It's a GOOD Friday

I have the desire to WRITE and WRITE a lot!  Won't do that here...not now at least.  Lots on my mind...adoption, other things about life...etc. etc.....but It's Good Friday.  I am SAVED because of what Jesus did for me today!  It's a good Friday because SPRING BREAK has begun!  It's also a very good Friday because I get to see this little munchkin, all 22 pounds and 12 ounces of him in places of the orphanage that I have not seen him. I NEVER saw him sleeping, although I am told he LOVES his afternoon nap and sleeps long and hard.  I NEVER saw him eating (besides the treats I brought him) and apparently at meal time he is as close as he can get to his nannies ready for his turn!  I like these shots of him down in his nursery.  The pool was not set up when I was in Haiti, but he LOVES the pool and I HOPE and PRAY he is home summer 2013 so we can have LOTS of fun in the water!!! On January 24 I returned him to the nursery in that black and red NIKE shirt...happy to see him in it :-)

HAVE A BLESSED GOOD FRIDAY!  Jesus is the Reason!

Authentication, Translation, USCIS, Post Office & Parquet!

This has already been a full week when it comes to adoption!!!  LOTS of people are getting LOTS of news out of HAITI which is FANTASTIC!!!!!!

I had dossier #2 entirely finished and ready to bring to the Minnesota Secretary of State.  On Monday I made my ride there and had 12 documents in my dossier authenticated by him.  I ran into some other friends who are adopting from Ethiopia.  Always fun to bump into someone who know at the State Capitol :-).

My dossier was also sent to a translator today where much of it will be translated into FRENCH.

I also had to file my i-600a form which is an immigration form where you ask for an orphan in a foreign country to be called your immediate relative and granted United States Citizenship.

I sent all of my originals to my dossier to Kentucky and my i-600a form to USCIS in Texas (United States Citizen and Immigration Services.)  Upon handing those envelopes to the man at the Post Office, my heart went a bit crazy, so I spent a good chunk of time praying!  Praying that the documents get to their destination safely!  Praying that they get processed quickly, in God's Time!  Praying that soon and VERY soon all of these documents will be sent to Haiti for the adoption of my second precious child!

Also this week I heard news that my adoption with M has moved from Parquet onto Courts!!!!  The timeframe for Parquet was 1-6 months and so that step went rather quickly and I pray for this next step to also go QUICKLY!  Courts are expected to take from 2-3 months.

I have a post in February 2012 that outlines the steps and time frames called "How long until my child comes home you ask?"

Thank you for continuing to pray!  I appreciate it greatly and trust the Lord to bring me through each of these stages and bring these two little kiddos home to me in His timing!

Both Hands Project

Last Spring the youth from my church along with some friends and family participated in the Both Hands Project.  The project comes from the verse in James 1:27 about pure religion....helping the orphan and the widow.  I sent out LOTS of emails asking people to help with this project but I got very little response.  The idea is to find a WHOLE lot of people to commit to a work day on a widow/ers home.  Those working would then send letters to friends and family, asking them to support their day of work.  All donations would go to the adoption fund of bringing an orphan to a family.  Some people raise over $10,000 on this day!  We did not, and that is OK!  It's not all about the $$$!!!!  :-)

I have created a video of this work day.  The video will soon be on the Both Hands site where others who do not even know me may find it and choose to give.  On my blog there is a paypal button that links to the Both Hands/Lifesong page where donations can be given for my adoption.

What was so great about this day is that though very little money was raised, the youth from our church and community were able to experience TRUE RELIGION!  These youth sent letters to their families, friends and teachers.  Some money did come in.  To me the most important thing was the experience of how important it is to care for people in our community.  We had a great day together pruning trees, weeding the yard, cleaning out a carport, picking up big cement chunks and washing windows.  I am so proud of each of these kids!

Enjoy!

I goofed up on a couple of subtitles and so that's why it still says "add subtitle here"  :-)

Birth Parent Interview

To some degree, I have been dreading this day for a LONG time!  There are two interviews that the birth parents must attend.  Today the US Embassy interview was successfully completed!  Thank you Lord!  My stomach has been in knots for some days now.  I pray I will sleep better tonight!  Thank you to everyone who was praying!  One more item checked off the list to getting Mr. M home.  By the way, I changed his name to M throughout my blog, hoping that when I googled his name I would no longer see all of the pictures of him that I have posted.  It did not work!  So if there is a techy person out there who could help me I would be grateful!  I know what's on the internet is probably forever on the internet but........

AHHHH, I am breathing a sigh of relief and shedding some happy tears!

Dossier #2/Adoption #2

Dossier:  A file containing detailed records on a particular person or subject.

This is a word I reference on a daily basis, and a word that I had never used before August 2011.  It is now one, I mean two of my post protected possessions!  I have two separate boxes, one for adoption #1 and one for adoption #2.

Here is M's and it is packed!  My sister said to me a few weeks ago something like, "All of that is for your adoption?  Adoption is not for the faint of heart, is it!?"  And now box #2 is quickly filling.  I will have these boxes ready for each child when they are old enough and can understand.  They can look through and see the journey, which will include their biological family's history, all of their monthly pictures and updates from GLA, as well as my letters to them that I am writing along the way.  They likely will not be interested in all of the contents of my dossier and all of the adoption agency and orphanage paperwork, but it will be there :-)

So I began the paperwork for adoption #2 one month and 4 days ago...and in that time, I have complied ALL necessary documents for dossier #2.  My home study and police clearance are done and I am waiting for them to be mailed to me.  At that point, my dossier and I go to the St. Paul Capitol building and the Secretary of State AUTHENTICATES the documents....meaning, looks up each Notary Public that signed and stamped and once each document passes he puts a cover on the document that will look like this:

That is a photo copy as the original is in Haiti.  After I do this, then it gets translated into French.

Yeah, that is a paragraph about me written by a dear friend and colleague :-)  After the dossier is translated into French, then it is sent to the Haitian Consulate in Chicago to be legalized.  After reading/reviewing my dossier, a stamp is placed on the cover with the Secretary of Stated signature and seal.

Once this step is completed then the entire dossier is copied many times over and sent to God's Littlest Angels in Haiti to begin the oh so LONG process!  

Here is what is required in the dossier:

1.  Home Study

2.  Adoption Agency License

3.  IBESR letter of intent to adopt

4.  3 letters of reference

5.  Police clearance

6.  Employer letter

7.  Power of Attorney

8.  Bank letter

9.  Psychologist letter

10.  Doctor letter

11.  Physical lab results

12.  Copy of passport and driver's license

13.  Copy of social security card

14.  Tax returns for the past 3 years

15.  Past 3 bank statements

16.  8 passport photos

17.  Birth certificate

18.  Photos of ME

19.  Photos of my home

(if married, you need to include all of the above items for spouse as well as Marriage Certificate & Divorce Decree if divorced!)

So, YES, since returning home from Haiti, on top of teaching every day, taking on extra hours at school (I teach 3 after school classes now and have been told, "Miss Kraft, you should be a gym teacher, not a regular teacher!) I have had this to occupy my time.  I think I shall need another project to keep me busy once this is sent off to Haiti!  It has been good upon leaving M to have something to work on!!!!

If you have made it this far in the post, please pray!  Pray over this adoption #2 and continue to pray over M and adoption process #1.  On Tuesday, M and his living bio parent have an appointment at the US Embassy in Port-au-Prince.  Pray that GLA can locate his bio parent for this appointment and pray for M and his bio parent as they go through this interview together.

Thank you for PRAYING!!!!!  Happy Saturday!