Adoption Part Two

Come follow along on my new adventure!

I'm blogging about it here: http://adoptionparttwo.blogspot.com/

101st and last post

Wow - I just realized that my Happy Birthday to Moonbeam post was my 100th post! Crazy!
Anyhow, I've decided this will be my last post here on Hoping for Hannah - so sad that it has come to this....but sweet Moonbeam is with her new family and I am not certain if I will be getting any updates - I'm still hoping, but as of now it doesn't seem likely. I will continue to pray for her and she will always be in my heart!
This journey has taken so many unexpected twists and turns. I am so thankful that none of this has taken God by surprise and that even though I don't really understand why things have turned out the ways they have - His plan is still unfolding....He is still in control!
I am starting a new adoption journey - I will be blogging about it here. I hope and pray it will end differently, but I know that no matter the outcome I will still be His.
One thing I have definitely learned during this journey to adopt is that this is not just my journey - I am amazed at the ways God has impacted others through my journey - huh? You mean it's not all about me? :)
I re-discovered this post on another of my blogs and it really fits with where I'm at now....this journey is not just my own...hope you'll join me.

Happy 4th Birthday, Moonbeam

Happy birthday sweet Moonbeam! I am thinking of you today and wishing I could be there to celebrate with you and your family! I am having daydreams of you and your cousins and friends playing outside, eating ice cream and pastries! Opening presents! Celebrating you!
I cannot begin to tell you, sweet girl, how happy I am to know you are with your family and not making a move this week to the older kids' orphanage!
I do miss you though and wish that I could be there to sing and celebrate with you!
Happy Birthday - I will always be praying for you! You will always have an Auntie in Colorado who loves you!

Kyrgyz Interim Leader is on Facebook!

Roza Otunbayeva, Kyrgyzstan's interim leader is hip enough to be on facebook :)
Which means she is far "hipper" than I am! :)

Click here for a link to her facebook page.

This am she posted a message to the 65 waiting families lettting the whole world know that she does, in fact, know about the waiting kiddos and stating that they will be reunited with their families. Moonbeam has a family now, but there are still many waiting children and I know she would want her buddies to be with their forever families! So, if you are also "hipper" than I am and you are on facebook - would you please post a comment in support of Ms. Otunbayeva and request that she continue to pursue every avenue available to her to make a way for these children to be with their waiting families.

And, beyond that please be praying for Roza!

Thanks and an Update

First, let me say a million thanks to all of you who have left comments, sent me emails and called to encourage! I am so thankful for all of you! I feel supported, understood and loved! Thank you!
Next, let me say this has been one of the hardest weeks! I spent most of it alternating between celebrating and grieving - I am completely exhausted.
I spoke with my agency this evening and she had an update from our in country coordinator that was again both heartbreaking and heartwarming. She says that Hannah has in fact, gone to live with relatives. When they came to take her home, I am told she was very confused, upset and kept asking for me - she wanted to see my pictures and kept asking where I was? Sweet girl - as much as is possible for a three year old she truly was waiting for me and that really warms my heart! I hope I will be able to stay in touch with her. My coordinator says that she will contact them in the Fall after they have had time to settle in and ask if it would be OK for me to write her. I truly hope so!
Again, thank you so much to each of you who have shown your love, support and understanding of this painful journey.

An Answer to Prayer

Back on March 6th I posted about the change in my prayer for Moonbeam. I started praying specifically for a family in Kyrgyz to adopt her - before her 4th birthday!

Just under two months later and God has answered that prayer. My agency coordinator called today to let me know that relatives have returned to the BBH to adopt Moonbeam. She tells me that she first heard about this three weeks ago, but was waiting to share with me until she knew for sure that it would be happening.

As I type through my tears, heartbroken that I will not get to be her mama, I am also thrilled to know she will not wait any longer, she will not move orphanages in July - instead she will celebrate her birthday with her forever family - and that makes me want to jump for joy!

I am forever changed by this process. I am honored that I have been able to pray for and love Moonbeam for the past 23 months. And that honor will not stop now. I will continue to pray for her and for her forever family.

