Blood Diamond

Last weekend my parents and Eric and I went to see the movie "Blood Diamond." It's already off screen in most places (we had to go to the "cheap" theater to see it), but PLEASE, if you haven't seen it already, mark the date it will be out on DVD and see it (or see if it's still on the large screen in your area)! Not only is it a very good movie, it's also a very important movie to see (especially if you are hoping to adopt from West Africa).

It's been several days since I saw the movie, but I am still haunted by it several times a day. The movie educates viewers about what blood diamonds are. It also does a good job (from what I've read) portraying how children go from being children, to child soldiers. How they are tricked into killing. How they are pumped up on drugs to make them feel powerful. How they are brainwashed into believing that their own families are the enemy.

I think I cried through half of the movie. I have so many friends who have adopted or are in the process of adopting from Liberia (just next door to Sierra Leone where this movie takes place, and going through the same horrible war in 1999). I watched this movie and thought of the children in orphanages in Liberia RIGHT NOW who lived through these atrocities. I thought of the 7 year old I heard of just a few weeks ago that was adopted but then found to have been so traumatized by being a child soldier in Liberia that he has been placed into an institution so that he doesn't kill his adoptive family. I think of the babies that were literally cut out of their mother's womb--the "lucky" ones who lived (sometimes with chopped off limbs) and the others who died. I think of the girls and women who were raped until dead. And I think about how amazing it is that so far Ghana hasn't been sucked into all of the civil unrest in West Africa.

Blood Diamond is not a fun movie to see. It's not a feel good movie (even the happy ending isn't so happy). But it's a movie that Americans NEED to see! So many people are still so in the dark about the atrocities that have occurred in Africa just in the last 10 years. And even for those of us who have heard of these horrible wars, and read books about them, it's not the same as seeing the graphic images that are portrayed in this movie (and the graphic images in the movie are, I believe, tame in comparison to the reality of these wars).

There are still estimated to be 200,000 child soldiers in Africa. In Guinea, RIGHT NOW, rebels are causing civil unrest and using the same tactics as they did in Sierra Leone and Liberia just a few years ago. These children need our attention. If nothing else, they need our prayers.

Oh--and you'll never look at a diamond the same way again after you see this movie. See it--at least the trailor.

Anita

Country Choice

Recently, one on of the adoption groups I'm a member of, the question "Why did you choose the country you choose in Africa?" has been asked. Also, the topic of traveling to your chosen country to identify your child in person vs. having an unknown child referred to you by an agency has come up (I'll write about that one next). These are two pretty personal subjects so rather than reply on a big message board I'd rather write about it on the relative safety of my little adoption blog! Yep--I'm not feeling too brave right now! ;-)

Why did we choose Ghana?

You know, it's been a while since I've asked myself this question. At the time that we chose to adopt from Ghana we thought that it seemed like a program that fit us better (and it did--it was better). We had been planning to adopt from Liberia up to that point but we saw so many signs that the law in Liberia might have holes that would allow for unethical practices to take place. Also, we grew weary of the secretive nature of the organization we had chosen to go through, and we were becoming increasingly uncomfortable with the lack of information we would have on our referred children (a name, estimated age, and maybe a picture).

When we stumbled onto Life's Vision International's Ghana program it seemed so much safer to us. The country was stable and safe. The program was through a licensed agency. And the program was presented to us as fairly setup with a 3-6 month time frame from referral to travel (but no promises). These things were all good, but the fees associated with the program were what really drew us in. It was a bit more expensive than Liberia, but I was so impressed that the agency would offer such a low cost program ($6500 total)--it seemed obvious that it wasn't about the money. AND we could afford it! AND the fees for our second referral were only going to be $1000! All of these things felt right to us, so we switched from Liberia to Ghana.

Do we regret choosing Ghana?

