A beautiful day

Marv's hunting. Children sleeping. I just got in from playing with the horses. What a beautiful day in Colorado!
        The sun is in my eyes,
        The blue is in my skies,
        The mountains are a laughin', a laughin' back at me
Yes, it's a good day, done the Colorado way
Yes, it's a good day, a farmer girl's dream
Yes, it's a good day, I love everything.
         The harvest put away,
         I'm turnin' up the clay
         The air is gettin' nippy
         And the trees are turnin' gray
Yes, it's a good day....
 Well, the lil 2 yr old with special needs whom we inquired about has found another family. I am glad I kept my hopes low and I am glad she has found a home. She needed one, dear baby. We inquired about another little boy and little girl both with special needs this week, however there are several people ahead of us on these little tykes as well. We should get an update on them next week. We are not in a hurry, however wait times for Colombia are getting longer and longer for a healthy child under 4. It feels very closed minded and selfish to just stay stuck in our rut and say "We are going to wait 4 yrs for a healthy child from Colombia." Maybe God has something else in mind for us? We must be open minded and we are. We are keeping our eyes and ears open and whatever falls into place will be. So that is why we are inquiring about these different special need children. For some reason we feel led that way, to pursue all options and then let God open or close the doors. How could you adopt without Faith in our Father? I am so thankful I can say, "Here, Lord Jesus, please take care of this for us." And then...trust.

Crazy? Maybe.

"I'm lonesome for my precious children. They 

 live so far away. Oh, may they hear my

                         callin' and come back home someday.
        ...I brave life's storm, defy the tempest, to bring 
                   them home from anywhere..."  
That is a beautiful song and it feels so true right now. Where are our children? And then...WHY do I wonder? I have a 3 yr. old bouncing boy and a 2 yr. old sunshiny girl, a wonderful husband, 4 horses, 1 mule, 5 dogs, 3 puppies, 2 cats! Why is my heart yearning for my children who are not home yet? Crazy? Yes. But it's me, so I guess God made me crazy. I question my sanity, because I know so many people would be perfectly content with a controlled, 2 children, life. A boy and a girl 14 months apart. How perfect! Especially when red tape makes adoption so daunting. Me? As soon as life starts getting too controlled and our youngest reaches 2 it's time for more little ones! And dear husband is right there with me, tho, of course more realistic and unemotional :). And so I travel the world via Rainbow Kids and Reece's Rainbow  and many other waiting children websites in search of the next leaf for our tree. So many children needing so many homes. The need is overwhelming. Once again, I remember Mother Teresa's words, "If you can't feed one hundred people, feed one." "Lord, make me a servant. Lord, make me like you. For you are a servant, make me one too." Open our eyes, help us see You and for the trillionth time Lord, please guide us to our family.

Taking the turns..

