Jaline sings in English!

Well, this can certainly be a discouraging process, but we are fortunate to have friends around us that help put things in perspective, even when we can’t.  I have been disappointed that things seem to have slowed down considerably and we don’t see anything happening.  Jaline’s father’s birth certificate needs to be authenticated by the Haitian Archives and that meeting is supposed to take place on March 22^nd.  Once that happens, her paperwork will start to move again through the Haitian system.  Please pray for that to go smoothly and for the pace to pick up after his birth certificate is legalized. 

So, what’s the good news?  Sometimes as a parent, it’s difficult for us to see subtle changes in our children, because we see them everyday.  Yet, when someone hasn’t seen our child in a while, they often remark on how much they’ve grown or how they’ve changed. This past week, I was able to take a step back and reflect on the amazing ways God has watched over the growth of His precious child. 

We were blessed with a video that was sent to us this past week, of Jaline singing.  That’s right, the precious little girl that was so severely malnourished that I once questioned if she would live until I saw her again, was singing. Remember, this is a little girl that back in October, we wondered if she could even hear or had other significant disabilities, because she was so unresponsive and barely whispered whenever you could coax a word out of her.  However, I knew then that there was no turning back even if there would be many challenges to overcome. 

Did I mention that she is singing in English, a language that she didn’t know a word of, in late December?  Yes, our precious Jaline is singing in English!  She is learning more each day and is getting ready to come home as soon as the Lord opens that door.  Oh yeah, she throws a few motions into her songs.  As I take a step back, I look at arms that she could barely lift up a few months ago.  They’re looking quite filled out and she looks so much healthier.  She has gained over 10 pounds to add to her malnourished 15 pound frame. 

While sadness remains that she isn’t home yet, we must reflect upon the incredible progress she is making in Haiti.  As you watch the video below, you will see a tile floor, beds, toys, and the voices of ladies who are loving and caring for her until she comes home.  When I reflect upon the horrible living conditions she experienced in her old orphanage and feared each day when I wasn’t sure if she would eat, even once, or have clean water to drink, I have to take a step back and say thank you Lord.  Thank you for opening the doors you already have and for putting your arms around your precious child to preserve and protect her until she could be pulled out of those frightening conditions.  I don’t know how our Lord will use His precious Jaline, but I know her life has been preserved for powerful reasons.  However, I would be remiss if I failed to reflect upon all the precious children still in Jaline’s orphanage and countless orphanages throughout Haiti, who are still in those horrible conditions, fighting each day for love and survival.

Please enjoy the video below as Jaline sings some classics for us…in English.  She’s thrown together a little medley of “I Have Decided to Follow Jesus (no turning back)”, “This Is the Day That the Lord God Made (I will rejoice and be glad in it)”, and “Jesus Loves Me”.  While I doubt she understands a lot of the words she’s singing, I can’t wait for the day when she sings these words from her heart, knowing full well what they mean as she sings them to her Father in Heaven. 

Post written by Todd February 23rd

This morning you’ll hear the heart of a frustrated father… We feel like we wait and wait and wait.  It’s not unlike the long family car ride and the repeated questions of “are we there yet” and “how much longer til we get there”? Unfortunately, we don’t have a GPS or a map on this one.   We have no idea how much longer it will be until Jaline comes home.  I wish we had a better answer, but unfortunately we have no clue.  We do know there are a lot of steps in this process that still need to happen before she is able to come home. 

We have hit a snag in the process.  Jaline’s father’s birth certificate is not registered in the Haitian archives, so our lawyer needs to go before a judge and the judge needs to authorize his birth certificate before anything else can happen. After that, the birth certificate is submitted to the Haitian archives, about a 15 day process, and then everything proceeds to IBESR (The Haitian agency that handles adoptions).  We are frustrated that the issue with her father’s birth certificate was not dealt with earlier. 

