12 Hours

Well, this is the only picture I have to share and it's a great one.  The top is Minneapolis over the next few days and the bottom is the area I will be in Haiti :-).  I have not rested much ALL week....been going, going, going....packing, cleaning, lesson planning, unpacking, repacking, cleaning some more......stuff to occupy myself as I anticipate getting to leave!

I will not be bringing a computer with me so there will be no blog update over the next week.  If I am able to send a text message to my sister, there may be an update or picture on my FB page that she will post....we'll see.

This whole journey of adopting is all about WAITING!  Learning to depend more and more on the Lord and WAITING some more.  I will be at the airport 12 hours from now.  I will get to spend about a day and a half at my uncle's home in Florida and I cannot wait to see him and be at his house!  I have been there only once and it is a very relaxing place to be.  I hope to get nice and rested there!

Then, early Tuesday morning my uncle will bring my mom and me to the airport and we will leave for Haiti.

My court appointments are on Wednesday.  I believe I will have all or most of the day Tuesday and Thursday to spend at GLA with M and all the other kiddos.  You can definitely be praying for me Thursday evening as I will not see him Friday, yet I will have a night to sleep/or not in Haiti and an early flight out on Friday back to the USA!  And then we WAIT and pray that he can come home ASAP!

There will be lots of pictures and stories when I return!  Looks like high 80s and even 90 all week in Haiti, where as here in Minnesota the wind has become fierce and we are supposed to have some of the coldest days in years (so not sad to be missing that!!!!)

Well, I think I will go unpack and repack again, weigh my bag again, and stop thinking about what it is I may be forgetting!!!!!

Thanks for all of your prayers and support!!!!

Nou pap jann bliye!

We will NOT forget!

I can remember the day.  My heart was crushed.  I did not know too many in Haiti at the time, but my neighbor was there and it was a couple days before we heard from him.  And boy does he have stories to tell and what a HERO he was!  I invite him to school and he shares with my class what happened that day and the days following.

My EYES were glued to CNN for WEEKS!  I had never heard of these CNN reporters before and all I could do was watch and cry and pray.

It is estimated that over 300,000 people died in the earthquake.

The Lord had laid it on my heart to adopt from Haiti, but as a single woman, I needed to be 35.  When the earthquake hit I was 33.  And my dreams of adopting from Haiti were crushed.  My human mind was not understanding the plans that the Lord had for me.  I remember sitting at school talking with a friend and crying.

When I saw pictures like this, I wanted this child!  When I would hear that no parents were living, I wanted to get down there and start the process.  Yet I was 33 and could not yet comprehend how I could raise such money to adopt.

I could not keep my eyes off of this little boy!  I prayed and prayed for him and though I knew adoptions would not go on in Haiti, at least for now, oh how I wanted to be his mommy!!!!  Stuck in the rubble of the earth quake for 7-8 days and coming out with that beautiful smile and strength to lift his arms to the world!

The children at GLA sleeping outside after the earthquake. My little one was not at GLA at this point.  

He was born August 2010, but he may very well have experienced the trauma 2nd hand as his mother was going through the earthquake.

MASSIVE tent cities that MANY, MANY Haitian people still live in 3 years later :-(

The rest of the photos speak for themselves.  I know you have seen them before.  Pray for Haiti today!  Find a trustworthy organization to give to.  Give to my adoption if you are able.  We have not forgotten you, Haiti!

I will leave you with this....a favorite artist of mine...Haiti you are not so far away, I know when you feel no help is coming that we feel so far from you.  I am sorry!  I am praying for you Haiti!

I hoped to actually put the video here but the link will take you to it.

http://youtu.be/0rerU_NYwD8

Haiti, here we come!!!!!!

It's been a long week after hearing tentative travel dates to receiving news today that I have my I600 filing appointment.  The I600 is a form that is a petition to classify an orphan as an immediate relative.  This is done through USCIS which is the the United States Citizen and Immigration Services.  I will have an appointment with the US Embassy, I will appear before Haitian Court/Judge and I will meet with (perhaps) a judge in the mountains where I sign his book as proof that I was there.

My mom will be going on this trip with me.  Beyond my appointments, we will get to be with M.  His normal daily schedule will not be disrupted by us being there, as far as meal time, nap time, bath time, etc., but during other times of the day we will get to begin to bond with him.  We are bringing some fun MN clothes (look forward to pics!), toys, books, a blankie and bubbles.  We are also bringing him lots of fun gerber snacks.  

I am sure he will keep us busy!  WHO KNOWS what he will make of these two people there who will be doting on him and wanting to hold, hug, tickle and kiss him all day long!  Even though it will be some time before he come home, I pray some bonding and attaching can occur already.  Daily I pray physical, emotional, mental and spiritual healing over M.  Please pray for us as we prepare for our trip!  

I CANNOT WAIT!!!!!!!!  :-)

Memories of Haiti

I have not received word of when I can travel to Haiti yet.  I am hoping to hear something this week or next and then possibly traveling at the end of January.  As I sit here waiting, thinking, praying, I also remember.

In 1977 (or 1978, I'm sure my mom or dad will correct me!) we went to Haiti.  I have been thinking a lot lately about the opportunities and experiences that have really shaped my life.  Moments in time that God used to lead and guide me.  I had to follow of course...to listen...to obey.

