Thanking God!

We got the Embassy invitation via e-mail tonight! We have an appointment for 7:30am Thursday, which is 3:30am NC time.

Wednesday Pictures

Wednesday

We had another good visit with our boys this morning. I was able to meet with the BH "Mama" as well as a nurse who comes weekly. Every little piece of information I can gather is helpful.

I explained to Luke & Nathan about the Embassy appointment tomorrow. It sounds like it might be a very long day of waiting so we will be praying for favor & bringing fun activities to keep the boys busy. The room we wait in is air conditioned & has American TV so that will be GREAT at least!



We have one little snag still. We haven't recieved a letter of invitation to get inside the Embassy. We are working on that today. We will not be able to get past the guards without it.

Story time in the BH classroom

The Beach

John & Mark went to the beach last Sat. with part of the family.
Mark & Levi (cousin)

Along the Road in Accra

Most of the female street vendors carry their sales on their heads - even carefully stacked piles of oranges or eggs. Pretty amazing balancing act!

Kiosk

More From Tuesday

Nathan showing me that he can "bench press" the hammer.
Luke showing me too - in a family of boys, "muscles" are so important!

Two of my dear little princess friends with their baby brother

Pictures From Tuesday

All the boys (that we could round up!) with "Mama S."
Pretty princesses

Sweetie boy, a little shy about the camera

Sweetie boy again, looking very serious for some reason

Tuesday

Today has been a GOOD day! I was really down this morning but as the day went by, I kept getting more good news. So, we did not go to the Embassy today BUT we have an email invitation to come for our visa appointment on Thursday morning! This is GOOD! We also have been given a verbal confirmation that we will have the visas in hand on Monday. This is very good & we are praying it will all go smoothly. Hint! Hint! Please pray! :)

So, we will be up very early Thursday am. to get to our appointment on time. I have matching t-shirts for the three boys so they can have a tangible, physical marker to feel we are going in as a REAL family - unified. Maybe it sounds lame, but I am really excited about it.

If all goes well, we are hoping to have the boys' "Goodbye to Beacon House Prayer Ceremony" on Friday. Mark & I are flying out next Tuesday night & then John & Luke & Nathan will leave Wed am. Try as we might, we can NOT get our tickets all together, so Mark & I will arrive in Charlotte six hours before the rest of the gang. Oh well, I will take a few snags. I will just be so thrilled to get my little guys home!

So, tomorrow is hopefully going to be our last "regular" day of just visiting our boys. I am hugely thrilled to be getting close to their coming home date, but I am realizing, more & more, how TERRIBLY I am going to miss many of the other children at BH. I'm telling you, they are precious, precious & they definitely own a slice of my heart now.

How many kids can I adopt, Lord? :)

Monday

We had another good morning visiting our boys. We are getting to know them better, gaining insight to be better parents for them. I was able to sit down with the Beacon House "Mama" of the boys to ask her about their progress since they have come to BH, their habits, night time schedule etc. They are on a pretty rigid routine that I think we will try to follow for at least awhile when we get home. It will especially provide stability for Luke & Nathan.

John & I met with the Director to talk about the boys' history, how they are doing now, & to prepare for the Visa app. meeting we are supposed to have tomorrow. Boys' passports - check, birth certificates - check etc. etc.

I have been gradually getting better with the colitis, but it is probably going to be a long haul for me. The Prednisone IS working & the side effects haven't been too evil so far. So, I am thankful!The drug does lower one's resistance to other illnesses though, so I am cautious...I've been having some vertigo today so we'll see...

Thank you!

Thank you so much dear friends & family, for all the encouraging messages! Right now, besides praying for us, that is what means the most. Those words are bringing me strength. So... thank you & keep 'em coming if you can! :)

Today will be another day to visit our little boys. We will not tell them of our hopes to bring them home this week until we have the needed paperwork in hand. I can't wait though - much more exciting than Christmas morning for this Mom! Coming to this house will be a big adjustment for them since it is full of American things & ways of thinking. I think it will be a good transition place for them before they get blitzed by America. That is going to be quite a shock even if we take things slowly, which we will.

Comments Needed!

Everyone who has time, could you please leave me comments? I am keeping things positive on my blog but, of course, there are plenty of reasons why this is a TOUGH trip. So, your comments are a BIG lift & encouragement to me - like a life line, kind of. So,if you have a minute, your words are meaning a whole lot to me these days.

Thanks! :)

More Random Ghana Pics.

Pretty blue flowers growing on our wall
School where my neices & nephew attend

Random Ghana Pics.

