Newest Pictures of Aliyah and Christéla

Our sweet Aliyah. She has such a radiant smile and I just can't wait to be able to bring her home and hold her and see her laugh with her brothers and sister! (They had to shave her hair off earlier this summer due to a bout with impatiago on her head... but it is growing back in some and she should have braids again soon - can't wait to see them again!) Lord, please hold her in your arms and let her know how much you love her.

Our precious Christéla. Such a happy smile and two little teeth in on the bottom and one (I think) on the top. Isn't she just beautiful! (They shaved her head too!! To allow the sides to grow back in with the top... so we have two precious girls trying to grow their hair back in right now. :) )God, please be with her - hold her in your arms and love her... please protect her from any illness that might complicate things and please show her how much you and we love her!

Report after Hurricane Gustav

Just this afternoon we received an update from the orphanage where Aliyah and Christéla are following Hurricane Gustav. There was a lot of rain... over 40 hours straight... but thankfully everyone at the orphanage is OK. Praise the Lord!

Please continue to pray for the people of Haiti. It sounds like there has been a lot of flooding and this may severely hurt the farmers and crops. Haiti is already facing major food shortages and skyrocketing prices for food - so this may just increase those problems and increase the risk for more food riots and violence.

Please also pray for provisions for the orphanage in the face of the ever increasing food costs.

Our Social Worker is Approving Us!

Yeah!!! We just had our "last" home study meeting with our social worker. She told us at the end of the meeting that she was approving us!!! The report still needs to be written, but it is a great feeling to know that things are moving forward and that we have been approved! Especially since we have already developed such an attachment for Aliyah and Christéla! Thank you Lord!!!

Roller Coaster...

The adoption process has been such an emotional roller coaster already! Since making the decision to adopt Aliyah and Christéla, we have seen Christéla stay in the hospital longer than expected... just to get out for a short time and have to return. We have faced financial expenses (both directly related to the adoption, and some unexpected major car repairs) that have been overwhelming. We have seen pictures of Aliyah with a large abscess on her forehead... and learned that she has Sickle Cell Trait (which normally would not even be a consideration, but because of the altitude we live at, she may face some significant effects from it... and then again, she may be just fine).

Just over two months ago we had met with Linda, the director of the orphanage, for the first time and I had been concerned about whether I could love a child we adopted as much as I love my biological children. That question has so clearly been answered! There are nights when I lay awake just longing to hold them and comfort them - especially when I know they are sick or in the hospital. I just lay there and pray for them, that Jesus will comfort them. That He will hold them and care for them right now while I can't. I know that this whole process will bring me closer to Him - and for that I'm thankful... but I must say that it is certainly difficult having my heart in two places and longing for the day our girls come home!

An update on our progress:
Our dossier is almost complete... Our home study should be complete by the end of the month. Once it is complete, we will take everything to Denver to have it all State Certified... and then send it off for translation... We are hoping to have our dossier to Haiti in September...

Video of Christéla

This video was taken by another adopting Mom in July at the hotel that the mission teams and visiting families stay. Christéla had been able to stay with the director of the orphanage and her family for a little while after being released from the General Hospital.

Getting Started

Our adoption journey started about a year and a half ago when The Lord began placing adoption on Keith's heart. As Keith talked about this to me, I had absolutely no interest or desire to adopt (Josh was only 6 months old and adoption was the farthest thing from my mind at that time!). Over the next year I read a book called "Saving Levi" about a 6-week old baby that had been burned over most of his body and left for dead in a field in China. God started to give me a heart for the orphans of the world. We decided to support an orphan ministry and become a prayer partner for a 6-year old little girl in Cambodia that lives in an orphanage there. Then, in March our church had a large donation drive for For His Glory, a ministry that runs an orphanage in Haiti. I heard some women in my Bible study talking about the "dirt biscuits" that children in Haiti are fed to stave off hunger because they can not afford food... this broke my heart. So, I went home and checked out For His Glory's website. Shortly after that a picture came to us of a friend holding an abandoned baby in Tunisia. I really felt the Lord prompting me that He was calling us to do something... so, I mentioned to Keith, "I think we are supposed to adopt one or two little girls from Haiti." With this, we set up a meeting with Linda from For His Glory to discuss adoption. I was a little apprehensive - but we really felt like the Lord was leading us to this, so we decided to pursue it despite our fears.

In June we traveled to the orphanage in Haiti and met two precious little girls that we are working to adopt, Aliyah (Ludmia at the orphanage) and Christéla (Baby Hope). Since we've been home we've started our home study, almost completed our dossier (just waiting on two letters at this point... and the home study to be complete), looked into grants and fundraising options, selected an agency (Celebrate Children International), looked into adoption training, and spent a lot of time praying for our girls whom we've given our hearts to but are so far away. Now that we've met them, we long to bring them home!