be a day of GREAT news!
Our dear friends found out that they were able to get the birth certificate for their son in Guatemala!!! Praying he will FINALLY be home in a few weeks!
...then TWO families with our agency received referrals for infants in Ethiopia today! This is MUCH sooner than we had been expecting.
Our God is SO Good!
Our dear friends found out that they were able to get the birth certificate for their son in Guatemala!!! Praying he will FINALLY be home in a few weeks!
...then TWO families with our agency received referrals for infants in Ethiopia today! This is MUCH sooner than we had been expecting.
Our God is SO Good!
Thursday, May 29, 2008
A Lot on My Mind
Tonight, I don’t think I’m going to be getting much sleep. Even if I do, my eyes are going to be red and puffy in the morning. There are so many things on my mind.
Today is Jose’s birthday (well it'll be the 29th in Guatemala in a couple hours). He’s turning 2. When we first started this process, we were pretty sure he would be home with us by this point. I know now that, even without the document issues, that would have been nigh impossible in the current atmosphere in Guatemala—especially since he has a Mixco birth certificate. But it still hurts thinking of what “should” have been. We didn’t send anything down, and I feel guilty about that. We haven’t heard anything about him in several months, so I’m not even sure if he is still with his foster mom or somewhere else. I think we might get a little birthday cake and sing to him. Of course, we’ll pray for him and all those involved in his life.
I know God is touching my heart with so many things right now…clean water, HIV, famine, orphans, widows, Red Letters, sacrificial giving, our adoption, friends' adoptions…I don’t know what to do with it all. But I’m praying He will not let me become complacent. He will stir my heart until I know and follow His lead.
Today is Jose’s birthday (well it'll be the 29th in Guatemala in a couple hours). He’s turning 2. When we first started this process, we were pretty sure he would be home with us by this point. I know now that, even without the document issues, that would have been nigh impossible in the current atmosphere in Guatemala—especially since he has a Mixco birth certificate. But it still hurts thinking of what “should” have been. We didn’t send anything down, and I feel guilty about that. We haven’t heard anything about him in several months, so I’m not even sure if he is still with his foster mom or somewhere else. I think we might get a little birthday cake and sing to him. Of course, we’ll pray for him and all those involved in his life.
I know God is touching my heart with so many things right now…clean water, HIV, famine, orphans, widows, Red Letters, sacrificial giving, our adoption, friends' adoptions…I don’t know what to do with it all. But I’m praying He will not let me become complacent. He will stir my heart until I know and follow His lead.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Some of you already know, but...
Our Dossier is on it's way to Ethiopia! We still have quite a wait ahead of us, but we're moving forward! Praise God!
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Simple Solution
I wish things were as simple in real life as they are in Elizabeth's sweet mind.
Out of the blue, she mentioned that she wishes Jose could come to our house. (Jose is the little boy in Guatemala we were previously matched with.) I told her that I wish Jose could come to our house, too, but that the government will not let him. She asked why. I said that there are some things with his paperwork that the government in Guatemala does not like, and so they won't let him be adopted. She smiled and said, "Well, we could get his papers and draw funny faces on the back. The man in the government would like it and laugh and laugh. Then he would let Jose come!"
Why didn't I think of that! All this worry about proper notorization, state seals, and all we had to do was draw funny faces! ;-)
Out of the blue, she mentioned that she wishes Jose could come to our house. (Jose is the little boy in Guatemala we were previously matched with.) I told her that I wish Jose could come to our house, too, but that the government will not let him. She asked why. I said that there are some things with his paperwork that the government in Guatemala does not like, and so they won't let him be adopted. She smiled and said, "Well, we could get his papers and draw funny faces on the back. The man in the government would like it and laugh and laugh. Then he would let Jose come!"
Why didn't I think of that! All this worry about proper notorization, state seals, and all we had to do was draw funny faces! ;-)
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Blessings
Can I just tell you that God is a great? His plans for our lives are so intricately woven, and we don't even know the tiniest fraction of the ways He works in our lives. But I want to share one particular blessing from today.
Elizabeth and I had a conversation today about what it means for individuals, particularly siblings, to be family. She understands that a baby we adopt would be her brother or sister, but I think she was a little bit confused when I mentioned that the children who come to our family might be toddlers or even her age.
What is the blessing? We have many families in our church who have children both through adoption and birth. I was able to point to some of her good friends and their brothers and sisters as a concrete way for her to see that no matter how they came together, they are still family. I was amazed at how readily she understood this. Thank you, God, for letting us know these wonderful people!
