Journey to Geovany

KISSES IN THE WIND (The Waiting Child's Lullabye)

I hold you in my heart and touch you in my dreams.

You are here each day with me, at least that's how it seems.

I know you wonder where we are... what's taking us so long.

But remember child, I love you so and God will keep you strong.

Now go outside and feel the breeze and let it touch your skin...

Because tonight, just as always, I blow you kisses in the wind.

May God hold you in His hand until we can be with you.

I promise you, my darling, we're doing all that we can do.

Very soon, you'll have a family for real, not just pretend.

But for tonight, just as always, I blow you kisses in the wind.

May God wrap you in His arms and hold you very tight.

And let the angels bring the kisses that I send to you each night.

Prayer Requests

Praises...we had an incredible visit with Geovany. We really saw that God had bonded our hearts across the miles. Geovany seemed to recognize that we were his family!!
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That God will comfort Geovany's heart. That Geovany will know we have not abandoned him and that we are coming to get him as quickly as we can.
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The investigator has agreed to release our case to a judge. Please pray that he follows through and does what he said he will do.
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A compassionate heart in the judge who is receiving our case. May she look at it quickly and sign it off.
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The agent who previously managed our case in PGN is no longer there. When our case returns to them, it will be given to a new case worker. Pray this case worker does not require endless new documents, but sees the child behind our case and approves it.
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For the orphanage workers caring for Geovany. That they will have compassion and relay God's grace and love to our son as they care for him.

Our Timeline

7/28/08 - Resubmitted to PGN!
7/28/08 - Kicked-Out of PGN
7/7/08 - Resubmitted to PGN!
6/27/08 - Kicked-Out of PGN due to birth certificate issue
6/9/08 - Orphanage Director interview completed
4/29/08 - Submitted to PGN Complete!
4/23/08 - PA received from the US Embassy
3/21/08 - Previo fixed- Document on it's way back to Guatemala
3/11/08 - Family Court previo
2/18/08 - Family Court interviews
1/22/08 - Submitted for visa pre-approval
12/17/07 - Signed POA in Guatemala
12/15/07 - Saw pictures and video

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

A Family of SEVEN!

Because Giovanni is in an orphanage, standard procedure is that you visit him there and he doesn't leave the property. We just learned today that our attorney has gained permission for us to take Giovanni to our hotel for our stay in Guatemala. This was a huge and unexpected surprise. We will go out to the orphanage on Friday morning, pick him up and bring him back to our hotel. He will spend the weekend with us and we will most likely take him back on Monday afternoon. We remember how difficult it was to return Samantha to her foster family the first (and second) time. We can only imagine how difficult it will be to return our son to an orphanage. Please pray that we will continue to rely on God's grace and trust His plan. His hand is at work in all of this and we will enjoy the moments we have as a family of SEVEN! Needless to say, we'll have lots of pictures to share when we get home. I may even be able to update from the Radisson this time. We'll see how it goes.

Blessings,
Amy

Friday, January 4, 2008

At a Stand Still

We received the following message, forwarded from our adoption agency this morning...

Dear Guatemala caucus members,

Joint Council can confirm that PGN is no longer processing adoption cases with the exception of those that have already been approved. All other aspects of adoption processing have been stopped.

This is a result of the new adoption law requiring the registration of cases with the Central Authority prior to cases being reinitiated. Joint Council continues to advocate for a position solution to the situation.

Our case for Giovanni has not yet entered PGN. We're not sure what it means for us, but we are committed to doing whatever God asks us to do to bring Giovanni home. Please join us in praying that the Guatemalan government will provide a way for the children in process to come home.

As always, we'll keep you posted.

Blessings,
Amy

Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails - Proverbs 19:21

Wednesday, January 2, 2008

DVD

We just received a DVD from our agency with pictures and video of Giovanni. It was obvious that he was very unsure of the video camera. He tried hard not to cry, but his little shoulders shook a bit until a young girl picked him up. The orphanage appears to be clean and bright. Our hearts were touched by the sadness in his eyes, but also for the young girl in the video caring for him. We don't know her story, why she's there, or what life holds for her. It causes us to wonder and to pray. I'll try to post some of the pictures and maybe a short video clip, if I can figure out how in the world to get them off the DVD. It may be easier to just wait until after our visit in January and post from those!

Blessings,
Amy