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