moving forward

I have been very quiet for a long time. I have not had the words to adequately express what our family has been journeying through the last few weeks. This post became a lot longer than I anticipated, but thank you for joining me as I share where we are at. It has been exciting, difficult excruciating , frustrating, joyful and everything in between....

September brought with it a lot of change and excitement. Our oldest daughter started Grade 5, our son Grade 3 and our younger daughter started kindegarten. They are amazing kids and have transitioned really well to this new routine. We have been so thankful for this as the last three years they have been in three different schools.

First day of school!

September also brought with it news that our visa applications were on their way to be processed at the Canadian High Commission. This is the final step for them to come home to Canada - without a visa, they are not able to enter Canada. When we left in July, they were legally our sons. In the weeks to come, we received copies of the adoption court order and their passports with their new last name...our last name! We finally got their room ready and many clothes and other necessities for three boys!

But it all came to a intersection last week when we received an email that the high commission was going to require further time to deal with their visas - more processes, possibly more paperwork and more time...indefinite time. It was a moment where time stood still and I felt completely at a loss to help my sons in any way. Knowing that they know about when they are supposed to be coming home made it even harder. The day we found out about all this, my husband - my incredible husband- emailed everyone...our agency, our social worker, CIC and received immediate responses from everyone...which is very odd, especially with CIC. So in the moments, hours and days ahead we felt that a plan was beginning to form. And in all of these moments my prayers were "God help us..." and "Please God...make a way...."

We are heading to Ethiopia very soon. Like VERY SOON. Our boys need to know that we are coming for them. They need to know that we are in this for the long haul. They have no idea of the delays right now. It is sooooo hard to go over not knowing if they will be coming home with us at this time. But we are trusting that our God, the God of the universe can move mountains. He can cut through the red tape. He is faithful. 

So we go forward blindly. Knowing that ultimately God loves our children, all of our children, more than we can every imagine and that He will take care of them and us. If you are a praying person, if you could join us in prayer for:

* our sons that are waiting. I have been praying Phillipians 4:7 over them

Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus

**For our children here at home. They are devastated that timelines have been extended...an my heart breaks for them.  And pray for their health. It always seems to happen that as we leave, they start getting sick. We have 2 with the stomach flu tonite... Pray that all of our children would be healthy.

***Pray for my husband. He has a lot on His plate and to top it all off he is staying their without definitive timelines of when He will come home. I am coming home in 2 weeks and He is staying. We know it is the right decision- but it isn't easy...for anyone.  At least we can give all of our kids at least one parent in this transition but it is hard. And pray for wisdom and encouragement when he is over there...

****Praise God our car sold yesterday! It is an incredibly cool story and God showed up big time through the hearts and generosity of our friends. As well, we are so thankful for family and friends who showed their support this weekend with a celebration BBQ. We feel incredibly supported by our family, friends and church community here.

*****Travel safety. I love flying but sometimes i get really nervous about flying together...without our children. So I am praying that this time in the air would be time to breathe and rest in His presence.

This is not the blog post I was hoping to write in this part of our journey. I don't always do well in the unknown, especially when there are 3 young boys...my sons...caught in the middle. But - knowing that we have SO many people praying for them and that God is with them...it eases the sadness and uncertainty a lot. This is a song I have been praying to and worshipping God with since before we received our referral.   The God of angel armies - He is all powerful, almighty and I cry out to  Him as we move forward in faith....

Blessings, Candra