It's hard to believe that it was two years ago today that we made the decision to begin the adoption process. It is completely mind boggling to think about how the past two years have stretched our faith and opened our eyes to the love of the Father in a way that we never could have imagined. Today we saw the firstfruits of every prayer and every step of faith that we have walked with your love and His grace.
Our case worker arrived at 9am and took us via taxi to the children's home. She had been there a week earlier so when he came around the corner he immediately saw her bag of cheese stick snacks and grabbed them from her purse. As we sat there we were introduced to the director who informed us of our allotted time there. Later his doctor came in to tell us how she had been there since the day he was born and had actually taken him home with her to visit. She gave him two forceful "Bulgarian - grandmother" kisses and told us we had the favorite.
We spent some time just simply talking with him trying out our few self taught Bulgarian phrases with him in an attempt to see some sort of reaction and make a connection. At first he was only interested in finishing off that bag of snacks by himself. Aaron pulled out our camera to record a few seconds of video. Still he only stared blankly at us, crunching on his snacks. As soon as Aaron played back the video on the camera, a sly smirk stretched across his face. We were in!!
Next Aaron pulled out one off the egg - shakers we had brought as toys, from his red backpack. Andrew paused from the snacks to observe Aaron as he held out the shaker for him to play with. Andrew took it with great interest only to set it down next to him and finish his snacks. Jen pulled out some of the underwear we brought him, and then he got it!! He quickly ran over to her and began to ask "What is this?" in Bulgarian. Jen helped him open the package, he took out all the underwear, put it back in, took it out and then dove for the red backpack of wonders.
He loved the first outfit we brought him. Folding and refolding it. We've noticed that he is very particular about having everything in its place and spent a good bit of time taking toys out just to put them back again. Not much interest in the cars, or the coloring book, but he loves the cardboard picture book. We scored big with the sticker book that we brought. The rest of the morning we spent on the floor with him helping him put each sticker in its place.
It was time to leave and we were helping him carry all his loot back to his room when the caretakers began to talk with him in Bulgarian. All of a sudden our interpreter's eyes widened as she turned to tell us that the caretakers had asked him who we were and he responded "mommy and daddy." We asked her if she knew if the workers a told him to say that but she had no idea. He blew kisses to us as we left. Either way it was the first high point of the day.
For lunch and the afternoon we played tourist with our translator as our guide. We enjoyed getting to know her as well as some of the Bulgarian history and culture.
3:30 we returned and as we came around the corner we saw Andrew come running out with his complete outfit on. He was so excited to show it off for us. Later as we were playing we noticed he had even put his underwear on over his diaper!
They told us we could take him outside to play with him. We asked him where he would like to play and he took us to the slide. At this point it would have been great to have our other kids along, but there we were. So it was now up to good old Dad to do what Dad's do best. As Aaron slid down the way too small slide screaming like a little girl, Andrew erupted in an adorable giggle that begged Aaron to repeat the scene several times over.
Jen had been inviting him all morning to sit on her lap and let her read to him. At one point she convinced him to sit for just a second before he was distracted by something else in the red backpack. So you can imagine her delight as later on when Aaron offfered his lap, Andrew turned and ran straight for Jen to sit with her. We pray that our son at home will be able to adjust to his new brother competing for time with "mama"!
When it was time to leave again, the caretaker took his hand and started to walk with us following. Then she saw us and told Andrew to hold mamas hand. He did immediatly. Jen said "tatko" (daddy) and looked at Aaron and immediatly Andrew took Andrew's hand. So, for a brief moment to the front of the building we were hand in hand, a family. His caretaker told him to give hugs and kisses to mama and daddy, so he did. She asked if he wanted to see us tomorrow and he said, "da" (yes). We said obichame te (I love you) and he blew kisses to us as we left. He even peaked over his shoulder as he walked away and looked at us one more time. We are so in love!!!
Monday, April 26, 2010
Sunday, April 25, 2010
We're here!!!
