We have a prayer list that we update, as a family, every week. We started doing this almost 2 months ago.
We entered IBESR, Haiti's social services department, with our adoption dossier on September 14. And we've been waiting for an update since.
We have been praying to get out of IBESR since we started our list (and the months before that, too). This week we changed that request and started praying that President Martelly (the President of Haiti) would sign our paperwork because there wasn't any way we were going to get out of IBESR without that. You see, we need presidential dispensation (permission) to adopt our Little Guy because we have biological children.
Yesterday I stopped in at our kiddos' school and talked to Girly Girl's teacher. She said, "Oh, I need to show you something! You are going to cry."
I'm not a real softie and already putting my disclaimer out so she wouldn't think I was a bad mom, said, "I don't cry easily."
She told me that in class, the kids have been writing persuasion letters. They had to pick something they wanted and then determine how to ask for that thing and who needed to be asked.
She started reading.....
"Dear President of Haiti,
Please sign our adoption papers. My little brother really needs to be out of the orphanage and come home to us. He needs more space to run and play. And my big brother has wanted a little brother for such a long time. We have been praying for a very long time. Will you please sign our papers?"
I cried. And so did the teacher. She told me that originally Girly Girl had addressed the letter to the Director of IBESR, but went in on Monday to tell her that she had to change it to President Martelly.
Our kids have been in this with us from the beginning. They have been praying along side us for over a year now, since before we officially started the process of adoption. The last few weeks in church they have been learning about waiting and have shared that with us. That God is faithful in the wait.
I went home and one of the first things I do is check my email. I checked it and there was an email from our agency with the subject line, "IBESR".
I opened it up and it said,
"CONGRATULATIONS—today we got word that your dossier
was released from IBESR!"
Our cat likes to greet us when we come in the door and was the only living thing with me when I saw that email. I just screamed at the computer and started jumping up and down. And she took off running, claws scraping the floor. I terrified her. :)
I called the school and asked for Girly Girl's teacher. I told her we had gotten out of IBESR and asked her if we could come in and tell Girly Girl at school with her. She excitedly agreed.
We went in and met the teacher and she took us to Girly Girl's last class. I thought she was going to pull her into the hallway, but she asked us to come in. Girly Girl had no idea what was going on.
I knelt down and told her that I had seen her beautiful letter to the President of Haiti and how proud I was of her for writing it. And I said, "I just want to show you want his signature looks like." I showed her the paper we had been given and told her that our papers were out. We are out!!!
She started crying. Big old crocodile tears. The teachers were crying. We were crying. And her fellow classmates were nervous. "Why is she crying??"
"Happy tears", her teacher said. "Happy tears." So happy.
We left and grabbed the other two kiddos, who Girly Girl told right away. :) We were able to share the news with their teachers and our small group who know just about as much about this process as we do now and we went out for ice cream to celebrate.
It was just so wonderful.
We are so very thankful to be out of this step!! The next step will last anywhere from several weeks to several months. At the end of that, our little guy will be officially a member of our family in Haiti. I am so excited for that day.
But, right now, I am so joyful. I'm joyful because this has given us hope. We feel encouraged and like we've been given new life for this process. We are so excited to share this with all of you who are with us in this journey, praying, watching and supporting. We have needed that so many times in the last 8 months and will continue to need it in the months to come.
We are hopeful that our Little Guy will be home with us sometime in the next year. It could be longer. It could be shorter. We just need to keep waiting.
So, eat some ice cream in celebration with us tonight! :)
Love to you all,
Karyn
