We're Home!!!

I arrived home saturday night at around 9pm. Dominiv was amazing on all 4 plane rides in a day and a half. The last flight from amsterdam to toronto he slept 6 out of the 7 hours. We are now catching up with the time zone changes and adjusting alot of new things...one being sharing mommy with 3 other siblings, another...learning not to bite! Everyone is doing great and I couldn't ask the kids to be more excited or accepting of their new little brother. Thank you again for your prayers of a safe journey.

The miracle (s)....

Well, as I mentioned in my previous brief blog, we got the Visa this afternoon. It was truly a miracle and no one can deny the hand of God in this. As you know this past week and a half has been tremendously stressful, missing my family and wondering how long it was going to be before we went home. After Tuesdays ordeal about the medical I was really down and getting very anxious but at the same time knowing God would provide. As Dominic and I went on our usual long morning walk on Wednesday, I pleaded my case before God. Everything was against me.

First, I just handed in my application last week when the High Commissioner was stating it usually takes 3 months.

Secondly, I never disclosed this but our lawyer made a mistake with the birthdate. Instead of Dominics birthdate being June 7th it was June 3rd. He only told me that when I arrived in Rwanda. It didn’t make a difference to me but the “letter of no objection” that was requested from the province had June 7th on it and therefore wouldn’t match up with Dominics documents. Our person from the agency just said to change it but it was impossible at that point because that would mean police records of the date of abandonment wouldn’t match up. The birth certificate and passport would also have to be changed and notarized which meant a lot more time and money. Besides, I only discovered this problem after my lawyer had left for Belgium, so I wouldn’t even know where to go for these documents.

Thirdly, the medical which I thought was “in the bag”, wasn’t even delivered until the day before I needed the Visa. That meant it still needed to be processed and the High Commissioner had previously stated that it was on a “first come first serve” basis.

As of Tuesday the High Commissioner said she hadn’t heard anything back from the Rwandan officials and that it usually takes them a while for their response. Then there was the MP who was very supportive but really she said she couldn’t do anything for me because even though I wasn’t completely aware of the process, I should have sent in my application a while ago. Her final remark was pray for a miracle.

Finally, the last strike against me was the negative e-mail sent to the High Commissioner from our agency about me and my motives. Oh ya, and my flight to Kigali is supposed to leave Friday morning at 0900 and the flight to Canada leaves Saturday at 0400.

So after telling God about all the impossibilities and strikes I had against me I felt this profound verse enter my heart and my mind…”If God is for you who can go against you.”

Wednesday afternoon about 3:00 pm Dominic woke up from his nap and we were going to go downtown because I NEEDED a chocolate bar. I figured the High Commissioner wouldn’t call because they close at 4:00. Just as we were heading out she called to confirm that Dominic would have his Visa tomorrow (Thursday) after 2:00pm. I am still overwhelmed with emotion and shock as I write this. As I picked it up this afternoon I told her how greatful I was and thank you. She said you are so lucky and that she was within her rights to take up to 3 months to process this. You and I both know LUCK had nothing to do with this! Oh ya, and the date of birth on the “letter of no objection” was never mentioned. Yes, we do serve a mighty God!

Another thing I should mention…I never made it to that favorite store of mine to buy my chocolate bar. There was a huge fire and explosion an hour before I got there. When I got the phone call from the High Commissioner, gave thanks and called Dale to tell him the great news I was delayed about an hour. The Lord definitely had His hand of protection on me.

So this will be my last entry until I arrive home. We leave very early tomorrow morning for Rwanda and then basically in the middle of the night back to Canada. I can’t say thank you enough for all of your prayers and encouragement throughout this whole journey. I am forever in debt to all the wonderful support my friends and family have provided my husband and children with since I’ve been gone. The love of God has truly been portrayed through your acts of kindness. Bye for now.

I'm going home!!!!!!!!

Praise God…I’ve got the visa!!!!!!!! The specific amazing details will follow when my busy little man goes to sleep.

The medical....

Today wasn’t much fun. Dominic is still having a lot of diarrhea. I ended up taking him to the pharmacist. He thinks he picked up a bug and it is taking time to recover so he gave me 2 liquid medicines to help. Hopefully he’ll start responding by tomorrow b/c I don’t know what else to do in regards to his diet. Then I called the High Commissioner. She said to sit tight until she calls me but she said it would not be last minute to tell me if this was possible or not. It’s the “if this isn’t possible” part that I didn’t like hearing. She called back shortly after and told me the medical had not been sent in. So I followed up with the Dr.’s office…they forgot…you can imagine my response. It was a young man who remembers me from last week and I him. He then assured me that he would have it there tomorrow morning. A few minutes later I realized it was only 2:30, I called back and demanded to speak with the physician. It was a lady this time that answered ( I remembered her too). She apologized for the situation and I explained the severity of the mistake. I said that the medical needs to be delivered today. So she sent the young man to deliver the medical to the high commissioners. I also asked them to call me when they had delivered it. They called me an hour later to confirm it was dropped off. I called the high commissioner to tell her that it had been delivered and that they forgot. I am so worried that I’m not going to be on that plane Friday night. I just want to sleep the next 2 days away but at least it gives us 2 days for Dominic to start feeling better.

