Another to travel

We received word last week that another family will be traveling to Vietnam to bring home their son. Our hearts are with them as they take the journey we've all been waiting for. They have promised to take some pictures of our girl. We will keep you all posted. Please pray for the Henson family as they travel.

still silence

A few weeks will go by here and there and we will get an email from our agency... "still no news" or like the latest... "we've seen little activity". Chris and I have both been recently fingerprinted and we continue to wait. Wait for something... waiting to finally bring home our girl, or wait to be told that we've lost another child. At this point, we are ready for some answers. Here is the latest from our agency...
On August 19, 2009 the US Embassy (Hanoi) met with the DIA in Hanoi. The DIA is sending a letter to the Department of Justice of VN requesting they contact the DOJ in the province in order to encourage them to resolve all of the Worldwide cases. On the surface this all sounds like there is the possibility that the DOJ might be able to persuade the province to complete these cases. However, we need to remember that the DOJ in the province still has the final word. I always feel obligated to be the realist in all adoption cases, but I also want each of us to look at this as a positive step in the process to bring your babies home.The DIA will notify Thuoc when they have news from the DOJ. All of this will be done on Vietnam time, not ours, so we could be waiting a while for this process to be completed.

and so we continue to wait...

the tiniest update

Sorry, no news and no pictures. We did get the tiniest little update this morning though. Dillen is weighing in at 22 lbs. She is a good little walker and even talking. The care takers are keeping her hair long. Wish we could see her sweet little face. Thanks for your continued thoughts and prayers.

The latest news...

The most significant problem we are still having is related to the power concentrated in the province. We our dealing with a government that has a communist perception on how government works, and that certainly does not provide equality for everyone's voice to be heard. The province officials do not care about our children in the orphanage nor do they care about our situation.
DIA is powerless over the actions of the province and can not force the province leaders to process any of the remaining adoptions. The province is like a small country, they rule themselves. Our agency has given us little hope that anyone can help our situation. Thuoc expressed how concerned he is about all of the adoptions, and asked that we pray for DOJ to cooperate. The Red Cross is legally bound to Worldwide by Vietnamese law. Fortunately, the director of the Red Cross is our advocate with the officials in the province. The director speaks often with the officials in the province, she has tried to set up meetings with the officials in the past and continues to try to get meeting set up with them regarding the remaining adoptions.
The DIA has tried to get these cases to move but the officials remain resolute in their efforts to prolong these remaining adoptions. Inquiries from the US Embassy have not been productive either. As painful as it is, we have to accept that the officials in the province are in charge, even big organizations such as the DIA and the US Embassy have been unable to break these officials.
Our fingerprints are about to expire for the second time. We will have to refile our paperwork and make a trip to the immigration office (a few hours away) to be fingerprinted for the third time. The cost just to do this will be nearly eight hundred dollars. At this point, we don't even know if they will ever let Dillen come home.

Nothing still

We still have no news concerning our adoption. We received and email from our agency this morning that said that the only information she received from Vietnam was that the "Red Cross is fighting for our babies". So as you can imagine, we are frustrated. We do not know what this means or if DIA has sent a representative to the province. We have no new answers or news concerning our girl. It has been 8 months now since we've seen a picture and five months since we were given her "supposed weight". This is beyond ridiculous now. We have no information from our government either, it's almost like no one cares, no one can help. But don't you people understand????? This is our ONLY child! This is our DAUGHTER! This is our life! Can anyone help???? Is anyone REALLY fighting? Doesn't feel like it.

Still nothing

I thought we were seeing the end. No news from Vietnam. No news that anyone from DIA traveled to the province to speak with the leaders. No news from our government. We'll give them more time, of course... time is all we have... patience however, running thin.

We'll post as soon as we hear something. The only news we got this week is that the director of our agency was going out of town for a family birthday party. At least someone can celebrate.

Steppin' In

Last week we took another step in our adoption. We contacted Sen. DeMint's office. We were warned that bringing any outside attention to our case could potentially anger the officials in the Province and they would not complete our adoption. What can you do? In the end, I want to be able to tell our daughter that we did everything we could to bring her home.

I received an email earlier today from our agency. Apparently DIA is upset with the Province Leaders. Their intentions are to send a representative from DIA to the province to help finish these last five adoptions. We don't know their time frame, but we are encouraged. This is a positive step.

Thank you for your continued prayer and support.

Update, anyone?

