Tagged by Mrs. Wibbs :)

I was tagged by Rachel(Mrs Wibbs). Here ya go :) P.S. Your little guys blue mouth made my day :)

What I was doing 10 yrs ago: Wow May of 98. Hmm I was in my first year of college. My son just turned a year old.I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life other than be a mother. I changed my major three times the first year of school. 10 years later I still have no idea what I want to be besides a Mommy(and wife) so I guess this is my calling :)


Five things on my to do list for today: 1. wash laundry 2. fold laundry(I HATE laundry) 3. clean the bathroom 4. Get the kids outside for a good portion of the day. 5. ignore the laundry.

Things I would do if I were a billionaire: 1 .Pay off my house and give to it a family in need. 2. Move to a 200 acre farm near Lake Michigan. I want chickens! 3. Spend 3 months of every year volunteering somewhere in Africa. 4.Start a non for profit to help people in Africa building them homes,creating jobs, and creating ways they can sustain themselves in all areas. 5.Send a bunch of in need kids to college. 6.Get and emu!

Three of my bad habits: 1.second guessing myself 2.Caring what other people think a little to much 3.Being terribly slow when it comes to laundry

Five places I have lived: 1. Wyandotte, Michigan 2. Livonia,Michigan 3. Jacksonville FL 4.Helena,Alabama 5.Canton, Michigan now moving to Grand Haven, Michigan. All this in the past 2.5years...fun :)

Five jobs I have had: 1.Assistant manager of a bagel shop 2.Medical assistant to a dermatolgist 3.Condo Sales Rep. 4.Crisis worker for a mental health agency 5.Lead Teacher at a childcare center.


I tag: 1.Nate 2.Tricia(I know like you guys have time...but if you for some reason do I and would love to hear more about you guys)

Passport and Finalization

Hi Guys,

I got a call today that we have PASSPORT and FINALIZATION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And because William already got his Visa pre approval with the US Embassy in Liberia we don't have anything left to wait on!!!!!!!
Well we do...we have to wait for Acres of Hope(my agency) in Liberia to DHL me the paperwork to submit to USCIS Detroit for William's I600. Normally this can take a couple weeks but with my Liberian daughter I found that calling them and emailing them daily(aka stalking)really moved things along. I got approval for her in 2 days. I intend to do the same with William :) Wish me luck ;)

So we are now SO close. I am so excited and a little scared. But God is GOOD! Yee hee I am so happy!!!

Love ya all,

Jen

p.s. Please pray for me that I can get USCIS to move along...they can be VERY stubborn and set in their ways....that is putting it very nicely. Also please pray that we can raise the remainder of the funds. I have quite a few grant applications out there and am working on a few things. I wish I was cool and could sew or bake.....o well lucky for me I have endless patience for grant applications!!

Nothing to report :(

Hi guys,

I have nothing to report :( I heard we are in court, and suposed to be out soon. Boy it seems to be taking forever :( In God's time I supose.

Love you All!

Thank you so much for the continued support....it means SO much to be and my family :)


With much Love and a tad of frustration ( a tad is putting is very very mildly),

Jen

Alive but sick

Hey Guys,

It has been a week or so since I last wrote. My kids got sick and then I got sick and it went into my lungs and so on and so on. I have no news. I emailed begging for news. I called my weekly email to my agency my "weekly stalk"! I know they would call or email me if anything had happened or moved along, but I stalk because it makes me feel better :)
One of my latest concerns is my little guys eye. When we first got Will's info back in Dec the doctor listed his eye condition as the most urgent of his issues. The doc said if he did not get surgery on it soon, he would go blind in that eye. So I worry that the longer it takes for him to come home, the greater the chance for his little eye to weaken. Once again I know this is all up to the Lord and his plans and will for William may not be what I have planned. But I hope he can come home in time for surgery to be of some positive. Little man has a lot on his plate, but with God on our side we will over come them. I cannot wait to see what the Lord has in store for my little guy!

Love,

Jen

p.s. Thank you to those who posted about us our their blog or word of mouth(?) We have gotten five donations so far today and I am reminded again and again of all the blessings in my life. ALL of YOU being a BIG one!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks :)

Just wanted to say "Thank you" to my sweet friends. Thank you for your supportive comments...they helped me so much!