Eric and I might have different answers to this one. Remember, he (like most men) doesn't get attached with a child until the child is home. Eric has had a tough time with this program because nothing has happened as we hoped it would. Eric would not choose this program again. On the other hand, I absolutely WOULD choose this program again. I can say that because I look at the face of our beautiful Bright every day and his little face makes it all worth it. Has this program been what I expected? No. Would I sign up for it again? I don't know. Do I feel like LVI is doing everything it can to establish a good program? Yes. Do I feel like the program is 100% ethical? Yes. It's just not really a "program" quite yet in my opinion. It's still in the "pilot" phase and every family going through it right now is a guinea pig. We expected that to an extent, but not to the extent we have experienced it (with absolutely no timelines, etc.). But because of Bright I do not regret choosing this program. And I really feel like it will develop into something good in the future.

Why did you choose Ethiopia?

Hmm...let's see...we tried Liberia but couldn't hack it (too many concerns)...we went with Ghana for two children but the orphanage said no more referrals for young children AND there is a chance we won't get a final adoption decree. There aren't really many more choices for Africa, are there? The Lesotho program through Reaching Out doesn't fit because of the long in-country stay. And after our "new program" experience with Ghana Eric isn't willing to attempt an independant adoption from Zambia (although I am tempted). Domestic AA adoption is always in the back of our minds and we keep our eyes open, but don't want to "compete" for a baby.

That all makes it sound like we didn't have any choice but to go with Ethiopia and that isn't true. After the experiences of the past year the Ethiopia program (particularly through AAI) feels so good! It is established. There are many children in need. We know much more about what to expect. There is a large and supportive community of others who have gone before us. I ADORE the country and culture. All good things! The one big roadblock for us is the financial aspect. Ethiopia is certianly not an expensive place to adopt from, but it is much more expensive than we were anticipating when we started this journey a year ago. And much more expensive than we thought when we were planning to adopt two children from Ghana! But as far as we can tell this is a program that suits our family very well, and we have faith that God will help us to climb the financial mountain ahead.

Love, Anita

Week in Review

I guess this is my "week in review." I don't have any big news to share tonight, but felt the need to write anyway.

I found out tonight that the Immigration office that is processing our paperwork is now working on applications that were accepted on or around January 15th. Our application was accepted on February 10th, so we MAY have our immigration approval around the middle of May. I was really hoping that it would be sooner than that (originally hoping for mid-April when our journey began) but I am trying to be thankful to the Lord for a mid-May approval date. There are offices all over the country that take many months to give approvals so I really shouldn't complain about a 6 week turnaround.

I feel that our hopes of having the children this summer may be quickly vanishing. Liberia's government is doing an incredibly great job of trying to tweek the program in order to better protect the children. However, the side effect of that is adoptions are going to take longer from now on. When we began this journey we were told that we could have our children in as little as 2-4 weeks after referral. Now the process may take as long as 3-6 month after referral. I do NOT do well with the wait emotionally once I have seen my child's face so waiting 6 months to hold them and tell them I love them will be incredibly difficult. Please pray with me that the adoption process is MUCH quicker than 6 months.

Tonight our family took a walk around the block just for the fun of it. The kids rode their bikes, our new puppy walked next to us on the leash (biting it most of the time) and our faithful cat Simion walked behind us, meowing all the way. =-) As we walked through our cute little neighborhood and I looked ahead to see our two beautiful children I couldn't help but be reminded to thank the Lord for what I already have! We have the best little family! I really want to try not to get down about not having Kendi and Canan yet, as these are precious months that I can spend with Taevy and Samren before they take on the additional role as big brother and sister.

Speaking of Taevy and Samren, the Lord is truly preparing them for their siblings. I think Taevy was a born caretaker so it doesn't surprise me at all to see her caring for Sophi Kate and Sam (the children I watch during the day) so effectively. Today she changed Sophi's clothes and even put a new diaper on her after they played in the sprinkler! But I think even more touching to me is to see her trying to teach the younger children things. Taevy is extremely dedicated and patient when she tries to teach them made up games, or new words, or new motor skills. It blesses my heart. And Samren! What a change we have seen in him! He seems to have been our perpetual baby. But lately he has really begun to get geared up for being a big brother. He says things like, "When my baby boy Canan gets home I will teach him how to..." or "When my baby boy Canan gets home I will help him to..." We're just so proud that Samren is FINALLY beginning to take pride in being a "big boy!" And it's totally cute the way he always calls Canan his "baby boy"--especially considering that there is more than a fair chance that Canan could outsize Samren from the beginning!

