A life of crime...?

I am considering a life of crime...only as a last resort, though. No need to worry... I won't get caught. You see I've had my fingerprints taken three times and each time they have been rejected. I went in this morning for one last attempt, but the guy said he wasn't too hopeful.

We are trying to complete this final requirement so that we can send in all of our paperwork to the Philippines. sigh. Please pray that my fingerprints would go through this time! The guy said nine of my fingerprints are okay, it's just my pinkie!!! I've wanted to scream, cry, cut my finger off...you name it. Yet, I know that God is even sovereign over pinkies.

Financial update

I wanted to give an update regarding our finances for the adoption...
Last week we were notified that we had been awarded a $2500 grant! Needless to say, we were so excited! We were able to combine the grant with the money that has come in through our fundraising and pay our dossier fees.

We have been so encouraged by how God has provided through our fundraising efforts. We have been blessed in so many ways...one little girl emptied her piggy bank and gave that money to us, one family decided to give all the money in their coin jar, another family decided to take some of their Christmas money and give it...There's so many stories. It has been humbling and has brought us to tears many times. I look forward to sharing the stories with the girls as they get older. What a blessing it will be for them to hear of all the ways that people sacrificed to help give them a home!

Now the final thing we are waiting for is immigration approval. Once we have that, it all becomes "official". We will pay our final fees and then wait for the Filipino government to process their visas and paperwork.

This strange walk of faith we're on

This adoption process has been an interesting walk of faith from the very beginning...
We became convinced earlier this year that this is what the Lord would have us do---to step out in faith and pursue adoption.

But having a conviction is one thing. Knowing what to do next is another. No specific direction unfolded for us. So we began "knocking on doors". The first door we knocked on was foster care. We went to an orientation class but we both left feeling that this was not the route for us. After looking into some other domestic adoption possibilities, we determined that we should pursue international adoption.

Great. But from what country? We have friends that have adopted from China, Russia, Ethiopia, the former soviet union. How do we choose? I began to talk to friends and it wasn't long before a friend suggested the Philippines. Of course! The Philippines! (Why didn't I think of that!) I didn't even know that they were involved in international adoptions. But it just made sense...Roland was born in the Philippines and still has family there. So, at least we had it narrowed down to a country...Our next step was to identify and interview agencies that worked with the Philippines.

I called the first one on my list and told Roland that I just didn't think we should call any others. (So now we had a country and an agency.) During my first conversation with the Philippine program coordinator, I asked her about the type of children that are in the orphanages over there. More specifically, I asked her if there were any deaf kids there. (I hadn't really planned on asking that question.) She responded by telling me that she had just returned from visiting an orphanage and was introduced to deaf twin girls.
"Would we consider them?" she asked. Gulp.

We wrestled with this question for months. We prayed. Others prayed. A couple months later we received the girls' medical report---all 39 pages. Not only were these girls deaf, but one had epilepsy and they had both been hospitalized numerous times for upper respiratory infections/asthma. Our hearts sank.
"We can't do this, God!" we thought.

So, I began to pray-but this time in another way...I prayed for them to find a good home. Another home. Not ours. But a good loving home that was more "prepared" to take them. A family who knows sign language and would understand their medical needs. My friend laughed at me when I told her this in all seriousness. "Wow," she said. "Sounds like a Moses and Aaron thing... Haven't you been signing for 20 years," she asked. "Didn't Roland work as a pediatric nurse?" ouch.

So, back to the drawing board we went. We prayed with more fervor and then one day it happened. Roland came to me and said, "LaNae, I think these are our girls. We need to adopt them." And from that day, it's been settled. And it's just been a matter of doing all that needs to be done to get them here.

Though we have never met these girls, in our hearts they are our girls. I can't explain it-the intense maternal feelings I have for them. Not a day goes by when I don't think about them. I long to kiss their skinned knees when they fall down. To comfort them when they have a bad dream. To tuck them into bed at night... Somehow, now our family seems incomplete. Part of our family isn't with us. They're halfway around the world. And all just won't seem quite right until they are here with us. Until they are.. HOME.

Family of Ninjas

Roland and the kids decided to dress up as Ninjas and do a little trick or treating last night. A while ago, Roland found instructions on the internet for turning a black t-shirt into a Ninja mask, so what better day to try it out than Halloween!
(You'll notice Roland has some nunchucks in his hand. He made those in the garage a couple months ago because we all doubted his 'skills'. He just had to prove himself! Julien, our exchange student, summed it up well, with his strong German accent, "A pastor who break dances and does nunchucks?! 'Dis is very crazy!") haha.