About Mountains by Matthew 17:20

by Ruth

*we are currently "interrupting" our regular blog posts (which to date have been the story of how we were called to adopt and is still a work in progress) because of a current "road block" that has been put in our process.

Matthew 17:20 - "Truly I tell you if you have faith as small mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

Here is our "mountain":

This Thursday we were supposed to receive a court date for sometime in May in Ghana. Then he would become our son in Ghana, we would have received the adoption decree a few weeks later, and then would be able to file the final paperwork.

Instead of being given a court date our POA has been told that the court wants us to spend 4 weeks in Ghana bonding with our son before we go to court. IF we do this they will see us in court in July.

This causes two problems. We HAVE to submit our final paperwork by July 1 for the adoption to even be a possibility at all. We knew in advance we would make two trips to Ghana, but this adds a third, along with many additional expenses.

They want us in Ghana on May 15, and to stay for four weeks. I'm sure most of you realize the difficulty in being able to up and leave your jobs and other responsibilities on short notice for a month long period.

This affects not only us but another family that is currently in the process of adopting two teenage boys from the same Children's Center with the same POA. Other adoptions have occurred with this POA in this region and this requirement was not put on those families. No one has heard of this 4 week bonding period being requested before.

We are very thankful for those that have gone before us in the adoption process in Ghana and are working alongside us to see what can be figured out for this situation.

We need a mountain moved. We TRULY appreciate your prayers. There is a boy in Ghana, who wants a family so much "even if it's Norway". He has never been so close to having one, nor ever been so close to losing one.

To summarize:

-Adoption laws in the US are going to be changing soon and are beginning to affect the international adoption process.

-There are some new officials in Ghana that are not for international adoptions. When we started this process Ghana actually seemed like one of the easier countries to adopt from. That may be changing.

-New requirements seem to have come into play since we started our process.

-We are still continuing our process, but there are obstacles, especially with the timing, that are causing us GREAT concern right now.

For Real

by Ruth

We asked Dryden’s for one favor.  To call the director of the home the boy is at, and have her ask him if he still wanted to be adopted, and if he understood it meant not seeing his older sibling again.  The answer came back as yes.

We also asked about his personality from both Dryden’s oldest adopted boy and friend of this kids, and from Mary.

What we heard:  He is nice.  He likes soccer.  He is very helpful.  He is somebody who cracks a joke.  He is very helpful.

The Picture

by Ruth

We set up an evening to talk with the Drydens and meet their family, including the two adopted boys from Africa.

They were very welcoming, and we spent hours discussing their adoption story, the in and outs of their adoption process, and just lots and lots of details.

For me, finally meeting the two African boys was so amazing.  I had prayed for them and their adoption process for what seemed like a long time.  At this point they had been in the USA for a couple months.  They totally fit in, and other than skin color, it would be difficult to tell they were adopted.  The good thing is that these kids speak British English so while there are some differences in language, it is not a huge barrier.

We knew in advance that Dryden’s had a picture of this boy.  We discussed in advance whether or not we wanted to see it.  What would looking at it do?  Would it influence our decision?  It shouldn’t, but yet, it could.  It’s so hard to think that the fate of child could rest in seeing a picture of them.  Yet, that is how many adoptions take place.  There are pictures of a child on a website, and in looking though them, you are drawn to some in particular and not others.  Somehow, there is just something that seems so unfair about it, and yet it is part of the process.  There DOES need to be a connection.

At the end of our meeting, they offered to show us his picture.  After a little hesitation, we opted to see it.  They brought it up on the laptop, and then set it in front of us.

We knew his name.  Now we had a face.

There are no words to describe the feeling of looking into the eyes of the child that you have been talking and praying about.  The one who might become our child.  The one who wants a family – “even if it’s in Norway”.   The one who wants to be loved and belong.

Speechless.

Friday Night Lights

by Ruth

Exhausted is not a strong enough word to describe how I felt after two days of Summit craziness.

We headed to Kyle’s for dinner after the Summit ended on Friday.  We didn’t know who else would be there.  Some of the promotional strategy team was.  Others we knew came in.  And some we didn’t.

But we looked at each other in disbelief when a certain couple walked through the doors.  A couple we didn’t know, but very much wanted to talk to.  They had spoken at the lunch Pastor Kyle had that afternoon at the Summit.  They are the ones who run “Families of Promise” – an adoption ministry at our church.  They had shared about that ministry at the lunch.  And we knew we needed to touch base with them.

Not for a minute did we think it was a coincidence they were at Kyle’s house for dinner the same night we were.

We were able to catch Jodi after we had eaten, and shared our story with her.   We learned some valuable information from her, and she gave us her thoughts on some good steps to take next.  One of them was watching a video series – one they use for an adoption class that is sometime offered through the church.

And guess who happened to have the videos?  Kyle.  He was going to be watching them as part of his preparation for the upcoming sermon series.  Jodi & I went in search of Kyle to see if there was a chance we could borrow them.  We found him, and Jodi asked if he had them at home or if they were in his office.  They were at his house.  Coincidence?  I think not.

Kyle looked at me with a bit of a smile and asked “are these for you?” What’s going on?” He might not have asked that had he known he would get a tearful jumble of incoherent details – but I think he got the jist of the story.  Kyle prayed for and with us, right then and there.  I love a pastor that will do that.

The Text

by Ruth

Schedule-wise in the unfolding story, we are still on the Thursday & Friday of the Global Leadership Summit.

Pastor Kyle had invited some KCCers over for dinner both evenings after the Summit for some dinner and fellowship.  We were planning to go on Friday night.

Thursday evening when I got home from the Summit I texted Sue because when Doug & I shared the story at lunch I had forgotten share about The Circle Maker and that we had been seeking God by praying a circle around adopting this boy.  I knew that would be important to them, and they would totally understand, having read the book also.

Sue didn’t text back until quite some time later.   And this is what she said – “we were at Kyle’s for dinner tonight so I just saw your text.  Funny, on the way over here Dirk and I were talking about how we needed to pray a circle around this for you guys.  And I was hoping you would NOT be a Kyle’s tonight, because if you were, the only thing we all would have done all evening is cry!”