Our 6 yr old Golden Retriever, Ozzy is recovering at home. He spent last weekend in the Emergency Vet's office and had an emergency surgery on his heart on Monday last week. As you can imagine, we were a wreck. It feels like life has really dealt us a crappy hand. Ozzy had fluid build up on his heart and in his abdomen. When we took him to the vet last weekend he weighed in at 93lbs and when he went this past Friday for a follow up visit he weighed 86lbs. Poor guy! He'll have to have monthly check ups for a little while as he still has a blood clot near his spleen, but he seems to be back to the happy dog that he was before he got sick. Thank you for thinking of us and Ozzy this past week. He is happy to show off his shaved belly for any of his fans!

As far as our adoption goes... no real news to share. The facilitator in Vietnam has been in contact with the US Embassy and Vietnam's DIA. We are still waiting for the officials to sign the Letter of Invitation for the next few families. We do not know if putting this pressure on the officials will slow the cases or speed them up. I can't imagine them becoming any more slower... but whenever we say that... Anyway, as always, we'll keep you updated.

The Cry for Help

If we were in Vegas we'd say the cards are down. Our agency has contacted the US Embassy in Hanoi to intercede on our behalf. They can no longer keep the baby home open and pay monthly expenses as the Leaders sign Letters of Invitations every four months or so. There are still movement in the province and there could be repercussions with contacting another agency. We are hoping that the US Embassy and DIA can convince these officials to allow our children to come home as soon as possible. All five babies are just waiting for their Decision of Adoption to be signed. There is a chance that the Leaders of the province will deny all or some of the adoptions. We do not know what will happen to our children if this happens. Please keep us in your prayers as the US Embassy and DIA contact the Leaders.

On a side note, our Golden Retriever has become very ill. He is currenly in a life saving procedure at a Specialty Vet office. We feel empty and helpless. We pray for mercy Lord.

I barely hear You

We are still waiting on the Leader of the province to sign the next Letter of Invitation. Thuoc, our facilitator, has strongly warned that we cannot pressure, persuade or agitate the officials in the province. Without question, he feels any such maneuvers will continue to delay the process for all cases.

I was sure by now,God, that You would have reached down
and wiped our tears away,
stepped in and saved the day.
But once again, I say amen
and it's still raining
as the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain,
"I'm with you"
and as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise
the God who gives and takes away.

Praise You in this Storm
Casting Crowns

And we continue to celebrate...

So many days of celebration! Saturday May 9 was my dear husband's birthday. He hates when people make a fuss over birthdays, so we quietly let it slip by with a simple card and a teeny tiny present. Sunday was Mother's Day however, and we can't just wave that one away. We were blessed to be able to celebrate it with my dear mother and my sister-in-law. I love that I get to watch my sister-in-law raise her boys. I am so thankful to have her in my life. The one we missed most though was my mother-in-law. Jacqie left us a few years back. I understand why God would have called her to be with Him though, she was an amazing woman who knew how to pray and praise Him in every circumstance. I am so thankful that I was blessed with a wonderful mother-in-law, even if it wasn't as long as we had all hoped.

Still no news on the adoption front. I don't know when and if this nightmare will end. I think we are all about ready to wake up and move on with our lives.

Jealousy

I grew up in south Florida and attended a private Christian school as a kid. Our school was affiliated with the Baptists, however the community that I lived in was Catholic and Jewish majority. I didn't have a lot of friends in the Catholic school, but I secretly wished my parents had chosen to send me to the Catholic school. We weren't Catholic, but we weren't Baptist either. Why? The holidays! Are you kidding? My mom was a public school teacher for most of my life and was off for every Jewish holiday as well as Christian holiday, but even so, I think that the Catholic school had more half days and days off than any public school. I was so jealous!

Well the Vietnamese trump the Catholics. Talk about holidays! No news this past week... another Vietnamese holiday.... Victory Day (April 30) and International Labor Day (May 1).

I'm tired

SO tired. I hate this feeling. Sheer exhaustion. Put on a smile. Hope no one sees you breaking inside. Hide your fear. The not knowing. It has been years now...

When will it be over?

There is still no news. We were told this morning that we won't have ANY information about DIA's decision in our case until these other two adoptions are complete. There is no time frame for the completion of these adoptions. No Invitations to travel. Nothing. Our fingerprints will expire again this fall and the extension is no longer free. Dillen lies in a crib, waiting while we are desperate to bring her home. No answers. DIA has not helped her, our agency has not helped her, and the province leaders have not helped her. Who looks after the orphans but our God?

