Still Very Much In Need of Prayer

I called the Liberian Embassy yesterday to make sure my cashiers check was received and it was and they said the passport was in an envelope ready to go out yesterday. Well it did not. I called again today, and a different person assured me the same thing. But the USPS tracking number I have (because i supplied the prepaid express/priority mail envelope) still shows no record on the USPS website. I'm down to Monday if I don't receive it tomorrow. If they ship it express monday, I could still receive my passport before the flight on Tuesday afternoon. I'm so glad I paid the extra $50 for 24 hour processing. Last time I sent it in on a monday without the extra $50 and received it back by Friday. This time I sent it in last Saturday, and I still don't have it. Go Figure.

Down to the 11th Hour (and 59th Minute)

First let me start by giving God all the glory in our situation. If everything works out it will be because of Him and for Him, and if it doesn't, it will still be because He has something better planned. I've seen already in how well Josiah is doing that there was definitely divine planning in only having Josiah for the last 6 weeks. He is doing remarkably well and I believe part of that is because we've had only him to focus on. Was that how we planned it - No! Also are other children have had some time to adjust to the changes as well, and so we are so very thankful for where we are at and how we have been blessed.

But I wanted to share a couple encouraging things. First I called the Liberian Embassy in Washington DC this morning and my passport has the visa in it and is in an envelope and will be mailed out today. So I should probably get it tomorrow, but at the very latest by Monday. Secondly I e-mailed AoH this morning to see if our DNA actually made it to the Lab yesterday. And it arrived last night. The AoH represenative is out today, but they spoke with her Supervisor and she said the results would be ready on Monday. Unfortunately the Supervisor is out on Monday and has to sign off on the results, so the sign off will not occur until Tuesday. They will fax the results to AoH, and they will in turn scan them in and e-mail them to us. My flight leaves Green Bay at 1:30pm Tuesday, so there still should be enough time for me to know the results and make the necessary decisions before I have to be at the airport. And there should be plenty of time for the results to get to Liberia for me to make an Embassy Appointment on Tues March 25th, the day before I'm to fly home.

I currently do NOT have an embassy appointment for March 25th, and just sent an e-mail today requesting one. So hopefully in the next couple days i'll get confirmation of that appointment, otherwise I'll be making a few visits to the Embassy in person when I'm there.

So I appreciate your continued prayers. God has already chosen to answer some of them, and we look forward to seeing how he will work it all out. THANKS AGAIN!

Going In Faith

Well, we only had one submission to name our last post, and I thought it was perfect (thanks Katy). But wanted to pass along another update on our situation.

According to FedEx, our DNA is on a truck and should be delivered to the lab today. Originally what happened was the wrong label was placed on the DNA causing it to be shipped through Memphis. Compounding the situation, the package apparently became "stuck" to another package. FedEx lost the shipment until the other package was delivered with the DNA and the recipient allerted FedEx of the error. AoH has contacted the DNA lab, and their representative was very helpful and sympathetic to our case. She said that if the DNA arrived today as scheduled that she would request that it be put on the top of the list. There are no guarantees, but it is possible that we could have the results back by the 17th, before I travel. This would also allow plenty of time for the DNA to be shipped to the embassy in Monrovia before my flight back to the US. She is also going to use AoH DHL account to ship the DNA back to Liberia which is faster than FedEx. If we don't have the results by next Monday Night, then I have to make some decisions. So obviously prayer is the key.

Also, Mark Schultz is a Christian artist who wrote a song entitled "Everything To Me" about his own adoption story, and held a contest to have someone provide the video for it, and this is the one that won. To me it summarizes the amazing gift of adoption and why Kim and I are doing what we are doing. And no matter the cost, the frustration, or difficulty, it is truly is all worth it.

Name This Posting

Well I tried to come up with an appropriate name for this posting and they are...
* Wake Me Up When Its Over
* "For I know the plans I have for you" declares the Lord
* The best laid plans...
* Murphy's Law of Adoption
* FedEx - When It Absolutely Positively Has To Get There Overnight
Well Kim and I hung around our computer all day today, just waiting for that e-mail that would affirm a positive link between Gabriella and her mother. By 4pm we had had enough and so we called AoH only to find out that our DNA labwork is still in Tennessee. My outward appearance was rather controlled, though I could feel my temperature rising and knowing I was about to blow a gasket. The DNA was taken on 2/27. It never got picked up until 2/29. Normally the Embassy ships DHL, but for some reason they used FedEx and put the wrong label on the package. Last Thursday it was in Tennessee so should have been delivered to it's destination on 3/7. On 3/7 is when we asked about making travel plans so I could get my Visa. AoH gave us 3/22 - 3/29. Because Gabriella turns 2 on 3/29 it was going to cost $3400 for her one way ticket back, so yesterday we asked if it was possible to come earlier in order to save costs by a lap ticket. They said "yes" make it from 3/19 - 3/26 and that we should have the DNA results today or by tomorrow (3/11). So needless to say, this leaves us in quite a predicament. So we would certainly appreciate your prayers. We need to expedite getting the DNA to the right lab and processed. So goes our continuing saga... all we want is our little girl.

