Oi Bebes,
I found out some news today and I cried a little bit. You know those hot tears that roll out of your eyes really slow and burn your cheeks. And then I thought of my last post and the things I wrote.
I'm in God's waiting room and I think I might have to get comfortable for a time. I was informed today that the Brasilian government has changed some requirements around for the dossier and I have to get a few extra documents as well as get some already completed documents done over. And still no word on gramps' prints. Yesterday that was my biggest set back, today it's a whole other story. A lot of the fees went way up as well (some from $500 to $3,000!). I know somehow God's got our back and I'm sure he will provide whatever we need.
I'm putting this evening aside to be sad and tomorrow morning I will have a plan in place. The gloves are off and the fight is on. After all a family is what you make of it and whatever is special in this life you have to fight for, just like I wrote yesterday. I heard those words for a reason and this is the reason why I remembered them, why they stuck out in my head all day. We're also in God's waiting room for a reason... I have to believe and I do believe he's got a way better plan for us. I trust Him.
Please bebes, keep your fingers crossed, and before you go to bed pray that God connects us and keeps us healthy while we're waiting. Ask Him to make me smart enough to realize and execute a good plan, financial and otherwise because NOTHING will stop me, NOTHING will hold me back from you.
Bebes - Amo-o muito, você não é único no meu coração mas em minha alma também. Prometo que logo estará nos meus braços, nenhuma questão o que toma eu ele farei acontece para nós. Não preocupe-se crianças, deixa o preocupar até mim, e até eu o darei a Deus e Ele cuidará de nós.
Muito Amor,
Mommy
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Monday, June 23, 2008
Two Things I Heard Today and Something I Read
Oi Bebes,
I'm still waiting and have heard nothing from the FBI as to Grandpa's prints. As always I remain positive because I know it's just a matter of time. God's time. This morning I read an article that spoke about God's waiting room. It was titled, "Risks in Faith: When God Delays." As you know I come from the "everything happens for a reason" school and so (especially of late) I trust in God's timing. There's so many things going on right now in my life, some good and some not so good, but I definitely see a change in direction, a positive change -- a change that God has got his hands all over. As I'm sure you know change can also be very sad but if we trust that God is doing what is right for us we will be comforted, the sadness will come to pass and there will be a bright light at the end of the tunnel. That bright light for me is you.
I have a vision in my head of me cooking you dinner, the tv is blasting, toys are all over the place, homework isn't done yet, I'm exhausted and there's still 3 hours before bedtime. I glance up from the stove and there you both are. That is what I think of when I think of the light at the end of the tunnel. Watching you smile, learning to trust each other, holding hands, playing together, falling asleep while I while read to you at the end of the night, laughing together, exploring together, learning from each other. The list goes on and on but that's my light at the end of the tunnel, having you both in my life because you are my dream.
And so while I'm in God's waiting room ... after a long and very difficult winter, I'm finally enjoying the every day. I'm beginning to laugh again, and I catch myself smiling a lot more often than before. I know Grandma Rosie is looking down on me thinking "Finally! My daughter is back!" Grandma used to say that when I entered a room, I lit it up. Imagine when she sees us together!
OK so I'll leave you both with this: John 13:7, when Jesus said: “You do not realize now what I'm doing but later you will understand” (NIV). I'm sure that we will look back at this period of adoption stagnation and know one day why we had to wait. Remember that God's got a plan for us. A way way way better plan than we could ever hatch ourselves, that's for sure. Remember too that His timing is perfect.
As always before you go to sleep at night, ask God to connect us and to watch over us.
Muito Muito Amor
Mommy
OHH I forgot the two things I heard today!
Whatever is special in this life you have to fight for. Whatever it takes crianças, I will do whatever it takes...
and
A family is what you make of it. That's sooo on the money! I've been saying it all along.
xxxMommy
I'm still waiting and have heard nothing from the FBI as to Grandpa's prints. As always I remain positive because I know it's just a matter of time. God's time. This morning I read an article that spoke about God's waiting room. It was titled, "Risks in Faith: When God Delays." As you know I come from the "everything happens for a reason" school and so (especially of late) I trust in God's timing. There's so many things going on right now in my life, some good and some not so good, but I definitely see a change in direction, a positive change -- a change that God has got his hands all over. As I'm sure you know change can also be very sad but if we trust that God is doing what is right for us we will be comforted, the sadness will come to pass and there will be a bright light at the end of the tunnel. That bright light for me is you.
I have a vision in my head of me cooking you dinner, the tv is blasting, toys are all over the place, homework isn't done yet, I'm exhausted and there's still 3 hours before bedtime. I glance up from the stove and there you both are. That is what I think of when I think of the light at the end of the tunnel. Watching you smile, learning to trust each other, holding hands, playing together, falling asleep while I while read to you at the end of the night, laughing together, exploring together, learning from each other. The list goes on and on but that's my light at the end of the tunnel, having you both in my life because you are my dream.
