Home!!!!!

We're home! After 12 hours of travelling, we are home again! There is nothing like being out of the country to make you appreciate the United States of America. You can really see how God has "shed His grace" on our nation when you see what is going on around the world. We had 2 more great flights . Thank you to all who were praying for us and to God for handling our travel so gently. On the flight into Dallas, our pilot felt the need to warn us that there was turbulence ahead and that other flights were reporting bumpy rides. He then put the seatbelt sign on. Those who know me know how well i received that news! After a momentary panic, i reminded myself that my God is the God of the impossible and that he could smoothe the air currents with a mere word. I asked Him to give us a smoothe and safe remainder to our trip... We had no turbulance whatsoever. Before long , we emerged from the fog and the wheels touched down as gently as you can imagine. We arrived in RDU around 6:00 and met a handful of dear friends. Kate did her best to entertain. She was amazingly good natured for being sooooo exhausted! It was so good to see those familiar faces! Once we got home, i was able to grab the 3 girls i left behind. I had only been gone 4 days, but i just wanted to drink them in. I think i have a whole new appreciation for these 3 entrusted to Randy and me years ago. My parents were here(thank you for all your help) as well as Elisa and her roommate Eve. Again, so good to see everyone! Hunter , Logan, and Olivia could not get enough of Kate and Kate seemed to enjoy everyone too. Again, amazingly good natured for being so tired. Muffin (our dachshund) left quite the impression. Before the night was over, Kate had said "puppy" twice.
We are home. Now real life begins. Please continue to pray for transition for all of us. Pray that i let go of expectations and just rely on the Lord to smoothe out the wrinkles. This was my sustaining verse on this trip: "May May the God of all hope fill you with peace and joy as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Romans 15:13 (Thanks Bethany)
Thanks everyone!

Dec 16th-Tuesday

Hello everyone! I have a lot to tell but it is late so i will keep it brief. We did make it to Antigua today. We had a very nice driver but i aged 40 years riding on the Guatamalan highways. God kept us safe, none the less. It was an interesting, very old colonial town at the base of a volcano. Lots of children trying to sell us everything under the sun but still sweet and cute. In the middle of this ancient city in the middle of nowhere we discovered a MacDonalds of course. Amazing!
We bought Kate her first ice cream. Ureka! She liked it! It doesn't matter where children come from....they are all the same. This took most of our day. Upon returning home we had to prepare to get to the USEmbassy to pick up Kate's visa and passport. We decided to walk and save the cab fare. I asked Randy to double check the location of the USE. It was supposidly 7-8 blocks away. Needless to say we had the classic scene of getting halfway there and Randy admitting that the roads didn't look familiar and that he hadn't really double checked the directions at all. So we stopped to ask the locals and tried to decipher the lingo. We finally made it after i had carried Kate about 8 blocks. 21 pounds doesn't seem like much until you carry it all over the city!
Anyway, all went well and Kate is free and clear to come home.
We had our final dinner at a close Mexican style resturant that we discovered. The food was great but i didn't recognize everything i ate. Came back to the hotel and have been packing ever since. By the way, Kate called me MaMa for the first time...
Please pray for a safe return home. Can't wait to be there.
Lisa

later on the 15th

Hello again,
Today was very interesting as Randy and i spent 3 hours at the US Embassy finalizing Kate's paperwork. What a hodgepodge of American couples and families there were. We thought that ...none of those families will make any of the local papers where they come from, even though some flew half way around the world to save a life, some 2 lives. One lady seemed to be there alone and she was adopting an older boy(maybe 4) with cerebral palsey. He seemed to have a mild case, but still....how inspiring! I think everything hit me this morning sitting there in this room so far from home with a child who would really be happier with any other Guatemalan woman than me right now.( I know this will change but i don't look, sound, smell or talk the way she is use to and she would prefer i did.) Anyway, i felt extremely homesick( esp. for my girls) and could not control the tears. I slipped and thought that this was all about me again. The only thing that could get a hold on me was my God telling me that He knows full well how hard it is and that all He expects is my obedience. He doesn't expect me to welcome the trials and tribulations that may result from this adoption. He only expects me to rely on Him. So that is where my heart is right now, to be truthful. Kate was fun today. She only says a handful of words but she is very expressive. And the child cannot take a bad picture!!! Tomorrow we are off to Antigua to sightsee. Hopefully it will go well. Another couple offered us thier backpack for Kate so i think we will get it in the morning. At 3:30 we pick up Kate's visa and come back and pack for home. And then i get to face two more flights. Yeah!