What makes this an even more incredible blessing, is that living here now and going to this church was not in David and my plans. I don't believe we would have the same kind of friends, support, or examples had we followed OUR plans. We would have gone to "our own" church and then moved half-way across the country. Many would attribute it to circumstances--David's dad being sick and passing away lead us to stay at the church, and the contract for his company not going through prevented us from moving when we planned. However, I believe GOD ordained it all. He knew where needed to be, and He lead us to this time and this place.
There are so many other blessings that I want to share. They are all running around in my mind (which may attribute to things coming out kind of jumbled in this post). However, I told my darling husband I was coming to bed about 45 minutes ago...oops! So, I guess these will have to save for another day.
Many, Many Blessings!
Elizabeth and I had a conversation today about what it means for individuals, particularly siblings, to be family. She understands that a baby we adopt would be her brother or sister, but I think she was a little bit confused when I mentioned that the children who come to our family might be toddlers or even her age.
What is the blessing? We have many families in our church who have children both through adoption and birth. I was able to point to some of her good friends and their brothers and sisters as a concrete way for her to see that no matter how they came together, they are still family. I was amazed at how readily she understood this. Thank you, God, for letting us know these wonderful people!
What makes this an even more incredible blessing, is that living here now and going to this church was not in David and my plans. I don't believe we would have the same kind of friends, support, or examples had we followed OUR plans. We would have gone to "our own" church and then moved half-way across the country. Many would attribute it to circumstances--David's dad being sick and passing away lead us to stay at the church, and the contract for his company not going through prevented us from moving when we planned. However, I believe GOD ordained it all. He knew where needed to be, and He lead us to this time and this place.
There are so many other blessings that I want to share. They are all running around in my mind (which may attribute to things coming out kind of jumbled in this post). However, I told my darling husband I was coming to bed about 45 minutes ago...oops! So, I guess these will have to save for another day.
Many, Many Blessings!
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
"Weekend to Remember"
This weekend, David and I were blessed with a gift to attend a Family Life Weekend to Remember marriage conference. We travelled to my parents' home so Elizabeth could stay with Grandma and Grandpa while we were at the conference. My parents went a step further and paid for a hotel room for us, so we could have the whole weekend to ourselves! The conference was a good reminder of how God sees men and women, marriage, and family. There were no earth shattering revelations for us, but it was nice to have affirmation and encouragement to continue to grow closer to God and each other.
One of the interesting things was that the speakers have all adopted children, and they are at different stages and have completely different stories. The husband and wife who spoke adopted four children, now grown. What touched me was they didn't even say they were adopted until the third day. The only reason we know they adopted was because the wife shared her experience with infertility. They are their children, and that is what is important--not how they joined the family.
The other speaker often has his wife with him, but they brought home a newborn the day before the conference. They already had eight children, born into the family. But they felt God calling, and adopted this new little one. It was amazing to see how attached and "in love" this father was already. Many would think that it wouldn't be as big of a deal for him, as he already has eight children, but his excitement and devotion was constantly evident.
A woman attending the conference spoke up the last day and said she is a birth mother, and hearing the stories from these two families really touched her! God is so good! Listening to chatter among the couples attending, it seemed like adoption has touched so many families in some way, and it was just amazing!
One of the interesting things was that the speakers have all adopted children, and they are at different stages and have completely different stories. The husband and wife who spoke adopted four children, now grown. What touched me was they didn't even say they were adopted until the third day. The only reason we know they adopted was because the wife shared her experience with infertility. They are their children, and that is what is important--not how they joined the family.
The other speaker often has his wife with him, but they brought home a newborn the day before the conference. They already had eight children, born into the family. But they felt God calling, and adopted this new little one. It was amazing to see how attached and "in love" this father was already. Many would think that it wouldn't be as big of a deal for him, as he already has eight children, but his excitement and devotion was constantly evident.
A woman attending the conference spoke up the last day and said she is a birth mother, and hearing the stories from these two families really touched her! God is so good! Listening to chatter among the couples attending, it seemed like adoption has touched so many families in some way, and it was just amazing!
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
His Plan
We chose Psalm 139:13-16 as a theme verse because it is God who created us and brought us to this place. He has plans for our lives and for whatever children He chooses to bring into our family. He knew them before He ever created the world. What an amazing God!
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Update
Just wanted to give you an update about what has been going on with us. Sorry...it's kind of long...lots of prayer requests :-)
It is definite that we will not be able to bring Jose home. Both a praise and a prayer request is that we have been told he will go to live with his birthmother. How wonderful that he will be able to know her and she him! However, after not having him for 19 months, it will be quite an adjustment for both of them. And the reasons she relinquished him at his birth have not changed. Please be in prayer
for them and for the foster mother who has been caring for him all along.
