PGN-ready or not here we are!

We are IN!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We made it into PGN with Tae’s case this week! Yeah, one down one to go! We are so thankful that we made it this far into the process. I have to be honest that we have had some doubts if we would get into PGN anytime in the near future. This is the last court system that we have to go through. I wanted to do a little recap on what this means for us. Even though this is the last major step of our process it can be the hardest. It is the most unpredictable aspect of Guatemalan adoption. Some people have gotten out of the court in six weeks while others have been in six plus months with multiple kick-outs or privos as they are called. Privos are when the reviewer who is approving your case finds a mistake and kicks you out to have it fixed. It may be with some of our paperwork or paperwork in Guatemala. People have gotten a privo from anywhere from a missing piece of paperwork to a missing accent on a name. So really it comes back to having no control and praying for God’s timing. We are praying for a nice reviewer, that will send us to Senor Barrios, the man who is the final sign off on our case, with no privos. As far as Ellie’s case we probably won’t know much on for the next two weeks. It has been 30 days since we got our DNA test done and they are saying it is taking more like 45 to 50 days. When we get the pre-approval from the US embassy we should be able to go into PGN with Ellie’s case within a couple of days and she should be right behind her big brother! So that is the update. Thank you so much for your continued support and prayers, we are seeing them come to fruition!
Laura

Such a learning process!

So we are still waiting for any news but I have to say that God has been doing some surgery on my heart. I don’t think that it has been something vivid or specific that has changed my attitude or perspective. But I do know that the Holy Spirit is gently and sometimes not so gently prodding me to give up control. At this point I feel like the uncertainty has been something I have tried to contain and put in the back of my mind but even that is being pushed and pulled out and relinquished to the Lord. He knows every hair on my head, he is all-knowing and is the beginning and the end. Because of who he is, not my circumstances, will I trust him though this journey. We are still praying and petitioning the Lord on behalf of our children’s cases but now I am starting to experiencing the “peace of God which IS transcending all understanding and IS guarding my heart and mind in Christ Jesus” (Phip. 4:6-7). By the way I am still working on the with thanksgiving part of that verse! Over all I am so blessed to be on this adventure because I am learning more about my Savior and how to glorify him even in these moments of struggle and frustration. I have a long way to go but at least he never gives up on me! We’ll keep you updated,
Laura

It is getting harder

So the visit trip high is wearing off for sure. It was so amazing to see both children, to hold them, love them, and to get a glimpse of what our family is going to look like. Now being back without them feels empty. We are parents but not really. We love these children as our own but other people are raising them. That becomes harder everyday. The realization of where we are at in the process is also becoming a bit more depressing. For some reason we continue to hit one delay after another. Just when we were getting somewhere with both children we hit another roadblock and Mateo’s file is held up in Family Court. So many people are praying to get out of PGN and we are just praying to get in! As of right now it looks like at the earliest the kids files may go into the last court ,PGN, is at the end of February. The average time in PGN is still around 12-16 weeks in PGN and then 3-6 weeks after we exit before we can travel. That really translates that if we don’t have anymore crazy delays and we are average we will not be bring the children home until June or July at the earliest. Now some cases get out in 6 weeks from PGN I just saw that someone from our agency went into PGN on 12/21 and just got out. So it does happen on occasion but I am not trying to count on it. Overall I am just struggling with the reality and uncertainty of where we are at with the adoptions. I know and believe that God has this in his timing and I and being pushed right now to see his hand at work and to trust him and him alone for the outcome. I need to wait on the Lord so that he can lift me up and put my hope in him alone. I have to continuously remind myself to not be anxious about ANYTHING (including, paperwork, lawyers, PGN, and Guatemalan officials) but in everything with prayer and petition present your requests to God.

Please join us in petitioning the Lord on behalf of these two children;
-that Mateo’s case will get out of Family Court with a CLEAN file with no mistakes
-That Ellie’s case will get approval from the US Embassy in the normal 30 day timeframe so she can get into PGN
(her 30 days should be up sometime the week of the 18th)
-That both cases will enter PGN soon so that we can start our wait there. And that we have a miracle happen and we are one of the cases that exits quickly
-For patience for both Scott and I as we pray about our families future and wait for the kids.
Thank you for partnering with us. We want to have faith that will move mountians.
Laura

Update of the week...

So the update this week is that we are still having problems in Family Court with Mateo’s case. We must have our file released from FC to be able to be submitted into the last court, PGN. I guess there were a bunch of errors on the report so it had to be redone. The blessing in this is that our lawyer caught the mistakes, because if not we would most likely get kicked out of PGN for them anyways. So at least they are being fixed now. With Ellie’s case, we got her DNA results in the mail, 99.998% so it’s a match! That means that in three weeks or so we should get the approval from the US Embassy and because her case is already out of family court we should be able to go into PGN. So the kids may be getting into PGN around the same time. We will see. So that is the update.
We are staying busy on campus, my sister Maria is coming to visit and go to a play with us this weekend so we are excited about that. Beyond that we are praying to get into PGN quickly with both kids. Have a great weekend!
Laura