We got a wonderful surprise this morning. I got a call during Bible study, and I saw it was our agency. Now, you gotta know how much I love the study I'm doing. It took a very important call to pull me away from my BFF Beth Moore! Bless her heart, the first thing our rep told me was "I don't have any news on first approval for you." Well, darn it! But smart girl to lead with that. "But, I wanted to let you know that when I was in Thailand last week, I visited your son." !!!! Tears sprung to my eyes immediately, I hadn't really thought that this would be a possibility! I've never spoken to someone who has seen, touched, heard, smelled our little guy. She got to spend a little time in his foster home and observe him and took notes, pictures and even a few short videos!
I'll try to remember all the things she shared. I've photo-dumped the pictures on our password protected site HERE and the password is my maiden name, all lower case. If you'd like the password, leave a comment or email me at brazenlilly@gmail.com (I don't check it often, but I'll try to!). She also sent a couple very short videos, but wordpress doesn't like the format, so you may not get to see those unless you are a friend of mine on FB! I will say--they had him wearing a shirt of Carson's that we sent several months back, and a little baseball hat on backwards! It was perfect. I think it may become his signature style. Oh, and some pink. He's wearing pink shorts and sandals! Love it.
First, she said Asher looks very happy and healthy. He has a couple spots on his face, but she said the foster mom thinks they are bug bites or a small rash. It is not typical and has only been there for a few days. She said he has grown out of all the clothes we have sent! Laura, our rep, gently said she wanted to warn me that of all the foster kids she visited, Asher was probably the most reserved & guarded, the most unwilling to come near her. Foster mom said she can't think of any other white people he'd ever seen, so he was pretty taken aback. We are preparing ourselves mentally--as much as you can without living it--for a traumatized and grieving little man. But we are so, SO grateful for the steady love and affection he's received from this family since he was 4 days old.
Asher is very attached to his foster mom, and she is very natural and fun with him. She's a younger mom and even though she had her own baby a couple months ago (news to us!) she has lots of energy and played with Asher. He says bye to his foster dad each day when he heads out to work. He says several words in Thai--including the names of all the family members. She said one little game he was playing while she was there was to "go shopping." They handed him a handful of bat (Thai money) and he would walk around the room and give a little bit of it to each person, jibber-jabbering to himself.
The other important piece of information that Laura passed on was that she had a sit-down meeting with social workers from the Thai government--this is separate from our sister agency. They are the ones who have our case right now, the ones we are waiting on. She said she firmly conveyed to them the importance of catching up on the files that have been delayed, and tried to remind these workers that these papers represent families who have already become attached to these children, who have a permanent home ready for them, and that it is important to catch up from the delays caused by the floods. She specifically pleaded for three cases that are delayed, and ours was one of them. That was huge for me--to know that someone was there speaking for us, advocating for our family. She said communication has been bad between countries this week, but there is still a possibility that our family was given first approval last week. However, the more likely situation is that we will be presented next Wednesday, February 15th.
That's definitely what we are hoping and praying for, but the Lord knows how my waiting heart has been soothed today with this blessing. Although, I'm even MORE anxious to get to him and begin the rough transition so we can enjoy our little man! Thank you all for being excited with us...it makes the joys more joyful and the lows more endurable.
9 comments:
OK I've left a comment of FB and texted you, but I wanted to respond here too. What an answer to prayer that there was someone in Thailand actually pleading for your family. I got tears, Jen. This is all so exciting for me, I can't imagine how you are feeling. I'm still praying and I won't stop. :)
This is such flippin' amazing news, Jen! To get so many current pictures AND a video, too! Wow, wow, wow! You must be over the moon.
Please message or call me any time if you ever need to chat. I also have a little girl who was extremely attached to her foster mother/family and her initial grief was very traumatic. Even though I was warned, seeing her grieve so deeply was not easy.
That's not to say, of course, that Asher will have the same reaction, but I may be able to give some ideas as to what helped Lily during those initial days. Or at least some "what I wish someone had told me" advice.
Meanwhile, enjoy watching that video over and over and over and over. I mean, I'm not even the kid's mom and I've already watched it about 5 times.
So incredibly excited for you guys to have these precious pictures and videos. And...to have that insight from Laura into his personality, priceless! Hoping your news of first approval comes sooner than you expect.
God is so good!!He knew what you needed! Having a little praise service here(: Love you all so much!!
Praising the name of Jesus over and over for our advocate in Thailand!!! I am so thankful and appreciative that she was there to plead the cases that are delayed. I am praying we get our approval together and continue this journey.
I am overjoyed that we got to see the pictures of Asher. What a cutie. He is rocking those shorts!!! I love the video and just everything about those cute cheeks. I can't wait to see him in your arms.
I know those first days are going to be very hard, but God hasn't called us to something easy. He will be with us and Asher all the way. He will prepare his heart and open him to love you. You will win him over. I am praying now and always for you my dear sister in the Lord.
I am just so happy about all of this for you!!!! I had wondered when I saw the pictures on Facebook if that was the shirt you had sent! How special to get to see him wearing it!!! I am praying now and will continue to do so that God will give Asher dreams of you. While I'm sure it'll be a hard transition no matter what, isn't our God big enough to help this little boy see you in his dreams and maybe have a little familiarity when you arrive?
We are a family just beginning the process to adopt a waiting little girl in Chiang Mai . Our dossier is being taken to officials in 2 weeks we would love to see pictures of your little boy! You should be able to contact me through our blog! I am so happy for your family to receive updated news! Many Blessings to your family!
I wanted to encourage you with your new knowledge that Asher is reserved and guarded. Of our two adopted twins, the one the was more reserved and guarded definitely had the hardest time at transition. But after the initial difficulty of that time (around 2-3 months) she is the more content, secure, and independent of the two. The other girl who is incredibly outgoing would go to indiscriminately to everyone even if they weren't safe. She doesn't do that anymore, but she has to be in someway attached to my body 98% of the time to be happy. :) Neither type is better, but I say this to give you hope, when you are going through the initial difficult periods with Asher, that in the long run his firm attachment to his foster mother and cautious personality will really help him settle into a solid, secure, content and happy place in your family. I think it's the overly friendly toddlers you worry about more in the long run of adoption then the overly cautious ones!
I wanted to encourage you with your new knowledge that Asher is reserved and guarded. Of our two adopted twins, the one the was more reserved and guarded definitely had the hardest time at transition. But after the initial difficulty of that time (around 2-3 months) she is the more content, secure, and independent of the two. The other girl who is incredibly outgoing would go to indiscriminately to everyone even if they weren't safe. She doesn't do that anymore, but she has to be in someway attached to my body 98% of the time to be happy. :) Neither type is better, but I say this to give you hope, when you are going through the initial difficult periods with Asher, that in the long run his firm attachment to his foster mother and cautious personality will really help him settle into a solid, secure, content and happy place in your family. I think it's the overly friendly toddlers you worry about more in the long run of adoption then the overly cautious ones!
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