This has been a very painful time for us. We know that Jose was not legally ours, and that we have never physically seen him. However, in our hearts and minds, he was already part of our family. We know that God brought him into our lives for a reason. It has been such a blessing to have friends around us who understand. Some have been through similar situations, but all have been very loving and supportive. We have told Elizabeth, and at times she seems to understand that he will not be coming home, but at other times she still speaks about him being her brother. We let her know that we can pray for him and love him even though he won't be here with us.
A huge praise! A law was passed in Guatemala that allows in-process adoptions to continue; it's not everything we hoped for, but it is a step. There are still MANY details that need to be figured out. Also, there is no provision for the children who are not in process for being adopted. Continue to pray for all the children who are being adopted internationally and who will remain in Guatemala.
*Please pray especially for some friends of ours who are trying to bring their little boy home! They are SO close to having him home, but there are some very large obstacles in their path. Thankfully, God is bigger than anything that can be placed or thrown in the way.*
With much prayer and thought, we are begining the adoption process in another country. Though the law passed in Guatemala, now is not the time to begin with a new referral for a child there. Perhaps God will lead us back in the future. Right now we are trusting and trying to take one step at a time. We have been approved within our agency to enter their program for adoptions in Ethiopia. It means we will have to do a lot of redundant paperwork since we won't be able to use many
of the items we needed for Guatemala. But that means we should already know what we're doing, right? ;-)
Thank you all for you love and support! It means the world to us!
~Blessings~
It is definite that we will not be able to bring Jose home. Both a praise and a prayer request is that we have been told he will go to live with his birthmother. How wonderful that he will be able to know her and she him! However, after not having him for 19 months, it will be quite an adjustment for both of them. And the reasons she relinquished him at his birth have not changed. Please be in prayer
for them and for the foster mother who has been caring for him all along.
This has been a very painful time for us. We know that Jose was not legally ours, and that we have never physically seen him. However, in our hearts and minds, he was already part of our family. We know that God brought him into our lives for a reason. It has been such a blessing to have friends around us who understand. Some have been through similar situations, but all have been very loving and supportive. We have told Elizabeth, and at times she seems to understand that he will not be coming home, but at other times she still speaks about him being her brother. We let her know that we can pray for him and love him even though he won't be here with us.
A huge praise! A law was passed in Guatemala that allows in-process adoptions to continue; it's not everything we hoped for, but it is a step. There are still MANY details that need to be figured out. Also, there is no provision for the children who are not in process for being adopted. Continue to pray for all the children who are being adopted internationally and who will remain in Guatemala.
*Please pray especially for some friends of ours who are trying to bring their little boy home! They are SO close to having him home, but there are some very large obstacles in their path. Thankfully, God is bigger than anything that can be placed or thrown in the way.*
With much prayer and thought, we are begining the adoption process in another country. Though the law passed in Guatemala, now is not the time to begin with a new referral for a child there. Perhaps God will lead us back in the future. Right now we are trusting and trying to take one step at a time. We have been approved within our agency to enter their program for adoptions in Ethiopia. It means we will have to do a lot of redundant paperwork since we won't be able to use many
of the items we needed for Guatemala. But that means we should already know what we're doing, right? ;-)
Thank you all for you love and support! It means the world to us!
~Blessings~
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Prayer Request
All,
We learned this evening that Joshua will not be coming home. Due to paperwork descrepencies with his birth family, the adoption process for Joshua will not be able to continue foward. Please pray for us as a whirlwind of information is coming in and our emotions bounce around.
With Love,
David, Demarie, and Elizabeth
We learned this evening that Joshua will not be coming home. Due to paperwork descrepencies with his birth family, the adoption process for Joshua will not be able to continue foward. Please pray for us as a whirlwind of information is coming in and our emotions bounce around.
With Love,
David, Demarie, and Elizabeth
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Praise!
Praise God! We just found out that the coordinator in Guatemala found the original birth certificate for Joshua's birth mother! This means that hopefully soon they can begin the next step (rectifying the birth mother's paperwork and then Joshua's.) There is still a lot more to go, but this is a HUGE important step!
Thank you for all of your continuing prayers! Please keep praying for the Guatemalan government. They are supposed to be voting on the needed changes to the adoption law this week.
Blessings!
Thank you for all of your continuing prayers! Please keep praying for the Guatemalan government. They are supposed to be voting on the needed changes to the adoption law this week.
