Charming Rocco

This is Rocco. His Mommy and Daddy are Lori and Ron-one of the families that I made a forever friendship with when we both visited our children in Guatemala. Yes, Rocco is as charming as his picture suggests!

Missing Isabella Faye

I am missing Isabella Faye more every day. My heart hurts! My stomach hurts! Please pray with us that she is home soon!

Our Agency director posted this on our Yahoo group. With her permission, many of us are posting her note on our blogs, in the hope that friends will read it and be able to help.


Dear CCI family,

I am writing to you about a most urgent need that has come to our attention in the past 4 days. As you may know, CCI has received our license to provide adoption services in Ethiopia. We have found an orphanage in the rural western side of the country who has been very excited to work with us on finding homes for their many many orphans. We should be having our first 7 children come home from Ethiopia shortly.. in March or April.

The home where we have been working has been providing housing and school for 159 boys aged 6 and above. These boys are, for the most part, not part of the adoption program, as it is very hard to find homes for boys in this age group. This home had been supported by an American gentleman. This past week, their benefactor has decided to discontinue his support of this orphanage. This leaves the orphanage in an immediate and desperate situation, as they have 159 children to feed! The total running expense of this orphanage is about $8000/month. The food bill is $3000/month. They have immediately let some of the teachers go and they are reducing other staff members. However, they do not have any means to provide for even the basic need of food for these boys! They have asked for our help and we are going to do everything we can to help, but CCI does not have excess income to meet this need.

I am asking that anyone who is interested, to please consider helping us to provide for at least their food needs. The figures are overwhelming but I know that God cares more about this than we do. Please share this need with your friends and family and if God leads you to help us meet this need, it would be a blessing to the children. Funds could be sent to CCI earmarked ETHIOPIAN NEED and you would receive a tax receipt.

Sue Hedberg
Executive Director
Celebrate Children, International, Inc

Orphans of God

There are so many children out there that need your help! Even if you aren't led to adopt, there are ways you can help! Just e-mail me and I'll let you know of some great ways to get involved!

WE ARE BACK IN PGN!!!!

We are back in PGN!!!! God is so good! As you may remember, PGN is the last big step in our process. There are loose ends to be tied up after we exit PGN but once we exit, Isabella Faye is legally, forever more, our child! We feel so blessed and so thankful! Especially in the face of some of our friends not getting to bring thier children home, this good news makes us feel even more thankful and humble. God has taken such good care of Isabella Faye-her foster family loves and adores her. And he has been so good to us-bringing us through all of the trials of the changing Guatemalan adoption process. and feeling our hearts with certian peace during a very uncertian time!

I love God more now than I ever have before. My love for Him grows daily. Even in the low times, when we were kicked out of PGN and when we were worried about being registered with the Central Authority-God was there...right there! I have grown so close to Him throughout this process and I vow to keep up our constant conversations even when IF is home. I finally understand what is meant by an attitude of prayer. I am praying every moment-crying out from the depth of my heart and OH God is and listening and answering and talking and working on me-preparing me! Oh how I love the Lord!

Love you guys! Thanks for praying and keep it up! Now we are praying for a swift homecoming!

Beth

Visit Trip Stories Installment 3: The crusty bread

You've all heard that tossing a pinch of salt over your shoulder is good luck. So, what about crusty bread? Sweet Alex, son of new friend Betsy is the funniest kid I know. Just spend five minutes with him and you are laughing! Just thinking of him makes me smile.

One day on our visit trip Isabella Faye and I were eating lunch with Betsy and Alex. The resteruant in the Radisson is a starch white tablecloth-fancy glasses and silverware sort of place. So, just imagine happy grinning Alex gleefully wizzing crusty bread over his shoulder as his unsuspecting mother looked across the table at me. And boy did he know he was cute! If the crusty bread works for good luck too...he'll have fortune to spare!

Prayers for those in deep sorrow

We found out on Friday that some of our friends who are adopting were not registered with the Central Authority for various reasons. The botton line is, their children will not be coming home. Three of the children are in orphanages and the forth is in a foster home but will be returned to her birthmother.

I am overwhelmed with sorrow and grief for these families and for these children. Please pray specifically for Ronaldo and Julia-a brother and sister, Adrian and KelliAnna for protection and for their families who tried desperatly to bring them home. Please pray also for the other cases, an estimated 100 families who were not able to be registered and continue thier adoptions.

Our God is a God of miracles and lost causes. My prayer is that He will interviene in the Guatemalan child wellfare process-bind the harmful influance of UNICEF and that these children will be able to come home, afterall.

The Best Foster Family-EVER!

Isabella Faye's WONDERFUL foster family sent us some pictures last night, in honor of Valentine's Day! How sweet and thoughtful they are...and OH how they love our sweet girl!