I guess that's it for now. I am a ball of emotion. At this very moment I feel blessed, frustrated, excited, tired, scared, patient, AND impatient!

Balance

I've been struggling what to say on this blog for the past few days. Everything just seems so balanced and non-dramatic now that it almost seems as though there is nothing newsworthy to write about. However, as I've prayed the last few days it occurred to me that the balance I'm feeling IS the news!

In our first adoption I was a complete stress-ball the entire process. I knew I needed to "give it all to God" and thought I had (several times)--but I really hadn't. I wanted to control our timeline. I wanted to control our agency. I wanted to control the foreign governments involved. The Lord finally "broke" me during Taevy's adoption and at one point I truly did "give it all to Him." Of course, three days after I gave up my illusion of control, we received miraculous news that our adoption had been processed even during a moratorium! Yes my friends, our God is THAT powerful!!! I thought I had been "cured" of my control freak ways forever!

NOT! =-) One year later we were waiting on Samren to come home from Vietnam. Things were better, but I still worried over things that were completely out of our control. His health...his size...how long we would wait for him. Samren's adoption process only took 2 months from the day that we decided to adopt him until his Giving and receiving ceremony in Vietnam--super fast! But I was still heartbroken when we were delayed in our travel plans (twice). I still cried out to God, "Why God???? Why?!?!?" as if waiting two more weeks for travel would affect the rest of our life with our new son! Still, I didn't worry nearly as much with Samren's adoption as I had with Taevy's. I don't know if that's because I truly learned through Taevy's adoption, or if Samren's adoption just had less to worry about.

Between our adoptions the Lord had four years to teach me...to love me...to show me that He is always in control. The past four years I've learned to lean on Him each day as if my life depended on in--and some days I think it really did! I learned to trust Him when our daughter started showing us her attachment issues and sensory integration disorder. I learned to lean on Him--to crawl up in His lap and cry--when our son was diagnosed with a disease that takes the lives of 1 out of 5 before they are 1o years old. I learned to praise Him for his faithfulness as He completely healed our son from his horrible disease and continues to help us foster good attachment in Taevy.

Yes, through our trials the Lord has taught me to "give it all to Him." I can't say that I won't ever worry or try to control things with our current adoption process. But thus far it has amazed me how calm I feel in my heart about it all. I could be on the phone trying to get X document 2 days faster than if I hadn't called...but I don't feel the need to do that. I know the Lord has it all in control. I got "down" when adoptions were put on hold, but the sense that the Lord had a purpose in it never left me.

Now we are getting down to the "nitty gritty" of the adoption process. We are waiting on the final document needed (CIS clearance) in order to get our referrals. And then--once the referrals come and we have faces to put to our children's names--well that is a whole new level of "adoption experience!" When those things happen I will really find out how changed I am! =-) But for now, I thank the Lord for all of the ways He has helped me to grow these last four years. I thank Him for the peace and balance I feel as we travel every day closer to our two children in Liberia.

Answered Prayer....

The little boy that Eric was drawn to has already found his forever family--in less than a day! Praise the Lord!!!! So we continue to wait on the Lord to reveal who Canan and Kendi will be. =-)

PRAISES!

Today is a day for praising the Lord!!!!

• First....Several of my friends who have been in a holding pattern for travel to Liberia have received their travel dates and are anxiously awaiting the day of their departure!
• Second...Several new children were made available for adoption by WACSN today. Beautiful children! Children I will feel so priviledged to pray for!! It has been quite a while since new children were made available (I suppose do to the fact that no adoptions were taking place so there was no room at the orphanage to take in new children). Needless to say, it is cause for celebration that more children now have the opportunity for a forever family!
• Third...News was sent today that WACSN will now be able to process immigration paperwork in Liberia that previously had to be processed by adoptive parents in person. What this means is that instead of a 2 week stay in Liberia, the stay in Liberia will now be only 2-4 days!
• Last but not least...Eric feels quite drawn to one of the little boys that WACSN sent out as available for adoption. He is a sweet-looking little guy that fits our 2-4 year old age range. Please pray for discernment as Eric seeks the Lord's will for this little boy and our family. Even if Eric decided that we should pursue him, it doesn't mean that we would "get" him.