Love,

Jen

Days go by......without you.

Today is one of those days for me. One of those "pity party for one" days. All my kids are sick. The kids and the hubby have been sick for a week. We went to a kids play place for a birthday party. I do not usually take my kids to these places because five million kids are there and you cannot possible NOT get sick. Everyone but me and my Liberian daughter...fun. I wish it was just me and everyone else was spared by it. I would gladly take ALL the leaking at both ends, fevers, sweating, freezing to end this for them. It pains me to end to see my kids like this. My Liberian daughter was also spared and is bored and sad she cannot hang out with her sisters. I am just so tired and at my wits end emotionally.

I miss my son. I have never met him, seen him only in pictures. Another side to my pity party. I feel SO guilty because there are so many other people who have lost their children. I cannot imagine that pain...and here I am aching so over my child who is doing ok...just not with me. I am so sorry that I am complaining about this, Some of you who read my blog have experienced pain beyond any feeling I have ever had. While my pain feels real I pray that God makes me "suck it up".....for I have NO reason to be like this. I am so blessed beyond imagination it seems sometimes. "Stop it Jen, get over yourself, pain is nothing you have ever even felt". This is what I feel like HE is saying to me. "Get over it...it is MY time not yours". It is his time and I have no right to want to rush HIM or change things...for this is pointless. I am guilty and weak today and embarassed that I wrote it all out here. But I feel like confessing my sinful nature. I feel like I should be penalized for it. I feel like I should beable to just praise HIM and not be so preoccupied to the point where my stomach hurts and I am almost in tears. My emotions are so mixed up. Part of this is pain for my son not being with me and part of this is guilt that I am not being who I should be for the Lord. Is guilt the devil creeping in because I am weak? Have I become weakened so much emotionally that I am open to this sin?

There is a song that is in my head right now. From a car comercial a few years ago. The acoustic version is saved on my computer. It sticks in my head a lot. It was kind of catchy. Anyway here is a video of it.



The basic lyrics are as follows:


You are still a whisper on my lips
A feeling at my fingertips
That's pulling at my skin

You leave me when I'm at my worst
Feeling as if I've been cursed
Bitter cold within

Days go by and still I think of you
Days when I couldn't live my life without you
Days go by and still I think of you
Days when I couldn't live my life without you
Without you
Without you

Normally my music genre is only christian music, but sometimes car and insurance comercial songs get stuck in my head and I look up the lyrics and the song on youtube.com. I am a real nerd.

Any way sorry for my rant. Pure honesty in cyper space. Not yet sure if this is something I should be doing.

Love,

Jen

Check out this blog!!!!!!

Hey Guys,


Check this blog out.....I PROMISE it is SO worth it.

Love,

Jen

http://mercyinafrica.blogspot.com/

Telling the Fam...........

Hey guys,

If you go to the start of this blog, one of my posts talks about my fear in telling my family about William. It caused me a good deal of grief. Well I did tell them and to my sheer delight they took it well. In fact it was not to suprising to them. Thank you to all who prayed for me on this issue. I really felt very strong in this area and was able to tell them with confidently. Yeah!


And to all who read this blog, have donated or prayed for us and William again a BIG thank you from the bottom of my heart. I love reading your kind words and looking over your awesome blogs. Through the Lord connecting us you have provided me with increased faith, hope and love. GOD BLESS YOU ALL!

With much Love,

Jen

p.s. Check out sweet Jacob: http://www.fahmer.blogspot.com/ This amazing little guy has Trismony 18 and was 10 weeks old yesterday. Way to go sweet boy!!