And so while I'm in God's waiting room ... after a long and very difficult winter, I'm finally enjoying the every day. I'm beginning to laugh again, and I catch myself smiling a lot more often than before. I know Grandma Rosie is looking down on me thinking "Finally! My daughter is back!" Grandma used to say that when I entered a room, I lit it up. Imagine when she sees us together!
OK so I'll leave you both with this: John 13:7, when Jesus said: “You do not realize now what I'm doing but later you will understand” (NIV). I'm sure that we will look back at this period of adoption stagnation and know one day why we had to wait. Remember that God's got a plan for us. A way way way better plan than we could ever hatch ourselves, that's for sure. Remember too that His timing is perfect.
As always before you go to sleep at night, ask God to connect us and to watch over us.
Muito Muito Amor
Mommy
OHH I forgot the two things I heard today!
Whatever is special in this life you have to fight for. Whatever it takes crianças, I will do whatever it takes...
and
A family is what you make of it. That's sooo on the money! I've been saying it all along.
xxxMommy
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Pais do Coração/Parents of the Heart
Oi Bebes!
Today the quarterly newspaper on the state of adoption in Brazil came out and we're in it! It's kind of wierd to see my name with Portugese all around it but I suppose I should get used to it :)
****I included the whole article for those of you who are interested or able to read it... for those of you who can't read it scroll down to the bold lettering, which is where my quote starts. I can't tell you how excited I am about this! It's sooo cooolllll!
Tatiane, 11 anos, tem medo do escuro. Seu irmão, Rogério,
9 anos, dorme com a mãe, e às vezes acorda no meio da noite para certificar-se de que ela está lá. Mamãe Lisa, como os dois chamavam-na até pouco, é uma enfermeira da capital dos Estados
Unidos que, mesmo solteira, conseguiu adotar, há um ano, os dois irmãos do interior de São Paulo. Além deles, moram com ela Johanna, 5 anos, da Guatemala,
e dois filhos biológicos, já adultos.
Tati e Rogério são duas das 55 crianças brasileiras que receberam visto do governo norte-americano em 2007 para serem adotados lá, de acordo com o Departamento de Estado. Não é um número grande; só em 2005, os americanos adotaram
7906 crianças chinesas. No Brasil, as crianças só podem ser adotadas por famílias estrangeiras
depois de esgotadas todas as possibilidades no país. Além disso, os EUA, por não fazerem parte do grupo de países signatários
de uma convenção que organiza as adoções internacionais,
não são priorizados.
Lisa Foster iniciou o processo
de adoção de Johanna sozinha,
mas logo após retornar aos EUA, precisou da ajuda de um advogado. “Descobrimos
que as pessoas que facilitavam o processo e a família biológica de Johanna não eram éticas. Tentavam impedir as adoções de acontecerem”,
conta. Quatro anos depois, o mesmo advogado
ajudou
Lisa a adotar brasileiros.
A primeira parte de um processo de adoção internacional
envolve o dossiê do adotando,
entregue ao consulado brasileiro.
Ao mesmo tempo, deve haver a aprovação do Departamento
de Imigração Americano para que ela tenha visto e possa morar nos EUA.
Aprovado o dossiê, o advogado
faz a indicação de crianças
disponíveis e inicia-se um período de adaptação, em que a família deve vir para o Brasil e passar no mínimo 45 dias em companhia do futuro filho. Depois
da adoção aprovada pelo juiz, a criança recebe nova certidão
de nascimento,
de passaporte
e visto, para chegar aos EUA como cidadã
americana.
O Brasil é muito visado para adoção, pois não considera
o estado civil
do adotando. Além disso, nos Estados Unidos, é comum as famílias biológicas
entrarem na justiça. “Nosso governo é muito LENTO para remover as crianças maltratadas de sua casa e muito RÁPIDO para devolvê-las aos seus pais”, conta Patrícia Safina, 40 anos, uma professora com origem italiana de Nova York que espera aprovação de seus documentos para receber crianças brasileiras.
Mas é claro, problemas existem. Lisa, por exemplo, conta que a maior dificuldade de seus filhos do coração foi aprender
inglês. Hoje, na família Foster,todos estudam as culturas e línguas de seus países, e até decoram a casa para festas típicas. Johanna ainda tem contato com a mãe biológica; os brasileiros planejam rever a cidade onde nasceram. Patrícia também imagina como será a vida dos futuros filhos: “Eles vão falar português,
meu pai vai falar italiano e nós seremos uma família grande, feliz e
misturada!”
OK, for my non Portuguese speaking readers.... Marina Dantas, the journalist first described me as a 40 year old woman of Italian descent who lives in NYC and works in education. The journalist first quoted my answer to her question: Why are you not adopting from the United States to which I answered that "It is sad but my government is very slow to remove abused and neglected children from their homes and very quick to put them back with their abusers, i.e. parents.
The second quote goes on to answer the question of how we will communicate to which I said "I imagine that my children will speak to me in Portugese to which I will respond in Italian and we'll be one big happy mixed up family!" That's how she ended the article which btw is entitled Pais do Coração which means Parents of the Heart.
