The Reflection in Your Eyes

As I gaze at You
You are looking at her
As her eyes meet Yours
Oh how my heart will stir

What love is this that does not know
The physical appearance of her face
Yet knows her heart and soul
The reality of her fate

Perfect love, it knows no boundaries
It's a sea of endless grace
Throwing off that which hinders
And staying engaged in the race.

Merry Christmas and Feliz Navidad
As we are enjoying the holiday season, so are the employees in El Salvador:):):) We are praying God will move in January, and we will be on our way to a referral. We are not in control of the timing of all this, He is. Our job is to stay engaged. The poem above is inspired from my journaling to Maggie and the Lord. My specific prayer is that He will show me her face in the reflection of His eyes.

Walking in the Light
Patricia

PROGRESS!!!!

We just got an email from the adoption agency. Rick our contact in El Salvador has scheduled a meeting with the Director of ISNA. They will come together to develop a plan to speed up the adoption process for the families waiting. Also, Rick found out the OPA will be meeting very soon, and we are the next on the list to be reviewed. We are petitioning for a Certificate of Approval to be Ideal Parents. We feel like all parties involved are being very proactive, and we are encouraged by the news. If we receive the Certificate of Approval, Rick can begin the process to make a referral. Please pray that this meeting with Rick is productive and takes place soon. We are very excited about this news, and thank you all for hanging in there with us on this journey. We would love to hear from those of you whom God has spoken to. "To Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, to Him be the Glory." Ephesians 3:20a, 21.

YEILDED TO HIS PLAN!!!

Well the good news is we were not declined in the OPS meeting last week; however, there was not an approval granted either. They have not completed reviewing our file so we must wait until the next meeting. When will that be? Who knows, Igor at Homecoming Adoptions said these are bureaucratic delays. God is so in the midst of all this, and we are completely yielded to His plan and timing. We found out today that Homecoming Adoptions is representing 17 other families adopting from El Salvador. We ask you all as you are praying for our family and Maggie that you also lift these other families up to the Lord. As much as we wanted to hear everything was approved and the search for her was beginning, we will not be discouraged by this news. We must press on toward the goal set before us in prayer and praise for what He has already done. God is a work, and we will bring Maggie home to the place God destined her to be when she was being formed in her mother's womb. Please continue to pray for us, acknowledging everything He has done and anticipating everything He will do. Blessings to you all!!!!

IMMIGRATION APPROVED!!!!

We received our Immigration Approval form yesterday!!!! We are having it notarized and mailing it out today. Igor at our agency will forward it to El Salavador. He said today on the phone that the OPS office in El Salvador was supposed to meet real soon and OUR PAPERWORK WAS IN THIS GROUP!!!!! So now we pray that everything was done correctly. Out of this meeting we will either get an approval for the agency to make a referral or we will get notified of something was not done correctly and must be done again. So of course we want the approval; however, the Lord is reminding me even as I write this that HIS PLAN will prevail. Please join us in prayer that HIS WILL be done, and the decision from this meeting will come quickly so we can move on to the next step. WE ARE SO EXCITED!!! We also feel God's favor on us in that we are not having to wait a long time in between the steps of the process. Thank you, thank you , thank you, for joining us in prayer and rejoicing with us. Maggie Mae is truly a very blessed little girl.
"Who is like the Lord our God, the One who sits enthroned on high, who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth? He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap (trash); he seats them with princes with the princes of their people." Psalm 113:5-8. There is no one like Him; therefore, there is no way I could possibly explain all that He is doing in our hearts right now. WE BLESS YOU LORD AND WE ARE DESPERATELY SEEKING YOU!!!!!!

Fingerprinting is Done!!!

We went to Atlanta Thursday to the US Citizenship and Immigration Service, USCIS, for fingerprinting. This is supposed to be the final step in our immigration paperwork to be able to bring Maggie across the border when we travel. We had a great time and made it a date. It's amazing how much you have to catch up on with the person you are married to. Life sometimes gets too busy, and we need to rally in the troops and hunker down with our family. Now we wait again for the fingerprints to get processed and for the USCIS to send us an I-171 form to send to El Salvador. This whole waiting thing is so in tune with what the Lord is revealing to us right now. When you are in a position of waiting, you basically are not in control, you can't do anything to speed up the process, and you have to learn to keep living. It's a picture of what the Lord wants from us, to "Be Still and KNOW that I AM God". We are to JUST BE. He is in control. His timing is PERFECT. I (Patricia) am a doer and am learning what it means to just be. It really is a matter of trusting Him and letting Him live through me. Maggie is more than likely born already, living in the orphanage, or on the side of the road, or in a home where her birthmother is desperately trying to take care of her. God has His hand upon her life right now, and anything He allows into her life He will use for His glory and His purposes. We believe with all our heart that the little girl God wants to entrust to us is the PERFECT chosen one for our family. So what now, join us in praying for her and for those in close contact with her now. We are praying that "the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it." Isaiah 40:5

