Long day at court

Today we left The Lodge at 8:00 a.m. and drove into town to visit Parliament and the Palace.  This was strongly encouraged to do before court at 11:00.  We enjoyed learning about different tribes in Uganda and have learned what tribe Jude is from, which is known for being a very strong, hard working people.

After our visit we headed to court. We sat in a room with his biological mom, grandfather and other witnesses from 11:00 a.m. until about 4:30 p.m.  Chapel was amazing...especially given the fact that we forgot to bring any entertainment for her (oops!). We had no ipad or games on our phones or books or any activity for her other than playing with Jude, who is currently perfectly content sitting next to us on a wooden bench.  So besides a trip to the potty, we sat... in a room... for 5 hours...without food.

Jude did fall asleep on me, so for 2 hours I did. not. move!

Once in court, the judge asked to speak to Jude's biological mother.  She had an interpreter, so hearing the interpreter and even understanding him was very difficult.  There were several times during this conversation/questioning of the mother that we got a little anxious.  At one point he asked her to hold Jude and repeatedly asked, "Do you want this boy?!" I never heard or understood her (the interpreters) answer.  After court Andrew said she responded by saying she wanted our family to take care of him. So thankful!

Next up was ME! Many of you know I prefer not to speak in public, so speaking in front of a judge was very intimidating, especially one who has the power to give or take away your child! He asked me questions for about 20 minutes!

So, the judge will not make a decision until Monday, September 15th at 4:00 p.m.  He will hopefully grant us verbal guardianship, then we will wait for a written statement of guardianship.

We believe everything will work out for what is best for Jude. Until then we will be lifting up many prayers and enjoy spending time with Chapel and Jude in Uganda. 

We are so thankful for all of your prayers! Please continue to pray for the process as well as for us and Jude.  He is very content...almost like he is scared to do anything.  I can't imagine what he is thinking, so as you pray, remember him too!

On another note...we really enjoy the place we are staying, BUT, have you ever seen a cockroach this ginormous?!  Let's just say when one of these decided to make its presence known on the headboard of Chapel and Jude's bed...when they were in it...bedtime was not happening! Keep in mind they were trapped in the bed by a mosquito net!

It's 4 a.m...and we are wide awake!

We are here!!!

It's 4:08 a.m. and Andrew and I are laying in bed, under a mosquito net, with no air, in Uganda, with Jude sound asleep beside us!

It's crazy we are actually here! 

On Monday we left out of Lexington on a 7:00 a.m. flight to Philadelphia then a 12 hour plane ride (which Chapel thought was the GREATEST...access to Disney movies and they brought food to us in our seat!) to Qatar followed by a 5 hour plane ride to Entebbe.  We then were picked up by someone from Lifeline, Ms. Linda, who took us to buy water and bread and helped us exchange money.  It was about an hour drive from the airport until we arrived at The Lodge...our home for the time we are here.  I want to say it was about 3:00 p.m. but couldn't be for sure.

At 5:00 we were told we could walk to the children's home to meet Daniel!  We are here with another adoptive family from Lifeline, so they showed us the way.  We arrived to find that Daniel was asleep and the director was not there.  :(  Disappointed we walked back to The Lodge to load our phone with minutes so we could call the director to find out when she would be back. 

We were told they would bring him to us, so at about 7:00 the director of the home pulled in with Daniel...in the front seat, in her lap. He had his little arm resting on the door with the window down.

Andrew got him from the car and Daniel held around his neck so tight! We took him over the grassy area here at The Lodge where he sat in Chapel's lap. He didn't cry...but he looked scared.  Shortly after we headed to our room where we played with a ball and cars.

Dinner was 30-45 minutes after we had Jude...he sat in my lap and ate off my plate.  It was kind of a "what do we now?" moment. We don't know what he's been eating, or if he feeds himself, if he drinks out of a cup or bottle or sippy. He ate great and never made a peep.

While Andrew and I finished eating, Chapel and Daniel played.  She tickled his belly and it was the first time we saw him smile and heard him laugh.

Tomorrow we are supposed to meet with Daniel's mom and grandfather.  They are coming in to be present at court on Thursday.  Please continue to pray for a smooth process!

I hope to post pictures of where we are staying...as soon as I find the cord to connect my camera to the computer!

Can this really be happening?!

Today our agency called us and left a message saying she had some great news.  Since the government is still shut down, I didn't expect it to be anything that great, but I was wrong!

We have a court date!!!

We will be traveling the beginning of September to meet our son, JUDE!  This means we have a lot to plan and less than a month to do it.  We are very excited, but overwhelmed at the same time!

Andrew, Chapel and I will be in Uganda for several weeks, then one of us will stay for the remainder of the time. Past families have been there a total of 12 weeks.  We would greatly appreciate prayers that we would find favor with everyone we come in contact with who will be handling our adoption, especially judges and government officials.  We are praying that it will all be finalized much quicker than 12 weeks and that our family of 5 will all be together for Thanksgiving...if not MUCH earlier!

The Waiting Game

Our dossier has arrived in Uganda!  After they review all our information we will be given a court date! Unfortunately, the government shuts down now until the middle of August, but we are praying and hoping that when they resume work in August we won't have to wait to long for a travel date!

