Here are a few pictures from last year when I got to visit her in Edmonton.
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| Grandma and Rose |
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| Grandma and some of the Great Grand-kids |
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| 4 Generations |
Monday, December 2, 2013
Grandma Goltz
Here are a few pictures from last year when I got to visit her in Edmonton.
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Feeling behind
I'm feeling behind.....
I read other adoptive families blogs who are at about the same step we are and feel even more behind. Other families are doing benefits, online fundraising, learning creole, and the list goes on....
I feel like I'm lucky enough to keep my head above water with work, school, family and friends.
I keep reminding myself, God is in control of this journey and I have to let go and let Him.
- Behind on documenting our adoption journey by writing specific/ important dates along the process
- Behind on researching fundraising opportunities and wondering if we should be pursuing them
- Behind on reading adoption books and materials
I read other adoptive families blogs who are at about the same step we are and feel even more behind. Other families are doing benefits, online fundraising, learning creole, and the list goes on....
I feel like I'm lucky enough to keep my head above water with work, school, family and friends.
I keep reminding myself, God is in control of this journey and I have to let go and let Him.
Monday, October 14, 2013
Prayers for Haitian Adoptions
This is just a short little prayer request. Tomorrow, Tuesday, October 15, 2013 there is suppose to be a meeting with our orphanage directors and the Haitian Government. From my understanding this meeting has was postponed in August to tomorrow. My prayer requests are:
1. That the meeting would take place
2. The outcome would be positive and adoptions would start moving along. Since the new laws have gone into affect, adoptions have slowed down a bit. Understandable, working out the kinks and putting new laws in place.
3. Adoptions would be finalized for those that are waiting to bring kiddos home.
4. Referrals will be given out. From my understanding, no referrals have been given since the new laws have been in affect. We were told it could be 2-4 months before we get a referral. Our paperwork is in Haiti, has been legalized, and the orphanage directors have matched us with a child. We are just waiting for our referral to find out who our daughter is. If there is a positive outcome from the meeting tomorrow, I'm hoping our referral wait time would decrease.
I'm learning through this adoption process that I am not in control. God is and it's all in His timing. I thought that once we got our paperwork complied and turned in, it would be relatively easy to wait. I kept saying, the hard part is done, collecting paperwork. Now for the easy part - waiting. I think the hard part is waiting. At least when I was collecting paperwork, I was doing something with my hands. I'm learning I need to continue to do something with my hands - turn them to God and wait on Him. Trust in His timing and continue to pray for my daughter in Haiti who God has picked out for our family.
Please pray for the meeting in Haiti tomorrow. For our orphanage directors, the Haitian Government, the kiddos in the orphanage and the families wanting to bring kiddos home.
1. That the meeting would take place
2. The outcome would be positive and adoptions would start moving along. Since the new laws have gone into affect, adoptions have slowed down a bit. Understandable, working out the kinks and putting new laws in place.
3. Adoptions would be finalized for those that are waiting to bring kiddos home.
4. Referrals will be given out. From my understanding, no referrals have been given since the new laws have been in affect. We were told it could be 2-4 months before we get a referral. Our paperwork is in Haiti, has been legalized, and the orphanage directors have matched us with a child. We are just waiting for our referral to find out who our daughter is. If there is a positive outcome from the meeting tomorrow, I'm hoping our referral wait time would decrease.
I'm learning through this adoption process that I am not in control. God is and it's all in His timing. I thought that once we got our paperwork complied and turned in, it would be relatively easy to wait. I kept saying, the hard part is done, collecting paperwork. Now for the easy part - waiting. I think the hard part is waiting. At least when I was collecting paperwork, I was doing something with my hands. I'm learning I need to continue to do something with my hands - turn them to God and wait on Him. Trust in His timing and continue to pray for my daughter in Haiti who God has picked out for our family.
Please pray for the meeting in Haiti tomorrow. For our orphanage directors, the Haitian Government, the kiddos in the orphanage and the families wanting to bring kiddos home.
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
Celebrating Adoption Documents Sent
Our family is celebrating tonight! We sent our adoption documents (dossier) to our adoption coordinator tonight! Yahoo!