GOD IS MOVING

Everything is officially translated to Spanish and is awaiting approval from OPS (like our DHR). The only document they need is our immigration approval. Yesterday I was miraculously able to contact someone by email in the immigration office in Atlanta and she responded within the hour. WOW!!!! We have an appointment for fingerprinting in Atlanta Thursday September 18th at 9am. She stated that then everything would be complete and a decision would be made. I'm not sure what they are "deciding", but who cares. I got an answer from the government within a hour. God is so AWESOME!!! Time is going by fast too. Tony is back in Auburn for his senior year. Parker is back at Trinity and in middle school, and Sarah-Gracen and Camden are doing well with homeschooling. We are so encouraged by the progress and from what we understand, we are in line for approval in El Salvador. What that means is WHEN OPS approves us they will begin the search to find our daughter. Please continue to pray for God's timing and for the people that are working on this case. We want them to be touched by THE KING through this process also. I am so enjoying having Elsie Hufham to love on and Lydia Lowry to OOO and AHHH over. Sweet friends who have been so blessed by the Lord in the receiving of daughters from Guatemala and China. The power of these families testimony greatly influenced our decision and our prayer is that our journey will influence the lives of those God has placed this call on. WE ARE BLESSED!!!!!

AN ANSWERED PRAYER

We must become less and He must become more.  We are learning that everyday along the journey.  After my trip downtown to DHR, which was a bit frustrating, we got a call two days later from the homestudy agency.  Our approval letter from DHR was sent the the US Immigration office!!!!  Now we wait for that office to assign us a time to go get fingerprinted, and then we can send our last document to El Salvador.

Ever since we began this process we have truly felt like God was going to provide.  How, we didn't really know, but we know He KNOWS.  We have not really talked about finances or asked anyone for help or applied for any grants etc.  God has been so faithful to provide funds through Dexter's job and creative budgeting at home.  Up to this point we have invested about $16,000.  We have $11,000 due to the agency by the end of October, and then we must begin to save for travel which could be $6-7,000 because we have to stay in country for 3 weeks.  All of this we are fully aware of; however, we are not worried or anxious about it because we see all that God has done for us, and He will not bail out on us.  For the past week I have felt the Holy Spirit nudge me to pray more fervently about finances.  My prayer has been something like this, "God how do you want this to be done, what do you want me to do?"  Also during this week my friend Jenni Bass encouraged me to look into the Shaohannah's Hope ministry for financial grants, having heard about it through an interview with the Steven Curtis Chapman family.  This Sunday at church my friend Tammy Griffin felt the Lord leading her to pray for me and the adoption, and she really didn't know why.  The things she prayed for specifically were to guide us through the process, hear some news to help us through the waiting, and for finances.  There it is again.  At this point I really don't know what God is up to, and He hasn't really told me to do anything, so I am just sitting and waiting on Him.  We have  payment due to the agency at the end of August for $5,500. 

Where God has us as a family and in our church is learning to respond to HIM, just say "Yes, Lord".  Yesterday when I got home from work, I received an email from one of the attorneys that oversee our adoption agency.  I have been waiting to hear from him for over 2 months about traveling to El Salvador to see the orphanages and meet the liaIson in country.  The timing of his response was a true answer to prayer.  He emailed us to extend a $5,000 scholarship and possibly some additional help with the remaining $6,000.  WOW!!!  Tammy's prayer on Sunday was miraculously answered within 24 hours.  Thank You Jesus!!!  I cannot express in words the depth of intimacy I have been feeling with the Lord lately.  When things like this occur, it drives me to seek Him more!  He hears our prayers. He knows our needs. He is faithful to complete the work He began in us. Our family is praising Jesus for this miracle, and our prayer is that as you seek HIM, you will acknowledge Him in everything from the smallest miracle to the greatest because ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE WITH GOD!!! 

IMMIGRATION PROCESS

We got a call from our Home Study Agency last week in reference to our immigration process.  The home study gets forwarded to DHR who approves it and forwards it to the US Immigration office in Atlanta.  Our home study has been complete, or we thought, since April.  This is the third time the agency has requested items again due to them being "misplaced".  DHR has lost some certified copies of documents that they logged in as received, but now cannot find.  The home study agency has also "misplaced" these items.  We are going to hand deliver them to DHR tomorrow.  When all this transpired last week, Dexter was at youth camp for the week and I was at home with the kids, one of whom dislocated his shoulder and is awaiting surgery.  The week was going great; however, this call requesting the information again made me a little aggravated (I guess part of walking through this journey with us is to see we are not perfect and do not respond always the way we should :):)  I just couldn't believe our home study was not in the immigration office.  Well I've had a few days to stew :):) and I have to admit, I definitely reacted and not responded and the only one that was affected was me.  So why do we do that so often.  Everything is going along smoothly and then the wheels fall off and we act surprised.  My response should have been to "bear with them in love" and to stop and ask God "What are you up to in this?"  Well I have that opportunity tomorrow.  I am going to deliver the paperwork to DHR myself and my prayer is that the love I have for my heavenly Father will overflow into the life of someone in that office.  Nothing happens to us that has not been filtered through the hand of God.  He is looking for responders to HIM not reactors to circumstances.  

DOSSIER IS IN EL SALVADOR!!!!!!

