Our day of rejoicing

First, let me apologize for the silence since August 23rd. I know just how difficult it is to tolerate "silence". We have been waiting, without any word from the courts since our paperwork all arrived in their hands months ago. But, today we received our referral!!!! For those of you who have not adopted, you may not know what this is or what it means. So, let me explain...
Today we received a referral from the Orphan Court "introducing" us to our future daughter. We were given information regarding who she is and her history and asked if we would "accept" this referral?! YES, YES, a million times YES!!! This is nearly the last step in the waiting part of this process. Now, we wait (for a shorter period of time) for an invitation to travel to her country and meet with the court officials.
As I responded to that e-mail this morning, the reality of what we are doing hit me. We have committed to loving, teaching, raising this child as though she were "born to us"! I said it before, and I believe it's worth repeating again, I love ALL of my children. Whether I have physically birthed them or God has birthed them in my heart, they are mine! I talked to Bob about this today when he stopped by the house for lunch. I asked him what he would do if we got there, met with the courts, found out that there were things we did not know about her? What if???? And do you know what my beautiful husband who has the most amazing heart for God said? He said "It would make no difference to me!" You see, we cannot take lightly this gift of another child being added to our hearts and our home. We cannot assume that all will be perfect, that there will not be struggles and heartaches. What we must do is love Lilie "as though she were born to us"!!! And she was, she was born into our hearts. Placed there by a loving God who knew before we did that she was ours. And so, come what may, we will love her. We will accept her and we will do all that is necessary to teach her about the love of her Savior.
Today is a good day! In the midst of our rejoicing however we must remember those who still wait. We must remember those children who are still orphans, waiting for a family to love them, accept them and teach them about the love of their Savior! I have spent a great deal of time today rejoicing and praising God for his goodness, and I have also spent a great deal of time today praying for those families and children who still WAIT!

Waiting...

       I know that this may sound strange, since we have been waiting for over 7 months...but, I feel like the true "waiting" has finally begun! Today, I mailed the last official piece of paper needed by Latvia. So, as of right now, we wait. We wait for a referral, we wait for a court date, we wait to be able to board a plane and fly to another country where our daughter is also...waiting!
       Still, there is never really a time where there is nothing to do but wait. The anticipation of making this journey and all that needs to be done to prepare is overwhelming at times. We are trying to do all that we can to prepare ourselves and our children. It's ironic really, that we must say "goodbye" to our children here at home this time, so that we can reach the child who we've had to say "goodbye" to twice before...we are so thankful that it will be such a short one! It's amazing how much we are able to get done in such a short period of time when it is required of us as well. Gathering funds, making arrangements for children, pets and our home to be cared for, and preparing documents, and the list goes on and on.
        It is remarkable really, how much peace we have been able to have in the midst of all of this. All of the things that would normally make me fall to pieces with worry and fear, have no control over me. Bob and I have spoken so much recently about how God has been working out every detail. We are so glad to be able to wait, even while we keep moving, with a sense of peace. We rest in the knowledge that He is working out every detail, and so we keep moving forward and...waiting! 

Adoption Journey Update...How far we've come!

                                  



Our Jigsaw Puzzle!



            It has been very busy past 7 months for our family. As many of you know, this past Christmas we hosted Lilia, a 13 year old orphan from the country of Latvia. Our family decided to bring the mission field into our home during this holiday season to teach our children a valuable life lesson, that giving of ourselves was more important than getting gifts. We also felt very drawn to the idea of impacting the life of an orphan through simply sharing our home, our love and our faith with a child who desperately needed to know that someone cared! The bible tells us to “go” and share God’s love, to “give” without expecting anything in return and to “love” as Christ loves us without any stings attached. So, on December 13, 2010, Lilia entered our home (and our hearts). Since that day, so much has happened, it would be nearly impossible to share all of it with you here. However, on January 15, 2011, when she boarded that plane and flew back to her country we knew without a doubt that she was to be our daughter and so our journey into the wonderful world of adoption began!

            Here we are 7 months later and 2 hosting visits with Lilia behind us. We have completed our homestudy and been “approved”, we have gotten passports, background checks, immigration approval and completed a dossier…All together we have spent countless hours and nearly $12,000 to get to where we are. God has been amazingly good to us. Through the kindness and generosity of others, we have raised nearly all of this money! It has been so amazing to watch how God supplies every need at just the right time. What a wonderful way for our children to learn about faith and God’s promises. Being able to spend 5 weeks with Lilia this summer was such a blessing. Our children were missing her nearly as much as we were and it did them so much good to spend that time with her. While she was here, Lilia was able to go with us on a trip to Harrisburg to have her dossier paperwork “apostilled”. This was a great experience for her that not many adoptive children get to be a part of. She was also there when I mailed all of this paperwork to a family who would hand deliver it to Latvia for us. Her excitement was overflowing. She is so happy to know that she is loved and wanted by us. Seeing us actually putting everything together and the confirmation that the adoption is really happening changed her world.