Confirmation is Confirmed!

What a joyous day for the Liberian adoption community! As I posted earlier, adoptions have been on hold for the past few weeks as we awaited the confirmation of Vivian Cherue, the new Deputy Minister of Health and Social Welfare. We received news late last night that she had been confirmed yesterday. But after all of the rumors of the past two weeks people were leery to believe it. =-) This morning the news has been confirmed two more times by the adoption organizations working in Liberia!

Praise God for this wonderful surprise! I was personally prepared to wait months for the confirmation to take place, but the Lord had a much quicker plan in place!!! This means that my friends who are so close to travel can once again travel to pick up their precious children. Come home Jenneh! Come home Caleb and Madisyn!

Roller Coaster Ride

Oh what a week it has been! Sometimes at night it is so easy to sit at this computer and journal my thoughts about a specific feeling or event. Not this time. This past week has been such a roller coaster ride. I guess I shall post about each event individually....

Down, down down... About mid-week it finally hit me that adoptions have stopped in Liberia. I had been so upbeat about it all--telling myself that it will all happen in God's time. And I know it will! But my human flesh is still weak and I finally got sad about it. It saddens me that my friends' babies are stuck in country when I know that they so desperately need to be home. I have one friend whose baby is 10 pounds and 25 inches tall. TINY baby right? Well, this "baby" is actually a 16 month old toddler! This sweet baby girl is fighting the good fight and holding her own in Liberia. I know so many are praying for her daily, but I hurt for her--that she can't be here with her new parents and good medical facilities. Please pray for sweet Jenneh.

Up, up, up... We know how tiny Jenneh is because a doctor and his nurse spent the last 3 weeks at WACSN examining and treating all of the children there! The good doctor started a medical file on each of the children and also set up a frame work to give families medical histories upon arrival. When he left all of the children were in good shape, with no diarrhea to be found!

Down we go again... I have felt like such a bad person this week. In speaking up for one group of people, I put down someone else. I didn't pray over my words before I sent them out and someone very dear has now been hurt. I have asked forgiveness, and this person has given it. But it was a very harsh reminder for me that sometimes I can be so immature in my actions! In looking back, I just can't believe I did what I did! But praise the Lord for His mercy and forgiveness, and for the mercy and forgiveness He allows His servants to have towards those who have done wrong. Even though everything has been resolved I still find myself thinking on my actions with disgust.

And around we go... This has been a week of rumors and mudslinging within the Liberia adoption community. Pretty amazing considering this community is the most Christian bunch I've ever "met" on the internet! Just goes to show that satan is a sly devil and can find footholds in places we don't expect. Organizations have been slandered....adoption practices have been called into question...the integrity of some of those working in adoptions has been defamed. And yet, to God be the glory! All of the antics of this past week have worked toward His good in the end. People now have a much better understanding of adoption practices in Liberia. People have more faith in the organizations they have chosen to adopt from. Even the citizens of Liberia now have a better understanding of what adoption is (thanks to a radio broadcast in the country)! GOD IS GOOD!

As up and down and all around as this past week has been, I pray that the upcoming week is filled with peace and understanding. I pray that I know when to hold my tongue, and when to defend the cause of Christ. I pray that my worries and fears are smashed down by my faith in the Lord's control over ALL things.

Fun Times!

What a fun weekend of preparation we've had at the Gillispie house! Both Eric and I feel such a sense of peace about our decision to adopt two of Liberia's children. It is so nice to have a plan (although we certainly pray for the Lord's plan, not our own)!

Taevy and I had a great time shopping for baby Kendi yesterday. She has become quite the little shopper and endures the adventure every bit as well as her adult companions (right Grandma B?)! I feared that Taevy may become a bit jealous of all of the purchases we are making for Kendi but it's quite the opposite. She is having a great time and everywhere we go she says, "Mom, we have GOT to buy this adorable outfit for Kendi!" That's my girl! Seriously, it warms my heart to see that she thinks of Kendi as her sister already. It's obvious that the Lord is preparing Taevy's very sensitive heart for the changes that are coming.