We made it to Sofia sometime around 12:30 p.m. here.
All travels were smooth. We had enough time during layovers, but not too much time. When we got to Atlanta and received our boarding passes, the lady at the counter realized that we did not have seats together for the long flight from Washington DC to Munich, Germany. The plane sat 2, aisle, 5, aisle and then 2. So, she put us togther in the middle of the five seats. She said we would have more leg room and she would not charge us for it. We didn't know what she was talking about until we got on the plane. We were upgraded to Economy Plus which gives you 5 inches more leg room. That was nice to have. Then the aisle seat next to us was empty. We told the gentlemen next to us that if it stayed that way we would move over and give them more room. The one guy said that the chances of that happening were slim to none, so I told him I'd take the slim. Sure enough a couple minutes later an announcement was made that the cabin doors were closed. I told him that slim won out. He told us "You must be living right". That was way too funny.
Anyway, no one in Sofia was there to greet us due to the change in our flight schedule. So, we called our interpreter who got a hold of the person picking us up. They were on their way, so we only had to wait about 20 minutes. They never got news of the change. The man who picked us up owns the apartment where we're staying. His son came with him and knows some English. On the way we were talking and asked about exchanging money, so he took us to a place to exchange it. We got to the apartment and put our stuff in and looked around. The man and his son, Dancho are super nice and helped us out with so much. Dancho even took us to the grocery store and we bought a few things for breakfast for the week and of course, ice cream!!! We are so thankful for Dancho because we wouldn't have been able to do any of this without knowing the language.
When we called our interpreter for help, she told us she would meet us at 9 AM at the apartment Monday morning and we would then head over to the orphanage. We have no other information. We don't know what to bring, how long we're going, what else is planned for the day. It is so funny. This whole adoption has been about trusting God and being still. It continues to be. We will go with the flow. If nothing else, it'll all make for some good stories.
We'll leave you with the first funny story:
Apparently our cell phone had a hard time figuring out the local time on its own. So, we finished shopping, bought some pizza, came home, ate and put things away. We looked at the clock and saw it was 8 P.M. here. We were exhausted and hadn't got much sleep, so we decided to go to bed for the night. Next thing you know we wake up, it is still light out and our cell phone is telling us it is 11:30 a.m., Sunday morning. We knew it couldn't be Sunday a.m., but were very confused. We actually got on facebook and messaged Aaron's sister to find out what time it was in the U.S., so we could calculate the 7 hours ahead. Well, come to find out it was just now 8 P.M. here and we had been sleeping for three hours. So I guess we got a nap in before our big night's sleep!! Maybe we were more tired that we realized!!
All travels were smooth. We had enough time during layovers, but not too much time. When we got to Atlanta and received our boarding passes, the lady at the counter realized that we did not have seats together for the long flight from Washington DC to Munich, Germany. The plane sat 2, aisle, 5, aisle and then 2. So, she put us togther in the middle of the five seats. She said we would have more leg room and she would not charge us for it. We didn't know what she was talking about until we got on the plane. We were upgraded to Economy Plus which gives you 5 inches more leg room. That was nice to have. Then the aisle seat next to us was empty. We told the gentlemen next to us that if it stayed that way we would move over and give them more room. The one guy said that the chances of that happening were slim to none, so I told him I'd take the slim. Sure enough a couple minutes later an announcement was made that the cabin doors were closed. I told him that slim won out. He told us "You must be living right". That was way too funny.
Anyway, no one in Sofia was there to greet us due to the change in our flight schedule. So, we called our interpreter who got a hold of the person picking us up. They were on their way, so we only had to wait about 20 minutes. They never got news of the change. The man who picked us up owns the apartment where we're staying. His son came with him and knows some English. On the way we were talking and asked about exchanging money, so he took us to a place to exchange it. We got to the apartment and put our stuff in and looked around. The man and his son, Dancho are super nice and helped us out with so much. Dancho even took us to the grocery store and we bought a few things for breakfast for the week and of course, ice cream!!! We are so thankful for Dancho because we wouldn't have been able to do any of this without knowing the language.
