Electronic Cartwheel (As promised)

Around 30 days ago, we were told we would finally be on the awaited list in September.  And I got teary eyed.  It was finally happening!  But there was still a part of us that, due to the psychotic roller coaster of the last year and a half, was afraid to get really excited and be let down.  It wasn't on paper yet at that point and we would have to wait a month.
The end of September was coming and we got anxious.  No news on Monday.  Nothing again on Tuesday.  And then nothing on Wednesday.  We knew as the week went on, it meant the odds of traveling before Christmas this year were getting slim.  But we were okay with that.  We just wanted to see "the list".
Thursday morning, I woke up and grabbed my phone.  And there was an email from our agency "The kids have been assigned to you!!".  It means in Peru's mind, they're ours!!  This is HUGE!!
Now, we have pages of immigration paperwork to fill out.  Like 45+ pages!  We have to wait on some of the information we need to be translated into English.  So....the odds of things getting back and them letting us travel before January are not super high.  BUT if I've come to learn anything at all in this process, it's that God certainly knows what He's doing.  And if He wants to make miracles happen in the immigration office, He will.
For now, the when doesn't matter.  It's on paper: they are assigned to us and us to them.  We get to go get them!  That is good stuff!
Tonight, we were waiting to get all 5 of them in the same room to Skype with us.  While we waited on the girls, we figured out that a house mom at the orphanage had told the kids the news!  They are definitely excited with a tad of nervous.  It's definitely a different thing adopting older kids who have existing relationships and people in Peru that they love.  Please be praying for our kiddos.  All 7 really. Everyone will have an adjustment.  And the 5 Peruvians will be saying goodbye to friends and people they love dearly.  All good stuff, but still hard.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for all who have prayed, cried, and celebrated with us!  The journey is only beginning so stay tuned!  Lots more fun to come!

God Worked While We Stood

In the last post, I told you about having to start some pieces of the process over.  Our psychologist and social worker were both rockstars and wrote new reports that were fabulous!  Friends and family wrote amazing letters on our behalf and we felt confident.  Once our new docs were translated and in the hands of the SNA, there was nothing we could do but wait.  And that's what we did.
Meanwhile though, things were happening in Peru.  We had previously been told that our 5 kids in Peru would not be interviewed until the very end if absolutely needed.  Well without our foreknowledge, all 5 got interviewed by a kind social worker that was working on our behalf.  They wrote letters requesting to be adopted specifically by us and spoke of wanting to come live with us.  This is good for so many reasons, but it was pretty cool to know this happened in a way that I couldn't worry about ahead of time.  It happened in the purest form--the kids not knowing it was coming and us not knowing it was happening.
Our friend Kevin was in Peru during this time as well, when normally he would have been working in the States.  There was NO coincidence that he was there at this exact time and he was able to provide additional resources to the SNA including conversations we've had on Skype or Facebook with the kids.
Each time I heard of a social worker, someone in the orphanage, or a friend fighting on our behalf, I was so humbled.  There was not a thing left that Scott and I could do.  But God provided others to fill in each gap as it was needed and He worked while we waited.
It's so interesting to me that there is a word in Spanish, esperar, that can mean both 'to hope' or 'to wait'. I had never thought of these words being synonymous in the English language before.  But as we waited on God to work and do His thing in Peru, it was also hopeful.   I was hoping in the Lord (like Isaiah 40:31 says) which was also waiting.  Maybe something you smarter folks had thought of before, but not me until it was real life!
As a result of everyone's hard work, the SNA showed favor on us!  While we are not officially assigned to the kids yet, we will be soon (as promised) and there will be a big, exciting blog post (in lieu of an electronic cartwheel) that you will all see when that happens!
Thank you if you are some that have continually prayed for us.  Thank you for being excited with us and sad with us.  There is MORE of all of that to come, I'm sure.  But I have to remember to continue to wait/hope, no matter what the issue is.  How quickly I forget that, time and time again, God has showed Himself to me in powerful ways!  I am asking that He continue to stay close to me and my family and speak in a way that we can follow right behind!