April 23, 2008
The Neverending Homestudy...
We won the award for longest time to compose a homestudy! Okay so maybe not, but whew we are close! We started our original homestudy May of 2007 through the Texas state foster/adopt system. We had it verified and signed in October of 2007. Why did it take 6 months to verify and complete? Well that's another story! We changed agencies to go international in January 2008 and well... it's almost May again. I don't recall praying the prayer for patience...lol! I don't understand how hard an update can be, really! First it was going to be by the beginning of March, then I was promised our homestudy this Monday and it's Wednesday and it seems like no one is returning my calls and now it looks like next week again! I really don't understand how almost 5 months after starting with our new agency we still don't have an update?
April 2, 2008
Understanding Adoption
Adoption isn't just what people do when they can't have "their own" children, it isn't plan B. Adoption is a true calling. It's knowing that your child is out there somewhere. It's yearning for him or her to just come home and not knowing when or where they are.
I believe that God put this yearning in us because we are already parents of a little girl, we just don't have her yet. He knew this was how He was going to complete our family and we know that by the desire that He put in us to adopt. Adoption has been something we've talked about since very early in our marriage. We have always been surrounded by adoptive parents through our church and always felt that "one day" feeling. Well our day is here and our daughter is in Ethiopia!
Imagine for a moment that YOUR child is in a foreign country. You have no way to communicate, no way to know if they are healthy, safe, if they are being loved, held, if anyone is wiping their tears or stroking their hair. You don't know when you'll get to see them again. You have months possibly even years of paperwork, visits, documents to complete. And then you still wait. Imagine YOUR baby thousands of miles away and you can't comfort them. You would do whatever it takes to just get YOUR baby home! You would redo paperwork you've done 3 times before. You would take documents back to the notary to have it re notarized with a clearer signature. You would beg your friends for references and them beg them to redo them when they aren't notarized properly or because they didn't date it. You would wait 3 months for an adoption visa because your towns immigration office is backlogged. You'd hear people around you saying "why don't you just have more kids?" and ignore them, because YOUR baby is out there. You would empty your savings, get another job, sell everything you own...just to get YOUR baby back! This is understanding adoption.
We know that most of the children in Ethiopia are very well taken care of. I only use this example to show that has parents, by however we got the part, we always yearn for our children to be loved, safe and cared for. As adoptive parents, we just trust that our babies are cared for until they come home.
I believe that God put this yearning in us because we are already parents of a little girl, we just don't have her yet. He knew this was how He was going to complete our family and we know that by the desire that He put in us to adopt. Adoption has been something we've talked about since very early in our marriage. We have always been surrounded by adoptive parents through our church and always felt that "one day" feeling. Well our day is here and our daughter is in Ethiopia!
Imagine for a moment that YOUR child is in a foreign country. You have no way to communicate, no way to know if they are healthy, safe, if they are being loved, held, if anyone is wiping their tears or stroking their hair. You don't know when you'll get to see them again. You have months possibly even years of paperwork, visits, documents to complete. And then you still wait. Imagine YOUR baby thousands of miles away and you can't comfort them. You would do whatever it takes to just get YOUR baby home! You would redo paperwork you've done 3 times before. You would take documents back to the notary to have it re notarized with a clearer signature. You would beg your friends for references and them beg them to redo them when they aren't notarized properly or because they didn't date it. You would wait 3 months for an adoption visa because your towns immigration office is backlogged. You'd hear people around you saying "why don't you just have more kids?" and ignore them, because YOUR baby is out there. You would empty your savings, get another job, sell everything you own...just to get YOUR baby back! This is understanding adoption.
We know that most of the children in Ethiopia are very well taken care of. I only use this example to show that has parents, by however we got the part, we always yearn for our children to be loved, safe and cared for. As adoptive parents, we just trust that our babies are cared for until they come home.
April 1, 2008
Waiting is the hardest part
As many of our family and friends know, we've been at this adoption thing for almost 3 years. Well, we talked about it for awhile, then became foster parents within our state hoping that we would find our daughter through a state adoption. Well after a lot of tears and about a year, we felt God calling us to an international adoption through Ethiopia.
Waiting for her is so hard. In a pregnancy you know in about 9 months a baby will come. You typically would know the sex and the health of the baby. In an adoption, it's just pure faith. Faith that it will ever happen...lol! We know that His timing isn't ours, but the human part of us takes over and our excitement of having another child sets it, and we wait....and wait.
We were hoping that we would have her home before our move to Missouri, but it probably won't be until late this year, possibly early next year. I tell you what, waiting has made us just a bit more Christlike. It has taught us that our eyes should be on Him first. We have given our wait to Him and trust that He will bring her to us in the right time. In the meanwhile, we dream of her and our lives together.
Waiting for her is so hard. In a pregnancy you know in about 9 months a baby will come. You typically would know the sex and the health of the baby. In an adoption, it's just pure faith. Faith that it will ever happen...lol! We know that His timing isn't ours, but the human part of us takes over and our excitement of having another child sets it, and we wait....and wait.
We were hoping that we would have her home before our move to Missouri, but it probably won't be until late this year, possibly early next year. I tell you what, waiting has made us just a bit more Christlike. It has taught us that our eyes should be on Him first. We have given our wait to Him and trust that He will bring her to us in the right time. In the meanwhile, we dream of her and our lives together.
Searching for our baby...
Hello friends! Welcome to the Hyman family blog! We are Brandon, Elisa, Miles and soon to be baby hyman by way of Ethiopia! Please keep our family, our daughter and her family in your prayers. We are praying for a smooth transition and a healthy baby. We are currently awaiting a Homestudy update and then will apply for CIS in San Antonio, TX. All before our move to Springfield, MO. this summer! We look forward to sharing this adventure with you all!
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