It's Official!!!!!

Today in the mail I received the kind of packet adoptive parents long for. It was an updated child study report and two beautiful new pictures of Ezequiel! They are on my fridge and each morning, when I open it, I'll be able to say "good morning" and pray for our boy as we wait. We have gotten the official referral from The Philippines and paid a nice fee and now we are so much closer to bringing him home!
We are waiting for our legal documents from The Philippines so we can apply for his visa and passport and then . . . it will be time to travel! Early December is not so out of reach. I am praising the Lord for all of your prayers, gifts and encouragement. God is so good . . . all the time!

Floods and Showers

Those of you who may not be up on "world news" probably don't realize that in the last few days, The Philippines has been inundated with rain from Tropical Storm Ondoy (or Ketsana). Metro Manila is flooded and the outlying areas like Rizal are positively drenched! Electricity is out all around the area and many of the poorest of the poor have lost their shacks, some their lives. Please pray for the precious people of The Philippines. When I heard the news of this disaster, my selfish mind went immediately to Ezequiel. "Where is my baby?" was my first thought. I admit my thoughts probably should have gone to the lovely family members we have living in PI and to the people as a whole, who struggle to feed their families and carve out some sort of a dignified existence amid some daunting economic hardship but all I could think about was Ezequiel and pray that he is safe. My next selfish thought jumped to our adoption process and the realization that this flood will inevitably slow down our paperwork and cause us to have a post-Christmas travel date. Yes, I know, self-centeredness at it's finest! I admit these things only to share how utterly convicted I felt about them yesterday.
Some of our friends, those who have dedicated themselves to our fundraising and who started "Friends of Ezequiel" just continue to bless us minute by minute. Yesterday they had a baby shower for us. We were blessed with diapers, wipes, a winter coat, shampoo, onesies, pajamas, socks and gift cards galore! If doing all the other work for our adoption was not enough, these ladies just showered us with more love and care than we could ever deserve.
It was on the way home that I realized in a new way how God truly does "more than we ask or imagine". It was then that the confidence in the God I serve to protect and bring our boy home safely was bolstered to new heights. Be it December or January, what's another month? God is sovereign and He is more than able! Praise to His
holy and matchless name!

I Know You

Just when I was getting discouraged about the progress (or lack thereof) with our adoption, a ray of sunshine appeared in our mailbox yesterday. It was the notification from US Homeland Security of our appointment for biometric fingerprinting. Those of you who have not adopted a child internationally may wonder what in the world I'm talking about. For my husband and I to be cleared to adopt, we must submit our fingerprints and have them compared with the prints of known felons, terrorists and other derelicts of society. Despite the fact that our fingerprints never change, this process has to be repeated for each international adoption (to the tune of $870 each time). In any case, we are scheduled to have our prints takes soon and that will be one step closer to our precious boy!

I was browsing his orphanage web site (www.gentlehands.org) and looking at the pictures of the children. There is one picture of Ezequiel on that web site and it's fairly old. I'm guessing he was less than a year old when it was taken. While I was gazing at his photo, I was struck with the most unusual sense of familiarity. I looked into his eyes and thought "I KNOW you. You're my baby" and it seemed the most logical notion on Earth. We've never met this child. We don't know the sound of his voice, how he likes to be held or his favorite food. I have no idea what his hair looks like after a bath . . . but as I looked at his photo today, I KNEW him.
It reminds me of how our Heavenly Father names us and claims us before we even come into His family. We are His before we ever know Him. As we run around in our lostness without a Godly heritage, the Creator of the Universe looks upon us and says
"I know her. She's my baby". I appreciate that so much more now.
Thank you, Jesus, for claiming me!

Joy Comes in the Morning

Right now, I am struggling mightily not to become discouraged in waiting to bring Ezequiel home.
He is waiting. He needs a family. The only thing that stands between Ezequiel and his eager family is government action. The Philippines must do their part and the US must do their part. I am a bit down right now. Looking at pictures of our sweet boy does not, at least today, encourage me. It only makes my heart ache.
Maybe tomorrow I'll be able to look at our baby and feel the joy of knowing he is coming soon. Today, he is far off and I'm sad.

"Sorrow only lasts for a night but joy comes in the morning" Psalm 30:5

Progress!

Our dossier is now in The Philippines and in the hands of our ICAB (intercountry adoption board) social worker(Thank you, Christian Adoption Services). Ezequiel is still "on hold" for our family. I have mailed in our i-800a (US government form intended to declare an orphan as a relative) and the LARGE payment that goes with that (Thank you, Friends of Ezequiel) and now, we do what all adoptive parents do best . . . . . wait.
I am not a good "waiter". I feel I must DO something to speed things along. I have prepared a room for Zeke, washed and stored clothing and even bought a few sippy cups.
What now? I am trying hard to keep my mind and heart focused on the "here and now".
It's so hard to do when I feel like a part of our family is an ocean (or two) away.