We have been so thankful for the outpouring of support we have experienced from friends and family, and wish we had more frequent updates for you on her progress.  Unfortunately, there hasn’t been much to update lately.    In my frustrations, I decided to go back to the beginning of our blog, when we asked everyone to pray for 6 specific things.  Please read the following 6 prayer requests and my reflections upon the ways we’ve seen God work, in parentheses and italics. 

1.  Pray for immediate safety.  The orphanage she is currently in is "not so nice", obviously when she is so malnourished.  (I can honestly say, there were many times when I questioned if Jaline would still be alive when I returned to Haiti.  She was so malnourished and in such poor physical condition)

2.  Pray that the birth certificate and the "Extrait des Minutes du Greffe du Tribunal" (parental release) will be obtained quickly and be placed in the hands of people we trust, so we can proceed.  (This was resolved over Thanksgiving)

3.  Pray that Todd and I, along with the people he trusts at Lifeline in Haiti, will make the best decisions for her while we are waiting to bring her home.  There are different possibilities, one is having the director release her so we can get her into an orphanage we trust.  Lifeline does not have an orphanage, they provide food and medical relief to those in the area.  But there are other possibilities too. (We were able to move her just before Christmas to her current orphanage that is taking wonderful care of Jaline.  She continues to gain weight and learn)

4.  That we can financially cover the needs as they present themselves and trust God to provide for what we cannot. (God has been very faithful in meeting our financial needs throughout this process.  We are so grateful for the outpouring of support in rescuing Jaline)

5.  That we will be able to REALLY trust God to take care of things.  That's easier said than done.  As I told Todd today, I feel like I've gone skydiving in the dark.  I know God has the parachute, but I can't see it. (Wow!  This is a battle.  We know there’s little we can do at this point and God has protected Jaline EVERY step of the way, but it’s so difficult knowing your daughter is being raised by someone else and there’s nothing you can do to bond with her, teach her, or comfort her)

6.  Pray that God's awesome power will speed up the process in a way that contradicts everything we are being told.  Pray that walls will be pushed aside, doors will be opened, and hands will move this process along in a manner that's unheard of.  She needs a great deal of nourishment and love as soon as the Lord can bring her home to us. (Undoubtedly this is our greatest struggle at this point!  Perhaps we are stubbornly trying to make this happen in our timing, but we continue to beg for your prayers that the Lord will take hold of this area in a mighty way and accelerate the adoption process.  We need prayer that any court judgements will be favorable towards Jaline’s case.  We need prayer that appointments that usually take a while to make will happen quickly.  We need prayer that Jaline’s paperwork will move through the Haitian and US agencies at a remarkable pace.  However, most importantly, we need prayer that Jaline’s heart and mind will be ready for this transition to our family.)”

We have been so comforted to know so many people are praying for Jaline on a regular basis.  We can’t wait for you to meet her, watch her grow, and mentor her.  Please continue to pray for all the requests above.  We believe God has called us to adopt his precious child, but there are so many other children like Jaline who are desperate to be loved who also battle hunger daily.  Please pray for them also. I’m hoping to share some ways soon, where we can invest in the lives of other Haitian children who are desperately in need. 

