We Don't Have The Privilege

This picture doesn't do justice to the beautiful luminaries our friends lovingly made and placed on our driveway.  It was amazing reading all the messages and seeing the sweet pictures that decorated them.  It is truly wonderful how all of this support helps with the healing.

The initial immense shock and disbelief has worn off.  We know that we will never get to meet Samuel this side of heaven.  But we know that he doesn't need us anymore!  He is fully healed and restored!  

We know that God is good and he can bring joy from the sadness!

"In Africa, we don't have the privilege of crying too long, there are always more children that need us."

These were words that were written to us by Samuel's orphanage's director.  Their everyday life consists of stories of children sick and dying.  They must carry on and continue to serve those that they can.  God has opened our hearts to special needs adoption in Liberia  and we need to pray about how we can carry on and continue to serve those that we can.

Thank You All

I just want to say thank you to everyone for all of their support.  The phone calls, texts, facebook messages, flowers and meals were so so sweet.

This is such an odd thing to grieve.  It's a bizarre situation to be in.  All I can do is liken it to a miscarriage.  I've never had one, but it seems like it is similar.  Samuel was our child, but we hadn't met him yet.  We were certain that he would be coming home to us soon, but we had never held him in our arms.  We had prepared for him and purchased things for him.  We had dreamed about watching him grow up healthier and stronger.  But now those things won't be used by him and we won't get to hold him or watch him grow.  It leaves a strange hole.  We loved him, but we don't have any memories with him.

The couple that originally told us about Samuel is leaving for Liberia tomorrow.  They knew Samuel, had met him and were so excited for him to have found a family.  I can't imagine how devastated they must feel to know they won't be able to see the sweet little guy.

So for now we are going to just sit in our odd situation of grief and praise God for all of our wonderful friends and family.  Thanks for taking this little journey with us.

Very Sad News

It is with great shock and sadness that we bring you this update on our little boy Samuel.

We received a call this morning from the orphanage director that little Samuel died last night.  The shunt he had placed in December malfunctioned.  It is our understanding that it began to drain too much fluid, which ultimately led to him passing in to a coma and dying a short time later.

We are devastated and don't know how to process this information.  We did learn that the Liberian courts had named us his legal guardians before he passed away.  For some reason, that brings us comfort.

Thank you all very much for all of your love and prayers and support during this crazy month in our lives.  It has honestly meant so much to us.

We can praise God that Samuel is no longer suffering!  He is in the arms of Jesus.

I also want to thank all of you who donated financially to us.  We never ended up sending any money to Liberia, as we just received the information on where to send it last night.  So for those of you who did donate, we will be returning that money to you shortly.  Thank you again for you generosity!

So far, so good!

I didn't hear much about what happened at court today, but I did hear that it went well!  Apparently, our paperwork will now sit in the courts for a few days and be processed.  Hopefully all of our documentation will be complete and correct.  It is my understanding that after it is processed, we will then be legal guardians of Samuel according to the Liberian courts.

Then we have to get things processed with U.S. immigration so they will allow us to bring him into the country.  We filled out some paperwork today pertaining to that and emailed it to Liberia.  That paperwork will be filed at the U.S. Embassy in Liberia where we will hopefully be able to obtain a visa for Samuel.

Once all of this is completed then Nate can buy his plane ticket!!

I want to say a huge thank you to one of Nate's co workers!  You know who you are! I was feeling very discouraged and overwhelmed by this process today and your gift really made a huge difference in my mood!  God bless you!

Going to Court!

I woke up this morning to an email from the orphanage saying they are going to court today to discuss Samuel and a few other children!  There are a few more documents that I need to gather, but nothing that seems too complicated.  Please pray that everything at court goes well today!!

Thank you!!!

Just Waiting...

It was all so exciting the last two weeks as we raced around town getting our paperwork together.  Gathering doctor's notes, criminal clearances, employment verification, letters of recommendation, tax returns, birth certificates, marriage record... the list goes on!  So much to do!  It was a thrilling whirlwind of activity!  And now the paperwork has been submitted and we wait...

It would be laughable, though, for us to complain about the wait!  I mean, like seriously, laugh out loud, roll on the floor, hysterically ridiculous of us.  There are so many people who have been sitting in international adoption limbo for YEARS!  People have spent thousands of dollars, poured their heart into an unpredictable process, dotted all of their "I"s and crossed all of their "T"s and they continue to wait to bring their long-awaited children home. Yet, we find ourselves getting impatient after one week, how silly is that?  It is just so hard to look at Samuel's sweet little face and not want him in our arms RIGHT NOW.

When it does come time for us to bring him home, it has been decided that Nate will be the one to travel and I will stay home with the kids.  Nate is much more up to this adventurous trip and I am....not.  I am very thankful to have a husband who is willing to travel half way around the world with a baby all by himself!  He is amazing!

We are gearing up to send our first payment to the orphanage on Wednesday.  We continue to trust God to provide the finances.  My God is a big God, a really big God and that's all I need to know right now.

Christina

The Money Post

So, I wanted to clarify about our donation button on the blog here....  Nate and I have not been huge fans of adoption fundraising.  There is nothing wrong with it necessarily, but that was just not part of how we funded our first adoption.  Sure, we received some generous monetary gifts and we were very grateful for them, but we didn't actively seek them out.  We felt it was our decision to adopt and therefore, our responsibility to pay for it.  Also, we weren't creative enough to come up with any of the wonderful, fun ideas people have for adoption fundraising!!

This time, we have decided to put it out there.  To humble ourselves and ask for help.  Mainly, because we weren't planning on this.  Seriously, this sweet, adorable boy fell into our laps overnight.  I am totally in awe of how this has all happened!  

I know there are people who have asked how they can help.  Prayers and encouragement are immeasurably valuable to us!  Please, keep them coming!  And for those of you who want to help financially, you would be an answer to prayer.  But please, only give financially if it is something you really want to do.  We don't ever want anyone to feel pressure to give or feel that they have to give because they know us.  We all have different roles to play in life.  We all have different ways that we give.  

Thanks so much for everything!!!

Christina

A New Outfit

We got word today that the social worker at the orphanage has started to process our paperwork.  We really have no idea how long this process is going to take, but we are trying not to be anxious about that.  It is completely out of our hands right now and all we can do is wait!  Adoptions in Liberia are closed, except for special needs adoptions, so there is not a big back up in the courts like there are in some countries.  The director of the orphanage has already spoken to a judge there and has been told that they will expedite the case as best they can.  Also, we are not completing the entire adoption process at this point, but are becoming his legal guardians.  That is the quickest way to get him here and then we can complete the adoption process here in the States.

In terms of medical prognosis and what he will need for care, we really won't know that until he comes home.  We know that he can't sit up, roll or crawl due to the weight of his head, but that he does kick his arms and legs around and is very responsive to people.  We just want to get him home as quickly as possible so we can get him the therapy and care that he needs!

When we were out shopping yesterday, the kids decided we needed to buy Samuel an outfit.  Amazingly, they all agreed on the same one... that never happens :)

We so appreciate all of your support and encouragement!!