As for Canan and Samren--well, I expect them to be thick as thieves very quickly once Canan gets home (at least if Samren has anything to say about it). Samren is SO excited about the thought of sharing his room with his new "big boy little brother" and often comments about how much fun it will be to play "Race Car NASCAR" with Canan ("Race Car NASCAR" is Samren's word for playing cars).

We aren't able to prepare for Canan like we are for Kendi because we don't know if he will be 2, 3, or 4 years old yet. We'll have to do a mad dash to prepare for him once his picture comes! In the meantime, it is so much fun to prepare for a baby girl again. I have longed to buy all of the sweet baby girl clothes since Taevy outgrew hers years ago.

The biggest event of the weekend was last night when my friend Kristi and I went to the Just Between Friends sale here in Tulsa. www.jbfriends.com Ladies, if you haven't been to this sale and have little ones to buy for you have GOT to go!!! It is a humongous consignment sale of good clothes at GREAT prices! It took me 2 solid hours to get through the 6/9 month GIRL clothes, and that was only looking at each piece for 2 seconds or less! In the end I was able to purchase 30 outfits for only $102!!! And I'm not talking Wal-Mart outfits folks! These outfits were Gymboree, and Gap, and Old Navy, and The Children's Place, and Baby LuLu, and House of Hatten. Me being the Wal-Mart shopper that I am I had no idea of the value of some of these clothes. I picked up one outfit for $4 and my friend Kristi said that it was originally a $50-$80 outfit. During checkout the lady told me that I could easily sell that outfit for $30 on Ebay if I wanted to. I don't buy baby clothes for even $30, so I can't imagine spending the originally $50-$80 for that one little outfit! It feels really good to know that we were able to get baby Kendi some really nice outfits and still be good stewards of the money the Lord has given us.

I feel so blessed to accept the responsibility of these two new little ones. The love in my heart for them grows each day. It may seem silly to some of you that we are buying things for these as yet unknown little ones, but all that we do to prepare for them makes them real. And they ARE real. Canan is already alive somewhere on this planet, and Kendi is as well (whether in her birthmother's womb or already born). We challenge you to let your hearts begin to love them as well. If these children were in my womb we would all gather round and pray for their safety. We would listen to their little heartbeats and FEEL their life. We don't have that luxury with Kendi and Canan, but they are no less real. How lucky we are to know that these children will benefit from the love of our wonderful family!

Eric's Big Decision--Part Two!

Folks, our God is truly an awesome God. I am in amazement of His love and faithfulness tonight. In awe of His love for me, Eric, our kids, and the children getting ready to join our family. Did you read that right? CHILDREN--no parentheses on the (REN)!!!

Eric shared with me tonight that he wants us to adopt two children. The funny thing is that I was FINALLY okay with it if he decided that we should only adopt one. The Lord had given me complete peace that whatever decision Eric made would be the right one. And look what happened! He chose TWO!!! ;0)

In looking at the financial aspect of this, we realized tonight that it is going to be MUCH more of a leap of faith (financially) than we had originally thought. And yet, there is peace because we know that Eric's decision was led by the Lord. The Lord will make a way for this to work.

Eric had one request in all of this. He really wants the older child to be a boy. All along he thought it would be neat to adopt a toddler boy and I thought it would be great to have a baby girl. So we are going to request an infant girl and a 2-4 year old boy! Yee-haw!!!

We believe our baby girl will be named Kendi Grace (Liberian Name) Gillispie and our new son will be named Canan Tate (Liberian Name) Gillispie.

Thank you to the person who posted a word of encouragement to Eric about his "big decision." I know it blessed his heart!

Let's Go Shopping!

I found this awesome picture of a Liberian marketplace online today and wanted to share it with you. There are tons more pictures of Liberia on www.ericthibodeau.com if anybody is interested. He is a "mercy shipper" currently stationed in Liberia and keeps a photo jounrnal online.

Liberia Stories

I came across another blog today that may be of interest to those of you who would like to know more about Liberia from the perspective of someone who is living there. The woman who keeps the blog is American-born and Liberian-raised. The blog is a treasure trove of mini articles about life in Liberia (and some great pictures)!