Taken at UPS before we shipped our dossier
As I was looking over emails, I saw that one year ago today, on June 4, 2012, we were accepted into the Haiti Program with our adoption agency. They were very prompt in sending us information, guidelines, and the list of paperwork we needed to collect to form our dossier. I looked at all the information and quickly became overwhelmed. It was the beginning of summer and I procrastinated with getting our adoption paperwork started. It wasn't until Dec. 2012 I looked at the paperwork pile again and decided to get started. It has taken about 5-6 months to collect all that we needed. It was with great joy that I we sent our dossier documents onto our adoption coordinator. YAHOO!!!
Next Steps
I've been asked what the next steps are for us in the process.
From my understanding, our adoption coordinator will receive our documents, get them authenticated (no idea what that is), get them translated into french, and get them legalized in Haiti. Once those things are done, and that takes about 6-8 weeks, our dossier documents can be submitted to the IBESR, the part of the Haitian government that handles adoptions. From that point, we wait for a referral (when the IBESR matches us with a little girl). This could be 2-3 months after our dossier is submitted to the IBESR. It would be AWESOME if we could get a referral by Christmas. Then it will take about 18 months before we will be able to bring our little girl home.
It's been a journey to get to where we are today and God has walked with us through this journey. I leave it all in God's hands. He already knows who our daughter is and He will bring us together as a family.
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Notarys and Certification
It's been an exciting, disheartening, anxious, restful, trusting, productive week. How can it be all of those you ask? Well, let me share the story.
Earlier this month we got our finalized home study - YEAH! There were a few minor things that needed to be fixed, got that taken care of - easy.
We sent all our Wisconsin notarized documents to be state certified and last Wednesday the returned UPS envelope was delivered to our door. I was so excited, this was the last of the documents I needed to send our dossier into our adoption coordinator! I thought to myself, we are almost at the waiting stage and one step closer to getting our little girl. However, when I opened the envelope, we had 6 documents what were notarized incorrectly and had to be re-notarized and re-certified. I looked at the documents, 3 reference letters, 1 bank letter, 1 employment verification - all of those, not a problem. The 6th document was a letter from my doctor. My heart sank because it took my 3-1/2 months to get the first letter notarized. All Wednesday night I was anxious and disheartened. I wanted to send our dossier documents in by the end of May and this was going to slow us down. After spinning my wheels for awhile, feeling anxious and worrying, I remembered the verses in Matthew 6: 25-34
25 “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? 27 Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?
28 “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, 29 yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. 30 And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?
31 “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ 32 These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. 33 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.
34 “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.
Then I got to thinking.....My worrying about the documents is not going to get them done any sooner, I won't feel any better by worrying, nor will my worrying help. If God cares about the wildflowers in the fields, He cares about me a thousand times more. Also, I thought I am suppose take my cares to God because he cares for me. And when I take my cares and prayers requests to God, why am I amazed things happen? Why don't I pray expectantly....so that is what I did. I prayed for 6 miracles, all 6 documents to be re-notarized by Sunday, so I could send everything out by today, May 28, 2013 to be re-certified by the State of Wisconsin. My 6 miracles for re-notarized documents was fulfilled.
God is GOOD and He provided EVERYTHING I needed. On Thursday last week I stopped by the bank and they rewrote and notarized the letter while I waited, I did not expect that at all. On Friday, I met with my doctor and a notary from the bank who met me at the doctor's office. My doctor didn't have her state issued identification (i.e. drivers license) and the notary stated she would not be able to notarized the letter without it, we had discussed setting up another appointment for today, but another doctor was walking by and she stated she had her driver's license and she could sign the letter. The nurse reprinted the letter with the other doctors information and I got the doctor letter notarized. Praise God!
All three letters of reference were re-notarized, and my employment verification letter was done today. I was able to send all 6 documents to the Secretary of State today and will hopefully have the documents back to me by Friday or Monday, and then I'll be able to send out the dossier to our adoption coordinator by Monday or Tuesday of next week. Praise God!
Psalms 66:5 Come and see what our God has done, what awesome miracles he performs for people!
Earlier this month we got our finalized home study - YEAH! There were a few minor things that needed to be fixed, got that taken care of - easy.
