Ghana Get'Ya

Dear Family and Friends,

As you may already know, Mamma is now in Ghana.

She was supposed to keep us updated with pictures and news of all the children,

but is currently having some difficulty getting on the internet.

The difficulty consists of two main reasons;

first, electricity to power the computer

and second, internet access.

Well, what do you expect... this is Africa.

Anyway, after much pains-taking suffering,

she has been able to send some news and pictures.

They are of some of the other children there for adoption.

These are (starting from left to right)
Marion, Dorothy, Precious (smallest), Vida, and Elizabeth.

These three boys are Junior (front),
Abi (back), and Enyinda (middle).

Abi and Kobe are brothers and love Mamma to bits.

Junior looks as if he has just

solemnly sworn to be up to no good (don't you think).

Pre-Ghana Panic

Last WEEK... we sent off for my visa.

What a nerve-racking moment that was -
who LIKES to depart from their PASSPORT?

NOT I!

But it was necassary.

Upon delivering it to the Postman I made sure to have my tracking numbers to track the package to New York and the number to track it on the way home.

We were notified it arrived in New York

Saturday -

and of course un-deliverable to the Consulate (non-working day).

Monday -

it was delivered at 2:11 pm.

Whew!!!

It made it!!!

I expected to have it back in 24 hours.
That is what we paid for.

24 hours passed and my package was NOT even in transit.

I checked my Visa status -still not mailed.

WHAT??!!???

I called Wednesday (yesterday)

...no answer.

Pabbi calls -

they answer (he is quite the charmer...)

They don't know what he is talking about. They have no such package.

But it was delievered at 2:11 he insisted.

Nope.

It was LOST!!!!!!!!

We expected lost, or misplaced, or ignored, or unexpected required docmuents

...IN GHANA.

But not New York!!!

Panic ensued.

We tried to call the Post Office but after three times of getting nowhere, Pabbi calls back the Ghanaian Consulate and asks if there was a potential it was delivered to another office.

He spoke to a supervisor.

After an hour of panic they found it.

Delivered to another office and laid aside.

Today at 9:24 am it arrived at our Local Post Office.

Tonight WE rest easy as my passport and visa REST on our bed-

in plain sight!!!

"DON'T BE GIVING ME THE EVILS!!!"

Preperations havebeen ensuing in our household

-

preperations to go to Ghana.

SPEAK NO EVIL

Mamma suffered unspeakable pains at the dentist's. The office and equipment was so old and broken that she got seriously homesick for Helga, her Icelandic dentist.
Hopefully, there will be no more evil-speaking of dentist's from this mouth.

HEAR NO EVIL

Then she got a haircut that is virtually unheard of. Mamma is not an ordinary woman, who pampers herself at the slightest whim. So this was a real treat for the eyes, but not the ears. Now, we don't want to hear any naysayers... the woman looks SO fine!

SEE NO EVIL

Then we ventured into the unforeseeable future and sent of the visa application. This was a true leap of faith, because we don't have control over the government.
However, we can envision a bright and prosperous future.

This post update was provided by Pabbi.

The COUNTDOWN...

TWELVE DAYS.

That is how much time I have to wrap things up and be ready to leave.


It's been SIX DAYS and I still can't get over the fact that I will soon be on a plane, and soon be in a country I have never been to, and soon have children in my arms. It is so exciting, I don't even know what to focus my energy and excitement on.



In the end I just end up


DAY DREAMING.
One minute I am busy trying to figure out all the details of applying for a visa, deciding what to pack, or what I need to do before I go.
The next minute I catch myself daydreaming about what it will be like to be with our boys, the simple feeling of holding them in my arms and telling them I love them.
After thinking about the boys, my mind then moves onto preparing everything here for when we bring them home.

My mind just races.

It does not want to stay on any one thought.

Then everything becomes a blur!



The 18th is fast appraoching.

I just need to focus!!!

The Whisper of Gratitude

Have you ever had something so important to say and share, but knew that all the words you could say, sentences you could write, and expressions you could utilize
could never articulate the feelings in your heart?

I have such a secret!

One moment I want to shout it from the rooftops and the next I want to keep this thing and ponder it in my heart.

One minute I am so humbled to have been blessed as such, and the next I feel so unworthy to have received such a miracle.

On one hand I want to do all that I can to repay such generosity myself, and the next I know I just need to be on my knees thanking God and praying that He will be able to make up the difference because I can not.

Nothing I can say, write or do will ever come close to the feelings I have. I have thought this over for a couple days and still find myself at a loss for words to explain this miracle…this blessing.

I will try:
The week before Thanksgiving, Pabbi and I felt that I needed to go to Ghana and right away. I planned to leave around the 15th of December. I would stay in Ghana until our adoption was completed: whether it took several weeks or several months. I am at a point in my life that there was no reason (other than my sweet husband) to stay here and wait. I could go be with our boys, and help out with all the children. It would be a great way to understand and experience our sons’ culture and nation. It would give us time to bond on their turf, so to speak. I had a flexible job (I work online and can do so from anywhere in the world). We were set.

We called L.M. and she too felt this would be a wonderful idea.

Two days after Thanksgiving, I found out I was being laid off due to the recession. I was baffled. We had felt so strongly that that is what the Lord wanted for us to do. But now it seemed impossible.

I prayed.
Without my job we would be fine in covering our bills, but we would have no extra to save up for airline tickets or the rest of our fees in Ghana. We went over everything and realized we had enough for either the fees or one airline ticket, from what was left of the generous donations we have received (i.e. the donations left after the fees and paperwork we have already paid for).
With prayerful hearts, we decided that we should put aside that money for the fees in Ghana and focus on getting airline tickets for the four of us. I was at peace and felt confident that we would be able to raise money or sky miles in the near future.
As December 15th came and went and we were not able to raise money, my heart started to become heavy. Soon Christmas was upon us & we had barely come up with ¼ of what we needed for just one ticket. Christmas passed & the miracle we had hoped for did not appear.

I continued to pray.

This time, I prayed not for help, but for guidance on what to do. Again, I felt that I needed to go soon to Ghana. My frustration brought on desperation and sorrow:
I wept.

Then December 31st I received a phone call from a woman, whose family is also in the process of adopting from the same orphanage in Ghana. She and her husband had sky miles they wanted to give us.

Enough for one whole ticket.

I was dumbfounded.

She stayed on the phone with me until she had booked a ticket for me to leave.
I was grateful.
I was amazed.

However, it wasn’t until after our phone call, and after talking with my husband that it hit me!!!

And, I wept.
Not for sorrow, but for that sweet joy and amazement that filled my heart; for gratitude; for relief that a prayer had been answered. It was then several thoughts and feelings flooded through me.
How could this family, who were in the same boat as us, give their miles away, when they too, one day soon, need airline tickets to bring their child home? How could she make such a sacrifice, when adopting is filled with so many already? How could I reciprocate? How would I ever be able to thank her, her husband, and their family?

I again prayed and thanked God for angels and blessings that come so unexpectedly and from unexpected places.

I wanted to publicly thank and name this wonderful woman, her generous husband, and her kind family. But not all angels want their names to be publicized.

If you are desperate to know them by name, let me know.
I will whisper in your ear the identities of these heavenly beings. I will whisper with such gratitude and with a heart so full, that my whispers (or my shouts) of thankfulness could never express what they have done for ...

my husband,

myself,

and our future family.

New Year - New Beginnings!!!!