Eva goes home

Baby Eva went home to be with our Lord on Easter morning. Please send love and prayers her family's way.....they are amazing people!


http://evajanette.blogspot.com/

Weak

I feel weak and weary today. I prayed for a change in my heart and mind. I have felt very positive through out this whole process, but today I just feel weak, tired and sad. I have no reason to feel this way....things are progressing fine from what I know. I just long to hold my son, to look into his little face and to weep with joy that he is home. I am just longing for him and needing my son today. I need to give these feelings to Jesus and NEED him right NOW!! Ugh :(

Holland, Michigan

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMm Fish!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Baby Eva

Please pray for baby Eva and her family. Little Eva was born with trisomy 18. She is just beautiful! Please check out her story here:

http://evajanette.blogspot.com/




Special thanks today Charlotte and to Ohilda at http://www.deliveredfromheaven.blogspot.com/ Thank you so much for thinking of our little guy and helping with fundraising!!

And of course continued thanks to Nikki at "Blogs for a Cause", for making William the charity of the month. Nikki's blogs are amazing. Please check her out at:
http://www.madebynikki.blogspot.com/

Back soon

Hi Everyone,

I am out of town. If you have sent William a donation or left us a comment I will post them as soon as I can. I have not been able to update the donation thingy or put your names in or send you "Thank yous" beacause I am updating this from the internet on my cell phone. I hope this post goes through, this thing gets a very bad connection. Anyway just wanted to let you know, I am on top of updating things just do not have computer access to do this.

Love you all!

Blessings,

Jen

William post surgery

William is doing very well. One of his eyes is very swollen and is still shut but he is doing very well! He looks SO good. Look at his sweet little face. Lord be praised!!

Beautiful

William's surgery went well. He is resting comfortably. I have recieved one picture of him so far and I think he looks just beautiful. He has the most beautiful lips. I am so happy and thankful and of course emotional. Praise Jesus!! God has blessed my family and I so richly and I am just not worthy. Thank you Lord for loving me and loving my son SO much!!

Anyway here he is .......drumroll please............


WILLIAM :)

Surgery 8am(3am EST)

William is having his surgery tomorrow at 8am Liberia time, this is 3am EST. PLEASE pray for my little guy. His surgery will be four hours long and will hopefully repair his precious face. William was admitted today. I heard he was sad today and crying quite a bit, I have been told this is not the norm for him. Maybe he sensed something was going on. Anyway....PLEASE Pray!


With much Love,

Jen

Prayer for William

Hi Everyone,

Please keep William in your prayers. He is going to have a major surgery on Monday of next week. William was screen and accepted aboard "The Mercy Ship". You can read about their screenings in Liberia here:


http://www.mercyships.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=ehKHI0PJIqE&b=2734991&ct=5051471
Here is a little info on the Mercy Ships and what they do:


"Since 1978, Mercy Ships has performed more than 1.7 million services valued at over $670 million and impacting more than 1.9 million people as direct beneficiaries.

Some of the more notable statistics include:

Performed more than 32,500 surgeries such as cleft lip and palate, cataract removal, straightening of crossed eyes, orthopaedic and facial reconstruction.
Hundreds of millions of people suffer daily with no access to having even their most basic of human needs met. For those whose lives come in contact with a Mercy Ship, they never forget the day everything changed.

It is truly remarkable that so many sacrifice so much to reach those so in need of hope and healing. But a funny thing happens when you reach out to give to the poor. You discover it is they who give to you, not the other way around. Their grace, their patience and the generosity and childlike gratitude over the smallest act of kindness changes and transforms those who are privileged to serve them.

Thanks to the generous donations of people all over the world, Mercy Ships surgeons have operated on thousands of people who never imagined it would be possible to have their lives back whole again.



Demonstrated the love of God to people in over 550 port visits in 70 different nations. More than 850 career crew from over 40 nations serve today.

More than 1,600 short-term volunteers serve with Mercy Ships each year".

Here is a link to the main website in case you would like to find out more:

http://www.mercyships.org/site/c.ehKHI0PJIqE/b.2733647/k.BEDB/Home.htm





William will be having a facial surgery. He will have the surgery on Monday and then will be on the Mercy ship for 4 weeks to recover. He will have a personal Nanny with him at all times on the ship. This is a huge blessing. The Mercy ship is a top notch hospital on a ship. It is safe and sterile, unlike the Liberian hospitals. I have been very afraid of William getting sick and sent to a Liberian hospital. It is not a very sterile enviorment and has very limited means of care, bless their hearts though, as they do the best they can with what they have.
I called the agency director of AOH today and she was on the Mercy Ship with my son, getting his labs and everything for his surgery. She told me all about what would happen and that she was getting pictures of everything and documenting it all so William would have it for when he is old enough to learn about his start in life. Then she put the phone up to his ear and I got to talk to(at him really!) my son. She said he had been eating his bottle and became quite interested in listening to me talk. She said he is a very sweet little guy and was doing wonderfully for all that he has to deal with.

