GOTCHA DAY!

Thank you for all of your prayers!! I was so nervous today but GOTCHA DAY went very well and Gracie and I had a great day!

Of course there are many details that made up our day, but she is asleep and I am going to eat my dinner and get some rest. Here is one of her first photos as we drove away. She is so sweet!

John 14:18  I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

 

The Wind Has Shifted

Things don't always work out as you expect or hope they. We know that about life. When Jimmy and I were here in August everything went perfectly. This time, not so much.

Everything started off great. We left Houston with no problem and had a very long flight to Frankfurt, Germany. We got to our gate for our connecting flight and the ticket agent could not check our 12 year old daughter in. She said there is a problem with the passport. It expires in March. Okay...so what's the problem here? It's January and March is six weeks away!

The passport must be valid for THREE MONTHS PAST THE EXPIRATION DATE!!!

Are you kidding me? What is the point of an expiration date then? Tears flowing. Tears from my eyes. Tears from my sweet daughters eyes. I was panicking. There was nothing I could do. The plane was about to board and we had to decide if I was going to get on that plane or not. Alone. Without my husband and daughter. We all knew I had to get on that plane. I had to show up for Gracie.

As I boarded I watched Paige standing there in tears and my heart was broken. The flight was 2 hours long and I cried the whole time.

Then one of those things happened that lets you know God has this under control. I was sitting on an empty row (since 2 of the seats were supposed to be for my family). Halfway through the flight a little girl came to my seat. She climbed onto my lap and started talking to me. This was NOT a hallucinaton. She was real. She was a Bulgarian child. She had the same skin, hair and size as Gracie. She was looking out the window and talking away (in Bulgarian). I have no idea what she was saying. I kept looking back to see if her parents were going to come get her, but no one was even standing up. So I just savored the moment. I knew immediately what was happening. God was sending comfort. I thought of Gracie and I knew that in a couple of days she would be sitting in my lap just like this. After about 10 minutes a woman came to collect he child. She did not speak English. She summoned the child, but the child did not move. She just stayed on my lap. I asked the mother what the child's name was and she said Daria and that she was 2 years old. She also told me th city they live in and I know it very well since one of my friends adopted there. After about 5 more minutes the mother was able to convince Daria that she should return to her seat. She was a sweet child and I got great comfort from her visit.

When I landed I had some trouble locating my driver. Once I did, I got to my hotel and pleaded for prayers. I then started to contact the US Embassy/Consulate. I was able to get an emergency appointment scheduled for Tuesdya at 8am to have them fix the problem with the passport.

Now...we wait. What happens now hinges on my meeting at the orphange tomorrow and their meeting at the consulate on Tuesday.

Hopefully I will still be able to pick up Gracie tomorrow and still celebrate Gotcha Day (just won't be what I imagined). Then, hopefully everything goes well with the consulate and my husband and daughter will join my and Gracie on Tuesday night.

We have had an amazing amount of support come through for us. Many, many prayers and even donations since this will cost us more money.

I have had to be reminded that we do not know the path of the wind. God's plans are His plans and do not always align with ours. One thing is for sure: His plan is the perfect plan!

Continued prayers are needed and so appreciated.

Tomorrow...I will let you know what happens!

Counting the Days

We have been preparing. For an entire year, we have went through so much paperwork and so many emotions and now we are so close that we both have child-like enthusiasm. We think about Gracie every second of the day. We imagine her being in our home as we have all along, but now it's so close and so real that we can feel it.

In just 5 days, we will board a plane to bring her home forever. Gracie will finally know what it's like to live in a home with a family.

We will leave on Friday 1/18. Gotcha Day will be Monday 1/21. We will be home Saturday 1/26.

Many people have asked me why we have to be gone for a week. Why can't we just go pick her up, get on a plane and come home?

Well, you see I have learned that adoption is just not that simple. First of all we have to account for an entire day to travel there and travel home. We were lucky to get a 13 hour flight over there, but not so lucky with a 20 hour flight home. After we pick Gracie up we have to apply for her passport. This takes 3 days to get. We then have to take her for a medical appointment and apply for her VISA which accounts for another 2 days. Once we have all of that in order we will be on our way back.

We really enjoyed our time in her country when we visited her in August. We lived every moment, enjoyed the city, enjoyed the food and just soaked it all in. It is now cold and snowing there (and we are a Texas family who never sees snow). We want to enjoy the country just as much, or even more, now that we will have her with us. 