Lifesaving

Yesterday was, according to several friends who asked the manager, the busiest day Rudinos has EVER HAD! We don't have any idea what our donation will be but I am so grateful to those who came out in support of our adoption. Apparently, it takes little to no encouragement to get my friends (and my friends' friends, etc) to eat out - ha ha!
Switching gears . . . did any of you know that geckos can become constipated and die? Okay, I get how this sounds crass and random but, let me explain:
My oldest son has a leopard gecko. He had it placed on sand in the tank based on advice from a knowledgeable, barely pubescent salesperson at a local pet store chain.
Apparently, when geckos eat they ingest some measure of sand each time and have trouble digesting it. We noticed about a week ago that our gecko ("Officer Byrd", named after Judge Judy's baliff -another story altogether) had not um . . .shall we say . . . "made us a presnt" in a few days. His belly began to swell and a purplish spot appeared on his underside. After much research, we found that the course of treatment for gecko impaction involves the following:
1. remove the gecko's sand and place paper towels on the aquarium floor
2. soak the gecko twice daily in warm water/clear pedialyte up to it's "belly"
for 15 minutes per soak
3. mix plain chicken babyfood, a few drops of mineral oil and a little calcium powder and let the gecko lick it off your finger twice a day
4. wait and pray everyday that you wake up to gecko poop
After repeating steps 1-4 for two or three days (and hoping to wake up to a live gecko as opposed to a carcass) you should see some "action". We did.
Anyway, I thought I'd share my new found, life saving wisdom with anyone who might need it (ha ha).

Another Way to Help

http://www.reecesrainbow.org/sponsoresquivel.html

The Gift Goes On . . .

This Friday (August 21st), the owner of Rudinos Pizza in Holly Springs (at Sunset Lake and Holly Springs Rd, near Harris Teeter), has agreed to donate 10% of his sales for
the WHOLE DAY to our adoption of Ezequiel!!!!! This is simply amazing!
I'll see you guys Friday over a spinach calzone!
Love,
Nikki

Grand Total

The shrub sale yesterday was absolutely an amazing success! It was humbling for Anthony and I and yet we would not have wanted to be anywhere else! Don't get me wrong,it was very hot outside. We worked for about 12 hours straight hauling, moving and loading plants. There was no restroom on the site where we held the sale so . . .uh . . anyway, I'm sure you can use your imagination on that one but honestly, it was exactly where I wanted to be. I was serving side by side with friends who love my family and love the Lord. These friends labored in the hot sun for 12 hours just like we did but they weren't "getting" anything in return. They felt a call to help us bring our son home and they heeded it. Anthony and I know that we have done nothing to earn these loyal friends who are such committed brothers and sisters in Christ. God just chose to bring them to us because He loves us. Those who came out to help, sweat and donate were a beautiful example to us of how to love, not just with words, but with deeds. You, my friends, ARE the hands and feet of Christ.
Thank You!
The total amount earned toward our adoption yesterday? Hold on to your hats, folks .
. . . $3,900.00!!

SHRUBBERY SALE/ FUND RAISER

I'd like to invite all of you to come to a big event hosted by "Friends of Ezequiel".
On Saturday, August 15th from 7:30am-2:30pm, there will be a huge shrub sale to benefit our adoption of Zeke. This sale will be held at the corner of Avent Ferry and Piney Grove Wilbon Rds. in Holly Springs. There will be Holly, Leyland Cypress, Knock-Out Roses and many other varieties of pants in 1 gallon pots ready for planting.
All the proceeds (100%) will go toward our adoption. Please come out and support us.
If you aren't looking for plants, you can come out just to donate or to help with the sale.
Please don't forget to pray for a successful event!

Still Here

It has been awhile since my last post and, for good reason. We have been working on the dossier in order to have it in The Philippines in just ONE WEEK!! Yes, it's true!
Our spectacular agency, Christian Adoption Services (www.christianadopt.org) has a representative headed to The Philippines August 13th. He has agreed to hand carry our file to the Inter Country Adoption Board himself. This will cut several weeks off our wait time . . . that's the "good news". The "bad news" is that the faster the process, the more quickly we will be expected to render payment. I guess I should not call that "bad news" but should view it as an opportunity for God to "show off". We know He can do more than we ask or imagine. We look forward, eagerly, to watching Him provide for each step of this adoption.
Yesterday, our local town newspaper carried an article about our adoption on the second page. This article has moved some families to reach out to help us through donating, praying and offering practical items such as a crib or clothing to our family. Unless you have been the recipient of such an outpouring, you will never know how humbling and comforting it is. I feel almost like I did as a child when I knew I didn't have to worry because my parents would handle the big, scary things that came along. I have NO worries about this adoption because my Heavenly Father is already sending out my brothers and sisters to come along side us and take care of the details.
I close this post humming the old chorus from years ago
"God is so good.
God is so good.
God is so good, He's
so good to me . . "