Anyhow please pray for our son. We know he is in the Lord's hands and in the care of some GREAT doctors and nurses, but of course there are always reasons to worry. I am trying to give it ALL to HIM, as I know HE has the control here and worrying does nothing. But I am human and a mom...so it happens anyways :)


Love to all,

Jen

edit: Thank you Erin. You can now click on my links. Sorry I am computer lame at times :)

Insomnia

Lately I cannot sleep at all.....well at night. Sometimes at 1am I am still not tired. This has been the last month or so. I am not sure what is up as nothing has changed with my normal bedtime habits. You think I would be tired after a long day with 4 kids, but I am not...I am wired. Any ideas on how I can get to sleep without one of those addictive medications that have odd side effects like numbs hands and feet? I did try and ambien my doctor gave me once. I slept TO soundly and woke up with numb hands and feet and could not move them for like 20 minutes...it was scary. Maybe I have to much on my mind. Any ideas??


With love,

Jen

Mayan Families

There are so many people in need out there in this world. I heard about these children and their families from Nikki, and it has really touched my heart. So I prayed about it and decided to sponsor a little special needs guy who had spina bifida. What a cutie! Check out this website:

http://www.mayanfamiliesstudentsponsorship.blogspot.com/


You will see children who need sponsors to go to school and you will also learn about their living conditions, which are pretty desperate. While you are reading this check out my little guy! It is an awesome cause, please check it out if you have a moment.

Love,

Jen


Carlos Enrique is 5yrs old. He is in kindergarten this Jan. 2008.
He lives in San Jorge with his father, Antonio 43yrs old and his mother, Celestina 42yrs old. He has five brothers and one sister. They are:
Ricardo is 23yrs old. He works as a day laborer. He is married.
Gloria is 19yrs old. She is married. She did not go to school and does not know how to read or write.
Miguel Angel 16yrs old. He went to school until 4th grade.
Twin brothers , Juan Fransisco and Juan Carlos (student # 635) 14yrs old. The parents could only afford to send one brother to school. They did not have the opportunity to be able to pay for both of them. Only Juan Francisco is in school.
Sergio is 11yrs old. He is in 2nd grade.
Carlos Enrique is a lovely little boy. He has spina bifida. He is unable to walk and uses a wheelchair. He really wanted to go to school this year. At first, the school was not going to accept him but then they agreed to take him if we got a special chair built for him. We have done that and we are now hoping that Carlos will get a sponsor to be able to pay his school fees.
The father works as a day laborer which means that he takes whatever work is available. He earns $40 US per week. The mother does not work outside the home.
The parents do not have the possibility to be able to cover all the costs on the income that they have. They have to buy disposable diapers for Carlos Enrique.
They own their house. It is made of cement block, the roof is tin sheeting, the floor is cement.
They have two rooms and an outside kitchen.
They do not have an onil stove.
They have a pila.
They have water and electricity connected.
They pay $15.U.S for the electricity a month.
They pay $4US for the water per year.
They have a closet to keep their clothes.
They have sufficient beds.

A new look!

Look what Nikki at "blogs for a cause" did to our blog....I just LOVE it! Thank you so much Nikki! Check Nikki out, her link is to the right on the side bar. William is her charity of the month, $5 of every blog she designs does towards his adoption! She does such an awesome job!


With Love,

Jen

A Thank you to PLAN!!!!!!!

I just wanted to say "THANK YOU" to the wonderful people over at PLAN!! PLAN was the adoption agency who found out about William and provided his foster home with loving and excellent care! PLAN worked VERY hard to help William. We very much appreciate what they do! They are a wonderful organization who are completely for the children! Just look at our Chub ball! Thank you PLAN from the bottom of our hearts!

