Saturday, January 23, 2010

With a Little Help From My Sen . . .

Okay, cheesy title but, hey . . . getting up for several nights in a row from 1am -3am trying to call the US Embassy in Manila for updates on our case WILL make you a little loopy. You should all try it!
Here's the status: Ezequiel's visa and passport appointment are ready to be scheduled by the US Embassy in Manila!!! As of today, they have not been but it should be any day now. After several nights of fruitless calls to Manila (I can hardly wait for the phone bill) and only getting through to the Embassy about every 6th or 8th attempt, I decided there had to be another way to find out about our case. I googled something clever like "how can i contact the us embassy in manila" and up popped the contact information for my very own, real live Senator, Richard Burr. I called his office and got through on the FIRST TRY (so THERE, US Embassy) and was immediately put in touch with a wonderful woman who emailed me forms to sign within about 45 seconds of hanging up with her. The forms were permission for her to contact the embassy on our behalf. YOU BETCHA!!!!! I hope to be posting very very soon that we have an update and an actual travel date!!! I can not stop dreaming about that beautiful boy! This is truly "the 9th month of pregnancy" at it's finest!
Keep praying, my dear friends, we are almost there~!!!!

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Orphanage Donations

Many of you precious friends who have prayed us through this adoption have been asking if you can send donations with us for Ezequiel's orphanage, Gentle Hands.
The answer is . . .YES (but not monetary donations). If you feel led to give money to this Christ-centered institution, log on to www.gentlehands.org and donate via the instructions on the web site. If you want to give items (new or gently used), we can take them with us. The items we'll gladly take are:
1. gently used or new children's summer clothing (newborn to 6x)
2. art and school supplies
3. children's vitamins or medications (such as Motrin,Tylenol,etc)
4. thin blankets and crib sheets (new or gently used)
5. children's shoes (size 0-13)
6. powdered baby formula or dry goods (baby cookies, dry noodles, etc)

I'll be glad to pick up items from you if you live within 30 minutes or so of my home.
If you need an address to mail something, contact me via the comments section here or my private email addy (nikesquivel@nc.rr.com).

For His Fame,
Nikki

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Ticket Time!!!!!

I can hardly believe we have finally come to "ticket time"! We are comparing air fares and looking for our travel date to be issued any day now! You would think I would be able to sit back and relax a bit since the longest part of the journey is behind us but I am so keyed up that I am like a teenager in love! I drop things all the time, my memory is worse than ever, I find myself daydreaming about that moment when I first see my new son . . . you don't even want to know the many ways in which I have shirked my responsibilities in my home in exchange for a few more minutes to sit and think about Ezequiel! I am savoring this part of the wait. I know that in a few short weeks, I will be getting to know our boy in REAL LIFE! I will have to figure out what he likes to eat, how he wants to be held, his sleeping pattern and I'm sure I'll have to put the dog food bowl someplace where the dog can reach but Ezequiel can't! THIS, my friends, is why we call adoption a roller coaster. It brings out the best and the worst in us. It reminds us that life is something worth getting excited about!
It takes us back to the fundamentals of our faith. God is the author of life. He gives us children to shepherd and uses those children to bring us closer to Him. It's a win-win situation, no doubt. I get a beautiful new son and a closer walk with Jesus. Why doesn't everyone adopt?

Vision Forum, Quiverfull and Pretending

 If you were a homeschool mom in the late 90s and  into the 2000s like me, you may have been confronted with your feelings of complete inade...