A mountain that is getting more and more difficult to climb.

This morning poor little Dominic woke up beside me acting a bit confused and scared. He started crying a little and backed up against the wall and wouldn't come to me. I got him to calm down but he was still a bit reserved. By the afternoon he was constantly lifting up his arms to me and said mama (which brings me great joy) and literally tackling me on the bed. It seems like we start new every morning until he recognizes that I will be a constant in his little life. Another highlight of my day was hearing my dear husbands voice and the voice of 2 of my children. A week has passed and I miss them so much. I'm trying to stay focused on the bigger picture.

About the process....every day seems to be a mountain that gets bigger and more impossible to climb. Dale spoke to our agency person Teresa. The ministry says once again that everything seems in order but they dont like the wording of one of the documents that states "found abandoned and appears APPROXIMATELY 3 weeks old". The ministry wants the documents to be sure about the date of birth???? Can you believe that....the child was abandoned with no birth record but THEY want a birth date. But Teresa says they'll probably issue the letter Friday or Monday. To make things more complicated....in these countries, dates on documents are often incorrect so you always have to double check for consistency. Fidele (our lawyer who is now gone to Belgium) forgot to mention that the birth certificate was actually incorrect...Dominics birthdate is actually June 3rd not 7th, which is not the birthdate the provincial ministry is aware of. Our choices....do a proposal to the ministry all over again which could take over a month....change, translate and notarize all the documents here....not......or head to Nairobi and see how God works. It gets better...Teresa (our agent) is leaving for Ethiopia, so we will have no one to confirm when the "no objection letter" gets to the high commissioner. I'll be honest, I am very concerned (and I've had my freak out) but (now that I've had some time to calm down...hehe) I know it is in these circumstances that the Lord reveals His power and is glorified. Didn't Jesus appear AFTER Lazarus was dead, when all hope was gone, to raise him from the dead. So...as of now, I will be travelling to Nairobi on sunday and showing up on monday morning at the high commissioners. We will see how they receive me. After that I have to take him to a canadian designated doctor to fill out a form which I managed to call and book from here. That's all I can do for now, the rest is up to HIM.

We went into town this morning. My supposedly comfortable flip flop crocks bore a hole between my toes from all my walking so I needed to buy open toe slip ons. I also wanted to buy some cool rwandan music to take back with me. My usual taxi driver Alfred took me to a place that did NOT look like HMV. It was the size of a small walk in closet. When I DUCKED to walk in this place it was I, Dominic and 4 young Rwandan men who wanted me to sit down and listen to their selection. I initially stayed close to the exit. One of them,Alan, who spoke really good english asked if my husband was black and I explained Dominic's situation. I didn't know if Rwandan people would be accepting b/c I am taking one of their children out of their country to Canada. After that they couldn't be more gracious and helpful. Alan even got half off a pair of cool leather sandals. I offered to give him something afterwards and he said "no thanks, that's cool, you just take care of that little boy"....isn't that sweet.

Feeling even more comfortable than yesterday I toured the shops in a different part of the center. I'm even getting used to people literally stopping right in front of me (close enough to be in my personal space) and stare at Dominic and then me....no kidding. I say hi in kinyarwandan, they smile and walk away. Its quite humorous. I'm just so greatful that the city is very safe. I brought an umbrella stroller to Rwanda, I don't what I was thinking. There are NO flat roads or sidewalks that would accomodate such a thing. I'm so greatful that I brought my sling also or I wouldn't be able to go anywhere. Dominic is quite content in it, it keeps us close and he even has a power nap once in a while.

I find it amazing how Dominic responds to the Rwandan men. They'll shout out "Bité" (which means hi) and he waves at them, when the women or I say that he doesn't even respond. He certainly didn't see many men in the orphanage, must be instinctual.

Leslie (food guru), when I've think I seen every possible way to prepare tilapia, its served on skewers....very yummy.

Once again...thank you for your continued prayers. I apologize again, this computer is just not fast enough to upload photos at certain times of the day. And can't even access hotmail sometimes. Until tomorrow........