ADOPTION UPDATE!

So most of you who are FB friends probably already know the good news we received Tuesday. Our son's investigation is complete!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is the step that we were told should take 3-6 months.

It took eight.

Yes, I can hear you cheering! I have been cheering and praising God even though now I'm kinda freaking out and there are knots in my stomach. I went to donate, I mean sell, my plasma yesterday and my pulse was too high so I had to just sit for a little bit to see if it would slow down to normal. Thank you God! I just sat there with my eyes closed, took deep breaths, and prayed for God to calm me not only so I could donate, I mean sell, my plasma, but because I knew I needed to again surrender to God and rest in the peace He gives.  It's all fear of the unknown and the what ifs. I'm constantly asking God to calm my fears, to help me see the bigger picture, and give us strength to keep striving to obey. After all, our prayer has always been that no matter how hopeless the wait may feel that we would continue walking (or baby stepping) toward the goal until He shut the door completely. Yesterday the door cracked open a little more! We have a foot in the door instead of just a few of our long skinny white toes.

So what does investigation complete mean? This means that the Embassy has found that our son is in fact a true orphan and is able to be adopted. There is obviously more to our son's story but that will be protected out of respect to him and the hardships he has had to endure. That topic is another whole blog post though.

Investigation complete also means that he can now have his visa interview appointment which is scheduled for November 27th. Once his visa is issued we COULD be traveling to Africa soon after. As of right now we are GUESSING that we would travel mid December.

The fear about the trip that creeps in is that we really don't know what will happen once we get there and how long we will be there. I think in my last post I told you about how the country has stopping issuing exit letters with the exception that if you have certain document before a certain date. We have that document but that doesn't mean it will be smooth sailing. We are hearing of some families that have only had to be there a few weeks but others up to 6+ weeks and some having to return home without their children. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to it, so traveling will be yet another giant step in faith! Either way, we will get to meet our children and that is exciting stuff!

Our daughter's paperwork is still not done but we are assuming that we will get to meet her, maybe even have her with us, while we are in country! We will know more about that later. I feel so sick thinking about leaving her behind.

No matter how long the trip, I kinda feel like puking when I think about leaving our bio kids for that long. I think the longest I've ever been away from our kids was like four nights...maybe. Jason is the pro at being away from home so I'm so thankful we will be together! It won't be an easy trip and missing the kids will make it even harder, not to mention that when we return our family will be totally different. I keep asking God to give me peace and help we see it all in the big picture. The amount of time away is a very small time when compared to our family's life span. It also helps knowing that our bio kids will be in VERY good hands with Jason's parents and I'm so grateful for facetime and skype!

Soooooo.... what now? Well now I guess we start gathering together things we will need for our trip. The more prepared we can get now the less stressed we will feel right before leaving.... I hope. We will know more details after we have a phone conference with our agency on December 3. What we take will also depend on where we stay. Where we stay will depend on how much money we have and what is available at the time of travel. Some of you have asked how you can help with practical needs. I will try to post a list soon for those that want to help in that way.

We are also still in need of funds for the cost of the trip. Being in the country is expensive with the flights and high cost of hotel/apartment and food. If you are interested in helping in the area of giving funds, here is a great place to do it tax deducible!

https://www.adopttogether.org/crawfords

Thank you everyone for the continued support through prayers, gifts, and your encouragement! Please keep praying!

Adoption Update

Adoption Update...What does that even mean anymore? I wish I had an awesome update for you but here we sit still waiting.
In my last post a month and a half ago you learned that there had been a big misunderstanding and that Mr Easton was actually NOT through the investigation process. I still can not publicly go into details here. Many of you who know us well, know the whole story of the mistake and how much of a roller coaster ride that was. Now we try to continue to move forward.
I can tell you that the embassy of Easton's birth country is still trying to unfold his past and discover his orphan status. After him being matched with us and waiting in foster care for a YEAR AND THREE MONTHS, in our minds he IS adoptable and is already our son in our hearts but the embassy wants more solid evidence of his orphan status. So we wait while they investigate. Insert gritting teeth and maybe a few curse words here . . . and then confession and learning even more surrender to God.

SURRENDER has become a big word in my head. Surrender, peace, trust, rest, and OBEDIENCE. I saw a saying on Facebook somewhere, I don't even remember where, but it's on the fridge now. "The victims of injustice don't need our spasms of passion, but our long obedience in one direction." That is exactly what this feels like. Long obedience. The Bible talks a lot about how if we love God then we will obey Him. We've decided that until God closes the door completely, then we continue to step forward in obedience. Sometimes that looks a lot like standing still. Sometimes that looks like insanity, but even in these uncertain times we are still actually moving forward. That moving forward may not be a trip to Africa just yet. Each day of waiting is another opportunity to surrender these adoptions to God. Another chance to move forward in our knowledge of who God is.  It's another day to be reminded that mountains are moved at the time He tells them to move. They are not moved by our worry. There is much to be learned in waiting. Many times it may feel like a waste but I know it is not. I don't think we are not allowed to be frustrated in the wait. If it was easy then how would we ever learn to surrender? It's up to us to choose to not allow the frustrations form bitterness in our hearts.

As of right now we are hopeful. Many of you know that recently the country decided not to issue exit letters in order for kids to leave the country with their adopting parents. They have also released that IF you had a certain letter (we'll call it the B letter) before a certain date, that you would be eventually approved to exit the country with your adopted child. We have that letter!!! So we feel hopeful that once Easton's investigation is passed and he receives his visa then whenever we do travel that he will be able to come home with us... eventually. I will not stand solidly on that but it gives us hope! SO, if his investigation is finished soon then we COULD be leaving in the next few months.

We are still waiting on Miss Josephine's court documents. The last I heard they were only waiting for one piece of paper work. Then we wait for translations of those documents, then apply for her I600, then her investigation starts. And at this point we don't know how the country will deal with exit letters when she is passed through everything else and just waiting to come home.

Please pray we hear good news soon about Easton's investigation! Please pray that the country begins issuing more exit letters. There are lots of families there waiting to bring their kids home. Some who even had to return home without their children. Pray for Josephine's court documents to be finished up soon. Pray for the safety of our kids and that they stay healthy as they wait. Also please pray that God continues to provide the funds to keep this going. He's brought us so far! We just recently paid our last payment to our agency, however, there is still foster care cost for each month that our kids wait and we are running lower and lower every month. There will still be all the travel cost in the future as well. I am not worried because God has already showed us His provision and if He wants this to come to completion that He will continue on. We did recently send in an application for the Show Hope grant! Wowser that was a lot of work! It will be some time before we hear anything on that.

Thank you everyone for continuing to pray and support us. I'm sure it's difficult to continue to believe that anything will ever happen as you watch us wait and wait and wait. So those of you who continue to encourage us along the way, you are greatly appreciated and loved!

 https://www.adopttogether.org/crawfords