            So, as I sit here writing this today, we are on the final leg of this process and I would like to share our current needs with each of you so that you may be praying for us and supporting us in whatever way you feel lead. We exhausted our adoption fund to send the dossier and have it translated, and so we truly need to begin fundraising again. Our paperwork has now all arrived in Latvia, is being translated and submitted to the courts. Which means, that in the immediate future, we will be traveling to Latvia to meet with the courts and the embassy and, hopefully, bring Lilia home! While this is very exciting, it is also a little scary for us as we need over $10,000 to travel! We are certain that God will provide all that we need just when we need it, just as He has all along. However, we have continued to do our part by saving, selling whatever we can, and coming up with fundraiser ideas. We plan to continue these efforts trusting that God will move in the hearts of others and open doors for us financially.  

            We hope that you will consider supporting us in some way, either through prayer or giving, or both. Many of you have been so faithful in your support of us already and we want you to know how much we appreciate it. If you feel lead to give, here are some ways that you may do so:

-We have an adoption fund set-up through PNC Bank called “Love for Lilie” and money can be deposited into this account by anyone, anywhere in the US.

-We are having a jigsaw puzzle made from a family photo taken by our dear friend, Amy Craig who is a photographer. We are “selling” pieces of this puzzle for $5 a piece. Each piece will have one name written on it (we suggest buying one for each family member) and when it is assembled we will frame it and hang it in Lilia’s room as a reminder of all of those who helped bring her home! If you would like to buy a piece, please send us cash or a check made out to Love for Lilie with a note that includes the name or names you want written on the piece(s). Our address is 609 Spring St. Scottdale, PA 15683

-We are selling t-shirts through an adoption fundraising website called Adoption Bug. The link to our personal “store” is www.adoptionbug.com/loveforlilie

-We also have a coffee fundraiser going on at www.justlovecoffee.com/loveforlilie

-We will be selling Delallo hoagies again the second weekend of Sept. (the 10^th and 11^th)! This has been a very popular and successful fundraiser for us. Hoagies are made fresh on Saturday and Sunday and will be available for pickup/delivery on either of these days. They are made with all premium bread, meats and cheese from Delallos and include provolone, Virginia ham, hard salami, lettuce and tomato. If you are interested in buying and/or selling hoagies for us, please contact us immediately by phone or e-mail (724-806-0117 or fivecallens@zoominternet.net).

We have even more ideas and suggestions for fundraisers that we may be doing in the future, stay tuned.

Again, thank you all for your love, encouragement and support!! We truly couldn’t do any of this without those who God has brought alongside of us and words will never be able to express to you how much we appreciate each of you. We anticipate that we could be traveling to Latvia as early as September or October, so please keep us in prayer as we have a lot of preparation and planning to do before that time.

With love and gratitude,

The Callen Family

(Bob, Jamie, Rachel, Nathan, Jackson, and Lilia)

  

Sorry...

Okay, so I had such good intentions of blogging at least once a week during this hosting visit with Lilie. As you know, this did not happen. It has been 4 weeks since Lilie came "home" to visit and now, we only have 6 days left until we once again put our girl on an airplane to fly back to her country and an orphanage where she will wait for us to come and get her. We are thankful for the peace that we have in knowing that she is well cared for and loved there. Still, it is never easy to say "goodbye" to a child that you love.
We have had such a wonderful time with Lilie this summer. Our days have been full of gardening, swimming, playing games, going to church and visiting with family and friends. Lilie's English has improved so much in the 5 months that she was away and she is able to communicate her needs, wants and feelings to us so much better. It has been such a joy to just sit in bed with her at night and talk about her life, her dreams and her hopes for the future.
We have also made attempts to get into a good routine with chores, manners, and other typical "everyday" life lessons that our children have been learning since they were very small. It is such a unique perspective that we have, seeing a 13 year old who was not given this opportunity to learn the "basics" of life. There are times when she looks at me and says "But, why?"...okay, that is usually what she says to me everytime! But, you know what, she's getting it. She is even starting to notice when someone else has made a wrong choice, and you better believe that she let's us know about it!!
Well, my time has run out.
I will try to finish up another time...until then, thank you for your support and your prayers. They mean so much!

