drive to Columbus + apostille + picnic

We managed to get a late start to Columbus. A certain someone locked his keys in the car, the DVD player wouldn't work, and 20 minutes into the trip I realized I forgot the papers that were the whole point of this trip. Thankfully, every time I looked into the rearview mirror there was a happy face starring back at me. And what tops a picnic lunch on a gorgeous day with this little heartbreaker?

Friday, the papers were overnighted to our agency.  I drove home from the post office to find an email with a few more things that IHNFA is requirring of us.  So today I made appointments for the boys for physicals, blood work, urine and sight tests.  Dan is working on getting a copy of the deed to our house.  And yep.  You guessed it.  These things need to be notarized, certified and apostilled.  So it looks like another drive to Columbus is in our near future.  Time is of the essence.  A baby girl awaits us. 

apostille, oh apostille

One of the things with adoption is to expect the unexpected.  We recently got word from Honduras that our character reference forms needed to be redone...new format.  And notarized.  And apostilled.  When we did our dossier, our agency took care of apostilling (not even sure that's a word, but then again I didn't know apostille was a word a year ago!) our documents.  Since then, things have changed.  Now we need to apostille our own documents.  Which sent me to my friend, google, for some assistance.  Looks like I'll be making a road trip this week...heading down to the Secretary of State office in Columbus to get these reference forms apostilled.  Not willing to waste any time on the USPS!!!  Baby girl is waiting!

waiting... (part 1)

The waiting is hard.  This is the month that we were originally expecting to be traveling to pick up our baby girl.  We're still sitting in chilly Cleveland this month, not knowing when we will find ourselves on a plane headed for warmer temperatures and a baby girl that we steal our hearts with a mere glance.  We've experienced some setbacks that have been outside of our control...setbacks caused by red tape and bureaucracy...setbacks caused by people who don't speak English...by people who seem to have lost sight of how critical it is to get these children to their loving families.  But how grateful I am that our faith doesn't rest in "the system".  Our faith is in One who has no language barrier. It's in the One who shuts the mouths of lions, makes raging furnace rescues, heals the sick, gives sight to the blind, and raises the dead...just to name a few.  God is, indeed, our Solid Rock.


The adoption process is not all roses.  Even adoptions that take place quickly pull on your heart strings, I would imagine.  You think of that child.  Alone.  Hungry.  Who's hugging her?  What are her living conditions?  Is she sick?  Is she going to sleep hungry?  Has she learned not to cry because no one comes?  Are the voices that speak to her gentle?  What about the hands that hold her or change her?  Are they too rough?  Too uncaring?  Can she hold out hope, waiting for her family to come for her? 


There are many nights that I go to bed with these questions running through my mind.  Here I lay...in my warm comfortable bed.  In the next room lies a bed.  An empty bed.  A bed who is waiting for a little girl to fill its covers.  The room is only half finished.  I can't bring myself to finish a room for a little girl who's homecoming has an indefinite time frame. I know its silly, but in my head it makes sense.  If the room is finished, than there should be no need to wait any longer.  Somehow, in my crazy head, the unfinished room means we're not quite ready for her.  Clearly, in our hearts, we are.  And really, all the room is missing is some moulding to be sanded and painted, board and baton installed, some burlap curtain panels, and one wall in need of some decorating.  I mean, come on...none of those things are deal breakers if we got the call today to go get her, right?  But somehow, this makes the waiting make sense.  Even though it doesn't.



Adoption is a risk.  It's a risk of having your heart broken with deflated expectations.  I know that at the end of however long this process takes, our hearts will be filled with joy and our arms will be filled with a baby girl.  A baby girl who will sleep in the room next to ours, like a peanut in a big bed.  She'll go to bed with a full tummy and more hugs and kisses than she can count.  She'll learn to cry when she's hurt...or sad...or mad, knowing that mom and dad will make her feel better.  She'll learn to trust.  She'll learn to love.  She'll learn to call him "daddy"...she'll learn to call me "mommy".  Today, I'm holding on to that.

more thoughts to come...another day

the waiting continues...

