update

I realized today that many members of our fellowship know that we're adopting and were very much aware of the drama that started us down this road, but few know who we're adopting, or just how many. So, this update is for CCC, pictures included...

Many of you prayed for us as we attempted to adopt Deborah last spring. Obviously, even though we still feel passionate about Deborah, God has different plans for her and us. When we got the word that Deborah was not to be a part of our family, we asked ourselves if we were still to proceed in adopting. In June of 07 we applied with Acres of Hope orphanage. In July AOH sent us the pictures of Joyce and Freeman Dahn. Joyce is 6 and Freeman is 4. The initial report (of which we might never know the accuracy) was that the father had deserted the family the last year of the civil war (03/04). Their mother brought them to the orphanage in pursuit of help sometime in the spring of 07. They were classified as "waiting children" as they were in the orphanage waiting for a family to choose them. Supposedly paperwork moves faster for waiting children.

Here is the first picture we saw of them....
We had been asking our agency to work with our travel schedule since early last fall as we recognized that we were very limited in when we could actually get the children. December 21st we received the phone call that they were through the courts, in other words, in Liberia, they are legally our children. Last week it was suggested that we take the last steps and finish the adoption process with the embassy ourselves. We spent the week emailing and calling the consular in Liberia asking for urgency in setting up the interviews. We also spoke with McConnell, Whitfield and Bunning's offices asking them to also contact the consular on our behalf. Let's just say that 2 of the offices have been wonderful. We have yet to hear anything. We did hear on Saturday from the Liberian staff that their birth certificates have arrived and the passports should be released this week.

We would ask for prayer that the consular or her assistants would set up a birth parent interview asap, as in this week or next. Secondly, the birth parent interview needs to happen without causing the consular's office to request a dna test. If for some reason the test is requested, then we don't get the kids until July and $1000 is added to our bill. If the interview happens and everybody leaves smiling, then we leave for Liberia in the first two weeks of February.

I'll end this with a couple more pictures.