You Are Five Months Old Today!

Missing You Tonight, Isabella!

Isabella, your brothers prayed for you again tonight to come home soon- so sweet! We are all missing you so much!!! Sleep well tonight, my sweet girl!

To by blogger friends: PLEASE keep praying that we receive visa pre-approval soon from our US Embassy in Guatemala. This wait is excruciating!!!

Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours!

Eureka! I've Figured it Out!!!

Have you ever been to the grocery store and short on time? With your cart brimming over you look left, right and left again looking for the fastest line possible. You quickly judge the timeliness of the checker, the amount of people already in line and how full their carts are. You come to the sure conclusion that the line you have chosen will be the fastest based on all calculations.

However...

Little did you know that the lady ahead of you is using 25 coupons (No offense- I use them too), one of them is not ringing up, so the checker has to look through the computer to figure out if the lady really bought the item she is promising she did so she can get her "two for one". All of the people in the other lines that you calculated as taking much longer have come and gone. Their turkey dinners already prepared by the time you make it to the parking lot.

Have you ever had a s-l-o-w experience like this, convinced it should have been faster? That's what happened to me today. It doesn't bother me anymore. It happens to me all the time. Actually, I find it quite hilarious because it is just so frequent. I don't know how I do it. It's just a gift! I actually tell people around me to be prepared for a delay because I have entered the line. That usually gets a laugh or two. Maybe they can relate?

Well, as I was waiting in the WRONG line again today, it hit me like a ton of bricks. Eureka! I've figured it out! I've figured out why the pre-approval wait went from mere days to two plus months for no apparent reason. I know the reason...

I'VE GOTTEN IN LINE!!!

Yes, it's true. I take full responsibility for the long PA waits. I thought I was getting into the fastest line, and I did it again!

So, if you are in line with me for PA~ I fully appologize. You might as well pick up one of those magazines. It could be a while!

_________________________________________________

Patience is the fruit of God's spirit.

It hangs from the tree of Galatians 5:22:

"The Spirit produces the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience."

So Much to be Thankful For!

Thank you, God, for my family!!!

I can't wait to see this face, too, at our Thanksgiving table next year...

Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name. Psalm 100:4

God's Way of Saying, "Have a Nice Day!"

I got this picture in an email tonight. I thought it might make you smile. I sure did!

My Prayer Today

Psalm 82:3-4
3 Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless;

maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed.
4 Rescue the weak and needy;

deliver them from the hand of the wicked.

Psalm 10:14
14 But you, O God, do see trouble and grief;

you consider it to take it in hand.

The victim commits himself to you; you are the helper of the fatherless.

Psalm 10:17
17 You hear, O LORD, the desire of the afflicted;

you encourage them, and you listen to their cry,

Psalm 10:18
18 defending the fatherless and the oppressed,

in order that man, who is of the earth, may terrify no more.

Please, Lord, help sweet Isabella's case. Restore the miraculous momentum, in Jesus' name.

PA Prayers Needed

Please keep praying that we will receive visa pre-approval for Bella Grace's case. We really need your prayers! Please pray for peace for me. This is such a difficult wait!!!

Thank you from the bottom of my heart,

Stacy

P.S. Thank you for posting prayers and words of encouragement for me last week. It's just what I needed! Thank you! Thank you!

O.K., now stop reading today's post and start PRAYING!!! {{HUGS}}

Angry!

Yep, that's right... I'm angry! Sometimes this adoption stuff just gets to me. I'm SICK and TIRED and DONE with this whole thing!!!!!!!!!!!!! We've had FOUR YEARS of heart-break trying to adopt domestically. Last summer we turned to international adoption, and now it looks like we might not get Isabella home in time because our STUPID Department of State doesn't want any more Guatemalan children in the US. That's the only explanation I can think of. Yesterday's hopeful news that the Hague/Ortega cut off would be pushed back 4 months is being shut down by our own Department of State. Here's a quote from Guatadopt:

"US Consul General John Lowell is once again attempting to interfere with Guatemala's rights as a sovereign nation. He is apparently requesting a meeting with all the Guatemalan parties in Congress in an attempt to strong arm them into not delaying Ortega and the Hague."

Can you believe this baloney? I HATE this. I'm FULLY aware of the fact that the DOS is limiting pre-approvals right now. That's SO crap! They can pre-approve those visas within days if they want to. They certainly did last month. Now the wait is back to 60 days. DOS doesn't want anymore children to have the chance of getting through PGN by the end of the year. Guess what? That's us. We can't catch a break.

I know that God can move mountains, but I think sometimes He chooses not to in our case. My heart is broken for Isabella. My heart is just broken.

A Sign From God?

Last Sunday was our last day at the Grand Tikal. On the last day of a visit trip I always feel a little glum... happy for the time with Isabella, but dreading the moment I have to put her back into her crib at her orphanage and kiss her goodbye. It makes me sad to think about it.

This last Sunday as we were preparing to pack up and leave, I asked God for a sign to comfort my heart. There was a big, rockin' church service down the hall in the hotel. We decided to bring Isabella and check it out. On the way in, up on the wall, was a huge sign with a verse from Isaiah 41:10. Since Spanish is my second language, I immediately recognized the verse and knew the verse was for ME to comfort my heart. I wasn't expecting an actual "SIGN" up on the wall of the hotel as God's way of speaking to me! Nevertheless, I am clinging to this verse today.

I think God is trying to tell me, "Don't panic. I'm with you. There's no need to fear because I'm your God. I'll give you strength. I'll help you."

Thank You

Thank you, Blogger Buddies, for your prayers and comments. They mean so much to me!

~Stacy

PLEASE PRAY!!!

As some of you may know, our DNA has been lost somewhere at the US Embassy in Guatemala since October 22nd. Pam, at the Embassy, emailed me and told me that they "have no record of your child's DNA". I called the lab in the US to resend it, and they said no. I wanted to freak!

After MANY prayers by friends and family (maybe you, too!), I received an email from the USE in Guatemala just 5 mins. ago. It looks like they found our DNA. Thank you, Lord!!! Here's the email I just received,

"Dear family XXXX,
The DNA results were received and your case is under review by an USCIS Officer, for any notification you will be contacted by email.
Regards,
Adoptions Unit / MG
US Citizenship and Immigration Services
Guatemala City"

OK, you guys...Keep praying. We need a fast Pre-Approval by this USCIS Officer reviewing our case. Please pray for favor from the Lord!