Moving Right Along... to a Regional office!!! YES!!

Alright, first PRAISE GOD!! This has been by far the most remarkable week in such a long time! Thank you Dear Savior!

Okay, I'm sure you're saying....hmmm???? Why is that map of Colombia marked with only one town, Cucuta? Well that's our regional assignment! CUCUTA -- YEAH!!!

On Monday we learned our dossier was approved by the ICBF, and by Wednesday we learned our dossier was sent to a regional ICBF office to the town of Cucuta in the Norte de Santander district. There in Cucuta, a border town next to Venezuela, the ICBF committee will make their recommendations on our dossier and match us with children. This is so exciting to know how close we truly are to meeting the children God has pre-destined to join our family! It is our understanding that our paperwork was sent with 3 specific children in mind for our family, but until official approval is granted, my agency won't part with any knowledge or information they may have. It would seem that our documents were sent to Cucuta because they had a sibling set in mind for us there. They hinted at a note put on the front of the paperwork asking to be matched to a certain set, but that's all the info they would give out. Nothing else. Not sure if it's girls, if it's boys, or if there's a mix. The agency's been super tight-lipped and won't answer any of my specific questions. Maybe they're afraid we won't be able to handle disppointment? HAAAA! They really should know better with all the ups and downs we've encountered throughout this process!

So for now we must be happy in knowing and trusting that God has a plan for our family. Heck we're just happy that if this is approved, we'll be spending most of our duration in Colombia in a super warm environment! Temperatures are in the 90s and might drop down into the 70s -- How nice!!! I'm told it's HOT & HUMID there -- but that just spells vacation weather to me!

I'll try to better explain what more our process entails so please bear with me. Within the next 3 weeks the ICBF will meet to make their recommendations of children they deem suitable to join our family. If we are approved and a match of a sibling set is agreed upon by the ICBF committee, we will be issued an official "referral" where our agency will release the pictures, the medical information, and all sorts of information about the 3 children they've selected for our family. We review it and are given 2 weeks to decide if they are to be our children, at which time we send an acceptance letter petitioning to adopt those selected children. After that, the in-country representative schedules for a presentation day (sometimes it's called "Gotcha" Day) which is the day when we'll meet with the social workers and review the children's history and case information, then (the most important part) we get to MEET the Children!! YIPPEE!!!! We just cannot wait!!

Travel to Colombia usually follows within 3 to 4 weeks of the referral date. It almost takes that time in order to process all the remaining paperwork like petitioning for Visas, re-doing fingerprint cards and other paperwork, and all the last minute stuff to get things in order for being out-of-country for the next month or two. Colombia uses this 3 to 4 weeks time before the family travels to Colombia to counsel and prepare the children by familiarizing and counseling them on their upcoming adoption. I must say that from the Colombia really does such a remarkable job in helping equip the children with knowledge & providing support throughout the entire adoption process.

From that moment we meet the children on Gotcha Day, they are ours and will remain in our custody from that point! Exciting huh? We sure think so! Usually one week after the initial meeting another meeting is scheduled as a follow-up on progress, on bonding, and to see if we're all blending as a family & are a good match. If so, the court process begins which might take another week, or 2, or maybe 3 (this is the phase that isn't easy to accurately pinpoint a timeframe because it can vary depending on location and which court you're assigned). After the court business is completed, a flight back over to Bogota (the capital city of Colombia) to finalize business with the U.S. Embassy, then we're cleared to come home.

Hopefully you get a better picture of what we are in store for. Like I said, we expect to have a referral any day now and could get "the call" we've been patiently waiting for at anytime! Oh it's so hard to concentrate nowadays!!! Wondering who might be waiting for us in Cucuta absorbs my every thought throughout the day. But the Lord is our strength and He carrys us through and Rick and I trust Him completely and follow His lead. God will lead us to the chosen ones He's selected for our family and we know to trust in Him with all our hearts! Just knowing there are 3 that patiently waiting in Cucuta, just as we 3 are patiently waiting here -- half a sky away, is such a pleasant daydream that may soon reveal itself in true life form! Hallelujah! Praise God!

Please pray for our family to be together soon!

Thank you, and may God bless you in the most wonderful of ways!