Liberia Stories

Happy blogging. ;0)

Dreams and Reality...

Today the kids were at preschool and I had a few hours of solace after my chores were done around the house. I decided to reward myself with an afternoon nap (LOVE my naps people!). Before I know it I am wrapped up in a hellish dream. I can't put it into paragraph form, but let me describe feelings, events, and objects:

• rotting fruit
• dizziness
• searching for my kids and falling over as I got to them only to have them disappear
• Eric trying to help me, but he couldn't
• deciding at the end of the dream that satan was attacking me and going into battle with him
• the feeling that satan was NOT going to keep me from my children!
• rotting fruit, lots of rotting fruit

As I awoke to the sound of my alarm clock my brain could barely make sense of where I was. I was so out of it, and completely dizzy. In a haze I walked to the computer to check my email (my routine every time I wake up!).

The first email I read was an announcement from WACSN (the orphanage we are adopting from) that adoptions have been put on hold until the new Deputy Minister of Health and Social Welfare in Liberia is confirmed. [For those that don't know, Liberia's newly elected president took office in January.]

I knew immediately that my dream was one of *those* dreams--a dream that the Lord sends to me to share something, or warn me of something, or comfort me about something. I feel so strangely at peace about adoptions being put on hold for a bit. At the same time, I do feel that satan would love to use this time to keep adoptions on hold indefinitely. This is where my dream comes in, and my interpretation of it...

• Rotting fruit: The children that are wasting away in orphanages, some of them already legally adopted, due to adoptions closing.
• Trying to but not being able to find my children: Our quest to adopt from Liberia.
• The attack of satan: The real attack that I believe satan has waged against Liberia's children.
• My readiness to battle him for my children: My REAL willingness to battle him (if need be) in order to bring our children home! Prayer is a powerful thing my friends.

Please join us in the battle. Please pray for a quick confirmation of Liberia's Deputy Minister of Health and Social Welfare. Please pray for continued good relations between the Deputy, adoption organizations, and the US Embassy staff in Liberia. Let there be no rotting fruit in Liberia!

Eric's Big Decision

When we began this journey we thought that we would identify one child (the baby) before we traveled to Liberia and then be open to the Lord's leading to identify a second child (2-4 year old) when we were in Liberia. With Eric not traveling anymore, our entire plan must change. Now we are forced to decide before traveling whether or not we will be adopting 1 or 2 children from Liberia.

Now all that know me know that I would like us to end up with 4 children total so I am all for 2 at once now so we can be done building our family! But Eric is a very logical, very careful man. He thinks things through over and over and over again before making a decision. He never "saw" himself as a guy with 4 kids and sometimes doesn't feel like he's good enough a father to handle 4. Now anybody who knows Eric knows better than that! He is an AMAZING father!

Eric has said that he will be making his "one or two kids" decision before Saturday, March 4th. Please join me in praying for him. Pray that he is able to have clear direction from the Lord. Pray that his lack of confidence doesn't cause him to miss out on a blessing. And please pray for me to be able to accept his decision with a joyful and trusting heart!!

A New Travel Partner!

I just need to start of by saying, I LOVE MY MOMMY! That's right folks, my mom has stepped up to the plate and has agreed (if somewhat cautiously) to travel with me to Liberia!! For those who don't know my mom (Paula), she hopped on a plane to Cambodia BY HERSELF at the last minute when she couldn't stand the thought of not being there when I became a mommy for the first time (March 2001, Cambodia!). That is the moment in my life when I felt the most loved by my mom. And the fact that she is willing to travel once again with me, as I become a mom for (probably) the last time makes me feel just as loved. What an incredible woman she is!

My mom is NOT an adventurous person, but she has proven twice now that she will do anything for the love of her child (and grandchildren)! Here's a pic of my mom with 3 of her grandchildren (Samren, Taevy, and McKenzie):

Aren't my children blessed? As am I. :)

New Developments =-(

Well, yesterday Eric and I were scheduled to receive our Yellow Fever and Polio shots from the health department. The international immunization nurse was super nice and it was apparent from the start that she was also a Christian.