Please check out PLAN at:

http://www.planlovingadoptions.org/index.php


With Love,

Jen

a moment.......

Please take a moment to go over to www.babybolte.blogspot.com


Kristy has posted pictures of her precious baby boy who left to be with Jesus shortly after his arrival. It is my prayer that we can all shower the Bolte's with love and prayers. I just cannot imagine the pain they are in :(

Please take a moment after checking out her blog and ask the Lord to provide comfort to this grieving family.

With Love,

Jen

William 3.5 months

LOOK :) NEW PICS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I got new pics of William today. I think they are so cute!






Praise HIS name!!!

Love ya all,

Jen

Asher went to Jesus

Please pray for the Bolte's tonight. After 35 precious minutes, Asher(Happy) went to be with our Savior. While rejoice that he is "Home" he leaves behind a broken hearted family. We trust in the Lord with all our hearts, but of course it is SO hard to lose a child. Please say a prayer for the Bolte's.


With Love,

Jen

Baby Asher(Happy) Bolte is here!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here is an update from Kristy's blog:

www.babybolte.blogspot.com


"Welcome to the world Asher!
Baby Asher (Asher means happy in Hebrew) was born around 2:30pm. He weighs 4.1oz and has an awesome little nose- and amazing feet with really long toes- which Kristy says all of her boys have had. He has been held and loved up by many family and friends. We are all so thankful for Kristy and Howard letting us meet him! Luke and Ben have spent some time with him as well. Kenny Sturm has been there the whole time taking many pictures that I believe Kristy will post so that you all can check him out. The c section went well. Right now he is here, with his family, being loved and held. That is all I can tell you for now. Please pray for family and friends - for all of us who love the whole Bolte gang, to be able to accept God's plan in this. I have been printing your comments and will continue to do so and will give these to Kristy and Howard. Again, please forgive me for not having the words.... I can say that he is incredible and that he has has been born into a wonderful family and is being showered with tons of love".


PRAYING...............WELCOME ASHER BOLTE

Bolte Family Update---Pray for time with Happy

Here is an update from their blog:

www.boltebaby.blogspot.com

"Please forgive me- I don't have the right words to say- so will just tell you what I have heard from my husband who is at the hospital. They have done more tests today and the results showed that Happy is not doing well. They will be doing the c section at 2pm today. From what I have heard they have not been given much hope that they will have a lot of time with Happy after he is born. However, these are doctors, and they seem to give the "worst case scenerio" most of the time. Pray for time with Happy and Luke and Ben going in to meet their brother. I don't know what else to ask you to pray for. I do know that God knows what they need and that He knows what we are asking for even when we don't know. I will let you know when I hear more".


PLEASE PRAY THAT THEY GET TIME TO SPEND WITH THEIR PRECIOUS SON.

Please Pray for the Bolte Family

Please pray for the Bolte Family. There story can be found at:


www.babybolte.blogspot.com


Here is an excript from their blog:

"Thursday's sonogram
Kristy asked me to let everyone know that she is back in the hospital. The sonogram today indicated that she would need to deliver now rather than wait until Monday. As of right now they will do the c section tomorrow morning. They are doing another sonogram at 9pm. The results of that may cause them to move the delivery up to tonight. I don't have lots of details. I know that the boys are at home with good friends and will be throughout the night. Ben is still not feeling well. So we will pray for them and their caregivers as well as how and when they will meet Happy and all that goes with that meeting. You all know what Kristy has asked us to pray for, and are doing just that. God knows what they need now and will need. We will keep asking Him to provide for their needs through His power. I will let you know as soon as I hear anything new".


-Kristy I am praying for you, sweet Happy and the rest of your family. We are sending love, hope and peace your way.

Love ya,

Jen

Your kindess and HIS grace..........

Hi Everyone,

First and foremost I want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart. I am blown away by your amazing kindness, and since I am one of those sensitive types :) I am very often brought to tears. You have not only send donations, but you have embraced my William and the rest of my family. I cannot tell you how much your emails, prayers and kind words mean to me! I am so humbled :) This God of ours just....well there is no word good enough to describe HIM. What he has done in my life just astounds me. HE has allowed me to be a wife to an amazing man, a mother to children bore to me, and now children born into my heart. HE has taken me on many amazing journeys where at times I thought I would lose it, and it was through these times that I fully learned about HIS grace, HIS love, HIS true faithful love for me!