Bird of Paradise plant in our yard

"Romeo", the sweetie Rhodesian Ridgeback at BH

Plantain tree at BH

Sunday, Day # 17 in Ghana

We all went to church this morning (minus Luke & Nathan though - they are still at Beacon House). The church our family goes to here is really neat because people from maybe 20 different countries attend. There are lots of languages, styles of clothing etc. - very cool.

Everywhere we go now, more & more, I am feeling so incomplete - there are 2 of us missing! :(
If all goes as planned this week, we will be having a special ceremony at Beacon House on Friday & then Luke & Nathan will officially move home with us to John's sister's house. I can't wait! It will possibly be very chaotic but my heart will feel much more at peace to have my whole family under one roof. All five of us will be staying in the same room, so I don't know how much actual sleeping will happen but it will surely be good bonding time.

Beautiful baby boy at Beacon House

"Daddy Tickles"

Nathan Godfred

Daddy is so much fun to snuggle with! Nathan Godfred

Saturday

Today is beach day for John & Mark, & resting day for me. My only responsibility today was to meet the vet that was due this morning to vaccinate the two dogs & the Siamese. I thought it would be neat to observe him but I ended up being his dog & cat wrangler! Good thing I kind of know how - they put up a fight! It was neat to see how he did it all though - he just brought all the vaccines in a small cooler.

We are tentatively planning on arriving back in NC on October 7. Our tickets are a mess so Mark & I will have to fly out on the 6th and John & Luke & Nathan will leave the next day. But, we will arrive only six hours apart, so Mark & I want to crash somewhere nearby & wait for the others so we can all celebrate at the airport & then drive home all together.

This is how we hope it will all happen. I'll update as things progress.

My Gorgeous Guys!

John & Mark
Luke Emmanuel

Nathan Godfred

Beacon House

Some of the guys playing Lego

Mark's new friend, Jean-Luc

Beautiful, beautiful babies

Sweet little princess

Friday in Accra

Today was a GOOD day! We spent the morning with Luke & Nathan at Beacon House. Then we went back to the US Embassy to see John's sister. While we were there, we heard via phone & email that our papers will be ready on Monday. If this happens, we can apply for visas on Tuesday - this would be VERY GOOD!

So, we are hopeful & thankful! We are having to spend another weekend without our two youngest sons, which is really hard, but hope is just the good medicine we needed.

Thank you Jesus!

Luke Emmanuel on the right with a PRECIOUS little friend

Luke found this tiny pair of glasses! I LOVE this picture of him.

Nathan Godfred in the middle - lunch time is chicken stew, yams & plantain. He is harder to get pictures of than Luke because he is usually in motion!

Luke Emmanuel wearing Dad's hat

Mark, John & Nathan

Hanging out with "da girls". Talk about a bunch of cutie pies! I just adore them.

More pics. coming soon...

Luke Emmanuel is on the right. Taken today.

What I See In Ghana

I see beautiful children who don't know they are beautiful.
I see a little boy whose eyes are guarded because he has never been convinced he is safe.
I hear a little girl tell me with pleading eyes, "I don't know who my mother is. Do you know my Mother?"
I have maybe a dozen children calling me "Mom" because they want one so badly.
I hear laughter & see great strength & resiliency in little girls & boys.
I see the older kids being kind & helpful to the little ones.
I see little hands and little feet & beautiful warm brown eyes.
I see Jesus.

I am so wanting God to work in my heart with all that I am seeing. I want to have my heart changed forever. We, in America, cannot pretend we don't know that these children exist. They do and they are so precious to God's heart. But - are not we to be His hands & feet in the world? They are here and they are waiting...

Thursday

We spent another good morning with our three boys. They are asking when they can come home with us & I'd like to know too! John's sister is at work at the Embassy today so we are HOPING to hear good news. Visas & trip to Bolga are also in the works...we are waiting on God's timing for each detail & asking for mercy!

John is helping out with some building projects at the school this afternoon (American International School, where our nieces & nephew attend) & Mark & I are trying to take a rest but it is VERY hot & the power is out. All is well though. The Prednisone is already doing it's work & I am feeling stronger. It keeps me from sleeping, but otherwise I haven't had any nasty side effects yet this time.

Praying we'll hear from the Enbassy...

More Pictures

Mark & his cousin Levi performing a "show" for us

Luke Emmanuel with his teacher

Our family's home in Accra

More Beacon House Pics.

What person with a beating heart could resist these cutie pies!?

Every one is infinitely precious & darling but not all of them know it yet. They are a JOY to visit & it is always sad to say goodbye to them. Hmmm...how many kids can I have? It is my HONOR to adopt my two little ones. What a blessing that God is allowing us to grow our family this way. The blessing is all ours!