Running in Circles

Okay, let me start by going back to last week Monday. Bethany calls and tells me they have a phone number for the US Consulate in Haiti and they feel it is time for me to call and find out what is going on. The orphanage had been getting no where with them and at this point they felt no harm could be done by us putting some pressure on them. Unfortunately they only take phone calls between 3-4pm from family members. All excited I called, only to get a message that they were closed for Columbus Day (hope you all enjoyed your Columbus Day off). That phone call probably cost me a gazillion dollars. So I waited until the next day and again waited until 3:00. I think I called about six times, cha ching, cha ching (that is money going to AT&T) only to be cut off or put into full voice mails and then again cut off. Finally I found a voice mail to leave a message, how far do you think that got? Undeterred (the power of a an upset mother) I called again the next day, because no one called me back (surprised?). Finally I got a human, of course they were the wrong department. Then another human, again wrong department. Third human, finally the right place. She tells me, "We don't have your file, the Adoption Officer has it, so I can't tell you anything. But here is an email address." Okay, so I send an email, literally begging for information. I get a form email telling me they will contact me in 3-4 days. They do contact me within the 3 days, only to tell me the Adoption Officer has the file and they can't give me anymore information. Arghh!!!! I know a way they can save on medical care, get rid of the bureaucracy of the US, because they are putting everyone in the loony bin!!! Still undeterred, I write another email on Friday, groveling to please let our daughters come home. Nothing. Also, it has been two weeks at this point since I heard anything from our US Reps office as well.

New week begins.... Monday, I get an email from the US Consulate, basically telling me to back off and when they have information they will pass it on. We are wondering what is the big secret and why can't they tell us why our process is taking so long. Then within minutes we also get an email from Bethany, who has finally gotten into contact with this Adoption Officer and this is what they wrote (AU stands for Adoption Unit)...

AU only recently received word from National Archives that certain documents submitted in the case won't be available for review until May or June 2009. AU understands this date is very far in the future. AU is currently considering other means that would allow it to adjudicate the subject cases before the end of this month without input from National Archives.

MAY OR JUNE????? Talk about a punch to the stomach. There is a silver lining in that email though, they may consider going forward without this input from the Archives before the end of this month. Monday was not such a good day for me though, I had had it with the Consulate.

Then comes Monday at 5:10pm, I get an email from this Adoption Officer directly telling me that I need to be in contact with Dixie (she is charge of the orphanage) directly and that they have a meeting set up the following day to discuss our case. Okay, why did I not hear this from Bethany. Well it is after 5:00 and business is closed.

Tuesday morning, Bethany gets my forwarded email and contacts the orphanage about this meeting. Of course the orphanage knew absolutely nothing about this meeting and by this time, it was too late for them to make this meeting. So it has been rescheduled for Thursday.

Okay, at this point I am really afraid to get my hopes up, but the orphanage and Bethany both feel that this is it. That the Consulate is ready to issue the girls' their visas. If that is the case, we will probably be traveling in a week or two. Soooo, I ask again for your prayers on Thursday. Thank you all for sticking with us through this whole thing. Without your support and your prayers, I am not sure how we would have gotten through all of this. I just want you to know that I pray for each of you as well, which has helped me keep my mind off my selfish needs and wants. I am currently doing a bible study on the Psalms of the Assent and it talks a lot about the journeys we take and how much God grows us and uses us in those journeys. Can I get an "Amen"? He has stretched me beyond anything I could imagine. Believe me it wasn't always pretty, just ask Brian.

Thanks for reading through this. I try to keep these short, but I had a lot built up. I will be back as soon as I hear something about Thursday. God called me to a devotional book this weekend that I haven't picked up since July. I didn't know the date, so I guessed and this was the message (it was the wrong date, I love the Spirit)....

"I can be sure that part of God's blessing to me is delay and suffering. The delay in Abraham's lifetime that seemed to put God's promise well beyond fulfillment was then followed by the seemingly unending delay experienced by Abraham's descendants. But it was indeed only a delay - the promise was fulfilled, for ultimately they did 'come out with great possessions.'

God is going to test me with delays, and along with the delays will come suffering. Yet through it all God's promise stands. I have His new covenant in Christ, and His sacred promise of every smaller blessing that I need. The delays and the suffering are actually part of the promised blessings, so may I praise Him for them today. May I 'be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord' (Psalm 27:14)." Charles Gallaudet Trumbull, Streams in the Desert

Love,
Allison