Thought you might like to see more pictures of my family? Here are a few:

With much Love,

Jen

A little of our story

Hi Folks,

I am quite tired tonight(kids will do that to ya!!), but I am going to share some of our story and include a few photos of my family. I have prayed for a while now for strength and courage to overcome my fear of other's reactions to our adoption of William, specifically from family and friends. I feel very strong in this department as of late, and have been very encouraged and strengthened by your sweet comments. I feel it is time to share some.


My name is Jen. I am married to an awesome man and we have three biological children age 10,3,2. We also have a 5 year old adopted daughter from Liberia who came home last year. Our Liberian daughter was a victim of caustic ingestion. She swallowed lye(similar to acid) in Liberia. It looks like water and has no scent. The use Lye to wash clothes in Africa. Anyway she was thirsty and drank what she though was water, it was not. It melted her esophogus. She could not eat, drink or swallow her saliva. She was hospitalized for 3 months over there and she got down to 21lbs. They were trying to keep her alive on IV fluids.

We had wanted to adopt initially, each time we attempted we got pregnant. This was very much a blessing as we had six miscarriages along the way, one later term. Our children are wonderful! We knew God had his own timing. Finally we were at the place where we had our homestudy done, our I600A sent off......we were ready for a referal. We thought we would adopt a special needs baby. We had a special needs child on our hearts and felt at peace with this path. We thought maybe we would adopt a baby with cerebral palsy or a deaf or blind child. We had no idea that our daughter was already picked out for us!

We saw that Acres of Hope had a waiting children list. We looked over the list and talked about the different special needs children that were on it. We decided that maybe an older child might work for our family. We also read a lot about caustic ingestion. Finally after a few weeks of intense prayer we decided to ask about 3 caustic children on the list. We got the pictures and info of these children. Our daughter stood out to us right away. She was so sick. She looked like a walking skeleton. In her eyes though stood a fiesty spirit, we could see this right away. I mean you would have to be a tough child to endure what she had and still be alive at 5 years old and 21 lbs. We went back to praying. Within a short time we knew she was ours. We called our agency and asked for her referal. We were very excited, but a litted overwhelmed. This child would have to have a massive surgery to be able to lead a normal life. This surgery was as difficult as heart surgery. We just had to follow our Lord. He knew what he was doing.

We got our dossier together and went through the court system, then waited for her passport, then her paperwork to make it to the U.S. We filed out I600 and they approved us in 1 day(I stalked them!). Then she came home. It was just amazing how God worked it. I could feel HIM in each step. Just when it got hard, when we thought she would never come home, HE came through.

Our daughter is home with us. She just had her esophagial replacement surgery. They took out her old useless esophogus and created a tube from part of her stomach, it became a new esophogus for her. Her surgery was 12 difficult hours. She came through it though and gets better each day. What a tough kid. She is a wonderful child, I cannot say enough about her and could go on and on about how blessed we have been by her. We love her so much, she fits in so well it has been like she has always been here.

We heard about William from our agency when our daughter had been home a short while. We prayed for many weeks about him. Could we do this, could we take on another child this soon after adopting our first? Could we actually handle all this different special needs he has? God provided the answers for us and the peace in our hearts that came after those answers. "YES.....and I will be there with you, each step of the way". We can do this with God's help. At this point we are very excited and just want to get him home. We worry about his health, the malaria etc. But we are Mom and Dad..what Mom and Dad avoid worries completely with their little ones?? Though he looks like he has a lot going on, well he does...his surgeries will be a lot more minor compared to our daughters. He will come home in a matter of a couple days, not weeks like our baby girl. I am overjoyed with my life right now. I am so lucky...so blessed.

Thank you all for joining us on our journey. We are blessed to have you with us!


Here are a few pictures of my daughter. Before and after.