Snow Day Greetings

Sitting at home on a snow day, wondering how our little Haitian girl will handle her first snowstorm. Our updates have been a bit less frequent because there hasn’t been a whole lot to report.  However, we rest much easier at night knowing the quality of care Jaline is receiving in her new crèche.  We’ve just received some great news out of Haiti regarding Jaline’s health and progress. Like many of you, we’ve been anxiously awaiting for updates from Haiti.  The director of Chances for Children, the agency which operates Jaline’s creche and has been advising us on the adoption process, just returned from a trip to Haiti. She reports that Jaline is doing very well in her new surroundings.  She is now up to about 24 pounds, which is a tremendous improvement from the 15 pounds she weighed in October.  Jaline has gained strength and her hair is starting to grow back, slowly… For a while after she arrived in her crèche, she was eating well but her body wasn’t fully able to digest the new food she was consuming, so much of it would go right through her.  Now, she eats until she is full and her body is properly digesting the food.  The doctor is very pleased with her progress.  Jaline is learning every day, through play and from the teacher at the crèche. Kathi reports that she is doing a great job learning colors, numbers, and other words in English.  When her teacher asked her what color her shirt was the other day, she responded in English: “My shirt is red”.  While it is quite common for kids who have grown up malnourished to struggle with learning disabilities, as of now, it appears that Jaline is picking things up quickly. Kathi also reports that her favorite toy is one she says she got from her Poppi (that’s meJ)– a jar of beads.  She saw a bit of the stubborn streak that Jaline possesses.  When she decides she is done learning, she just stops for the day.  I’ve seen this a bit when I’ve been with her, especially the past couple times.  I have sensed it a bit with her distance the past couple times.  It’s as if she’s saying “If you’re going to connect with me and keep leaving, then I’m going to play hard to get until you finally take me home”  The survival instincts of life in the orphanage manifest themselves in different ways… So – When can we finally bring her home?  Great question, but we don’t have a clue.  All her paperwork is in Haiti and we are waiting on the process.  Our lawyer meets with his contact in the Haitian adoption department, IBESR, on Friday, February 11th.  At that time they will review all our paperwork and start it in the Haitian system.  Why do all these things take so much time?  I have no idea, but I know it’s out of our hands.  Please pray that our paperwork will be processed safely and quickly through the Haitian agencies.  Please pray that while we wait Jaline will continue to grow, learn, and be ready to transition to her new life in our family.  While we struggle to understand why this process takes so long, we know that God’s timing isn’t always our timing.  We are so thankful for all your prayers and questions, as we continue the adoption process.  We are grateful to the ladies and the Lahser Boys Basketball team who put on the pancake breakfast for Jaline at Lahser last Saturday.  The money raised will be very helpful in providing for Jaline’s care in Haiti and in covering the many expenses that arise in the process.  We have been blessed by so many who have invested in The Rescue of Jaline, through prayer, financial donations, and encouragement.  Our sweet little girl is so blessed to have so many people helping out with her adoption and praying for her.  We can’t wait for you to meet her and be part of the village that will help raise our precious Jaline!  ~Todd

Pancakes anyone?

Tonight I was talking with Tim, a friend of ours, who said he enjoyed following the blog.  I had mentioned to him that now that we are in the waiting period, there isn't much to report so our blog updates have been few.  And so really, while there is nothing new to report on the adoption process itself, this conversation gave birth to another idea.  Receiving.

Sometimes it's uncomfortable to receive.  Whether it be a compliment or a gift, I find that I'm not always a gracious receiver.  While the process of adopting a child has stretched both Todd and myself in many different ways, one way that has been the most challenging has been relinquishing control in order to receive.  When we sent out one of our earlier letters to friends and family we struggled with mentioning anything about donating towards the adoption.  We've never been in a situation where we've raised money for personal reasons.  Not that we don't love a good fundraiser.  Boy give us a cause, whether it be the summer camp we work at or the kids PTO and we're full throttle!  But things change when we become the recipients.

After thinking about this notion of receiving, it occurred to me that when we do not allow ourselves to receive, we deprive other people the opportunity of loving us.  We deprive them the opportunity of utilizing their God given gifts.  Those gifts might be financial or they might be an act of service.  However, regardless of what they bring to us, when we receive open-handedly, a divine connection is made.  A connection to me that was part of our original design.  Thinking further upon this thought, I was drawn to the story in the Bible of the woman who came to Jesus to wash His feet.  Clearly He didn't need her to wash His feet, He was the Son of God, yet He humbled Himself to receive.  He allowed this woman to pour out her love for Him by washing His feet with her very precious and expensive oil.  She gave selflessly and He received graciously.  A divine connection.