We are also taking our 12 year old daughter with us this time. She is completely over the moon about going to pick up her baby sister. Her heart has been so into the adoption and it really is a beautiful thing. She is going to miss school, it will cost us extra money, she will return with jet-lag and have to go back to school, she won't be here to help with her baby brother. There were many reasons that we thought we should not bring her. Giving her this experience is more important. She has a true, loving heart for the least of these. She always has. I can see her continuing in orphan ministry and even adopting someday. I am so proud of her and how big her heart is. She will never forget this journey.

Thank you so much for following us throughout this journey to grow our family. I have learned that I am not living according to my own plans. This is God's story, His plans, His journey. I am so thankful that we listened and followed His way. I can't wait to see what God has in store for our family going forward.

I plan to update daily on my blog while we are traveling. Last time I was not able to share pictures of our beautiful girl, but this time...well, just be prepared. There will be pictures.

Please pray for us while we travel. I know this will not be the easiest thing we've done. Please pray for Gracie. Pray that she is comforted by us. I know she will likely be confused and scared. Pray for our oldest and youngest children that are being left in very good hands while we are gone. Pray for our friend, Caryn who will have our little one. She has her hands full already, yet she never questions helping us in any way she can. Speaking of friends, pray for Gracie's friends who she spends her days with. Pray that they will not be confused by her absence and that they too have a family come for them soon.

I felt your prayers lifting me up over the past year (especially on our first trip). I will be praying thanksgiving and blessings upon all of you who lift us up during this time. I appreciate you so much.

ONE.LESS.ORPHAN

We have a new daughter!!!! I am shaking and crying and so happy to share our news with you!!! Thank you all for helping us make this happen through your encouragement, support and prayers.

Meet our daughter...

 

Court Date

Last Monday we received THE email that we have been waiting for!! We received a court date!!!

On December 14, 21012 an orphan will become a daughter. Our daughter.

We have thought of her and known her as our daughter since we first touched her, but in 10 days it will be official. She will have our name!!!!

Wow...in 10 days we will have a new daughter and I won't even have to have an epidural or eat hospital food!!!

This has been a long journey. A long paper pregnancy. I can't believe that we are so near the end and so near our new beginning. 

It's been nearly four months since we met Gracie for the first time. Four months of missing her so badly. Soon we will be back for her and we will be looking at her in the middle of the night like a newborn baby.

There is still more waiting. Court will be in 10 days, yes I'll say it again...10 days! After that, documents have to be ordered/issued and the holidays will probably cause some delay. We will be given a travel date to pick her up once these things have been taken care of. Typically this happens about a month after court. I'm not certain if or how the holidays will impact this timeline, but I'm praying for things to happen quickly.

Meanwhile, we have been preparing for her arrival. Her clothes are all washed and put away. The clothes we are taking on the trip for her are all packed in a suitcase. Today I bought diapers, wipes, socks, shoes and travel size baby bath and lotion for her. I nearly cried as I bought sizes that were for a 1 year old rather than a child almost 4 years old. Soon we will take her bed out of the box, put it together and set up the room that she will share with her brother.

Please pray that all goes smoothly in court and that our adoption will be granted on December 14th. Pray that we will be able to pick Gracie up as soon as possible. Please pray that she somehow remembers us and feels our love until we return to bring her into our family forever.

He has not left you an orphan sweet little one. Mommy and Daddy are coming soon.

A Matching Grant!!!!

It's been almost two months since you've heard from me. During those two months no news has been...well, no news. This is the part of the process that is really hard. You meet your child and then you leave your child and then you wait, and wait, and wait.

I've managed to keep incredibly busy over the past few months which has made the time go by fast. At this point our dossier is waiting on one signature and then we will be assigned a court date. We hoped all along to be able to bring Gracie home before Christmas, but we are now expecting that it will be January. As soon as we have a court date I will should it from the rooftops (and blog about it) and you will know.

Now on to some very exciting news! We applied for a grant with the adoption support group we are apart of and got word yesterday that we were approved!!!

We have a $2500 matching grant!!! This is HUGE!!! This opportunity could not have come at a better time. We will need $6,000 for our final trip to pick up Gracie. If this matching grant is fulfilled we will be FULLY FUNDED!!!

