I love you!

This series is courtesy of Grace Hartmann who volunteered this summer at Amani. Bobby is on the right in a tye dyed t-shirt. There are lots more pictures of Bobby in photos of Cindy on facebook.

A few good things related to our progress this week. We received our home study report and put it in the mail with the Ugandan custody papers! This will be in route for a week (it's a long way to Uganda) and should arrive there early next week. This was the culmination of months worth of work. We were determined to get it off the day the report was faxed to us (Tuesday). So, I left work that afternoon, waited on Buddy to finish work, we drove downtown to the Metro police station, waited on them to run a local police report, drove straight to Kinko's and mailed them off! Whew! I felt like having a party!

Then today we found out that Bobby tested negative for TB which is fabulous. If a child tests positive, they are not allowed to enter the US until they have completed 6 months of medication. Imagine the disappointment many adults and adoptees face when they don't find this out until they are in the country to pick up the child they are adopting. So, I'm grateful they tested him and the other children in process of adoption, and that he doesn't have it.

If this doesn't tug at your heart strings, nothing will! Heidi ( who volunteered at Amani this summer) said he had an injured finger and had hit it on something.

About our progress, tomorrow we will receive our home study report!!! This weekend I just realized we have to go downtown to the Metro police station for one more piece of info and then we can finally mail in our papers to Uganda to receive custody! It will take a while for us to receive notification of this. Pray for us to have patience and trust God's timing.

I talked to Lindsey Doyle this weekend who had talked to Dana Keck (I have links to both blogs) this weekend. Dana, who is in Uganda now, said that every time she goes to Amani, where Bobby is, he runs up to her and asks, "when is my mommy coming?", and "when can I go to my family?" I started praying last week that God would let him know that he has a family and that he is loved. Thank you Lord, for that answer.

Please pray for the Mayernick family who have run into some difficulty while in Uganda. You can find a link to their blog on the right side of this page. Precious family with six children at home.

Here they are eating eggs for breakfast. Bobby is on the front left in striped shirt. Judah is second on right tempting his neighbor it looks like! hahaha. A glimpse of orphan life.

Surprise!!

Tonight I went to the high school volleyball game because the head coach, Pat Perry told me that the girls on the team wanted to do something special for Courtney Keen, the assistant coach. I arrived at 5:00 p.m. as instructed and waited on the JV game to end so that we could eat cake with Courtney and surprise her. Well...imagine my surprise when the girls and coaches lined up facing the bleachers and asked that me and Coach Maddux come down to the front!! I was sooo surprised!! No one can ever surprise me but this team did today! Anna Mitchell proceeded to explain to the crowd that the team hosted a tournament recently and made money. As they discussed the options of how to spend it, like, new equipment, warm-ups, etc., they decided to do something to help bring Bobby and the Maddux kids home!!

I am so humbled to be the recipient of the generosity and kindness of these teenage girls. Only girls receptive to God's Spirit working in their hearts would want to do something so selfless and sweet. God is so good! This gift is amazing! Thank you Jesus and thank you girls for your love for a little orphan named Bobby. He doesn't even know yet that he is coming home to a group of young women who already love him more than he can imagine. What you have done is now part of his life story. All the Hannah's thank you for this wonderful gift.

Another cute picture. Bobby is on the left with the frog on his shirt and Judah is on the far right. These two must be pals because most pictures I see of one also has the other in it. Good thing they will both be in Nashville and at the same church and school!

Dana Keck (her blog is Mighty to Save) left this morning with the Mayernicks flying to Uganda to pick up their children! They expect to be gone 3 to 4 weeks. Please pray for the process to go smoothly and for their families here.

ponderings

And he's talented! I think this is part of a game called, "hi, my name is chubby."


I just hung up from talking to a friend of mine from college. She and her husband have two teenagers and have just begun foster parenting. For around a month and a half now they have been taking care of twins who were only 6 weeks old at the time. Even in the midst of exhaustion, she feels content knowing she is doing exactly what God has called her and her family to do. She said the book Journey of Desire by John Eldridge made a huge impact on her and helped lead them to make the decision to take on the responsibility of foster parenting. She said that she and her husband and kids know that at some point the babies will most likely have to leave and she will miss them but that they knew this when they decided to help these children. She said that God is teaching her that all we really have is today anyway, no one knows about tomorrow for any of us so we have to live in the present, love and enjoy each other to the fullest today. Thank you so much for the reminder, Nancy.

Lord, I lift that family up to you today, please strengthen them, especially my friend, the Mom, give her the energy she needs to take care of her family today. Use each day to draw them all closer to You, to teach them more about You. Thank you for the friends You have sent them to support and minister to them. Thank you for their courage to follow Your call which has not made their lives easier or made them popular but has given them peace and soul satisfaction. Thank You for how You have ministered to me today through my sweet friend.

Here the boys are in line for a "haircut", Grace said it's really a shaving! Bobby is the first one on this end. He doesn't look too worried. We know the family who is adopting one of the other boys (the one in the blue striped shirt). His name is Judah.

Going through lots of pictures today, we are sending a photo album and stuffed animal to Bobby by way of a student who graduated last year from CPA. She is headed to the Amani orphanage to work for three months. Bobby will not be told about us until we receive custody which is likely to happen while Curry is there. So, I took some pictures of our house, the dog and cat, and our family. I hope we don't scare him! We're also giving him a stuffed dog. I sent Spencer and Austin out to find him an animal and they found a stuffed snake, not sure that will be the best thing... We may wait until he is here to get that.

I've been scanning facebook for pictures of Bobby so that I can make an album for him. I feel so blessed to have pictures from when he first came to the orphanage and was about a year old. I'll post a few.

For pictures of the orphanage look up http://www.amanibabycottage.org/. Isn't that a cute name?

Just checked our email and our application was approved by Amani!! We are officially on our way. We had our last visit with Lisa, our social worker yesterday and await that paperwork. We mailed our papers to immigration services, a week later they were returned, we had to add some birth certificates and mailed it back to immigration on the same day. Whew! I'm so glad all the gathering of the initial paperwork is done. This included everything you or your pets or children have ever done, thought about doing or wished you had done.

Many thanks to those of you who wrote reference letters, everyone was so joyful and excited for us. We love and appreciate you.