BEFORE:

AFTER with her 3 year old sister:

Me

I decided I would post a picture of myself. So here I am. This is a picture with my almost 11 year old son. Just thought you might like to see who's blog you read, well I mean it is William's blog, but I write it so.............I am babbling. Hey..Oh.. I am suposed to get more pictures of William this week. He is 3 months old now!! I of course will share them with you all!

With Love,

William's Mom

I600A Approval

Hey Guys,

First off from the bottom of my heart I want to thank you all for donating and passing our story around to family and friends. The response has been awesome and the thermometer is moving!! Each time I log into yahoo there have been donations. I cannot help but cry...I am beyond moved. The Lord provides for what HE intends, HE inspires and HE connects. This blog has been my opportunity to connect with so many wonderful people. I love you comments and covet your prayers. The Lord and YOU...are bringing William home! :) Again my heart felt thanks and much Love to everyone who reads William's blog!

On to other new....so today I got the mail and in it was a USCIS envelope. Argh I thought, what could they want. Is my homestudy to old, is the adendum not good, whats up USCIS folks. So I open it and SCREAM(really I did)"Praise Jesus". I was so loud my little one looked at her crazy Mama and said "Mommy did Jesus send you a letter?". Kids are awesome aren't they!! Anyway it was our USCIS approval. We were JUST fingerprinted!!! The Lord sure is speedy......Praise HIS name! So this is my good news. I love good news. My baby is closer to me tonight and I am just beside my self with joy and filled with a peace only my Savior can provide me! Praise HIM!!

With much love,


William's Mom

One Dollar Adoption

Hi guys,
As you may know we have to raise $15,000 for our adoption of William. His adoption was unexpected as we had adopted our daughter from Liberia last year and thought we would wait a while to adopt another child. When our agency sent out the plea to find William a family I could not help but inquire about the little guy. Other families had interest but later decided his needs were more than they could handle at this time. We have a small ammount of savings but nothing near what our adoption and travel fees are. So we are asking for your help.

We are asking if it at all might be possible for each person who reads our blog to search their hearts and pray and decide if William's adoption may be something you might want to donate towards. We are not asking for much. If each person who reads out blog would donate a $1 and then pass our story and blog address on to their family and friends and ask them to do the same, and with the Lord alimighy's help we may be able to do this.

Please condsider our little guy! We are forever grateful for your donations, love and especially your prayers. Prayer is SUCH an amazing force.

If you would like to send a check please send it to

Acres of Hope, Liberia, Inc
29525 Four Corners Store Road
Mason, Wisconsin 54856

Please make checks out to : Acres of Hope, Liberia

We want you to feel comfortable donating to William's cause. This is why we ask you make checks out to our agency. If for some reason you would like to send a check directly to us, please email me at WilliamAlan07@yahoo.com and I will give you the info.
If you prefer to use paypal we have set up an account for that as well. All donations will recieve a reciept from paypal for tax purposes etc. On the side bar is a button for a paypal donation.

Thank you so much for your love and support.


With all our love and blessings,

William's Mom and Family

Feelings

Sometimes I think I am crazy.....yet I still feel HIS peace most of the time. While I am concerned about the unknown, it does not cause any terrible fear in my heart. What concerns me most is sticking to God's plan for our lives. People can be so difficult to deal with. It seems like there is a select SMALL group that thinks adoption is a beautiful thing, such a gift from God and then there are the "rest" of the folks who think we are all crazy. "How could you bring a stranger into your home?, You will ruin your other children's lives, Why do you want SO many kids?, How can you provide all your kids with enough attention?". These are all valid questions, but really while some people are actually concerned, the majority just seem to be against adoption and are just critical. I mean would they talk to me this way if I just told them I was pregnant? Would they be so critical then?? I think not.
I have not told anyone in my family about William yet, and I have only told a few close friends. I feel so lame because at this point I just do not want to deal with the backlash of anger and negative commments. I give reason after reason and will it satisfy.....nope. And I feel guilty for even caring what they think, I mean after all this is God's plan for us and who are they to stand in the way. My family as well is not particularly religious. My husband and I on the other hand are Evangelical Christians so we believe that God leads the way and we follow. My family would most likely accuse me of using God as my excuse for William's adoption. Why do I even care, why?
Many of you know me and I have neglected to put any personal info up here for the lame reason that I do not feel like getting a call from a family member berating us for adopting this sweet boy. Lame, I know. William is our second child we are adopting through Acres of Hope, Liberia. Many of you came along for the ride and followed our story the first time and we have followed yours. All of you have been such an inspiration for me. Your children are so precious. I also appreciate the new folks I have just met on this blog. Thank you so much for taking the time to post your comments. They mean a lot to me. They remind me....when I am questioning myself, when I am in doubt, that God wants this, that I need to talk to him and give it all to him and move on. The Lord has rained down the blessings upon my family and I. Has has shown me time and time again that following him, through the roughest of storms will only produce a miracle in the end.