Our family has the good fortune of being a part of a community that wants to love on our family.  Some dear friends of mine have enlisted the manpower of the Lahser Boys Basketball Team to host a pancake breakfast as a fundraiser towards the Rescue of Jaline. Of course while both Todd and I were very touched by their kindness, it was also a bit awkward, especially for Todd to, again, be on the receiving end. I had to remind him that this is how our community is choosing to love and support our family.  We cannot deprive them the opportunity to share their God given talents or we all lose the chance of experiencing that divine connection.

So if you are free Saturday January 29th at 10:30 in the morning come on over to Lahser High School in Bloomfield Hills and share a pancake or two with us.  We love that so many of you have taken interest in our story. It's awesome that this journey God has taken our family on has piqued an awareness in so many on the injustice beyond our front doors, namely in Haiti.  We'd love to share the morning with you so we do hope you can make it out on the 29th.

And while I did win a pancake eating contest back in my youth when calories had no effect on my metabolism, I promise not to embarrass my kids or my husband by repeating the indulgence of my youth.

~Samantha

Happy New Year from Jaline!

Happy New Year from Jaline! 

My new dad came to visit me for a few days this week. I’m in my new orphanage now and it’s SO much better than my old orphanage!!  Actually they call it a crèche (kresh) because there are only certain orphanages in Haiti that kids can be adopted from and those are called crèches.   I’ve been here for two weeks and I’m eating really good!  Doctor Jack and Nurse Marcia, who run my crèche say I’m eating lots and I’m getting healthier.  When I was admitted, Dr. Jack examined me and thinks I’m doing very well developmentally and am quite healthy, other than being quite malnourished.  By the way, I’m up to twenty pounds now!  I was only 15 pounds in October.  They’re making sure I’m eating three good meals each day and I even get snacks twice a day.  I’ve never had so much food in my life!   I wish all my friends in Haiti could eat this well. 

Oh yeah!  Check out my picture:  I’m looking kinda bald right now.  They cut my hair off, but Daddy still says I’m gorgeous!  My hair was getting red and falling out because I’ve been so malnourished.  They say my hair will grow back a lot thicker and healthier now that I’m eating so good.  I still think it looks kinda funny and I can’t wait to get my braids back.  Daddy says I’m beautiful even without my hair.  I can’t understand everything he says, but he knows a little Creole and knows how to tell me I’m beautiful in Creole.

I’m still pretty confused. They tell me he’s going to be my new daddy and I’m going to have a new family, but he had to leave again without me… He keeps coming to visit me and they tell me I’m going to have this new family, but every time he leaves without me.  I wish I understood why I have to wait so long to go home.  I’m sure it will make sense someday but now I’m pretty confused.  My birth Mommy has even told me my new family is going to adopt me and I’m going to have a better life, but it’s all so confusing.  I’ve seen some cool pictures of my new Mommy, my sisters Shelby and Sophie, and my brother Spencer.  I get to keep the pictures by my new bed.  Did I mention I have my very own bed?  I have my own bed, with my own blanket.  My new Daddy brought me a new blanket and a teddy bear.  I’m going to share all the toys and books he brought down on this last trip, but the blanket and bear are mine. 

I’m actually the only child in my new crèche right now, since it’s brand new.  I’m hoping there will be more orphans that come to my crèche soon.  I hope they can leave orphanages like the one I was at and come to a nicer place that will take care of them, just like me.  It would be nice to have some people my own age to play with.   I’m a little spoiled right now, because everyone at my crèche is there to take care of me.  It’s not like the other place I was at before.  They have a nurse here 24 hours a day, in case anyone gets sick.  There is a lady who oversees the crèche and everyone who works here.  There is a day nanny and a night nanny.  There’s a school teacher, who is teaching me some English.  I like to go to school!  There’s a cook who prepares food for the workers and the kids, when more come.  This is in addition to Dr. Jack and Marcia, who oversee everything.  Nurse Marcia makes sure everyone is working hard and is taking good care of me.  The people here are really nice to me and take great care of me but I’m still a bit confused by everything that’s going on lately.