When I think of who I am today, and where I am, these events hugely shaped that:

*Haiti/ Mom & Dad (1977-1986)
*20/20 (and mom & and dad for letting me watch, beginning in 1986) Romanian Orphanage specials
*1992 Trip to Guatemala
*1996  Trip to inner-city Chicago for a month with Bethel College
*1996, 1997, 1998 and beyond, Time in the South Bronx of NYC
*1999 Trip to Romania and an orphanage while there
*1998-present living in and teaching in Minneapolis and the relationships I have with children and their families.

Who knew how Haiti would come around again in my life like this.  I have ALWAYS loved Haiti!  Never stopped thinking of it. I have very vivid pictures in my head of the Baptist Haiti Mission.  I cannot wait to see that place again!

Here are some pictures of my family and me in Haiti in the early years of my life.  OF COURSE, I cannot wait to have some pictures of my family and me there NOW!!!!  Soon, I will be patient!!!

I can remember my dad putting us up there and taking this picture!  We are at the beach.

"my" monkey Ti'frar :-) at the BHM

I have been sponsoring children from the BHM since I became an adult.  As a child I would pray for my 3 sisters in Haiti each night.  Here we are with Natache and Rhode. I have actually typed their names into FB as I would LOVE to know them today!!! 

Market?!!

Ti'frar and Me :-)

My dad with Natache and Rhode

AU REVOIR!  I hope to have GOOD NEWS to share soon!!!!

(I may or may not edit later....Ti'frar, Natache and Rhode are the way I remember their names to be spelled!!!! :-))

Haitian Independence

A couple of years ago I learned some things that I had NEVER been aware of before!  I knew the Haitian people revolted and got independence from French rule.  I knew they were the first ever Independent "Black" Republic and the 2nd nation to get independence from a powerful European nation in the western hemisphere (the first being the U.S. just a few years earlier).

Some things I didn't know troubled me greatly!  First some timelines....

The French Revolution was 1789-1799.  The Haitian Revolution was 1791-1804.  (SO, France is dealing with two revolutions at the same time, and needing to fund both).

The Louisiana Purchase occurred in 1803 AND Haiti proclaimed its independence on January 1, 1804!

So, what did I learn....well, as a child in school I learned about the Louisiana Purchase.  I knew it was France that occupied this area (Which includes where I live today, 15 states of the US and parts of 2 Canadian provinces).  What I didn't know, is that while the rulers, the wealthy in France were fighting two revolutions, and losing, they needed more $$$ to continue. The  land in the Louisiana Purchase was 828,000 square miles!  This was sold to the new United States for 15 million!  The purpose of selling this land was in an attempt to keep the 10,714 square miles of Haiti (just a bit smaller than Maryland).  One of the most powerful nations desperately wanted to keep this land of Haiti....this RICH, BEAUTIFUL land.  Haiti was France's wealthiest overseas colony because of the sugar, coffee, indigo and cotton generated by slaves.

Toussaint l'Overture started the slave revolt.  The Haitian people won.  The country was called Haiti after the revolution ended.  

There is much speculation about the state of Haiti today and what happened after January 1, 1804, but one thing for sure is the the U.S. was NOT going to be an ally to this new independent nation.  The United States was still in the midst of slavery, for more than 50 more years!  The U.S. did not even recognize Haiti's Independence until President Lincoln did so in 1863.  So there was a big conflict here :-(  An embargo was placed on Haiti.  France forced Haiti to pay for her independence! From 1825 to 1947, Haiti worked at paying France 90 million gold francs which is equivalent to $22 billion today!  

I often wonder what Haiti would be like today if AFTER getting independence from France, we the USA were their friend, and if they did not have to pay that ridiculous amount of money to France.  I believe they'd be in a much better predicament.  

I celebrate with you today, Haiti!  You are AMAZING!  What a STRONG people you are!  You are the poorest nation in the world today and this is NOT your fault!  I do not know when and if this will ever change.  I feel incredibly honored to have one of your people, a Haitian young man joining my family.  I cannot wait to celebrate the New Year and Haitian Independence with him next year!  We will have pumpkin soup!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!  HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY, HAITI!

December Update

What a GIFT and A LOT of work, considering how many kids are at GLA!!!  I am so grateful!  Love seeing my little guy over the past 2 years with this wonderful song by Audio Adrenaline made for little Haitian kings and Queens! I will cherish this video and he will too some day!

MOMMY will see you SOON!!!!!

I am OUT OF IBESR!!!!!

Expecting!  A couple of weeks ago a colleague asked me where I was in the process and I was explaining how ANY DAY I was waiting, hoping and praying to hear news of EXITING IBESR.  She said, "This is a long 'pregnancy' and you truly are expecting!"  Yes, I am expecting! There's just way more than 3 trimesters!!!

So, I have exited IBESR.  The next thing will be to go to HAITI!  My little guy will not be coming home just yet.  But I will meet him. Hug him. Play with him. I really just can't wait to LOOK at him!  To see him!  Thank you Lord!  I know I was getting impatient!  All I wanted for Christmas is this!  I know, I wanted it weeks ago, but as YOU and I talked this morning, this is in YOUR hands, in YOUR time and in YOUR will!  

Oh how I cannot wait to share a picture of my little guy and me together!!!!

Stay tuned, that will be January's post!!!!!

Merry Christmas!