When we called our interpreter for help, she told us she would meet us at 9 AM at the apartment Monday morning and we would then head over to the orphanage. We have no other information. We don't know what to bring, how long we're going, what else is planned for the day. It is so funny. This whole adoption has been about trusting God and being still. It continues to be. We will go with the flow. If nothing else, it'll all make for some good stories.
We'll leave you with the first funny story:
Apparently our cell phone had a hard time figuring out the local time on its own. So, we finished shopping, bought some pizza, came home, ate and put things away. We looked at the clock and saw it was 8 P.M. here. We were exhausted and hadn't got much sleep, so we decided to go to bed for the night. Next thing you know we wake up, it is still light out and our cell phone is telling us it is 11:30 a.m., Sunday morning. We knew it couldn't be Sunday a.m., but were very confused. We actually got on facebook and messaged Aaron's sister to find out what time it was in the U.S., so we could calculate the 7 hours ahead. Well, come to find out it was just now 8 P.M. here and we had been sleeping for three hours. So I guess we got a nap in before our big night's sleep!! Maybe we were more tired that we realized!!
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Flying!
We're in the airport waiting to board our flight to head to Bulgaria. This past week was a bit crazy. Trying to prepare for a trip for the other part of the world in one week was quite the ride.
In the middle of the week we had a friend stop by and tell us that God told him to pay the remainder of what we needed for this part of the adoption, so a $1,200 check later and we had it all. Praise the Lord. He is faithful!!
On Thursday, Jen was taking our daughter to gymnastics when all of a sudden the van started to shake and screech and jerk and grind. She pulled over in a parking lot and called for help. Our niece and her friend came to the rescue. They took Rachel to gymnastics and then Aaron showed up. We realized the brake pad had come loose because a bolt that holds it on was gone and nowhere to be found. Aaron drove up and down all over 2 towns to find the part, but couldn't find one. We even had ambulance EMT's try to help, calling around to hole in the wall shops. We were able to drive the van home safely, but still needed a bolt. Jen's sister and her husband are watching our kids for the week and need the van to go anywhere. Aaron searched high and low on Friday only to find out that the bolt is only made by Mazda and has a unique thread that can't be duplicated. So, we called Mazda dealers only to find out that not one dealer in the state of Georgia has the bolt. So, we had to order it and the earliest it will be here is Tuesday. We are so blessed with amazing family and church body and have several of them coming to the rescue to take care of the van while we're gone and cart the kids wherever need be for Jen's sister.
In the middle of this our brother-in-law ended up in the ER on Friday due to some health issues. He is fine now, but we had a moment of concern not only for him, but for our kids and who would watch them while we're gone. Again, our amazing church body and family was ready and willing to step in and help. They were quick to encourage in the midst of all of this, letting us know they were there for us for whatever we needed.
We needed to leave our house by 7 A.M. this morning and at 6 A.M. we received an automated call saying that the first flight of our trip was cancelled. We were put through to an agent and within a matter of minutes she had our entire flight itinerary changed and ready to go. We are now leaving Atlanta and hour later, but arriving in Bulgaria an hour earlier.
All this to say that our God is big and faithful and in control. He gives peace in the midst of the storm. There has been a tangible grace on us as we have prepared for this trip this week.
While we do and will miss our kids terribly, we are excited to meet our son. The other end of the trip we will miss our son terribly, but be excited to see the other 4 at home. Maybe next trip we can all go.
In the middle of the week we had a friend stop by and tell us that God told him to pay the remainder of what we needed for this part of the adoption, so a $1,200 check later and we had it all. Praise the Lord. He is faithful!!