Okay, it's only been two weeks since I have seen her but her hair is so much longer...and she just looks so grown up!

I miss my sweet girl so much! It is going to be so fun around here when she gets home! I can't wait for Daddy to meet her!

By the way...in a couple of the pics she is sitting up...a feat we worked on while I was in Guatemala with her. I am feeling pretty darn good about my Mommyskills now!

Love ya,

Beth

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day from John, Beth and Isabella Faye!

Happy 6 month Birthday Isabella Faye!

Today is Isabella Faye's six month birthday. When we started this process we really thought we'd have her home at six months. But, it isn't to be. You know, I really thought this day would be devistating. I had put so much stock in the 6 month mark and thinking Isabella Faye would be home or be coming home within a couple weeks of it! But, the Good Lord has given me peace!

I have peace that I got to meet my sweet girl at 5 1/2 months-before the big 6 month mark where appereantly I think she becomes a woman! : )

I have peace that although she isn't home yet, Isabella Faye IS coming home!

I have peace that God is still in the miracle business becuase dispite huge odds, we are registered with the Central Authority.

I have peace that my beautiful child has been in the world for 6 wonderful months!

The Lord is so good to us-all the time! This peace-this peace that passes all understanding-it's like nothing I've ever known. How do people adopt without Jesus?

YAHOO!!!!

Praise the Lord in Heaven and all glory and praise be to Him! We are registered with the Central Authority!

Long story short, this was the new, added step that was holding up our process. Not being registered with the Central Authority was the worst thing that could have happened...but PRAISE GOD we are registered!

John and I are on cloud nine! It should be very soon that we are resubmitted to PGN (the last big step) and not too many months until our sweet girl is home!

Thanks for always being so faithful to pray for us! God hears your prayers!

Love,

Beth

Oops!

Okay...so I did something wrong earlier and lost all the pics on the blog...I have tried to get most of them back on! Ooops!

Moving Mountains

Friends...below is the text of a posting from a friend on our adoption agency's discussion board.

My 8 year old son asked me what was wrong..I replied I am praying (ok Ihad tears running down my face also)he asked what I was praying about...I said to bring Kam home and also all the other babies being adopted...he said Mom you know God can move mountains and babies are alot lighter ...it will be okay!!!

Last night and today I have been worried sick-wondering if Isabella Faye's case has been registered with the Central Authority. (There is an explaination of that in a previous post.) Long story short-if we didn't get registered...it would be so, very, very bad. Yesterday was the deadline and we haven't heard anything. We think that is probobly good news-with the adoption process...no news is generally always good news! But, I worry, needing confirmation that we have indeed, been registered.

At first I thought it was lack of faith, but a friend and Hubby both asked me, what is your heart telling you? Well, my heart is telling me she is registered but the Evil One, is trying to derail me-convence me that she's not-capture me with fear. Fear is a powerful tool that satan uses to rob us of joy, peace and hope. So, I am going to recognize these feelings for what they are and who they come from...and dwell on the peace that God can move mountians and babies are a lot lighter!

A Journey with God by Leah DiPascal

My friend Darla shared this with me...It is so powerful I wanted to pass it along!

A Journey with God
Leah DiPascal

“Cast your burden on the Lord, and He shall sustain you;
He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.” Psalm 55:22 (NKJ)

Devotional:
I was not looking forward to the trip. As terrible as it sounds, I would have done anything to send someone else in my place so that I didn’t have to face my mom. You see, many years ago my mother was diagnosed with an incurable disease that has affected her physically, mentally, and emotionally. It has been so painful to watch someone I love deeply waste away to nothingness and know there’s nothing I can do but pray and trust God.

The first three days of my stay were the toughest. Mom didn’t recognize me, which was extremely difficult. I kept asking her several times a day “Do you know my name?” or “Who am I?” but she would just look at me with a blank empty stare as if I wasn’t there.

I cried out to God. Please Lord, not yet! I still have so much I want to tell her. My heart was breaking. I asked Him, “How much longer are You going to let this go on? Just take her to heaven where she can be whole again. This load is much too heavy and we are all so tired and weary from the journey.”

On the fourth night after bathing my mom, brushing her teeth, and helping her get into her nightgown, I reluctantly wheeled her over to the bed. Bedtime is difficult for her due to restless sleep and bad dreams. Bedtime is always accompanied with tears. As I tucked the sheets ever so tightly around her and kissed her forehead, I was reminded of when I was a little girl and how she would do the exact same thing for me as part of my bedtime ritual. We said prayers and then ever so hesitantly I asked her once again “Mom, do you know my name?”