I can't really say that no news is good news these days.  No news is no news.  We are just doing our best to be waiting patiently and pray that God moves our paperwork through quickly so that we can bring baby girl home soon.  This video has had me rather choked up lately. 

Children of God, by Third Day

The moments that our hearts just long for her are becoming for frequent. 

Baby, I just can't wait to be your mom!

so blessed

i am completely humbled by the people that God has placed in our lives.  so many people have been overwhelmingly supportive of our adoption.

i remember when we started church planting 2 and 1/2 years ago...it was a lonely time in my life.  i was in the middle (15 weeks in) of a problematic pregnancy with boy #4.  on day 2 of church planting we lost our precious baby...an all time low in my life.  God was raining down blessings on the church, but i felt like he had forgotten all about me personally.

and here 2 1/2 years later, God is redeeming the years that the locusts ate (Joel 2:25).  my life is full of amazing friendships, an awesome family, and God continues to show up in HUGE ways to bring our baby girl home.  i am blessed beyond measure.

this week we received a $1000 donation to our matching grant.  WOW!  and last night our life group surprised us with a $750 check for our adoption.  WOW!  i cried, surprising the girls who couldn't believe that i didn't cry while watching The Help!  See, I'm not completely heartless! :)  we are so humbled and so blessed.  did I mention that yet?  thank you, thank you, thank you!!!  i can't say that enough for each and every person who have given gifts (large and small), donated items for our garage sale, bought flowers, had trees trimmed...all for our precious baby girl.  we are just $2750 away from our total goal!!!  Yay God!

the ups and downs of adoption

to say that this adoption journey has been a bit of a roller coaster would be a bit of an understatement.  but I would be a fool if I didn't take that opportunity to give thanks for many things along the way...
...getting on the front end of adoptions in Honduras
...having the application fee waived 1 year ago when we began this journey
...quickly moving through the mountain of paperwork and homestudy to complete our dossier
...finding out about additional paperwork in time before completing our dossier
...God's financial provision through many of you to bring this baby girl home
...success in a flower making home business raising a good chunk of our funds
...approval for a $2500 matching grant

our newest news is this: we found out Monday that we were approved for the Show Hope grant for $5000...so much more than we anticipated.  This brings us within $3000 of our total needed funds for our adoption.  God moved a pretty big mountain this week and we are so thankful!

We also received some disappointing news this week.  IHNFA had been communicating with our agency that they would be providing referrals by the end of the year for the first group of families (us included). We found out today that the IHNFA is again on strike, which means there will be a delay in the fulfillment of those referrals. 
                                                   Three more months. 
                                                         It seems like an eternity. 
                                                              The anticipation is killing us. 
 We are choosing to continue to trust in God's sovereign hand.  It is now looking like it will be april before we experience the sweet joy of holding our baby girl.  I am believing that He is holding her for these months that I am not.  I believe that she is leaning her head into His shoulder as she falls asleep tonite...and every night.  I believe that His hand is on her and on us and will bring us together in His perfect time.  Today, I am thankful.  Choosing to be thankful for this process and the love it is growing in me for our baby girl.  Mama loves you, sweet girl.  Mama loves you.

a matching grant

We are so blessed to be recently awarded a matching funds grant to help with the expenses of our adoption through Hand in Hand Christian Adoption, Inc.,a non-profit private operating foundation. Hand in Hand will match any funds that are donated through our friends and family for the expenses of our adoption. All funds received through our friends and family will be matched dollar for dollar up to $2500, making it $5000, by Hand in Hand. All donations are tax-deductible.  So far we have $1020 of the $2500.

So suppose you would like to double a gift for our adoption.  How do you go about doing this?  All donations are tax deductible and can be made payable to “Hand in Hand Christian Adoption” postmarked by December 17, 2011 (they extended our deadline 1 month) to: (for tax purposes please include our name on the outside of the envelope only…do not put our name onthe check itself)

Hand in Hand Christian Adoption, Inc.
Dan and Megan Anthony
18524 Juniper Street
Gardner, KS  66030

Thank you for your prayerful consideration.  By Christmas, we should have our referral and anticipate travel 6 weeks to 2 months after that.  We're coming down the home stretch!