"The bend in the road is not the end of the road unless you refuse to take the turn."
      I'm feeling the need to write and it's been a while. Still waiting to hear from Colombia, but while we wait different happenings have happened.
    Long story short...While looking at waiting child listings on Rainbow Kids, I came across this beautiful 1 yr old lil girl from Congo. I fell in love. I tried not too, but I did. After a couple days we decided to inquire about her. She had been posted for 1 week and they had had around 500 inquiries about her. Well, ok. But... only 4 families who inquired had international home studies. We did. As hard as I tried to think realistically, my hopes were sky high. M was more reserved about an African, but he knew as well as I that if this happened it would only be a miracle of the Lord. The agency was going to choose a family for her out of the 4 applicants (we were one of them) the next week. Sleepless nights ensued. As hard as I tried NOT to think it, I knew she was ours. I had fallen hard and I knew it, but honestly did not know what to do about it. I prayed and prayed that God would take it away if it was not to be, but it stayed. We waited 10 days and they were long days. Then her agency emailed and said they had chosen another family for her. I cried. Went outside to do the chores in the dark. Couldn't see the dogfood for the blur. It didn't go away the next day either or the next. Finally, I pled desperately "GOD, TAKE THIS AWAY". Then he did, but it still hurts when I think about it. Why? I have no idea. For what purpose? I don't know.  This was a month ago.
  Needless to say, we are feeling a bit in limbo right now, wondering where our family is. It is hard on me. I like to have a plan. We are thinking of maybe pursuing another domestic and hopefully Colombia would be ok with that. We really do not want to give up on Colombia. We've put a lot into it and tho we think of all other options, our hearts are nestled in Latin America. Anyways... you can pray that we have direction. We are very open minded at this point. If God opens the doors, we will walk through.
  We did make another inquiry about a 2 yr old special needs girl from Colombia, so we'll see what becomes of that. Haven't heard back yet. I'm feeling very reserved about getting hopes too high again.
  Now friends... let me tell you the saddest story you'll ever read. My little "Why's?" are nothing compared to this. There is a dear couple from Kansas, I've only met her briefly one time, but they got a little foster baby when he was 10 days old. His dad was in jail and his mom on drugs and incapable of taking care of him. They fully believed they would be able to adopt him, because his birth parents rights were very small. As they pursued adoption (this little boys paperwork kept falling through the cracks at the courthouse), his dad got out of jail and decided he wanted him. Why? We don't know. To put it in a nutshell, in August mama had to pry her little 4 yr. old off of her neck and give him to his birth dad. I am crying once again. Please pray for them. Dear mother as she weeps says death would be easier. Yes, it would. Heaven vs. a stranger with a bad past. No doubt. My heart breaks for the ache in that little boys heart and the hole in Mommy and Daddy's heart. Why? Why does God allow such to happen? Why was Connor torn from his loving Christian home? The only one he had ever known. Why? Why? Why? Tho shaken, somehow I cling to a Faith in an all knowing, loving God.  Once again, pray for them and pray hard.

Waiting..waiting...

Waiting... waiting... waiting to hear from Adopolis. Believe me, this blog will hear about it when we hear anything! Waiting...

some good news

Well, for many families waiting for children from private orphanages this is bad news and I'm sorry, but it is good news for us! I'll explain. In Colombia, you can either choose to adopt from a private orphanage or government care (ICBF). However all private orphanages are under ICBF. Private orphanages have much shorter wait times, and of course, they 'sound' better to most people, and you can get very young children from them; therefore many choose to adopt from a private orphanage. We wanted to as well, but dear C (Adopolis) did not recommend it. She told us a year and a half ago that ICBF was trying to even the wait times between them and the private orphanages and changes would be taking place and the safest way to go was ICBF. So we did. Also ICBF (government care) is not as bad as it sounds. Many of their children are in foster homes, so the caregiver-child ratio is much better than a private orphanage. Now suddenly bang private orphanages are not receiving any applications for children under 5 yrs. old. I am so thankful we are where we are and not trying to apply to a private orphanage. We would be delayed again. So we are still waiting to hear from Colombia about our new psychologist update. Cannot wait to hear!

Thanks Media (and Secret Service)

From reports we have heard, earlier this summer a Colombian native wrote an article about the ICBF being a child trafficking ring and it aired on national television.  For those that do not know, the ICBF (Instituto Colombiano de Bienestar Familiar) is similar to DCYF (Division of Children, Youth, and Families) in that it is a government agency that determines if the parents are not suitable or if the children are legally abandoned. In response to this article the ICBF is reviewing all cases to ensure the children are definitely abandoned and that there is no relatives who want to parent them. We are not sure how long this is going to take. Along with that, a big thanks to the lovely Secret Service agents who decided to enjoy themselves in some extracurricular activities... Needless to say no bueno for those trying to adopt from there. This all has significantly slowed down Colombia adoptions and caused Colombia officials to be on hyper-alert, which may be partly the reason we have had trouble. I have to remember to be patient, live this moment, and enjoy to the fullest extent the two dear children we have.

fundraising

I wanted to let you all know that I am a distributor for Life's Abundance. I am focusing on their pet food beings we raise Akitas, but they have many other products! Natural cleaning products, natural facial products, natural health products, and all the pet products you could ever wish for. All commissions earned by Life's Abundance sales go to help with our adoption expenses plus deliver you a premium product! If anyone is interested CLICK HERE . Or if you would like to help out, but don't need Life's Abundance products you can click the donate link to the right. Thank you!