Answered Prayer!

Friday, February 25, 2011

Thank you to all who have been praying for us - we got the visas for the kids today and will be leaving Saturday night as originally planned!  The embassy staff put in some extra effort for our visas and we were able to get what we needed this afternoon.  Two other families from Alabama were also trying to get visas for their children, and all of us were able to get the visas completed.

After we got the visas, we took the kids to God Cares school so they could say goodbye to their friends.  It was tough because you could tell the other children were happy for Alex and Maureen but also sad because they weren't going too.  Ivan, Justin and Jane seemed like they took it the hardest. 

Pastor Dongo with Alex and Maureen

After a long, hot day of waiting (4 hours for Maureen in the morning as she got braided extensions and 2 hours for Alex as he waited with me at the embassy) we hit the hotel pool.  The kids love the water and it was a great way to cool off and burn some energy. 

Angie jumps in on the braiding effort

It's amazing as I look back at this process, that God's timing was right on time for each step of the way.  I have to admit, it became a bit nervewracking but patience and trust were the key lessons learned.  For all the ups and downs, our experience was extremely fast and smooth compared to every other family we talked to.  Judges make arbitrary decisions on which kids are adopted, rulings can take months to get written, paperwork can get lost and orphanages can lose their licenses.  We started this process on October 1 with our homestudy and here we are 5 months later, bringing Maureen and Alex home.  God is good!