On Thursday, Jen was taking our daughter to gymnastics when all of a sudden the van started to shake and screech and jerk and grind. She pulled over in a parking lot and called for help. Our niece and her friend came to the rescue. They took Rachel to gymnastics and then Aaron showed up. We realized the brake pad had come loose because a bolt that holds it on was gone and nowhere to be found. Aaron drove up and down all over 2 towns to find the part, but couldn't find one. We even had ambulance EMT's try to help, calling around to hole in the wall shops. We were able to drive the van home safely, but still needed a bolt. Jen's sister and her husband are watching our kids for the week and need the van to go anywhere. Aaron searched high and low on Friday only to find out that the bolt is only made by Mazda and has a unique thread that can't be duplicated. So, we called Mazda dealers only to find out that not one dealer in the state of Georgia has the bolt. So, we had to order it and the earliest it will be here is Tuesday. We are so blessed with amazing family and church body and have several of them coming to the rescue to take care of the van while we're gone and cart the kids wherever need be for Jen's sister.
In the middle of this our brother-in-law ended up in the ER on Friday due to some health issues. He is fine now, but we had a moment of concern not only for him, but for our kids and who would watch them while we're gone. Again, our amazing church body and family was ready and willing to step in and help. They were quick to encourage in the midst of all of this, letting us know they were there for us for whatever we needed.
We needed to leave our house by 7 A.M. this morning and at 6 A.M. we received an automated call saying that the first flight of our trip was cancelled. We were put through to an agent and within a matter of minutes she had our entire flight itinerary changed and ready to go. We are now leaving Atlanta and hour later, but arriving in Bulgaria an hour earlier.
All this to say that our God is big and faithful and in control. He gives peace in the midst of the storm. There has been a tangible grace on us as we have prepared for this trip this week.
While we do and will miss our kids terribly, we are excited to meet our son. The other end of the trip we will miss our son terribly, but be excited to see the other 4 at home. Maybe next trip we can all go.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Travelling!!!
We received all our official paperwork today from the MOJ as well as an invitation to travel and a more recent picture of Andrew!! He's going to fit right in! We need to buy plane tickets still, but looks like we will be heading to Bulgaria next weekend.
We like dates, they are important to us. The day we will meet our son, April 26th is exactly 2 years to the day from the day we made the decision to adopt. We didn't actually get to officially start the process until July of that year when God first brought the money neeeded for our application fee.
We could have waited if we needed to, but we knew the date was significant. Besides, this is the best time for Aaron to miss out on work.
We are truly blessed to have family close by and willing to help. Jen's sister and brother-in-law, along with their 3 year old daughter will actually move in to our house for the week to take care of our kids. We are so thankful for their help.
We won't know for sure until plane tickets are bought and an apartment is secured for us in Bulgaria, but we are close to having all the money needed for this leg of our journey.
We know this week will be very busy packing and planning, but we are so excited to meet our son for the first time. We are also excited to be able spend the entire week in the capital of Sofia.
God has truly surprised us and blessed us through this process. It seems like it has taken so long to get to this point and at the same time it has come quickly.
We don't know completely what to expect after this trip, but we're hoping and expecting for Andrew to come home sometime in the Fall.
We like dates, they are important to us. The day we will meet our son, April 26th is exactly 2 years to the day from the day we made the decision to adopt. We didn't actually get to officially start the process until July of that year when God first brought the money neeeded for our application fee.
We could have waited if we needed to, but we knew the date was significant. Besides, this is the best time for Aaron to miss out on work.
We are truly blessed to have family close by and willing to help. Jen's sister and brother-in-law, along with their 3 year old daughter will actually move in to our house for the week to take care of our kids. We are so thankful for their help.
We won't know for sure until plane tickets are bought and an apartment is secured for us in Bulgaria, but we are close to having all the money needed for this leg of our journey.
We know this week will be very busy packing and planning, but we are so excited to meet our son for the first time. We are also excited to be able spend the entire week in the capital of Sofia.
God has truly surprised us and blessed us through this process. It seems like it has taken so long to get to this point and at the same time it has come quickly.
