Update

I don't really have much to update, I just felt like I should. We will go to San Antonio on the 7th and have our fingerprints taken for USICS. They will then do a FBI background check on us both. I have been trying to figure out if the processing time lines on the USCIS web site are accurate (they have changed the dates and say they are now finished though July 12, 2007). I have asked for information on a couple of adoption forums, as I still don't have any answers. Some say, it should only take the normal 60-90 days tops. Others say it has been a nightmare for them. This of course leaves us right where we started, we have no idea if we will have our children home before summer, or this time next year. I do wish I had known this from the beginning. I might have guarded my heart a little better. If this is not going to happen for many months, I will desperately need prayer, as I already "miss" (how in the world can I miss having someone around, that has never been in my life???) my children and want them home with us. Whatever happens this one thing I know: God is good and His sovereign plan will not be thwarted. What He has planned will come to pass at the exact time He planned it. He will indeed provide the grace we need, whatever may come, exactly when we need it. Love you all!

PS: If you would please pray for the family on the following blog. They need God to intercede in a big way. They have had many struggles and obstacles. It has occurred to me that the enemy hates adoption. Perhaps this is why so many things can and often do go wrong in this process. Someone should tell him he has already been defeated by the King of Kings!

http://lorenzenlife.blogspot.com/

USCIS Letter of Acceptance

We got our letter of acceptance from Home Land Security today!!! We also received our fingerprinting appointment for Feb. 7, 2008. This is very good! Please keep praying that this all goes through quickly and smoothly. They still have not given us any contact information, I think you have to be a special agent or something to actually talk to one of these people. Maybe I should get Anna Marie on it :) They did check one box for more information. They actually asked "This office received two i600a applications with fees from you. Is it your intention to file 2 separate applications? Please clarify and submit a written request with your intentions." Nope, I mistakenly sent you an extra $750...what was I thinking? Anyway, this is one of those opportunities for paper work to get lost, so pray when I send our letter of intent, it gets to the right person and in our file right away.

On a side note, I removed the pictures of the children because there is currently a case in Ethiopia where the parents were actually not allowed to adopt because they had pictures of the children on the web before the adoption was final. This is an Ethiopian law, however since I don't know if the same applies in Uganda, I removed them until I can clarify with Mandy that it is OK. If it is all right for us to post them, then I will post some newer photos of them. They are growing so fast, they have already changed quite a bit.

This is a blog I found. This family adopted from another orphanage in Jinja, this is a great article, on our adoption as sons and dughters. Hope you enjoy!


http://thecenturionpapers.blogspot.com/2007/10/sovereignty-
of-god-in-adoption.html

Please Pray

I don't even know what to think right now, I was just on the USCIS website trying to find their processing times for the i600a. Currently the San Antonio office is working on June 12, 2007 cases. This means the worst case scenario of not getting our i600a approval for 6-8 months is a reality. I am trying to find the facts on the Hague, to see what this means for us, as I get conflicting information from everyone. As always the wording on USA government documents is confusing and vague at best, and the Hague is no exception. I don't know at this point if we just needed to have our i600a filed by March 31, 2008 or if we need to have our approval by then. Unless the Lord intervenes, then it looks like we won't be bringing William and Melissa home until October or November...if at all. I guess on the bright side...as long as we only need to have our case filed and not approved...then we have plenty of extra time to come up with our needed funds :)

I've Made Contact!

Since this all began I have been searching the net from some one else who has adopted from Welcome Home. Last night the Lord answered my prayer and I found one! I have not been able to communicate with her much, but she seems just as excited to find me as I am to find her. She says she met William and Melissa and that they are two of the cutest (yeah, I think I already new that one:) and sweetest kids. She says her children are doing wonderful, a total blessing. They traveled last June. I am so thankful, as this greatly puts my mind at ease. Honestly I am such a pessimist. I have been thinking this is going too well, this all seems too easy, it must not be true. Turns out it is, all is as it seems. Praise the Lord! On the same forum, another woman emailed me telling me her sister and brother-in-law adopted from there. She also worked there for several months. She says it truly is a wonderful place, and the children are well loved and cared for. I am really starting to get excited...so much for having a nice strong wall in place until all is said and done :)

Happy New Year!

Just a quick post to wish you all a happy and blessed 2008. I had a nice conversation with Mandy (the woman who runs Welcome Home). She said William and Melissa are both doing very well. They decided to go ahead and start them on their english classes, rather than wait for the i600a approval. This is good news, the longer they have training the more they will be able to communicate their needs to us...YEAH! Please pray they learn quickly. She also let me know that rather than sending all our paper work to Uganda via DHL, it will be hand delivered by some missionaries going in January...another big blessing. This will save us a couple of weeks time. I need to get their scapbook done today, so I can send it on Thursday. Please also pray our i600a gets approved in record time. As soon as that is approved, William and Melissa will be given the scrapbook and told they have a family waiting for them.