It's been a while since I have updated our blog simply because there has not been much change in things concerning the adoption of Aaron. Let me start by saying that Aaron is doing well. I've seen several pictures of him over the last few weeks and have spoken via facebook to sevearl people who have made visits to Ms. Dorothy's home in the past couple of months. He is looking great and each picture or story makes me want to hop a plane and fly to Haiti... like...NOW! We had a wonderful visit with Ms. Dorothy at Emory and Mary's home while she was taking a much needed break in the states during the month of April. We always enjoy our visits with her. It is so comforting to know that Aaron is in such wonderful hands.
So, let's get the not so good new out of the way first. I received an email from Cathy Fitzsimmons (missionary to Haiti) on May 18th stating that Haiti has temporarily suspended all adoptions from Haiti until further notice. Apparently they have a backlog of adoptions and will be processing all dossiers submitted before May 7th before reopening for adoptions again. The good news is...THIS IS ONLY TEMPORARY! I keep saying those 4 words to myself over and over again as a reminder.
Finding this out really confirms to me how MUCH God is guiding us in this process!!!!!!!!!!! I am so glad that he knows things that I don't. :) If you have been keeping up with our journey you know that we have not pursued doing our homestudy because we were trying to locate Aaron's father. We had been told that he was alive and knowing that meant that he could stop the adoption at any time. There was no sense doing anything until we knew for sure that he would be on board with the adoption. If we had gone ahead with the homestudy etc we may have risked losing that money as these things all have expiration dates. IF Haiti doesn't begin the adoption process again quickly those things could have expired and we would have had to begin the process all over again. Can anyone see the hand of God in this with me??
Now the good news. Lester's brother, Emory, visited Aaron's family in Jubilee last week. He found out that, unfortunately, Aaron's father passed away before his mother did. I am not sure of the circumstances concerning his death but Emory says that obtaining death certificates for both of his parents should not be a problem. He spoke with Aaron's family at length including Aaron's grandfather and they are in favor of us adopting Aaron. While my heart breaks for Aaron in that he will never know his biological father and mother, I am so relieved to know that his family supports the idea of his becoming a part of our family!!!! I look forward to the day that we can meet them for ourselves and thank them for this wonderful gift!
For now, we ask that you pray with us for Haiti to work quickly to move through the adoptions that they have in their hands. Not only so that we can move forward but also so that the families that have waited for so long to have their little ones with them will finally have their dreams realized!!!
Believing in God's promise,
Lester and Shelby