We don't know completely what to expect after this trip, but we're hoping and expecting for Andrew to come home sometime in the Fall.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
More Provision
We just wanted to encourage everyone with updates of how God has continued to provide to bring Andrew home. This week we received $120 for 2 loaves of bread. Then this morning we received a check for $100. Thank you so much for those who supported us this week. God has continued to keep the funds pouring in to bring our son home. We are so thankful for every amount that comes in. God has multiplied money so many times in this adoption process. We are so blessed!!!
Here are some Easter pictures of our family.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
God continually provides!
In just one week from knowing our request for Andrew was accepted, God has brought in half of the immediate money needed!!!
A friend had called Jen last Friday to order a loaf of bread and 2 dozen cookies from www.wickedgoodeats.etsy.com and then proceeded to give her a check for $100. Then over the weekend Aaron's mom managed to sell 4 of Aaron's CD's at their church for $400. This morning we woke up to a phone call letting us know a check for $1,000 was in the mail. God is good!! He called us to adopt which we knew we could never afford, but chose to obey anyway. Then He continually blows us away by His provision.
We are planning on putting a photo album together to bring with us for Andrew on our first trip so he will have it until we bring him home. We really wanted to write the family member names and how they're related in cyrillic so that his caretakers can read it to him while we're gone. We weren't sure how to go about that and asked for help on a yahoo group we're a part of. We have blessed by a man and his wife (strangers to us) who have offered to translate the words and names for us from English to Bulgarian in the cyrillic letters. What a blessing!!!!
A friend had called Jen last Friday to order a loaf of bread and 2 dozen cookies from www.wickedgoodeats.etsy.com and then proceeded to give her a check for $100. Then over the weekend Aaron's mom managed to sell 4 of Aaron's CD's at their church for $400. This morning we woke up to a phone call letting us know a check for $1,000 was in the mail. God is good!! He called us to adopt which we knew we could never afford, but chose to obey anyway. Then He continually blows us away by His provision.
We are planning on putting a photo album together to bring with us for Andrew on our first trip so he will have it until we bring him home. We really wanted to write the family member names and how they're related in cyrillic so that his caretakers can read it to him while we're gone. We weren't sure how to go about that and asked for help on a yahoo group we're a part of. We have blessed by a man and his wife (strangers to us) who have offered to translate the words and names for us from English to Bulgarian in the cyrillic letters. What a blessing!!!!
Friday, March 26, 2010
A lot has happened since our last post. We were sent information on one child over a month ago and asked for more information about him. We had some questions regarding what his needs would require of us. On March 11, our agency "accidentally" sent us information on another little boy (thinking it was the boy we inquired about). This new little boy seemed to better fit what we were looking for, so that evening we asked our caseworker to request him for us.
By Monday morning we had officially requested him with notarized papers. By Tuesday we got word that our agency in Bulgaria received our request and had submitted it for us. We were told they might discuss it in Friday's meeting. We didn't hear anything and thought we'd have to wait until the following Friday. Best case scenario would be that Tuesday when the council met again, but we definitely weren't holding our breath for this. In the meantime, God had given us 2 scriptures to hold on to and put together.
Psalm 46:10 "Be still and know that I am God..." for Proverbs 21:30 "there is...no plan that can succeed against the Lord."
He gave us peace that He would bring our son to us and if this little boy was our son, then no plan could get in the way of it happening.
So, Monday morning we asked our caseworker when they thought we would get word. We were out for a good part of the day, so when we got home around 5:45 P.M. we checked email from our caseworker. We opened it figuring it was in response to our email, but instead it was an email informing us that the Intercountry Adoption Council had accepted our request for this little boy on Friday. Praise God!!!!!
We can't give anymore information other than he is in our age range and was on the waiting child list. We will be calling him Andrew and will keep part of his original name as his middle name. We were not intending on adopting a child with special needs, but we started praying that if God wanted us to, that He would make clear to us what we could handle. When we read this boy's report we felt peace about his need.