We made it in one piece!

December 15th
Hello everyone. We made it to Guatemala and so did our luggage. Praise God for smoothe, uneventful flights. And thanks again for all the prayer. (It is probably about time to start praying for our flights back.) Guatemala is beautiful and mountainous but the city is just a city and a poor one at that. Some 200 + people on the plane but somehow Randy and I were the LAST through Immigration. Go figure! Anyway we made it to our hotel despite the cab driver's driving ability. And now(24 hours later) we know that everyone here is a crazy driver! And there are no cross walks so you take your life in your hands if you want to walk anywhere. We got to our room around 3:00 and were called to the lobby to get Kate at 4:00. No rest for the weary! It was a sad, sweet experience to meet her foster mom, a grandmother who obviously loves Kate very much. She was in tears and told us she loved us. We will keep up with her i hope and send photos.
We have to run to the drugstore so i will write more later.

7 Months and Counting....

It has been 7 months since our dossier arrived in Guatemala. We are happy to report that our file is in PGN, finally which is the last major hurddle we must jump over. We are praying that we will not be kicked out but that we sail through without issue. Kate is now 20 months old and is looking sooo grown up in her pictures. Seeing her photos is a bittersweet experience. Of course we want them but watching her grow up away from us is hard. We trust that God is keeping her perfectly in His hands.

Our Story....

Kate Elizabeth will be our 2nd internationally adopted daughter. In October of 2002, my husband Randy and his eldest daughter Elisa stepped off a plane at RDU International Airport with a beautiful 10 month old little girl from central China. Olivia would open our eyes to the necessity and beauty of James 1:27 where God commands His children to care for the orphans and widows of the world. Why? Because He isn't capable to care for them and meet their needs Himself? No, of course not. God Almighty is certainly able to handle the distress of the orphan epidemic on this planet without our help. Then why ask us? At the time my husband and I just thought that we were being obedient to care for "the least of these". But now we know that God wanted to bless us through this adoption as much as we wanted to bless Olivia. Adoption is the hidden treasure,the diamond in the field, that God longs to reveal to us if we will only trust Him enough to leave our comfort zone and be obedient to this command. Olivia has now been a part of the family for over 4 years and what a wonderful adventure it has been!
Last summer we decided we could and should adopt again. Our thoughts first turned to China. However, we decided that the wait was too long for us. Next, we looked into the children with special needs in China and applied for 2 of them. However, we were turned down in both cases. The "competition" for these children is stiff now that the traditional route is taking so long.
So we then started looking into other countries, scanning lists of orphans mainly in Central America. And,one fine day, on one of these lists we spotted her-a beautiful little Guatemalan girl named Elizabeth with brown hair and big brown eyes. She had been with a foster family since birth. We called the next day and asked about her. We were sent her information and a week later we decided to move forward.
In the mean time, there was a lot of scuttlebutt about the changes in Guatemala that were forthcoming. Guatemala was scheduled to close international adoptions with America on Jan 1, 2008. No new referrals of children would be made after Jan 1 and everybody new that. But, what wasn't known was whether or not adoptions that were already in process would be "grand fathered in".
We did not know if this child would be coming home to us until after Christmas (2007).

Kate Elizabeth at 1 year old

Why would we adopt?

Some would gather money along the path of life.

Some would gather roses and rest from worldly strife.

But I would gather children from among the thorns of sin.

I would seek a little child with a big and toothless grin.

For money cannot enter in the land of endless day.

And roses that are gathered will wilt along the way.

But oh, the laughing children as we cross the sunset sea,

And the gates swing wide to Heaven, I'll take her in with me....