When our agency traveled to Uganda last month, they took some pictures of our precious little guy!  He looks healthy and well taken care of.  I wish I could show him off....

Please pray the process to get us a court date goes quickly!

Bittersweet

We have exciting news we would like to share, but first a little of our journey we have been on over the past few weeks!

On Thursday, April 24th our adoption agency called us and said that we were going to matched with a child on Monday, BUT there were some changes taking place they wanted us to be aware of before, so we could then make the decision whether or not we wanted to continue in the process.  We felt like we have come this far, we are going to keep on going until the doors are closed!

On Sunday, April 27th, Chapel and I said 'bye' to Andrew and Trust and we headed down the road to Myrtle Beach for a week long vacation with my family.

On Monday, April 28th, we got THE CALL, and an e-mail of information and a few pictures about a little boy in Uganda that we had been matched with! Chapel and I Skyped Andrew and we opened the information together.  For 3 1/2 years I've day dreamed about the day we get 'the call' and the first time we would see a picture of our soon-to-be son. I never imagined we would be in separate states and that it would be filled with such uncertainty.  Nevertheless, I read every detail to learn more about this little guy and got to show off his picture to my entire family!

On Tuesday, April 29th, I found a Kinko's in Myrtle Beach that was 1.8 miles from our condo. I thought it would be fun to walk there, so my sister, Channing and I walked while Chapel rode her bike...bad idea. It was stressful.  Thankfully, we arrived in one piece, and I happily printed, signed, scanned and e-mailed the paperwork to our agency agreeing to accept the referral!

Since accepting the referral, the agency has learned more information about adoption processes in Uganda...without going into detail, it is VERY unsteady.  So, while Andrew and I try to quickly get paperwork finished, we could GREATLY use your prayers.

We have fallen in love with a picture of a little boy in Uganda who is need of a forever family. We want our family to be able to bring him home, but it is going to take close to a miracle for it to actually happen. Please pray that we will have favor, that our process would move quickly, that we would be able to bring our "Uganda Baby" home.  

We can send a small package to him next week!  We are going to send him a stuffed dog, that Chapel, Trust and I made at Build-a-Bear. Chapel has slept with this stuffed animal since we brought it home, and named him "Uganda". We are also going to send him a plastic book toy that has pictures of us in it.

We really, really, appreciate all prayers you want to lift up for us and for him.

A lot of changes...

We have been in the process of adopting from Uganda now for 3 years and 3+ months.  When we entered the program the average time before you brought your child home was 12-18 months.  The average time you spent in country was 4-6 weeks. Which changed to 6 weeks.  Which changed to 10-12 weeks. The time after being matched with a child before going to Uganda was 3-4 months, but recently families have waited 6 months.  Currently, we have been told that Uganda is very unstable, likely to be closed, but within an unknown time frame.  Families who have traveled recently have said each step is extremely difficult.

Our CSI approval expires the end of March.  This means we have to update everything. Again. We discussed possibly changing countries.  After all, if we had to update everything, now would be the time to do it.  I actually called and spoke to someone about Lifeline's Ethiopia program, but the average wait time for a child under 5 could be up to 3 years!

After praying and considering different options, we've decided to continue on with our adoption from Uganda.  Crazy?  Maybe. But we have been at peace knowing it will happen in God's timing. I will admit for the first time I have found myself questioning. Would He have brought us this far, only to have the country shut down? After 3+ years of waiting? What if we got over there, met our son, and couldn't bring him home? How will we be able to be gone for 12 weeks? One of us or both? What about the kids? How will our finances be if I don't work for 12 weeks?  Then today I read Matthew 6:

vs. 25: 'Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear...' vs. 27: 'Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?' vs 34: 'Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.'

So, with all that being said, I spoke to our case worker today.  They have partnered with a new orphanage in Uganda. There are several children there who are in the process of being "adoptable".  We had technically been #4 on the waiting list.  Of the 3 waiting families in front of us, one has dropped out of the program, and the other 2 are on hold. Which makes us #1! I would like to think that we could get a call for a referral in the next month, but nothing has gone as planned, so we will simply wait and see.

There are so many 'unknowns' that we have to completely rely on God. No part of this process is or will be in our control. I have a similar feeling come over me like when I was pregnant with Trust. This feeling of the unknown and no control. Sounds scary, but in those times I experienced so much peace.  It was then that we both learned how to trust God. Not just say we trusted God, but really know how to trust Him.  You only name your son Trust if you really know how to trust! :)  Or maybe it was when we started a church, 6 hours away from home, in a town where we knew no one.  Maybe God started teaching us then what it meant to trust him, preparing us for when Trust would be born.  I'm thankful for these experiences in the past that have taught us something we may not have truly known. I believe they have prepared us for such a time as this.

"You can consider yourselves 2ish."

Exciting news...The beginning of September we moved up to #4!  Our email for this month also stated we were still #4, but after talking to someone from Lifeline she informed me we were more considered to be "2ish" because of some situations with 2 of the families in front of us.  While she doesn't foresee us getting matched with a child before the end of the year, she said there are children in the process of officially becoming available for adoption, which is encouraging.

Hoping that things will move faster than expected in Uganda and we will be matched before the end of the year! What a great Christmas present that would be!

Regardless, still trusting God, knowing his time is perfect!