My new Daddy brought down some more paperwork for our lawyer.  It looks like Jean Maudrel has all the right paperwork and the paperwork is finally ready for the Haitian government.  I really have no idea what’s going on with all this paperwork and why it takes so long for kids like me to go to families that want to love and care for them.  I hear there are lots of people all over the place praying for me so I can be adopted as soon as possible.  Thanks for caring about me even though I’ve never met you!  I hope I’ll be able to meet many of you very soon.  They tell my new Daddy it could still take at least a year for me to come to my new home.  I hope not!  Please pray for me! 

Happy New Year!  They say this next year will change my life forever.  I hope this will be an amazing year for you also.  God Bless…

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Merry Christmas!  There have been so many times this Christmas Season that it feels more like Thanksgiving than Christmas.  We celebrate the miracle of our Savior’s birth today and reflect upon the meaning and hope which exists for all of us who trust in Him.  I can’t imagine going through this life and the holidays without the hope of our Savior’s return and the relationship which sustains us through all the trials of this life.  We are so thankful for a wonderful Christmas with our family, even though one of us is still a long ways away. 

I just finished reading Joshua 7, where Joshua cries out to God for forsaking him and the Lord rebukes him for not trusting God and understanding his ways.  I can’t tell you how many times, during this adoption process, when I feel as if the Lord has had to tap me on the shoulder or pick me up and shake me and say “Trust me, this is all happening for a reason but it’s not for you to understand right now”.  I keep seeing puzzle pieces, but there’s not a complete picture for us to work from.  Each day, we are handed another piece and the Lord’s power and plan is revealed.  We are blessed to have so many of you supporting Jaline’s adoption through prayer and financial support.   We are so thankful for all of your prayers!  You may never understand how difficult it is to know your child is thousands of miles away and the only thing that we can do is pray. I say the only thing… But, I am constantly reminded that my power is so limited compared to our Lord’s and I believe He is calling us to a complete dependence upon him, knowing that we are incapable of protecting our child except through prayer. 

We are deeply touched to know that our friends and people who have learned of Jaline’s story have been lifting her up in prayer.  Thank you for investing in this precious child’s life!  Thank you for continuing to pray for Jaline (just to clarify-you pronounce her name like Zsa Zsa Gabor J  Jzahleen. ) We have also seen the Lord’s faithfulness as we stepped out in faith with all the expenses of Jaline’s adoption.  He has always stayed a step ahead of the many expenses.  We have been blessed by the answer to many prayers over the numerous expenses.    We are grateful that we met the requirement for the match that expired yesterday.  Thank you!

I will be in Haiti from December 27^th-30^th.  I travel to Miami tomorrow, and fly out to Port au Prince on the 27th.  I will be visiting Jaline’s new orphanage.  We are so excited for the new home she is staying in until the Lord brings her home to us.  I have visited numerous Haitian orphanages and Jaline’s new orphanage is absolutely fantastic compared to all the miserable places where over 300,000 Haitian orphans live every day.  We are so thankful that Jaline’s world is starting to change and we pray for so many others who live so desperately each day.  Jaline has been doing wonderfully since her move!  After a couple days of getting comfortable, she has been riding a tricycle, playing, smiling, and talking.  It has always amazed me how consistent nutrition and love transform her personality, when we have been able to pull her away from her old orphanage, even for a couple days.  I am taking numerous toys and books down to Jaline’s orphanage, which will be shared with the many children who will pass through the orphanage until they can be adopted.  I will also be meeting with our lawyer and be hand carrying some of Jaline’s adoption papers which have now been authenticated by the Haitian Consulate.