In the News

Lots of press recently - too bad it isn't good news :(

Friday April 23rd - Associated Press Writer David Crary - find story here

Friday April 23rd - Washington Post article about the base - find story here

Wednesday April 21st - Laurie Rich story published in Newsweek - find story here
Recognize the mom and daughter strolling the grounds of the BBH?

Wednesday April 21st - Moscow Times article about Kyrgyz - find story here

Haven't posted in awhile...

mainly because it is just so hard to put into words all that has happened over the last few weeks. From the high of the Family Code legislation that could pave the way for the starting of international adoptions again being passed in parliament waiting for the president to sign after a 30 day public comment period to the low of that very parliament being dissolved by an interim government...I just don't know what to say anymore.

I pray that this leads the way for a brighter future for Kyrgyzstan overall, but I am fearful that sweet Moonbeam and the other waiting children will be the littlest victims in the battle for that brighter future.

As I write that last sentence I am crying....again.

Happy Easter

He is risen!
I am thankful for such a beautiful and very meaningful Easter weekend. Starting with a Good Friday service which was very powerful, moving into a prayer vigil and then a very moving Easter service this am. Each year I am more convinced that you cannot truly experience the joy of Easter without experiencing the weight of your sin on Good Friday - the very sin that pinned Jesus to the cross.
Easter is all about hope! If Jesus was just a good man who died for a cause then that's it - the story is over and it means little to us today! But He was and is so much more than that. The Son of God - who died to reconcile us to God - resurrected and triumphing over death and sin and all that separates us from a loving God who desires a relationship with us!
Thank you Jesus for your sacrifice! Thank you for the cross which allows me to draw near now! The veil is torn - the victory is yours!
He is risen!
He is risen indeed!

Sweet Syd

Tonight as Syd and I were driving over to the gym to go for a swim, I was asking her what she has been talking to God about lately? Has she been praying about anything specific. "Well, yes", was her answer, "I've been praying for Hannah to come home."
How precious is that?

What if it never happens?

I have to admit, this is the question floating around in my head as the weeks go by with NO NEWS! No forward movement! Continued silence! Not one shred of evidence that things will resolve soon and I will be making a trip to reunite with my beloved girl!
Today, I felt my prayer changing a bit....I am beginning to pray for a family for Moonbeam in Bishkek. I would so much rather see her in a loving family TODAY, than waiting in the BBH for another year or more for me. As much as it breaks my heart to say it out loud or write it here on my blog, that truly is my prayer! Father, bring her a family! Please don't let her miss out on even one more day of living in a loving family. I feel like her childhood is slipping away and it just isn't fair! I feel such a sense of urgency for her as the days march toward her fourth birthday - when she will likely be moved to the older children's orphanage. I can't bare to think of her having to move to another institution. I want so much for her to experience the love of a mama and a papa. And as much as I want that mama to be me, I also do not want her to wait any longer. So, my prayer is that there is a family in country for her. It seems impossible - she has lived at the orphanage since she was two months old and it hasn't happened, but You are the God of the impossible!
Please, Lord! No more waiting for Moonbeam!

Stalled Kyrygyz Adoptions

I think I forgot to post a few weeks back about the youtube video that has been posted about our Kyrgyz adoptions!

The amazing Suzanne spearheaded this project and the generous folks over at Barbary Post and the Singing Serpent made it happen! I am so grateful to all of them.

There are many pictures of the BBH where Moonbeam still lives. And pictures of many children who once lived in the BBH and are now living in their forever families!

A Russian version of this video with pictures of waiting families and their matched children - including Moonbeam and me - was given to many Kyrgyz officials by the advocacy team on their trip. Please pray that it makes and impact and that it will create a sense of urgency to act on behalf of the waiting children!

Check it out here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOzvPHLiujc

Moonbeam Has a Visitor!

Many of you probably know that JCICS and three waiting families were on the ground in Bishkek over this past week. You can read more at JCICS's blog Be the Answer.