Currently on my long prayer list is one for myself: COURAGE. Lord give me courage through all the this. The courage to confront my doubts, my family, my fears and to follow you always. You run the show and I am blessed to participate.

Friends please send the Lord a few prayers for me:

1. For courage for me. I am so ashamed but I must ask.

2. For William's health and well being. Recently a family went to get their son's and baby daughter from Liberia. During their stay the baby died after fighting malaria. There have been a few incidents of this happening. Malaria is VERY common there.

3. For our fundraising efforts. We have A LOT of money to raise in a short time. God provides for his will, but prayer is such an amazing force it cannot do anything but help.

Lots of Love,

William's Mom

USCIS again

Well I got in contact with USCIS. I think they are really annoyed by me. It did the trick though. Another annoyance is that we had to have a homestudy update and USCIS called my social worker and told her that they DO NOT accept homestudies over 6 months old, ours is 8 months...BUT we have the update. So the guy told my social worker that since William would be home soon and his case is urgent that he would take everything to his supervisor and see if an exception can be made. So I was holding my breath there for a while, praying a lot.
So anyway my social worker called this morning and said they would accept the homestudy with update...BUT we have to get new clearances via Department of Human Services and local police clearances. Not to bad.She said us doing it ourselves would be much quicker than her mailing it all in. So we lucked out. I am sure we owe this "exception", to God as well as everything else. So we are moving along nicely. Cannot wait to hold my baby!

Love,

William's Mom

So Cute!

USCIS

I am frustrated with USCIS. This is the email I got from them today:

"Hello: We have received your application and the original notarized copy of the home study. This information is being forwarded for scheduling of fingerprints. Please allow a generalized time of 90 days for processing.

Adoption Unit".

I have a signed doctors note stating that our son is an emergency case. I have written to USCIS many times explaining this to them and today this is the email I get. So I sent the doctors note and pictures of William in an attachment AGAIN. He does not have 90 days. He is in a medically fragile state and needs to get home. Liberia can get this baby processed very quickly, why can the American government not do the same. Argh I am so annoyed. USCIS can expect to hear from me everyday until I get the correct response from them.

Blessings,

William's Mom

The Honesty of Little Folk

William will not be our first child. We have biological and adopted children and some of them are younger. I find the honesty of young children refreshing. William's siblings are excited about having a baby brother. My husband was afriad they would be frightened of the photos of William. I really was not, but we had to find out sometime. I have talked about William for some time, but have not shown them any pictures. This week I finally showed them some. These are a few of the questions and responses I got from my younger kids. Some of them understand that William is from Liberia, Africa and that he has a mother there as well. Anyway here are some observations and questions they had:

"Mommy our baby brother is not hurt?"

"Mommy our Billum has no lips"

"Mommy why did Billum's Mama cut his leg off?"

"Mommy will we grow him a new leg?"

"Mommy fish have no legs either".

"Mommy William is here forever, or he goes back when he gets a leg?"

"Mommy William loves Jesus?"

"I will feed him and keep him in my room".

"I want him for my birthday".

Thank you Mary!

I am going to thank every person who donates to our adoption on my blog! I am humbled and astounded that people would be so generous. It amazes me how God works through people to help a teenie person like William. Thank you!

Thank you Mary for donating to our adoption. We are truely blessed by your kindness!


With Love,

William's Mom :)

Thank you Laurie

I just wanted to say a quick "Thank You" to Laurie!! She kindly donated to our adoption fund. Thanks so much :)


With Love,

William's Mom :)