Today we have good news from both our Agency and our Home Study agency.  Our dossier has been sent overnight to Ricardo in El Salvador.  He will take it and get it translated so it can be submitted to OPA (like our DHR).  This office will review our case and give us approval to be an adoptive family.  Then Ricardo will begin the search for our daughter.  Our corrections in the home study are also complete and it has be forwarded to our DHR.  They will then forwarded it to the US immigration office for our immigration approval.  So now what? WE WAIT!!!  This is the part of the process where we can do nothing but sit at HIS feet and pray. The process of paperwork in a central american country is usually at a snails pace.  Our pray is that our case would be at the appropriate office and on the exact desk that God desires.  I am even praying for the individual who approves us, that the Lord will use something in our paperwork to minister to that person.  For Ricardo, I am praying God will lead him to the little girl God desires to be in our family.  This part is actually easy because we have NO CONTROL over it.  We will cling to HIS robe and wait expectantly for HIS gift of life for our family.  Please join us in prayer for these individuals mentioned and for God's hand  to continue to pour out provisions for this adoption.  Please join us as we exalt the Lord by praying:

"My heart is steadfast, O God; I will sing and make music with all my soul. I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples. For great is your love, higher than the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens, and let your glory be over all the earth." Psalm 108:1, 3-5.

Hidden in HIM

Dexter and Patricia

Back to the Beginning

It's going to be hard to take such a long story and put it into a short summary. Several years ago the Lord really impressed upon my (Patricia) heart to "rescue" a child living in destitute conditions.  Who that was I had no idea; however, everytime I was on the mission field or saw a commercial about children needing help, I was drawn to it.  We were able to have children,  4 of them to be exact, and most people think our quiver is quite full.  That stirring in my spirit became a burning desire when I first went to Honduras with Forgotten Children Ministries in  2004.  This ministry rescues children off the street who are homeless, without food, and addicted to drugs, and gives them a home, love, and education at Grace Farm.  For a more in depth description of this ministry look them up on the web.  Anyway, when I was in Honduras I fell in love with these dirty, stinky, sad, lonely, joyful, smiling, loving, and affectionate little boys.  They just wanted to be hugged and loved on.  My eyes were opened to a whole new kingdom, His Kingdom.  I was so in love with these little boys, in the midst of all the poverty and devastation and filth. I never felt more in love and one with my heavenly Father.  Coming home was the hardest thing I've ever done.  But I went back the next summer and the next.  We even tried to adopt one of the boys and bring him home.  The process never even got started because the laws of the country would not allow him to be adopted.  Mario was his name, and the summer of 2006 was the last time I saw him.  He went to visit some family members, who unfortunately severely abused him and he never returned to Grace Farm again.  In my heart Mario will always be "my little boy" and I know where he will spend eternity. My prayer is that he never takes his eyes off Jesus and always remembers the night I rocked him to sleep and tucked him in a warm bed. This definitely broke my heart; however, it was all part of this incredible journey the Lord has us on.  Dexter was able to go to Honduras in Feb.2007 and spend time with the boys and see with his own eyes what I had been trying to describe for so many years.  His life was definitely changed.  We began praying about what was the next step.  Our eyes began focusing on all the reasons why we couldn't do this, so we went through a season where I didn't think we would ever move forward. Even though my heart was mourning, my Lord was ever so busy shaking that which was shakeable in our lives.  He allowed this season of what appeared to be the end of the journey to happen so He could do a cleansing and freeing work in our hearts. In the summer of 2007 our best friends brought home their little girl from Guatemala.  She absolutely brought life back into my soul.  On the way to airport to meet her I had a feeling come over me like none I've ever had before.  I was looking up into the heavens and asking God "Is that you Lord?"  At that moment  the Lord revealed to me that what I was feeling in my heart was HIS HEART.  I was truly ONE WITH THE FATHER.  That little girl has such a special place in my heart, and has played such an instrumental part in our making the decision to step out in faith.  In December of 2007 on our 12th wedding anniversary we went to see August Rush.  Well after about 6 months of silence on the topic of adoption, things began to well up within me.  If you haven't seen that movie, go rent it today.  The boy knew his parents were out there looking for him and he never gave up.  At dinner after the movie I told Dexter I felt like we had a child that was out there waiting on us to find her. After much prayer and seeking God as to how WE were supposed to do this, God revealed to us to let HIM do this. So we prayed about a country and an agency and decided on El Salvador with the help of Homecoming Adoptions. In February 2008 we began the Dossier process and our Home Study. In April 2008 our completed dossier was sent to the agency. We are now waiting for the paperwork to be sent to El Salvador next week. As far as we know once our paperwork arrives in El Salvador, it could be 12-18 months before we travel to bring her home. I began this by saying the Lord impressed upon my heart to rescue a child. But after several years of seeking HIM, growing in HIM, and learning to be hidden IN HIM, I now see I cannot rescue anyone, only He can. So we are yielded to HIS plan and we are not anxious about time, the specific child, or the bumps in the road ahead. We have encountered many bumps in the road and the lesson learned has always been the Lord saying "Press on, and don't take your eyes off of ME".
May you be blessed by HIS STORY!
Patricia