God orchestrated the trip perfectly to allow the families to meet with many officials at a strategic time - the week right before Parliament is scheduled to discuss IA once again. Now we wait with baited breath this week to see how they might act on the info shared last week.

One of the wonderful benefits of this trip was that the team had the opportunity to check in on the waiting children. My dear friend and travel buddy Lisa wrote me this email last week....I really haven't stopped smiling since! And I cannot wait to see the photos!

"I just wanted you to know that I spent a little time with A. today. Oh my, she is sooooo beautiful! She has a head of hair and her smiling eyes are still shiney! I crocheted her a little hat on the way over on the second flight. I put it on and took some pictures. I did not have the chance to make her a photo book, but I did bring a couple of photos. Oh, it was beautiful. I will share more when I am home and rested, but know that she is still a bright little star and all seems well."

A million thanks to Lisa and the rest of the team for taking the time to love all of the waiting kiddos! It means so much to know that they are well! I am encouraged for the first time in months. Even though we still do not have a travel date I am once again hopeful that things will eventually be resolved and Moonbeam and all of her buddies will come home!

Things That Don't Suck

Inspired by Shannon's recent post, I thought I'd post my own list of things that don't suck!
In no particular order....

1. The amazing support or friends and family! I know I am sick of this whole situation and yet friends are still willing to check in with me and hear about the wait and continue to pray! I am so grateful for that!

2. While I'm waiting I have had the opportunity to foster two sweet little girls - they are 5 and 3 1/2. They have been with me about 2 1/2 weeks and will be with me about one month total. It really has been a wonderful experience.

3. Puppies sleeping on your lap - snuggly and warm.

4. Knowing you are loved unconditionally by Jesus!

5. Strawberry shortcake with homemade whip cream thanks to my dear sister!

6. Listening to Syd, F. and H. laugh and giggle as they find each other playing hide and seek!

7. Getting pictures of the juice, snacks, stuffed animals and clothes delivered to the BBH for the kiddos!

8. Days warm enough to play outside

9. Wii fit - it's fun and I sweat too! :) (although probably not enough, but were talking about things that "don't suck" so...)

10. Folllowing along on "virtual" friends' blogs who are reuniting with their kiddos and having "gotcha" days! (Sadly none of them from Kyrgyzstan yet!)

Dare to Hope

When you have waited to be a mom since you were a little girl, and waited to complete an international adoption for two and a half years (I started with Guatemala) you begin to lose hope and in an effort to protect your heart you choose not to hope. You begin to choose not to dream about having your little girl at home with you. You start avoiding looking at the pictures of her sweet little face, not because you don't adore her, but because looking at her pictures makes your heart ache so intensely you don't know if you can bear it. You begin to wonder why God would not want to make your dreams come true.?

As 2010 begins, I really sense God saying to me - I want you to "dare to hope"! Even in the midst of the ongoing uncertainty. Even if your heart continues to break - dare to hope! Hope in Me, in my love for you, in my love for Hannah and all of the waiting children. Hope in My commitment to and passion for orphans.

Following along with the Lajoy's adventure of adding two more little girls to their family, reminds me that with God ALL things are possible. (Matthew 19:26)

And so, this year I will dare to hope!

Happy New Year! Welcome 2010!

Happy New Year! I am so excited to see what 2010 will bring! I am praying for a gotcha trip!

We had a New Year's Eve party last night - mostly to celebrate the end of 2009! We played a really fun game - Telephone Pictionary - you remember the old game of "Telephone" where you whisper a phrase in a friend's ear and they whisper what they heard to the next person and so on - until it makes it all the way to the end of the line and the last person says out loud what they heard - well in "Telephone Pictionary" you draw the phrase that is written on the piece of paper handed to you, you then hand it to the next person who has to write the phrase they believe matches the picture you drew, and then they pass this on and so on! The phrase I wrote was "Fiddler on the Roof", by the time it made it back around to me it became - "Wonder cat emits an alarming sound from his belt"? What in the world? I laughed harder than I've laughed in a LONG time - it is good for the soul! It is good to be with friends and family.

Happy New Year! May 2010 be filled with hope, expectation, and wonderful surprises!