Prayer Request

Today was another waiting day. I did call the High Commissioner early this afternoon. She was pleasant with me (this was encouraging) and I explained that for a small fee I was able to change my flight to Friday. She said she was still waiting for the authorities in Rwanda to verify things. She said she would get back to me…when, she didn’t say. My flight to Canada leaves this Sat. at 0400 in the morning. My prayer is that Dominic and I are able to make that flight home.

Trip to the Nairobi Animal Orphanage

Today I really wanted to go to a local church but I didn’t know of any close by so we just had some quiet time this morning. However, there is no real place to sit except near the pool or in the garden area, which is also near the pool. Dominic has come too close to jumping in to give me much “devotional” time in the morning. Then we decided to go the animal orphanage at the Nairobi national park. I didn’t know this but Kenya has 25 game parks (huge areas of wild life that are fenced off to protect the animals and the people of course) where safari tours take place. However you can still find some animals outside of the game park boundries. The cab driver says there is a lot of hippos near his village. The orphanage takes in animals when the mothers are killed or too hurt to look after their young and so they’re brought to the orphanage when they are very young.

I had a university student who volunteers at the park and studies wildlife, give me a tour and talk about the different types of animals. One thing I found funny was that a lot of these animals were given such English names. For example this young, but huge lioness was called Michelle…go figure??? The coolest thing I was able to do was pet a cheetah. Apparently she was quite tame but Dominic wanted nothing to do with her after she licked his leg. Her tongue is a bit rough. I was getting a bit nervous too. The keeper told me to rub under her chin so she started purring which kind of sounded like a growl. Then she licked me too and wanted to play, so she gnawed on my wrist and that was it… I got my picture taken with her and I was out of there! It blows me away that all these animals (lions, cheetahs, leopards, giraffes, crocodiles, hyenas, baboons, etc…) are just a few miles outside the city. There is also quite a population of elephants and rhinos in Kenya. There is a large orphanage for those animals also but it was located far from where I was, on the other side of the park. Anyways, that was the highlight of our day.

This weekend was peaceful. I was able to speak again with my family and friends by phone which encourages me a great deal even though a miss them such a great deal. However, I do start to get knots in my stomach when I think of the week that lies ahead. The Lord continually comforts me with His word…He also knows I have no one else to talk to. Today I read about the Shumen woman in 2Kings(that is probably not the correct spelling???). This story was told to me earlier in our adoption process through a close friend’s little boy. At that time it encouraged me a great deal and today I am reminded again of God’s faithfulness. This woman was hospitable to Elisha every time he passed by her city. He wanted to repay her but she didn’t want anything. So the people told Elisha to give her a son. Later that son got sick and died. The part that struck me the most was when she said to Elisha…I never asked you for a son and now that my hopes are up you take him away (totally paraphrased). I’m sure you know the rest of the story but the Lord obviously didn’t leave things the way they were. He blessed her and returned to her the son she thought she’s lost. In the same way I believe the Lord will get us through this it’s just so hard to not let fear get in the way.

I will try to contact the High Commissioner tomorrow early afternoon to see what progress has been done. I did have a huge blessing on Friday when I found out that I could post-pone my flight to Kigali for only $25 instead of having to purchase another ticket. My flight to Canada leaves Friday night (really early Saturday morning at 0400 am). I am praying so hard that I can go home with Dominic that day. I would appreciate your prayers as well because when 2 or 3 are in accord, it is bound in heaven.

Monkey business....

Today Dominic and I went to a park called City Park. We hooked up with a super nice cab driver Maharan who said he didn't have anything else to do so he was our tour guide at the park. I guess b/c the park is located so close to the "slum" area (the word he used) he was a bit concerned for us. Anyways, the park was full of monkeys...hundreds of them. They are so used to people they come right up to you. They're also little thieves!!! I brought a couple of bananas and I peeled one(like monkeys don't know how to peel bananas) and one snatched it right out of my hands when I wasn't expecting. The poor little ones were only left sucking the peel. Dominic was getting a bit freaked out so I gave Maharan the other banana. He was giving out little pieces at a time when a big monkey out of no where came a flew in front of him snatching it out of his hands. Then there was a monkey in front of me that watched me take the bananas out of my backpack. When I went to pick up my backpack from the ground he bumped into me from behind and almost knocked me over so he could take off with my backpack. How rude!!! No more bananas for him. We were surrounded by monkeys because they call all of their friends. There were also a couple of kids who were feeding them peanuts and the monkeys were sitting on their shoulders. Apparently they are quite friendly and used to people but I wasn’t brave enough to do that.

The park is surrounded by what they call forest…I would refer to it more as jungle. The trees and vegetation was so tropical and wild looking. We went for a 2 hour hike. Maharan talked almost the whole time about his culture and family which I enjoyed very much. Dominic loved the ride in the sling and decided to have his morning nap. As we walked we saw a bunch of children with a lady breaking down branches for firewood. By the looks of them they were very poor and from the “slums”. We saw a lot of nearby shacks that bordered the park. I also saw many people (a lot of older women) coming back from the market with huge bags of vegetables, fruit and rice being carried on their backs. It was at least a couple of kilometers back to their homes. I am reminded yet again how blessed we really are!

Maharan then took me to the market which carried loads of every type of fruit and vegetable you could possibly imagine. I wish I could load my suitcase full of mangos… I love mangos! It was fun walking around the market with the locals. Everyone was very friendly. They couldn’t understand why we don’t grow bananas, pineapples and mangos???