To Go or Not To Go

Well in my haste to get my Visa application mailed out on Saturday, I inadvertantly sent a personal check for the application. Fortunately I caught my mistake on my own on Sunday as I was balancing my checkbook. So I sent a cashier's check today and called the Liberian Embassy in Washington DC to let them know my mistake. So hopefully it gets there by noon tomorrow and I'm set. Because today I made new flight arrangements to be in Liberia from Wednesday March 19th thru Wednesday March 26th. By doing that I was able to use my frequent flier miles from Green Bay to Brussels and back, and only had to pay $210 for Gabriella's lap ticket for the return trip. Much better than the $760 or $3400. So hopefully my Passport and Gabriella's paper ticket arrive safely by next Monday because I leave at 1:30pm next Tuesday. So now all we need are those positive DNA results tomorrow. We will be sure to share the news as soon as we have it. So hopefully I'll be celebrating Good Friday and Easter with my daughter in Liberia. Stay Tuned...

Here I Go Again (Literally)

Well still no results on Gabriella's mom's DNA test, but we should have the results this week. If all goes well (as we hope) I needed to be ready to travel again. In order to travel, I needed another Liberian Visa, because I only purchased a 1-time entry the last time. And in order to get a new Visa, I needed to send my itineray to the Liberian Embassy in Washington DC. Well in order to send my itineray, i actually had to have one. So I contacted AoH on when I should expect to travel, and they gave me dates of arriving in Monrovia on March 23rd and leaving Liberia on March 29th. So to that end I booked my flights in faith. When we returned with Josiah a month ago, we returned on Caleb's 10th birthday. This time I will be returning on Gabriella's 2nd birthday. So all the feelings I felt 2 months ago when we starting the process of making my first trip to Liberia, all resurfaced. It seems nothing about the travel goes smoothly - at least for me. I was booking with Golden Rule Travel, and due to the timing of the trip, Spring Break travels are making flight availablities limited. I happened to have 100,000 Northwest Frequent Flier miles, so I worked it out to have Golden Rule book the flight from Brussels to Monrovia, and I was booking the flight from Green Bay to Brussels and back for free using my Frequent Flier miles. I called before I made the reservation to make sure that adding Gabriella as a lap ticket would work and the agent assured me "yes". I was to make the reservation online and call them back. So I called them, and after calling 2 agents and spending nearly 45 minutes on the phone and holding, the lap ticket was going to cost $761. Then they asked for her birth date, and since she turns 2 on the return trip, she doesn't qualify to be a lap ticket. So her ticket would instead cost the low low price of $3480. So needless to say, I have cancelled my trip, and I'm back to square one. I'll have to talk to Ronald Miller on Monday and try to work out something else. I hated to say it, but "Here we go again" :)

Anxiously Awaiting DNA Results

That's me - a brave soldier in the Army of God!

Here's me posing with the most beautiful woman in the world - my Ma!
Here's me and Olivia having a beach party.
This is my favorite spot to sleep - next to my Pa.

The girls were playing Make-Up Artist so I thought I would take my turn. Aren't I cute?
Olivia shows off her make-up too
And here's my make-up artist - Elizabeth.

Well Gabriella's mom had her DNA drawn last week and the samples are already in the US. So within the week we should know the results. We are trusting God with those results, since He knows them already. If they come back confirming that she is indeed Gabriella's mother, I can book a return flight to Liberia. Just I will be going to get her with a Power of Attorney for Kim. I'm praying that things work out for my friend Steve to accompany me. We thought me leaving would be less traumatic on Josiah then if Kim did. If the results don't come back the way we hope, then we'll be looking to AoH to see what our next step might be.

Josiah had more doctor visits and is catching up on his immunizations. He was walking like an old man this weekend after getting 2 in each thigh. So needless to say, he doesn't like doctors currently because they represent pain. He had a positive reading for TB, but his chest x-ray came back clean. So they did another test to determine if he received a TB vaccination in Liberia. But still waiting to hear back on those results. But all of the results back from Children's Hospital so far are that he is a normal healthy little boy.

In less than 2 weeks, our second son Caleb will be traveling to Biloxi, MS on a mission trip with church. Our church has made several trips to Biloxi to help rebuild after Hurricane Katrina, and Caleb really wanted to go help. He is a little young for the trip (10) but thanks to our wonderful friends Jim and Gale Barshaw, they will be chaperoning and supervising him in our absence. Kim and I have each gone twice, and are glad that Caleb will have this opportunity to serve.

Well that's it for the quick update. Things have been very busy, so sorry updates have been so sporatic. We look forward to sharing the good news with everyone as soon as we have it.