Slowly she looked up at me with her beautiful brown eyes and said “Of course, Leah. I know your name.” In that very moment, I was filled with indescribable joy and peace. Nothing else mattered. I didn’t care that we couldn’t go shopping anymore or that we weren’t able to have lunch with friends. It didn’t matter that she couldn’t read me those beautiful poems she had written so long ago or sit on the floor and play with my boys. She knew who I was, and that was good enough for me.

During my stay, I was challenged in countless ways, but God was so faithful and continued to assure me that everything was going to be all right. He even answered several prayers I had been requesting for months. I was also reminded of today’s verse. He wants me to cast my burdens on Him and allow Him to sustain me. He wants me to trust in Him and not to lean on my own understanding.

This is certainly not the plan I would have chosen for my mother yet through this experience I have come to realize that trials and challenges are inevitable. I must learn to expect them, submit to them and learn from them. All the while, realizing that behind each challenge I find a God who longs to pour out His love on me and to carry my burdens if I let Him.

Do you have a parent who is aging and needs your help, or a loved one who is suffering from an incurable disease? Or, are you carrying burdens that are much too heavy to bear? Perhaps you have been asking God tough questions and waiting for your prayers to be answered.

One thing I am learning is that when we ask our Heavenly Father for something, the journey He takes us on while we wait on Him is often times greater than the answered prayer itself. I hope you will let Him carry your burdens today and trust that He knows what is best for you and those you love.

Remember, you were not designed to walk this path alone. He is right by your side to strengthen and sustain you each step of the way.

Dear Lord, help me to trust in You when life doesn’t make any sense. To know that You love me unconditionally and are always there to carry my burdens. Remind me to seek you first when trials and challenges come my way and to recognize Your faithfulness and goodness throughout my journey in life.

A prayer for CA registration...

Lord,
We come before you now and acknowledge that you are still God in GUatemala and that you do, indeed, love our children more than we do. Father God, please forgive us as we are worried. It's our human nature to do so! Those of us waiting to have our cases registered with the Central Authority are reading information that sounds scary! We wonder if our children will be grandfathered in and we wonder what will happen if thier not.
LOrd, we pray that you intervine on our children's behalf. I won't even begin to tell you how or who to intervine with or in, becuase this situation is so beyond me, But I pray that you do, indeed intervine to make sure our children come home.
Please fill our hearts with hope, give us rest and peace. Please place special protection around our facilitators, attorneys, the CA and our agency staff. Give our facilitators and attorneys easy access to whatever/whoever they need to fill out our registration forms. Give them energy and fortitude as many of them work throughout the day and night of the weekend. Please grant energy and fortitude also to those of the CA registering the cases. Open PGN to our cases and bring our children home!
Lord, thank you for SUe and CCI. Sue loves our children and wants them home. At this time when she is powerless to help or fix these problems, I know her heart is troubled. Give her peace. Please grant us all peace.
I love you and thank you for my sweet Isabella Faye. SHe is mine and her Dad's dream come true. I love her more than I knew was possible. I miss her Lord and want her in my arms forever.
Your blessings abound and I thank you for them. Isabella Faye is the biggest blessing of my life! Protect her and bring her safely home and her Daddy and I will raise her to love and honor you, in all ways, in all things!
all these things in your will,
amen.

News of the Central Authority

As you may remember from previous posts, the new requirement that is holding us up from reentering PGN (the last step) is that our case be registered with the Central Authority of Guatemala. Long story short-it is finally, actually registering cases. The good and bad news is that all cases are suppose to be registered by Tuesday...yes, THIS Tuesday. The CA is working this weekend, as are all of our lawyers, but it is still a daunting task to say the least. The good news is that if all cases are regisitered by Tuesday it shouldn't be long until we are back in the last step! The bad news is that if we aren't registered by Tuesday, well...I don't know and I don't think Guat. or the US have figured that out either! The bottom line is that I have complete peace that Isabella Faye is coming home! The 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 question, of coarse, is when? Please pray for her to be home soon, and for all those children in Guatemala to be held safe in our Father's arms.

Visit Trip Stories Installment 2: The Small Menu

On Saturday afternoon I was starting to feel hungry and decided to go down the resteraunt in the hotel and have some lunch. I started to invite new friend Betsy but I didn't want to take away from her Mommy and Alex time, so Isabella Faye and I went down on our own. When we arrived we were graciously seated and I has handed a menu. The waiter opened it for me and laid it on the table. I noticed only one page of food listings and thought it strange that thier menu was so small, but I found several delicous sounding choices on that page and had a wonderful lunch of black bean soup that was heavenly!
The next day Isabella Faye and I went to the hotel resteraunt for lunch with new friend Betsy and her sweet son Alex. Imagine my suprise when I looked across the table and saw her menu...three large sections, all full of choices. I looked down, unfolded my tri-fold menu and laughed! What can I say, my mind is on this baby and apperently...nothing else!

