Waiting

A little over 2,000 years ago the Jewish people were waiting. Waiting for their king to arrive. The king that the prophets of old proclaimed would come. He came, many of them did not recognize Him and denied that He was who He said He is. They thought He would be born of human royalty. A prince. He came instead humbly without a place to lay His head. He came to save the world.

For 33 years He walked this earth sinless. Serving the lowly, the sick, the widow, the orphan. Only to die a terrible death. But the story doesn't end there. Three days later, He was raised from the dead just as the prophets foretold. For 40 days after his resurrection He walked this earth once again, seen by a number of witnesses who would later retell the story of Jesus. He left this earth on a hillside, but before He left, He told his disciples that one day, soon He was coming back.

His church is now waiting for His second return. Are you ready? Have you accepted the Gift God so freely gave? The gift of His Son, born in a manger, born to die...for you.  Are you living a life pleasing to the Lord? What have you done with the story of Jesus? Is it just a fable to you? If you haven't accepted Jesus as your Savior, you can do it right now, before it's too late. Choose to follow Him, believe on Him, allow Him to be the Lord of your life and allow Him to change you completely. I promise that He will take you places you never thought possible, if you let Him.

O come, o come Emmanuel.

Adoption Update

Well..........there isn't an update to report...yet. For those of you just joining us on this journey, I thought I would take a moment to fill you in. We were moving along quite quickly on our adoption journey, especially for Haiti, when we had the unexpected and tragic death of our adoption processor. We knew at the time that his loss would probably halt the process for a while. We realize now how devastating the loss of Kiki was to Maison. It's taken some time for everybody to readjust. We are hopeful though that it won't be long until we have some good news to report. The good news that we are waiting to hear is that we have an adoption decree. That is a huge step and once it's completed, the U.S. side of things starts to kick in. I know many of you are praying and please know that we feel your prayers and are thankful that we have so many family and friends fighting this battle with us.

Waiting is hard, but knowing that Lydie and Samson are in a place where they are loved and well-cared for makes the waiting a little bit easier. This is all out of our control. There is comfort in that. God knows our hurts, He knows our needs. Despite the loss of Kiki, we have been so blessed in this process. From making countless lifelong friends, to having our eyes opened to the needs of this world, to having a relatively smooth adoption so far, we are grateful. Every adoption is a miracle. Before the earthquake it was taking Haitian children sometimes 3+ years to come home to their families. The official clock began ticking for us a little over one year ago and we are nearing the end. It hasn't been an easy road for everybody we know. These things I don't understand. Any news we may receive about our process will feel bittersweet because we have dear friends who are waiting too.

We were overwhelmed and overjoyed by unexpected pictures received tonight by Elisabeth who we met at the Port Au Prince airport in March (total God meeting!)

I found this picture of Samson (it's kind of like a scavenger hunt sometimes!) from this blog.

Isn't he cute?

A few new pictures

Thanks once again goes to my beautiful Team Haiti friends who took these pictures on a recent family bonding trip. 

The word is out!

I sent a little sample of jewelry with Stephen today to show his colleagues. He's in a building full of ladies. There was a lot of interest and he has already sold several items!

A couple of my Haiti adoption friends kindly pointed out to me that the thing I thought was a very long necklace is actually Christmas tree garland. That makes a bit more sense!! I'm sure it would be beautiful strung around a Christmas tree!

I don't know how long these items will last, but it's not too late!!

Beautiful Jewelry

If you have had a chance to watch the Apparent Project video, you have seen how the beautiful Haitian Artisans make their beads. They used recycled materials such as cereal boxes. When I received my shipment of products to sell on Monday, I was stunned at the beauty of each piece. Each one is uniquely handcrafted. I'm so excited to be able to help the people of Haiti in this way. The Apparent Project's mission is to provide a means for mothers and fathers to keep their children so they don't have to take them to an orphanage for financial reasons.

These are perfect Christmas gifts! The box I received on this shipment is not for our adoption fundraising. If I have success selling these items, I may choose to receive a box of bracelets to sell in the future.  If you see an item you just have to have, please let me know!  Most of the items comes with a bio on the artist who made it which makes them extra special!

Christmas Tree Ornaments (Stephen loves these! $8)

Small bag for credit cards, passports, etc. $6

Earrings $5 (I have many different colors to choose from)

Key Chains $5

Cross ornaments $5

Child's bracelets $5

Christmas garland $25

Bracelets $5-6

More bracelets 

Short Necklaces $14

Short necklace $15 The artist who made this, Elinord, is a single mother of two who has suffered much in life including being the victim of domestic abuse. She is currently homeless and trying to save enough money to rent a home. She is one of the hardest working women in the Apparent Project program and is extremely intelligent with so much potential!

Short Necklaces $14

Short Necklaces

Long Necklaces $18-$22

Long Necklace (close-up is picture above)

Long Necklace $22 (reaches below my belly button)

Long Necklace $18

Long Necklace

Long Necklace

Long Necklace $18 (Nathan made this. He was orphaned by his mother's death as a boy. His father has done his best to raise Nathan and his two brothers in very harsh conditions. Remarkably, Nathan has been able to finish 11th grade and wants to use his earnings to finish school and go on to university.

I have 160 items to sell so there is lots to choose from! 

Apparent Project

Several of my Team Haiti friends started selling jewelry made by Haitians and provided by the ministry The Apparent Project.  I decided to jump on the bandwagon and start selling the jewelry too! Items from The Apparent Project have even been featured in Vogue. It is a wonderful opportunity to give to the people of Haiti and help our adoption in the process! Half of the proceeds go to the maker of the item and the other half goes toward our adoption expenses.




These make perfect Christmas gifts! If you are interested, please let me know! I will be receiving my shipment early this week.  I will post pictures of some of the items as soon as I can.

Regimens

I am terrible with regimens and schedules and I love to procrastinate.

So why am I signed up for a one-month treatment plan to ease headaches and neck pain?

I am signed up for Living Social (which I LOVE) and when I received a deal for a one hour massage for $20, I was all over that!

I had the best massage I think I've ever had and they offered a free chiropractic consultation. What's the harm in that?

Doc took an x-ray and determined I have a bit of arthritis in my cervical spine. My posture is terrible and my neck and upper back are weak.  He recommended physical therapy, chiropractic manipulation and massage 3 times per week for 4 weeks. Yikes! Thankfully I have good insurance.

Did I tell you I can't stick to regimens?

Poor Stephen. I'm set up for appointments from now until 2012 which means we won't be getting home until 7:30 three nights per week.

I had my first session tonight. I can tell you honestly I haven't felt this good in a long time. We'll see if it lasts. It's probably not normal to experience a headache almost every day, ringing in the ears, and other issues. Instantly after doc manipulated my neck my ears popped and I could hear as clear as a bell! I was in shock!  I had gone to my regular MD before Haiti and he had given me steroids for my ears which didn't do a single thing.

Tonight I sit on my couch, head in alignment, ice pack on my neck.  If history repeats, this will last, mmmmmm 2 weeks.

But, I really do want to be a good little patient. And I do want to feel better. Maybe this is a way to pass the time while we wait for our kids to get here. Heaven knows, I need all the distractions I can get!