As you may have read, the current Prime Minister of Haiti, Connelle, resigned this weekend. What this means is that until there is a new PM appointed, all adoptions and the entire adoption process, stops.
In real terms and unless we are the benefactors of miraculous intervention, (which we always believe is possible), this will delay our process by 3-6 months, maybe longer if the Haitian Parliment cannot agree on an acceptable PM, ending our hopes of getting Francesca home this spring/summer.
Kim and I are viewing this as an opportunity to increase our capacity for trust and patience and our ability to live and believe that God, from His superior vantage point, has a plan and as always, is working that plan for good, be it our good, Francesca's or the people and government of Haiti.
thank you again for your continuing prayers, God bless you
Monday, February 27, 2012
Monday, February 20, 2012
Happy Birthday Francesca
February 10th is Francesca's birthday, so this year, Kim and I went down to celebrate her third and hopefully last birthday in Haiti. This was the third time we have taken her out of the orphanage for a week "vacation" and this is the trip we really feel we crossed the threshold of simply being two nice people who take her for occasional trips, to officially becoming "Mama" and "Papa".
The idea that she calls us "Mama" and "Papa" is really the least significant indicator of this realization, as it is more the non-verbals that speak volumes. Many times this trip while talking to various Haitian friends or members of the visiting team, I would feel her come up to me and lean on me or ask to crawl into my lap. Several times she would simply come and sit next to me on the stoop and lean against me while softly singing or murmuring to herself. As she was learning to dribble a soccer ball like a basketball, she ran into our bedroom to find "Mama" so she could show her new skill. She is talking to us non-stop in both Creole and some pretty decent English. She also would seek out Mama when it was time to use the bathroom, as potty training is well underway!!
It is hard to explain what it feels like to be blessed with the opportunity to get to know her this way before she comes home, but much more of an impact for me was the idea that for the first time in my life, I am recognized as "Papa"....wow...words cannot express....
She is an adorable, energetic, strong, fun and funny girl with a very big personality and an incredible spirit. At times she will sit back and observe and you can see the smoke coming out of her ears as she is probably trying to understand what all is happening...and then at times she jumps in and takes over. We love both of those aspects of her personality
As far as getting her here, Francesca's paperwork is in the first in-country phase and we are told we are getting very close to advancing to stage two. Stage two is in the hands of our lawyer and he feels they can do that work in a week. After that it goes to the Haitian Ministry of the Interior and is out of our control which will be very uncomfortable. We are told that this phase at a minimum could be 3-6 months! However, and where we are asking for prayers, Kim and I have established a "two degrees of separation" contact with Secretary Hilary Clinton, and IF we can get Secretary Clinton to write a letter, email or place a phone call on our behalf, a nebulous, black hole minimum period of 3-6 months could turn into one week!! That would be incredible so please do remember us in your prayers.
We are not sure when we are going back down, it may be a short trip in early May or a week in June or both, I do not know, but we are really looking forward to seeing Francesca again. It is getting very exciting!
May God bless you all.....
The idea that she calls us "Mama" and "Papa" is really the least significant indicator of this realization, as it is more the non-verbals that speak volumes. Many times this trip while talking to various Haitian friends or members of the visiting team, I would feel her come up to me and lean on me or ask to crawl into my lap. Several times she would simply come and sit next to me on the stoop and lean against me while softly singing or murmuring to herself. As she was learning to dribble a soccer ball like a basketball, she ran into our bedroom to find "Mama" so she could show her new skill. She is talking to us non-stop in both Creole and some pretty decent English. She also would seek out Mama when it was time to use the bathroom, as potty training is well underway!!
It is hard to explain what it feels like to be blessed with the opportunity to get to know her this way before she comes home, but much more of an impact for me was the idea that for the first time in my life, I am recognized as "Papa"....wow...words cannot express....
She is an adorable, energetic, strong, fun and funny girl with a very big personality and an incredible spirit. At times she will sit back and observe and you can see the smoke coming out of her ears as she is probably trying to understand what all is happening...and then at times she jumps in and takes over. We love both of those aspects of her personality
We are not sure when we are going back down, it may be a short trip in early May or a week in June or both, I do not know, but we are really looking forward to seeing Francesca again. It is getting very exciting!
May God bless you all.....
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