So now we wait for our formal invitation to travel.
We are still in need of around $3,000 in order to travel for our first trip over to meet him (which could be in the next month or so). About 4 months later we can bring him home, which will require approximately $10,000 more. These amounts not only include travel expenses, but facilitator fees, interpreter fees, admin. fees, orphanage donation, etc.
Though it looks like there is so much more to raise, we are encouraged by the fact that God has already provided $20,000 to date. At the very beginning of this journey we determined that if God called us to adopt, then He would provide every penny. At every step of the way, we have had exactly what we needed when we needed it. So our faith in unwavering as we know He will finish what He started.
So, in the meantime, we continue to do what we can to raise the funds necessary to bring him home. We have opened a storefront on Just Love Coffee selling Fair Trade coffee. $5 of every bag sold will go towards bringing Andrew home. Go to http://www.justlovecoffee.com/littlebrother.
Just a reminder, we are still selling t-shirts at http://www.adoptionbug.com/littlebrother. We bought the ones written in Bulgarian for our family and absolutely love them. Above is a picture of our kids wearing them.
We have original worship CD's still available for sale and all proceeds from these will go towards bringing Andrew home. Just click on the "Add to Cart" button on the side bar to order.
In all your encouragement, support, and prayers, you are "looking after the orphans" (James 1:27). Thank you all for coming alongside of us in this journey.
By Monday morning we had officially requested him with notarized papers. By Tuesday we got word that our agency in Bulgaria received our request and had submitted it for us. We were told they might discuss it in Friday's meeting. We didn't hear anything and thought we'd have to wait until the following Friday. Best case scenario would be that Tuesday when the council met again, but we definitely weren't holding our breath for this. In the meantime, God had given us 2 scriptures to hold on to and put together.
Psalm 46:10 "Be still and know that I am God..." for Proverbs 21:30 "there is...no plan that can succeed against the Lord."
He gave us peace that He would bring our son to us and if this little boy was our son, then no plan could get in the way of it happening.
So, Monday morning we asked our caseworker when they thought we would get word. We were out for a good part of the day, so when we got home around 5:45 P.M. we checked email from our caseworker. We opened it figuring it was in response to our email, but instead it was an email informing us that the Intercountry Adoption Council had accepted our request for this little boy on Friday. Praise God!!!!!
We can't give anymore information other than he is in our age range and was on the waiting child list. We will be calling him Andrew and will keep part of his original name as his middle name. We were not intending on adopting a child with special needs, but we started praying that if God wanted us to, that He would make clear to us what we could handle. When we read this boy's report we felt peace about his need.
So now we wait for our formal invitation to travel.
We are still in need of around $3,000 in order to travel for our first trip over to meet him (which could be in the next month or so). About 4 months later we can bring him home, which will require approximately $10,000 more. These amounts not only include travel expenses, but facilitator fees, interpreter fees, admin. fees, orphanage donation, etc.
Though it looks like there is so much more to raise, we are encouraged by the fact that God has already provided $20,000 to date. At the very beginning of this journey we determined that if God called us to adopt, then He would provide every penny. At every step of the way, we have had exactly what we needed when we needed it. So our faith in unwavering as we know He will finish what He started.
So, in the meantime, we continue to do what we can to raise the funds necessary to bring him home. We have opened a storefront on Just Love Coffee selling Fair Trade coffee. $5 of every bag sold will go towards bringing Andrew home. Go to http://www.justlovecoffee.com/littlebrother.
Just a reminder, we are still selling t-shirts at http://www.adoptionbug.com/littlebrother. We bought the ones written in Bulgarian for our family and absolutely love them. Above is a picture of our kids wearing them.
We have original worship CD's still available for sale and all proceeds from these will go towards bringing Andrew home. Just click on the "Add to Cart" button on the side bar to order.
In all your encouragement, support, and prayers, you are "looking after the orphans" (James 1:27). Thank you all for coming alongside of us in this journey.
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