As soon as she learned of Eric's health issues she began to act concern, but she dutifully went back to the room to draw up the immunizations. After a few minutes she came back out without the shots, looked Eric square in the eye and said, "Are you sure you want to do this? Are you sure you don't want to talk more about this with your doctors?" That opened up a conversation in which we shared that Eric (and I) both had a lack of complete peace about him traveling. After some more discussion the nurse shared that she had grave concerns.

Because of Eric's renal disease he is at a higher risk for "severe" reaction to the Yellow Fever vaccine. And if a severe reaction occurs, there is only a 50% chance for survival. PLUS, because of his renal failure he would not be allowed to take the most effective anti-malarial drug when we traveled.

I think both Eric and I knew immediately that this was confirmation that he is not to travel, as sad as we both were. We immediately began discussing who could travel with me in his place. More on that coming in another post....

Progress and Timeline

Since we've been at this for almost a month, I better catch you up on what has occurred so far with the process. Any of you who know me know that I do NOT like to go slowly when it comes to adoption paperwork. :)

PROGRESS

• February 3: Officially adopting!
• February 6: Sent off our I-600a application to CIS (this is the document that has to be approved for us to be able to adopt internationally)
• February 6-9: Gathered supporting documents needed for homestudy.
• February 9: Our homestudy visit happened on this day at 3:00pm. By 5pm we knew we would be approved to adopt 2 children ages 0-4 years old from Liberia!
• February 14: Received notice from CIS (immigration) that they received our application and we would receive a fingerprint appointment letter "soon."
• February 27: Mailed rest of supporting documents to our Social Worker. Hope to have a homestudy by March 15th!
• March 1: "Pinchies!" This is our kids' word for shots. :) Yellow Fever and Polio vaccines--check!

ESTIMATED TIMELINE (What we HOPE will happen!):

• March 15: Homestudy approved.
• April 15: CIS approval, form I-171h
• April 20: Documents to Liberia (www.wacsn.org)!
• May 1: Referral(s)!!!!
• June 1: Travel for our child(ren)!!
• June 15: One BIG happy family of six Gillispies under one roof!

The Best B-Day Ever!

I turned 30 years old on February 3, 2006. Yes, yes, I know--that's so young in the scheme of things. But I was feeling rather old until late evening on February 2nd when my dear husband (Eric) announced that he was ready to add to our family once again through adoption!

You see, I had been praying for 2 solid years that my husband's heart would open to more children. And for a while there it didn't seem likely. But our God is an amazing God, and He is always faithful! Eric shared with me that not only could we adopt 1 child, but he was "open" to identifying a second child in the orphanage when we traveled for the first. In my WILDEST dreams Eric never okayed 2 children! So as you can see, not only was his announcement the BEST B-day present EVER, but it was also such an amazing answer to my prayers.

Where? We believe our child(ren) are in Liberia, West Africa. The Lord laid Africa on my heart several years ago, but it was only in the past 2 years that I began to open to adoption from Africa, and only in the last 8 months that my heart fell in love with Liberia.

Why Liberia? The easiest way to answer this question is simply to state that it's where the Lord has led us! But I know you want more details than that. :) Liberia is a country that has been ripped apart by war since 1989. "Ripped apart by war" and "war torn" are terms we have grown accustomed to hearing in America, but Liberia truly has been ripped apart. Before the war Liberia was seen as a "model" African country. All of the modern/western conveniences...thriving economy....education...the works! Now, Liberia is in shambles. The only electricity in the country is in the capital city of Monrovia, and that is by generator. Plumbing is not available in most places. 90% of the country is unemployed. The live expectancy is under 40 years. Half of all children die before they are 5 years old (1/3 don't make it to their first birthday). Adoption from Liberia is more than just a way to add children to your family--it's also (quite literally) saving a child's life.

Who? Stay tuned for more info! We hope to adopt an infant under 8 months, and possibly another child of the opposite gender in the 2-4 year old range. We are letting the Lord decide if we "get" a by or a girl infant! Taevy (our 5 year old from Cambodia) is SURE it's a girl, and Samren (our 4 year old from Vietnam) is SURE it's a boy! In the end, as long as "it" is a child that we can love we will be blessed!