Here are the details on how you can help: 

1. Prayer – Please pray that we receive our court date soon and that the judge blesses us by granting our adoption. Pray that God will prepare all of us, including Gracie for the upcoming changes to our family. Pray that our matching grant is met and that those who pray and contribute are abundantly blessed.

2. Financial Support – Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to help us pay the remaining expenses to bring Gracie home. We have now come to the final amount needed to pay for our final trip (three plane tickets, 6 nights hotel, 7 days food) which will equate to approximately $6,000.

Trinity Lutheran Church and Lifesong (www.lifesongfororphans.org ) have graciously given us a Matching Grant of $2,500 to help with the final costs to bring Gracie home to our family.  

What this means is that if we are able to raise $2,500 then Trinity Lutheran and Lifesong will match that amount and we will receive $5,000 towards the final costs of our adoption! 

This will mean that our adoption will be fully funded and finances will not keep us from walking our daughter out of the orphanage that she has lived in for nearly four years. This means that she will see that there is more to life than the four walls that she has lived within. This means that when she turns four she will have a birthday party instead of being transferred to a mental institution for adults. This means that we will be able to get her the medical help and therapy that she needs to thrive and develop to her full potential. This means that she will have a family who will raise her to know Jesus Christ and teach her that she was made perfectly by God just the way she is. This means that she will know what it is like to be loved by a family and friends.

We ask that you prayerfully consider being a part of this amazing journey. If you are able to make a tax-deductible financial contribution you can send it to the address below. Lifesong is a trusted, non-profit organization administering the funds on Gracie’s behalf.

1. Please make checks payable to: Lifesong. In the memo section of the check please write (preference Meeks #3189 adoption). *Note: In following IRS guidelines, your donation is to the named non-profit organization. This organization retains full discretion over its use, but intends to honor the donor’s suggested use). 

2. Mail checks to:

                                    Lifesong for Orphans

                                    Att: Meeks/#3189

                                    PO Box 40 / 202 N. Ford St.

                                    Gridley, IL 61744

3. Donations may also be made via PayPal by going to this link. Please make sure to enter this note in the payment description: Preference Meeks #3189 adoption.

Thank you for your prayers and support throughout our journey to bring Gracie home. We will keep you updated as we receive our court date and our travel dates! Please pray this entire process will glorify God and fulfill His purposes!

If you have any questions about adoption please feel free to ask us. We can’t save every orphan, but we can all make a difference. If you feel God calling you to expand your family through adoption, don’t let any obstacle stand in your way. If you place trust in Him and follow His command, He will show you the way.

God’s Blessings,

 

One Month

I know I have been quiet since we returned from our trip. I think I needed time to absorb everything, recover from jet lag, catch up on things at home and complete more paperwork.

But today. Well, today marks one month since we walked into the orphanage and saw Gracie with our own eyes for the first time. This week has been a hard week.

When we came home I was on cloud nine as they say. I was so ecstatic that we had met our girl and fell madly in love with her and would be bringing her home soon. The euphoria has now worn off and I am missing her so badly.

As each day passes I feel further away from her. I feel like as time goes on I am forgetting how she smelled and felt and sounded. I have to force my memory to go back there. I am also reminded that we still have a few months to go before we can bring her home.

This is all just part of the process and I always try to see the bright side of things. My husband has been my rock. Monday I just could not stop crying. We went to lunch and he told me not to be sad and reminded me we would have her home soon.

So as we are now one month from our first meeting with Gracie, we are also one month closer to bringing her home.


This is what we have left to do to bring our baby girl home.

Send off I-800 application (done)
Get I-800 approval (done)
Wait for article 5 appointment
Wait for court date
Raise the rest of the money needed for fees and travel (about $8000)

We are past the paperwork and now just waiting. We are working diligently on getting the money that we still need. My husband is working extra hours and away from the family a lot right now. I have a couple of grants that I am applying for and we are going to try a couple more fundraisers. Tax deductible donations can also be made to our account by clicking on Gracie's picture on the sidebar.

God has truly been involved in every little detail of our adoption story and I am so amazed by His works! There are just so many things that either didn't work out or did that led us to where we are now and I am in awe.

Thank you to everyone who has prayed, donated and helped us out in any way. I can't wait to be able to announce that we have a court date and even better, that we are bringing Gracie home.

Please pray that things move quickly with our paperwork and that our article 5 appointment and court date are set quickly. We are praying that our sweet girl will be able to celebrate Christmas with her new family!