VIsit Trip Stories Installment 1: The Many Faces of Isabella Faye

My little ray of sunshine has quite a repetroire of funny faces! These pictures show off just a few! She has the most wonderful little personality! Although in pictures she tends to make goofy faces, she smiles and laughs too... a lot! She coos and babbles all the time and when she wants something, she yells!

Her very favorite thing to do is spend time with people! She loves a crowd! She's our little socialite! Daddy probobly hopes polititican...we DID watch a lot of Fox News International while I was in Guatemala...and it was all election coverage! Enjoy these funny faces! I hope they make you laugh like they do her Daddy and me!

My visit trip

After marinating in the memories of the experience of my visit trip to Isabella Faye, I think I am ready now to share.
Meeting Isabella Faye for the first time was the most glorious, amazing, life changing moment. At first I was frozen. I just stood there, stunned. Then sweet Isabella Faye's understanding foster mother gave me a kind smile and a slight nod and I took my baby girl into my arms. I just stood there for a few moments, my eyes transfixed on her. I enhaled her smell, kissed her sweet chubby cheeks...more than once! and whispered "I'm your Mommy!" Oh the emotions! My heart, cold and cynical from months of waiting and worrying melted. My knees went week and I had to sit down! My heart had been aching, oh so aching since we were kicked out of PGN but now it was full! I was overwhelmed with love like I'd never known-peace that couldn't be explained-joy that would rival that of all the angels in Heaven singing praises! My daughter was real! No longer a picture! No longer a DVD-but flesh and blood in my arms.
When I got to the room sweet Isabella Faye, frightened from all the changes, began to cry. I did all the lagistical stuff-changed her diaper, tried to feed her, gave her gas drops...then I called my husband. "Let me talk to her!" He said. So, I put the phone to her ear. So gently he talked to her, telling her how much her Mommy loved her-how much he loved her and so on. While they "talked" I prayed. I prayed that God would let Isabella Faye know how much I loved her. Then, right as I said AMEN, there came a knock at the door. It was my dear new friends and thier precious children come to check on me. Midway through our conversation I realised someone was cooing. I looked around at the other babies, all smiling, not cooing, and then looked down to see my sweet girl, a smile on her face, and drool on her chin! And then she was mine and I was hers and the fun began!
I had the most incredable time playing with my baby girl and visiting with new friends Betsy Stevens and Alex, Lori and Ron Radosta and Rocco, Stacy and Mark Gabbard and Raelynn, Sue and her friend Kathy and so many other wonderful families, a couple from CCI and some from other agencies. I made forever friendships that I am honored to possess and I saw, trully saw, how much Sue loves our children and us.
I amused many Guatemalans with my poor Spanish...okay, the truth is, I have no spanish! And had the oppertunity of being the minority (A valuable lesson for us all.) I grew to know mine and Betsy's toilets a bit better than I'd hoped: ) and say God's "little miracles" every day.
What God taught me in Gautemala:
To not be afraid. I am now free from fear of failure and self doubt! To stop reading so much and worrying about it! Sue can do that for me! :) Seriously though, Sue is keeping up with all of this, and I trust God to equip her for the task! I trust her to keep me informed. To let go. The house doesn't have to always be clean (you should have seen my hotel room.) You don't have to be involved in everything. Sometimes its more important to stop and PLAY! That peace and sadness are possible at the same time and that the peace tempers the sadness. That peace is available if you're willing to accept it.
Call me Pollyanna but while in Guatemala-praying like I never have before (listening more-talking less) God gave me PEACE! Isabella Faye is coming home! I don't know when but I know how-through the power of Jesus Christ!
Don't get me wrong, I am in pain...deep, dark pain-becuase I miss my daughter more than words can say. I think of her every moment. I am greiving her absense...raw, honest, sobs from your belly grieving that she's not home...but I still have JOY dispite all the sadness. I have PEACE in the midst of the tears! My baby girl is real and perfect and loved and she will be home-through the power of our real and soverign Lord.
A little lost in the wonder of it all... joy and sadness, grief and peace.
This visit has changed me. I am not the woman I was before. I am stonger-more couragous! I am the MOTHER to the child of my dreams and I am the DAUGHTER of our perfect Father God...and He has made my family complete!

Make a scrapbook - it's easy!

love from guat.

sorry i haven't posted like i said i would...sweet girl likes to be held all the time! what a good problem to have, right!?
here are some more pics!

There are no words to describe meeting your child for the first time. I've typed and erased many-all I could think of, but none even come close! So, I'll let the pictures do the talking! Enjoy!