9 More days until June 30th!!!

So, 9 more days until Lilie is here!!! We are ALL soooo excited to have her back in our home. This morning, Jack asked me "Mom, is Lilie coming?!" with so much excitement sparkling in those little eyes of his and the biggest smile on his face. When I said, "Yes, next Thursday!" he screamed with joy! Rachel is thrilled to be having her sister back, she is outranked around here most of the time with two little brothers. She has been counting down since she found out that we were hosting again.
Yesterday, we recieved confirmation that Homeland Security received our I800A application, so now we wait for a fingerprinting appointment. I am really hopeful that we can get done with this dossier before Lilie arrives so that it can be sent to Latvia. It seems like the time is just flying by and I'm not getting everything done like I wanted to, but I keep reminding myself that it will get done! God has been so faithful and good. He has been putting it all together, piece by piece, just like a puzzle. I can't wait to stand back one day and look at the whole thing finally complete and see how beautiful it is!
Speaking of puzzles...while Lilie is here, we are going to be having her pick out a puzzle that she likes so that we can begin to sell pieces of it, putting it together with everyone's names on the pieces, and hang it in her room when she comes back forever. We know that this will be a beautiful reminder to her and to us in the years to come of just how many people prayed for us, supported us and loved us through this journey! We would love for each family to buy a piece for each member of their family so that everyone's name will be on there individually. Once we have purchased the puzzle, I will post a picture of it on here. If you would like to purchase pieces now, that's fine. They will be $5.00 a piece and you can send cash or checks (made out to "Love for Lilie") to this address:
609 Spring St.
Scottdale, PA 15683
Just be sure to indicate what name you would like written on each piece (one name per piece is all that will fit). Thank you for being a part of this journey. One day, when it is complete, we will stand back and see it completed and we will remember that you had a part in this beautiful plan! 
June 30th, here we come!!!!!!!!!

Moving ahead!

So much has been happening around here lately, and while I cannot share every detail, I would love to share some of it. We have received our approved home study and have filed for CIS Immigration approval!! It is finally time to get our dossier together and get is sent to Eastern Europe and we can't believe that we are moving forward. The timing couldn't be more perfect for us as we were hoping to have it all wrapped up by the end of June when Lilie arrives for hosting. God has been answering prayers "on speed-dial" as I like to say. We had a crazy week a few back and I was feeling pretty frustrated. After asking for prayer and calling on His promises myself, He started answering (and quick!)...
Now that things are coming together so well, I feel that I can share some more of the information that I couldn't before. Back in February we found out that Lilie was not yet legally "free" to be adopted! What a difficult thing to hear. We had believed that she was even when she was here with us so this news was rather devastating. We found out that there was a chance for her to be "freed" in March, however the day came and went and she was NOT "freed". More devastation...So, we waited and we waited...Our next opportunity was June 2nd. Praise GOD!! She is now "free"!!!
It has been such an exciting time for us. We are anticipating Lilie's visit from June 30th through August 4th, we are working to get our dossier together, and anticipating a referral to adopt! We have raised and saved so many funds toward our adoption that it is surely only because of God's greatness and love. We have been able to pay every fee and expense as they have arisen and it looks like that's just going to keep on going! It is amazing to watch Him working out every detail, truly amazing! As I sit here, I am preparing to write out another check to pay for upcoming expenses with our agency and I know that our account will be drained, yet I am not fearful of this. I am confident that He will provide the next fee and the next until we bring our girl home.
This journey has been one of many ups and downs, but mostly it has been filled with blessings. Every time that we have felt weak, He has given us strength. Everytime that we have doubted, He has given us peace. Everytime that we needed the finances, He has provided (in so many ways). Journeys are amazing things. They test your endurance, they test your faith and they give you an amazing new perspective on life. While ours is far from over, we are thankful for all that we have learned so far and we are looking forward to what the rest will bring. We are moving ahead!!

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us." Hebrews 12:1

Spring...new life, new hope

Oh, how I love spring! Everything's beginning to grow and bloom and spill over with color in our yard, and I love it!! The garden is planted, the strawberries will be ready for picking in another month, and the backyard has come to life with our new hens. With spring, comes the promise of new life and a hopefullness that I don't find in any other season of the year. I love the smell of flowers blooming, freshly mown grass, and rain in the air. I love watching my children run and play in the yard, giggling and jumping. I love the way the sun warms my back as I work in the garden and the way the dirt feels in my hands. This has to be the best time of year.
We have been taking pictures of all of the things we are doing around the house to send to Lilie. We hope that she will enjoy the gardens, the chickens and all of the things that our family values and enjoys. We know that she will enjoy the pool! We took the cover off the other day and we are anxious to tell her that we are getting it ready for the summer. She talks about it every week when we talk on the phone. We are praying that this time next year, she will be here with us, helping plant the garden, feed the chickens and enjoy the outdoors during spring. She can't believe how warm it is here in the spring and summer since it is so much cooler in Eastern Europe.
School is winding down, too. Both here for our children and for Lilie. She was telling us the other day about her grades and the end of the year school trips that she is looking forward to. She seems to be doing well in school and we are proud of her efforts. It is hard to imagine what a big change it will be for her when she is here. School is so very different in America. But, we are confident that she will rise to the challenge and with lots of support and encouragement, she will do well. Our Rachel is so excited that school is almost over. She is in those final days where field trips and fun days abound, and she is loving it! Nathan is about to finish up his first year of school and is anxious to spend lazy days by the pool and in the sand box. We are so proud of him for how well he did this year. Jack will be "graduating" from his first year of preschool in just another week and a half. It's hard to believe how much they are all growing up.
So, everyone, enjoy your spring! Take time to look around at all that is new and beautiful in the world around you. And, when you see a lilie in full bloom, say a little prayer for our Lilie that she will be home with us soon...And, remember that with spring comes the promise of new life and new hope!