When will she come home?  We have no idea, but everyone tells us it will be at least a year.  Please pray that the Lord will open doors in a miraculous way and bring Jaline home much sooner!  Thanks and Merry Christmas!!  Our God Reigns!!

The Roller Coaster Continues....

Blog update was written by Todd, with the first paragraph from Samantha.

If we don’t post again this week, have a peaceful Christmas as you celebrate the birth of the Savior.  We hope you are surrounded not by “stuff” but by family and friends as they are indeed more precious than anything under the tree!

The Roller Coaster Continues…

Finally a new orphanage!  Jaline officially became the first orphan to be admitted to Chances  4 Children’s new orphanage, Royaum des Enfantes de Dieu, in Port-au-Prince yesterday.  We are so excited that the doors have opened up and Jaline is in a much better place.  She will have excellent nutrition with three meals a day while she is in her new orphanage. The directors of her orphanage are a doctor and a nurse, so in addition to a guided nutrition program, she will also receive excellent care and medical attention as she starts her road to recovery from her severe malnutrition. There will be a very low caregiver to orphan ratio which will create a nurturing and loving environment for Jaline.   We are also glad to know that she will be learning some English and potentially able to attend pre-school, starting in February.  She will have toys to play with, loving caregivers, and running water. That last item, running water blows me away.  Not something I needed to look for while I searched for pre-schools here in the states.  And though I take my running water for granted, I am grateful that she will no longer go without.  We really are thrilled that she is in this place of waiting until we can bring her home.

While we get frustrated and want her home immediately, we understand that we can’t fathom the Lord’s plan for his dear child and know his plans are greater than ours.  We try to remember that this process may be necessary for Jaline to transition to her new life in our home and in America.  We’re hoping she will start learning some English while she’s waiting, so we will be less dependent on our knowledge of Creole when she arrives. It is difficult to understand the logic of a system that allows birth parents and adoptive parents to agree, in court, to allow us to adopt Jaline, but we are still seemingly trapped in a world of paperwork and government agencies.

While we are excited that Jaline is in her new orphanage, we have also faced some discouraging times this week.  While we thought all of our paperwork was in the hands of the Haitian government, we had a number of documents sent back to us this week. Despite the fact the Haitian government hasn’t required it in the past, they are now requiring that every single document be authenticated by the Haitian Consulate in Chicago, before they can be submitted to the Haitian Adoption Agency (IBESR).  So, we received them back Friday and sent them by Fed Ex to Chicago yesterday.  We should have them back by Tuesday, so we can send them back to Haiti. We don’t understand these challenges and what seems to be an unnecessary delay of two and a half weeks; however, we believe there must be a reason for this odd circumstance.  Please pray that this delay leads to her paperwork being moved even faster and the process being expedited.  We also were told this week that the fact that Jaline’s father is still alive could lead to delays from the US Government’s acceptance of Jaline as an orphan, despite the fact her parents have abandoned her and have absolutely no way to provide for her.  So, again we asked for your prayers that the Lord will change hearts and the doors will continue to open for his precious child. 

We also ask for your prayers for Jaline’s heart and mind.  When I look into her beautiful eyes, I see a tender child who is struggling with the emotions of everything she’s experienced in her short life.  I see the pain from a little girl whose parents had to give her away.  You can almost see the pain and confusion in this frail child’s eyes.  I can’t fathom what Jaline has been wrestling with emotionally and physically and the painful emotions she will continue to battle, but I am so grateful her new Mommy is so full of compassion and grace. As I reflect upon Samantha’s love and care for our children, I’m so excited that Jaline will feel the warmth of her new Mommy’s embrace and compassion.  I can already see the two of them reading books together and baking in the kitchen.  I see a hope and a future for God’s precious child.  Please pray for her protection, physical and emotional health.  It makes this journey much easier that we know we have so many people pulling for and praying for Jaline.  Thanks for investing yourselves in the future of this precious child!

Jeremiah 29:11-13