Please Forgive My Absence!

Hi all. I'm so sorry not to have updated the blog lately. It has definitely been a roller coaster week (plus). May 11th was a particularly up-down day.

First the good news! We sent our completed dossier to the agency on May 11th in the morning. It felt great to have that huge step completed!

Second, the not so good news. On May 11th we also had Eric's kidney appointment. For those that don't know, right before we adopted Samren we found out that Eric's kidneys were beginning to fail and he would need a transplant in 3-5 years. However, he's been hovering around 40% function for the past two years so we haven't worried much about it. Of course, now that our dossier is complete, we get the news that Eric's Kidney function has dropped from around 40% to just about 20%.

This means that Eric needs a kidney transplant as soon as possible in order to avoid going on dialysis (3 appointments a week, 4 hours each appointment, and lots of side effects). Eric needs a transplant before he reaches 10% function in order to avoid dialysis. Please pray with our family that we find an appropriate donor very quickly and Eric's kidney transplant goes forward without dely. It is possible that the entire process could be completed in 3-5 months if everything goes perfectly.

I'm sure lots of you are wondering, "What about the adoptions?!" My mom's first reaction was that we should stop them. A few other people thought the same thing (even though we never asked!). =-) Nevertheless, we are going forward. Our God is a knowing God. He knew we were going to get this news, and he still chose to lay adoptions on our heart at this time. He still orchestrated for me to send that dossier BEFORE the kidney appointment on the 11th rather than waiting until AFTER the appointment. He knew....so we will continue to walk forward on faith.

What if the worst happens and Eric passes away? Folks, it's just part of our reality with Eric's health issues that we go down the "what if" road before any major decision. If I didn't feel like I could parent all four of our children myself, we wouldn't have gone forward with adoption. I hope my husband NEVER leaves me, but the possibility of that is part of our reality. We've taken the appropriate steps and IF the worst were to happen the children and I (all four children) would be alright financially. Please don't think I'm cold or morbid. The thought of Eric dying sends me into emotional turmoil, but I know that my God would carry me though it if it happened. Now let's stop thinking about it happening and pray that it doesn't!!!

Our final peice of news is that we got our immigration approval that will allow us to bring two kids into the US!!! YIPPEE!!!! Now we wait for that amazing phone call telling us who our new children will be.

Please join us in prayer for the following:

• That Eric would fly through the medical workup and be cleared for transplant.
• That a kidney donor is identified in record time.
• For the safety and well-being of both Eric and his donor during surgery.
• That the transplant occurs before our children from Ghana are home--or at least not while I'm traveling to pick them up!
• That Kendi and Caynan will be identified in Ghana soon! That they are healthy, and happy, and loved as they wait to be united with us.

Love to all, Anita