Blessings!
Monday, November 5, 2007
First POA Legalized
We received word today that our first POA has been legalized. Will probably will still have to do another POA once the name corrections have been completed, but this POA will help the process, and puts us one step closer.
Note: Also, please pray for Guatemala over the next few days. They had presidential elections over the weekend, and congretional voting will occur this week on potential grandfather clauses. Both of these processes will probably have major impacts on current and future adoptions.
Love in Christ,
David N Baber
Note: Also, please pray for Guatemala over the next few days. They had presidential elections over the weekend, and congretional voting will occur this week on potential grandfather clauses. Both of these processes will probably have major impacts on current and future adoptions.
Love in Christ,
David N Baber
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Rough Day
Hi All,
It's been kind of a rough day with us (Elizabeth and Mommy). Elizabeth went to sleep early last night, but I still had to wake her up to get ready for school this morning. Then she was moody and contrary...not totally unusual. However, on the way to school she randomly said, "God is not here. He only is here at night." We
talked about it, and I'm still not sure why she said that. But she said she sees Him at night, but He's not around during the day. Then she was asking questions about where God lives and such, so I kind of let it go.
On the way home from shopping this evening, we were singing, "We are the children of God." Suddenly, adamently, she said she does not like God. When I asked her the reason she said that she wants to be a big sister and she wants her brother home NOW. Then she started sobbing and telling me over and over again that she wants her brother home with us and that she doesn't like God. I tried to talk with her about
how God is in control and we can't always understand why or when things happen, but we know that God knows the best way. And even though Joshua isn't home with us yet, God is still taking care of him and loves Joshua and her. She did say, "and God loves you and Joshua's foster mom," and so on. Then she moved on to a whole other
subject.
I thinking we did TOO well preparing her to have a little brother. I am very grateful that she understands that God is in control in our adoption. Maybe this is part of the reason she's been more emotional lately, too. Any thoughts or suggestions for helping a preschooler to understand His timing?
It's been kind of a rough day with us (Elizabeth and Mommy). Elizabeth went to sleep early last night, but I still had to wake her up to get ready for school this morning. Then she was moody and contrary...not totally unusual. However, on the way to school she randomly said, "God is not here. He only is here at night." We
talked about it, and I'm still not sure why she said that. But she said she sees Him at night, but He's not around during the day. Then she was asking questions about where God lives and such, so I kind of let it go.
On the way home from shopping this evening, we were singing, "We are the children of God." Suddenly, adamently, she said she does not like God. When I asked her the reason she said that she wants to be a big sister and she wants her brother home NOW. Then she started sobbing and telling me over and over again that she wants her brother home with us and that she doesn't like God. I tried to talk with her about
how God is in control and we can't always understand why or when things happen, but we know that God knows the best way. And even though Joshua isn't home with us yet, God is still taking care of him and loves Joshua and her. She did say, "and God loves you and Joshua's foster mom," and so on. Then she moved on to a whole other
subject.
I thinking we did TOO well preparing her to have a little brother. I am very grateful that she understands that God is in control in our adoption. Maybe this is part of the reason she's been more emotional lately, too. Any thoughts or suggestions for helping a preschooler to understand His timing?
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
More info about Jose's adoption
We learned some additional information about Jose's case. IF his birth mother's birth record is found, all the changed needed for her documents and his could easily take up to a year. THEN we could move forward with the actual adoption process.
If this is the timeframe it takes, we will have to redo pretty much all of our documents. And I'm wondering if it takes so long, if Guatemala might require us to follow whatever new system might be in place by then.
If the birth mother's record is not found, it is questionable if we'll be able to proceed at all.
We are blessed to have a social worker and agency who really cares. Our social worker said, "I can guarantee you that Bethany will be in this for the long haul with you and will do everything we can to the best of our ability."
We are even more blessed to know we serve a God who is in control, and is bigger than any obstacle that might be placed before us. He has brought us to this place, and will bring about His purpose.
If this is the timeframe it takes, we will have to redo pretty much all of our documents. And I'm wondering if it takes so long, if Guatemala might require us to follow whatever new system might be in place by then.
If the birth mother's record is not found, it is questionable if we'll be able to proceed at all.
We are blessed to have a social worker and agency who really cares. Our social worker said, "I can guarantee you that Bethany will be in this for the long haul with you and will do everything we can to the best of our ability."
We are even more blessed to know we serve a God who is in control, and is bigger than any obstacle that might be placed before us. He has brought us to this place, and will bring about His purpose.
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