In other news: I have heard nothing from the FBI regarding grandpa's prints. I'm praying that no news is good news. Speaking of praying -- don't forget to ask God to connect us and to keep us strong and healthy during our wait -- and ask God too, to watch over us so that we may realize right from wrong and understand when His hand is guiding us where we need to be.
I love you both very much and soon, very soon we will be together. In the meantime I'm working very hard here in NYC to make your lives as easy as possible when you arrive.
Muito Amor,
Mommy
Today the quarterly newspaper on the state of adoption in Brazil came out and we're in it! It's kind of wierd to see my name with Portugese all around it but I suppose I should get used to it :)
****I included the whole article for those of you who are interested or able to read it... for those of you who can't read it scroll down to the bold lettering, which is where my quote starts. I can't tell you how excited I am about this! It's sooo cooolllll!
Tatiane, 11 anos, tem medo do escuro. Seu irmão, Rogério,
9 anos, dorme com a mãe, e às vezes acorda no meio da noite para certificar-se de que ela está lá. Mamãe Lisa, como os dois chamavam-na até pouco, é uma enfermeira da capital dos Estados
Unidos que, mesmo solteira, conseguiu adotar, há um ano, os dois irmãos do interior de São Paulo. Além deles, moram com ela Johanna, 5 anos, da Guatemala,
e dois filhos biológicos, já adultos.
Tati e Rogério são duas das 55 crianças brasileiras que receberam visto do governo norte-americano em 2007 para serem adotados lá, de acordo com o Departamento de Estado. Não é um número grande; só em 2005, os americanos adotaram
7906 crianças chinesas. No Brasil, as crianças só podem ser adotadas por famílias estrangeiras
depois de esgotadas todas as possibilidades no país. Além disso, os EUA, por não fazerem parte do grupo de países signatários
de uma convenção que organiza as adoções internacionais,
não são priorizados.
Lisa Foster iniciou o processo
de adoção de Johanna sozinha,
mas logo após retornar aos EUA, precisou da ajuda de um advogado. “Descobrimos
que as pessoas que facilitavam o processo e a família biológica de Johanna não eram éticas. Tentavam impedir as adoções de acontecerem”,
conta. Quatro anos depois, o mesmo advogado
ajudou
Lisa a adotar brasileiros.
A primeira parte de um processo de adoção internacional
envolve o dossiê do adotando,
entregue ao consulado brasileiro.
Ao mesmo tempo, deve haver a aprovação do Departamento
de Imigração Americano para que ela tenha visto e possa morar nos EUA.
Aprovado o dossiê, o advogado
faz a indicação de crianças
disponíveis e inicia-se um período de adaptação, em que a família deve vir para o Brasil e passar no mínimo 45 dias em companhia do futuro filho. Depois
da adoção aprovada pelo juiz, a criança recebe nova certidão
de nascimento,
de passaporte
e visto, para chegar aos EUA como cidadã
americana.
O Brasil é muito visado para adoção, pois não considera
o estado civil
do adotando. Além disso, nos Estados Unidos, é comum as famílias biológicas
entrarem na justiça. “Nosso governo é muito LENTO para remover as crianças maltratadas de sua casa e muito RÁPIDO para devolvê-las aos seus pais”, conta Patrícia Safina, 40 anos, uma professora com origem italiana de Nova York que espera aprovação de seus documentos para receber crianças brasileiras.
Mas é claro, problemas existem. Lisa, por exemplo, conta que a maior dificuldade de seus filhos do coração foi aprender
inglês. Hoje, na família Foster,todos estudam as culturas e línguas de seus países, e até decoram a casa para festas típicas. Johanna ainda tem contato com a mãe biológica; os brasileiros planejam rever a cidade onde nasceram. Patrícia também imagina como será a vida dos futuros filhos: “Eles vão falar português,
meu pai vai falar italiano e nós seremos uma família grande, feliz e
misturada!”
OK, for my non Portuguese speaking readers.... Marina Dantas, the journalist first described me as a 40 year old woman of Italian descent who lives in NYC and works in education. The journalist first quoted my answer to her question: Why are you not adopting from the United States to which I answered that "It is sad but my government is very slow to remove abused and neglected children from their homes and very quick to put them back with their abusers, i.e. parents.
The second quote goes on to answer the question of how we will communicate to which I said "I imagine that my children will speak to me in Portugese to which I will respond in Italian and we'll be one big happy mixed up family!" That's how she ended the article which btw is entitled Pais do Coração which means Parents of the Heart.
In other news: I have heard nothing from the FBI regarding grandpa's prints. I'm praying that no news is good news. Speaking of praying -- don't forget to ask God to connect us and to keep us strong and healthy during our wait -- and ask God too, to watch over us so that we may realize right from wrong and understand when His hand is guiding us where we need to be.
I love you both very much and soon, very soon we will be together. In the meantime I'm working very hard here in NYC to make your lives as easy as possible when you arrive.
Muito Amor,
Mommy
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