Struck down but not destroyed...

It is with deep sorrow that we write to update you on our adoption.  One month ago we learned that our girls would no longer be joining our family.  Their mother, who had been missing for a year and a half, entered into the picture, and decided to parent.  Our hearts have been heavy, to say the least.  A fellow church member and song writer, in her recent album about the stillbirth of her son Parker, says it so well...   

“Lord you gave and you took, somehow for our good. Our eyes burn with tears, but they turn to you.”

As this song and others on my Adoption playlist have been on repeat, many thoughts have flooded my mind.  I often wonder what the girls are doing and how their little hearts and minds are handling such transition.  I pray they are being cared for and loved.  I experience loss and heartache.  And in the midst of grief, there is hope and peace…

I pray that God will use the girl’s restoration to the broken family from which they came and to which they have returned, to do a redemptive work in their hearts and lives. 

I praise God that our little guy, because he was not biologically related to the girls, has not been affected by this situation, and we are able to move forward with his adoption.

And with great joy I announce that as we continue to wait for our little guy in Congo, we are beginning the domestic adoption process.  More details to come…          

"Henry Party of 5"

After much weariness and waiting, we received word the week before Christmas that our girls are officially through court! We are beyond thankful to officially be "Henry Party of 5". Please pray that all necessary documents will be gathered "quickly" and will be accurate, so that we can file for immigration as soon as possible. Filing for immigration and getting the go ahead will allow us to move to the next stage (one of the final stages) in the process.

Some of you may be aware that DRC adoptions have been facing recent challenges. Pray with us that the authorities will be moved to efficiency as they seek to make the process more ethical. Pray that they will have the children's best interests at heart, and will act accordingly. Pray that they will soon begin issuing exit letters so that children can be united with their forever families.

Weary...

We are weary; encouragement feels far from us. We have seen God's faithful hand in every step of the process thus far, and we know that "He is the Lord, the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable." Isaiah 40:28. However, we are tired.

Therefore, we are asking you to join us in prayer. Pray that there will be movement. We were informed last week that our case is in the hands of the lawyer, and he is working to gather necessary documents to file for immigration. Pray that the necessary documents will be accurate, will be gathered quickly, and that we will receive encouraging words soon.

"But you, God, see the trouble of the afflicted; you consider their grief and take it in hand. The victims commit themselves to you; you are the helper of the fatherless." Psalm 10:14.

Progress and Prayers

There has been a quick shift in the prayer request we mentioned in our last blog post.  Two days ago we found out that our little guy (the first referral we accepted) has passed through the court process, and has already completed the thirty day non appeal period that occurs after court.  He is now considered ours!  However, there is more paperwork to be completed, as well as an investigation process that ensures that he is a legitimate orphan.  Once this process is over, assuming all goes well, travel plans will be arranged.  It will likely still be months, however.  Still we are extremely grateful for the progress that is being made, allowing us to be one step closer to bringing our little guy home to be a Henry! 

With that said, the girls (referrals two and three) were obviously not able to be added to his file to be processed at the same time, which was our original hope.  We had no idea how quickly his court process was moving.  So now, we ask you to shift your prayers a bit.  Although we have no clue if this is even possible, we are praying that the girl's court process would be expedited, so that their timeline will line up more with our little guy's.  It is our hope that if their processes can be more aligned time-wise, we could possibly still travel to pick them all up at the same time.

As we ask you to pray very specifically, we acknowledge the truth in Proverbs 19:20-22 that, "Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand."  We know and believe wholeheartedly that God's plan for the lives of our little ones is best, and his timing is perfect.  Join with us in praying that we will trust his timing, and better learn to glorify him as we see his purpose stand.   

More Shoes to Fill

It looks like we're going to need to take another picture with more shoes in it...

If you've read our posts up until now, you know that we've already accepted referrals for a two year old little boy and a three year old little girl.  Well, a couple weeks ago we received word that our little girl has a younger sister. While we were originally planning on adopting two, we knew that the sibling set could not be split up and even if they could, we would not want to separate them.  We have prayed and seriously sought to understand how best to proceed. We have decided that the Henry's will now be a family of five; we are adopting all three of the children!  We know that it will be difficult but we believe that this is the best decision and we are VERY excited about it!

PLEASE PRAY.  We are still awaiting word on whether they will be able to process the girl's adoption with that of the little boy we first accepted. If they go through court separately we will almost certainly have to travel twice which would be both difficult and expensive.

PLEASE CONSIDER GIVING. As you might imagine, the additional adoption has added costs that we were not originally anticipating.  If you have not given we would love for you to help us bring these children into our family.  As referenced in our previous post, any donations you make through Lifesong are tax deductible.  We truly believe that adoption is an act of obedience and a ministry that reflects the heart of God.  Please consider how you can be a part of our children's journey home. 

Referral #2!!!

Well… we finally get to share another piece of exciting news. We have accepted another referral! It took a little longer than we were hoping but we are super excited.  She is an absolutely beautiful just-turned three year old girl.  We really can’t express how great it feels to finally have pictures of both of our little ones.  We would love to be able to post pictures but we still aren’t allowed.  As soon as we can you better believe we’ll have both of their cute little faces up on the blog.  Now another season of waiting begins.  We hope that the adoption will move forward quickly but there are definitely some potential snags….

Please pray that we can bypass some of the snags.  The biggest thing we need prayer for right now is that our little girl’s file will be able to be processed along with our little boy’s.  Since we accepted the first referral about two months ago, his file has already been sent to the court in DR Congo.  However, we are told it may be possible to simply get her file added in with his for approval.  This would be a HUGE blessing and would assure that we should be able to only have to travel once.  Please pray with us that God grant us favor in the court and that everything can be processed together and quickly. 

HUGE NEWS!!!!!!

So I realize that we haven't updated this blog in oh...... over a year.  2012 had one major theme when it comes to adoption, waiting.  We have struggled for patience and yet tried to remain hopeful and excited.  The big news is that we finally have our first referral!  We will post pictures as soon as we are sure we're allowed but let's just say he's awesome.  He is a two year old boy from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  He looks healthy and full of personality.  We will probably be brief in this post because it is difficult to put into words the excitement that comes from finally seeing our first child, but let me just say we are pumped! We are still waiting on our second referral but expect that it shouldn't be much longer.  So after over a year hiatus we are jumping back into the paperwork.  Honestly, Sarah Michael is carrying the workload of completing paperwork, something for which I am extremely grateful.  Pumping out the paperwork seems just a little bit easier though now that we've seen the face of our little one and know what we're working for. Please pray with us that he will remain healthy, that we will receive the second referral very soon, and that the process will finalize quickly so that we can bring our children home.