Heartbroken

It is with very heavy hearts that we share with you the news that our sweet Susanna is now with Jesus.

We are heartbroken over the loss of our sweet girl. Words cannot describe how I longed to rock her in my arms, to cover her with a blanket and whisper to her that she was loved, she was home, and she was finally safe. How we longed to show her the world outside the walls of the crib that she had lived in 24 hours a day for 6 years.

My sweet husband's deepest fear is that she was alone and he desperately hopes that she was not afraid. 

My friends, this is not how things should be! Children should not die needless deaths because they don't receive the right medical care. Sweet little girls should not live their lives without ever feeling the sun on their skin. Boys and girls should not be locked away because of needs that are considered "special". We are ALL fearfully and wonderfully made! 

In Jesus' name and for the sake of sweet Susanna there is something that we ALL can do to change this! 

Adopt.

Give to someone who is adopting.

Support someone who is in the process of adopting and continue to support them once they bring their children home.

Advocate for children in desperate need.

Adopt. Give. Support. Advocate.

The numbers are overwhelming. BUT if we all were to take the responsibility of caring for just ONE, then they would all be fed, clothed, given necessary medical care, and know they are valued and loved. Most importantly, they would have the opportunity to learn of the One True Hope. That they have a forever home with their Father in heaven who deeply loves them and longs for us to act on their behalf!

Sweet Susanna girl, we love you. We are so grateful that while we grieve the loss of our life with you, we can do so with hope, knowing that we WILL see you again! For now you are truly home, you are utterly safe, and you are so very completely loved!

Where Have I Been???

When I look at the date of my last blog entry I can't believe it has been weeks!! What has been going on with our efforts to get Susanna and Will home as soon as humanly possible???

We are happy to announce that our home study is pretty much completed. We are in final checking and double checking phases. In one of those double checks it was discovered that we were in need of two more background clearances. We got that news this morning and initially I panicked....these clearances can take weeks and we are so anxious to get Susanna out of that crib and to the care that she so desperately needs! The good news is that if this hadn't been caught before we sent our file on to immigration services then they would surely have noticed it and kicked it back out to us. That could have cost us weeks vs what I hope will instead be days.

God has been so faithful along the way. I had the sense when we started down this road that there would be spiritual battles to be fought.....and in ways that we hadn't experienced in our previous adoptions. We have seen very stressful things happen in our daily lives, and there has been many invitations to fear about the future......but God has continued to pave the way in the adoption process. There are days when I spend hours on paperwork and appointments, but He has been faithful to lead us to helpful people and to apply grace to areas in our process that could easily have become road blocks to moving forward. For that we are so grateful!! May He impress it on the hearts of the people doing our background checks to complete them quickly!! We are ready to be one big step closer to these sweet children!!

We would be so grateful for continued prayers for doors to open to bring Susanna and Will home quickly. We will need to do some fundraising for this adoption, so prayers also for wisdom to choose the right things that will be fruitful as we trust in God's provision!  I love them more each day and I pray that the story God is telling in all of our lives will bring great glory to Him! 

Getting Closer........

We are getting closer! Our home study is nearly completed! After a big push last week, which included having our home visit, we have provided all of the necessary information to our social worker. Now we wait for our FBI background clearance to arrive and our file can go on to immigration for approval. We are in the ballpark for that to happen soon........we are hearing that the background clearances are taking about 4 weeks, and we will hit the four week mark this Thursday. Once our file gets to immigration we will likely be looking at a 6 week wait for approval.

We were at the spina bifida clinic for Lilly's annual appointment today. We got to meet with her neurosurgeon and I told her about Susanna. She struggled a bit to believe that Susanna has gone 6 years without having closure surgery, but we assured her that indeed she has waited that long! She said that she would be able to do the surgery once Susanna gets home..... that was great news, because I think a part of me was afraid that it would be too late. She is also willing to look over her information and help us create a plan to get her home safely. After reviewing her medical file again there is much going on with our sweet girl. It is hard to think of having to wait another 8-10 months to get her home and start helping her heal. We are hoping that our doctor will provide us with a letter to include with our immigration paperwork that may help speed up our process. It would be wonderful if the agent assigned to our case could see how critical it is that we get her home soon in order to address her hydrocephalus and complete her closure surgery........and that they would be willing to speed up our approval process.

I love the giggle!

Would you pray with us that we get our background clearance soon and that we are able to expedite our immigration paperwork? That God would move mountains to get Susanna and Will home and that all will be accomplished in His perfect timing......