From Easter Baskets to Halloween Bins

After returning home from Pittsburgh in the frigid days of January, we took absolute advantage of the time of waiting to prepare our house to become home to the new children in every detail imaginable -- beds with homemade quilts, plush animals, specially chosen gifts from Hunter & Baylor, toothbrushes, photos in frames, Haitian metal crosses for bedroom shelves, and on, and on, and on.  As winter turned to spring, we bought Easter outfits, and baskets that were later filled to overflowing by "the bunny." 

We swapped out the heavy winter wear in our luggage (ready-in-waiting) for shorts, skirts, and tanks of summer.

With the falling leaves and crisp, cool breezes, comes the realization that this endurance of uncertainty has seen all seasons.  As horridly despairing and headache-and-insomnia-inducing as this has been for us, the travesty is that children have waited all these spins of the earth and moon -- waited with hurt and with longing and uncertainty.

The excellent news, now, is that a US delegation traveled to Haiti roughly six weeks ago, and they met face-to-face with officials of the Haitian government and the children's birth parents.  We are pleased that such direct measures have been taken to clarify and to document officially the legal status of the children regarding parental relinquishment based on verified witness of the birth parents' complete understanding of said relinquishment and the US adoption process.  We have been assured that all of this not only respected fully the rights and free, informed choices of the birth parents, but that the discussions were conducted in a manner that also respected the parents' personal dignity.

Painfully selfless, the decision to allow someone else to raise one's children -- believing it is their best hope for safe, healthy futures -- simply has to be an experience of faith, humility, courage, pain, and hope.  For their hope and for the kids' hope, we await finalization of necessary documentation and processing by the Haitian government.  We do not know what all that may entail or how long it make take, but once that major step is finished, we trust that our preparedness, our own humility, and our willingness to cooperate fully with both nations will enable a homecoming and healing for the children. 

Our hope is that the kids won't have to wish and dream from within an institution for much longer.