We sent all our Wisconsin notarized documents to be state certified and last Wednesday the returned UPS envelope was delivered to our door. I was so excited, this was the last of the documents I needed to send our dossier into our adoption coordinator! I thought to myself, we are almost at the waiting stage and one step closer to getting our little girl. However, when I opened the envelope, we had 6 documents what were notarized incorrectly and had to be re-notarized and re-certified. I looked at the documents, 3 reference letters, 1 bank letter, 1 employment verification - all of those, not a problem. The 6th document was a letter from my doctor. My heart sank because it took my 3-1/2 months to get the first letter notarized. All Wednesday night I was anxious and disheartened. I wanted to send our dossier documents in by the end of May and this was going to slow us down. After spinning my wheels for awhile, feeling anxious and worrying, I remembered the verses in Matthew 6: 25-34
25 “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? 27 Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?
28 “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, 29 yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. 30 And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?
31 “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ 32 These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. 33 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.
34 “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.
Then I got to thinking.....My worrying about the documents is not going to get them done any sooner, I won't feel any better by worrying, nor will my worrying help. If God cares about the wildflowers in the fields, He cares about me a thousand times more. Also, I thought I am suppose take my cares to God because he cares for me. And when I take my cares and prayers requests to God, why am I amazed things happen? Why don't I pray expectantly....so that is what I did. I prayed for 6 miracles, all 6 documents to be re-notarized by Sunday, so I could send everything out by today, May 28, 2013 to be re-certified by the State of Wisconsin. My 6 miracles for re-notarized documents was fulfilled.
God is GOOD and He provided EVERYTHING I needed. On Thursday last week I stopped by the bank and they rewrote and notarized the letter while I waited, I did not expect that at all. On Friday, I met with my doctor and a notary from the bank who met me at the doctor's office. My doctor didn't have her state issued identification (i.e. drivers license) and the notary stated she would not be able to notarized the letter without it, we had discussed setting up another appointment for today, but another doctor was walking by and she stated she had her driver's license and she could sign the letter. The nurse reprinted the letter with the other doctors information and I got the doctor letter notarized. Praise God!
All three letters of reference were re-notarized, and my employment verification letter was done today. I was able to send all 6 documents to the Secretary of State today and will hopefully have the documents back to me by Friday or Monday, and then I'll be able to send out the dossier to our adoption coordinator by Monday or Tuesday of next week. Praise God!
Psalms 66:5 Come and see what our God has done, what awesome miracles he performs for people!
Thursday, May 2, 2013
Thankful Thursday
It's been a long time since I've posted for a Thankful Thursday, so today I thought I would post about an adoption update that I am SO EXITED about!. I talked with our social worker today and she is finishing up our home study tonight....we should get it early next week. YAHOO! One more thing done.
I'm thankful we are making progress, even if it's baby steps, its still steps in the right direction.
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Renee's Healthy Choices Journey - Part 1
This year I am turning 40 years old. My goal by my 40th birthday is to be Fit and Forty. I started the year making fitness goals, goals that were big changes in my daily life. January my goal was to exercise at least 150 minutes per week. That's 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week. I didn't exercise that much at the beginning of the year and I still don't exercise that much during the week as of today. That was a lofty goal with a big change in my daily routine. I had started out strong but after about two weeks gave up. Here is how the other months have gone.
Goals for the year, so far....
My birthday is in November and I've learned if I can make small changes each month, then I'll see changes over time, baby steps.
Today is May 1st and I've started a new healthy challenge for May. My goal is to log 30 miles of walking in the month of May. I just had a Facebook friend and former co-worker log in 106 miles of walking for the month of April. She inspired me. I got started today with my first walk of 1.30 miles in 20 minutes. Yeah.....only 28.7 miles to go this month.
Goals for the year, so far....
- January - exercise 150 mins per week (lasted about 2 weeks)
- February - do 100 sit ups per day, 5 days a week (lasted about 2 weeks)
- March -Track the food I eat on Looseit.com (tracked for about 3 weeks)
- April - decided not to eat chocolate or drink alcohol (Completed!)
My birthday is in November and I've learned if I can make small changes each month, then I'll see changes over time, baby steps.
Today is May 1st and I've started a new healthy challenge for May. My goal is to log 30 miles of walking in the month of May. I just had a Facebook friend and former co-worker log in 106 miles of walking for the month of April. She inspired me. I got started today with my first walk of 1.30 miles in 20 minutes. Yeah.....only 28.7 miles to go this month.
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