I'm going to Haiti

It is so hard to believe that the day is finally here. We are meeting at the church office tonight at 10:30 and will be on the road to Atlanta at 11:00pm. I get overwhelmed when I think about the fact that it has been 9 months since I have seen Odette. Words can't describe how excited I am to go. I have been thinking for the last nine months what it would be like the next time I am on that truck pulling up the road to the orphanage (if you have been before you know exactly what I am talking about). After all of these months of dreaming about it and hoping for it the day is almost here. I finally will get to wrap my arms around my little girl again and will get to see those 17 other precious faces that I have missed more than I can say. The really overwhelming thing that you can be praying for me about while I am gone is having to leave on Saturday. I have tried not to let myself think to much about this because I loose it everytime but I just know that leaving her that Friday morning in May was the most difficult thing I have ever had to do in my life & I can't even imagine what it is going to be like this time know that I am leaving my daughter. It is hard enough leaving my girls here for a week & now I am going to have to say goodbye to my daughter in Haiti for months. I know that she is cared for & loved at the orphanage but I long for the day when that empty feeling that I feel is in my home most days if filled. Andy said that she has done ok with him leaving these last few times, I just pray that is the case this week. I hope that I do a good job hiding my hurt from her so that she will not be more upset (I didn't do a good job of that in May). On this trip are also 4 other families that are adopting (some meeting their little girl for the first time) so it will be an emotional week for all of us.

Also please be praying for Andy and the girls this week. Pray that they are healthy and just have a great week without me. The girls love hanging out with their daddy so I am hoping they have plenty of time to just play. Also pray for Andy while I am gone. I know from experience how hard it is to be the one to stay home. Not just being a "single parent" for the week but the torn feeling you have inside of you that longs to be in Haiti. He has already told me that the next trip whenever that is he is going.

If you are interested in reading the "stories" of the other 17 girls please visit our church website- http://www.whitestonechurch.org/haiti_project.asp

Progress

We had our psychological exam and first home study visit (in her office) Monday the 2nd. It made this whole process seem more real because we were talking to real people instead of just filling out paperwork and getting things notarized. Our next home study appointment will be the home visit and that is on Tuesday the 24th right after I get back from Haiti. After that home visit we will have one more office visit where she will do another joint interview with Andy & I and then she will interview each of our family members including our girls separately. I am a little worried that Abby won't go in the room with her much less talk to her. But hopefully that will all go ok. We also took a trip to Nashville this past Tuesday for our fingerprinting appointment. While we were there we got our state-issued birth certificates and marriage certificates & had some of our paperwork authenticated. Please continue to pray that all of these steps along the way will go smoothly and quickly.

Paperwork and more paperwork

We are working hard to finish up the last few things of paperwork that we need. After what seemed a long time we finally finished up all our our paperwork for our home study and sent that off last week. We have our first home study appointment on Monday & also have our psychological evaluation on Monday. We were determined to finish up our big things like our parenting questionnaire and autobiographies by New Years so while the girls spent the night on New Years Eve with Richard and Amy, Andy and I spent the evening finishing up those things. Not an exciting New Years Eve but at least we were making progress. Please be praying for us as we finish up the paperwork process. It seems like we have run into problems every step of the way (sent to the wrong address or left out a birth certificate, etc.) and that just adds more time to this process. I get frustrated sometimes with the process but I have to realize that every step that we do make is a step closer to bringing our little girl home.

Molly being Silly

To Odette from Molly

To Odette from Abby

Haiti December 2008 video