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!
1 comment:
Jess & Jason,
If I could talk over the lump in my throat I would be shouting praises to our gracious Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It's hard to say for whom I'm happiest, you and your bio family or for our new grandson. His image may blurred by tears but I know he is in God's good hands, as are all of you and I thank Him while praising him. He has supplied all the needs and I am confident He won't stop now. We love you all and love God most of all.
gma
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