News is better than none...

We received an email this morning that our paperwork is still at DIA. That is all we know. The good news? Someone took time to find out for us. The bad news? How long does it have to sit on a desk collecting dust while Dillen lays in an orphanage and waits for her family to bring her home?

60 Days!

It has been 61 days now that our paperwork has been at DIA. We have no new information about what is taking so long, or what DIA has decided about our paperwork. Our facilitator in Vietnam will not answer any questions about case, nor will our agency. We assume this is because they don't have any information, but we can't even get an answer to the question "Have you called DIA and asked about our case?" This is so frustrating.

The province officials have decided that they will not even look at our case, or the other two that went to DIA until two more families complete their adoption, the Henson and Lopez family. However, the officials have not given either family an Invitation to travel.

Yesterday Dillen was 16 months old. We hold on to the hope that she will be coming home, we just can't even imagine when.

What Matters Most

What Matters Most About the Crucifixion—Matthew 27:42-43
by Jack Klumpenhower4/9/2009

When I think of Jesus’ experience on the cross I tend to focus on the pain, which must have been severe. Or I think of the terror of impending death. Or the loneliness of bearing God’s curse. But although each of these surely matters, the Bible’s crucifixion accounts give the most attention to something else entirely. They focus on how Jesus was mocked.As I said, my own instinct would be to treat the mocking that Jesus endured as secondary, given the circumstances. But Matthew in particular gives few details about pain and death but long descriptions of Jesus being mocked. He tells how the soldiers teased Jesus over his claim to be king; how they made a crown of thorns, gave him a stick for a scepter and hit him with it, and knelt before him taunting, “Hail, King of the Jews!” (27:29). Matthew also notes the sign on Jesus’ cross, which likewise ridiculed him as “King of the Jews” (27:37). He mentions how passersby teased Jesus over his claim to rebuild the Temple in three days. He says that even the guys crucified next to Jesus mocked him.So what am I missing here? Why is the mocking so important to the crucifixion? And why should it matter to me?

Words that Sting
The mocking reached a peak when the leading priests and other religious bigwigs got into the act. Matthew writes: “ ‘He saved others,’ they scoffed, ‘but he can’t save himself! So he is the King of Israel, is he? Let him come down from the cross right now, and we will believe in him! He trusted God, so let God rescue him now if he wants him! For he said, “I am the Son of God” ’ ” (Matthew 27:42-43).These guys knew how to dish out ridicule. They’d debated Jesus earlier that week and he’d gotten the better of them. Now they threw his own words back at him. When they called him King, they meant he obviously wasn’t one—that the cross made him powerless. When they said he trusted God, they meant he clearly didn’t—look what was happening to him. These guys understood dark humor and sarcasm. They wanted their words to sting.What’s Matthew’s point? Well, God can be witty too. If you look at all those things said to ridicule Jesus, you’ll find they’re actually true. Every one of them. Jesus really is the great King. And the Son of God. And the Savior. He trusted God so fully that he was willing to be crucified to see God’s plan through. And after three days, the temple of his body rose again in victory. God arranged for the essential things we need to know about Jesus to be said at his crucifixion—by those mockers.

What matters Most
Perhaps nothing is more central to the Cross than the words of those religious leaders: “He saved others, but he can’t save himself!” Yes, even that was true. Although Jesus had the power to save himself, he had a singular determination not to. He had to do his Father’s will. He had to sacrifice himself.It’s a stunning move—that the Father’s delight would be to punish his Son for the sin of his people. But Jesus knew his duty and shared his Father’s love. In order to save others, he couldn’t save himself.Now I see why the things those mockers said were important to Matthew. They mattered to him because he understood they were all-important to Jesus. And they mattered to Jesus because I matter to Jesus. He accepted the pain and the death and the curse of God because saving others—saving me—mattered more. More than nails. More than thorns. More than ridicule. More than the terror of death or the wrath of God. More than saving himself.

And the next family will be...

It's been a long and busy week in the Myers family. I've had to do some travelling with work and Chris has been working tons. We are so thankful that we both still have jobs in this economy, not to mention the second most unemployed state in the US right now.

We were recently told that the Lopez family will be the next family to travel to Vietnam to bring home their son. If you don't remember, their son was the very first baby in the home and will be 3 years old in June! SO we are very happy that he will finally be able to come home. Unfortunately the province leaders are requiring a bit more paperwork from this family before they can travel. It is a bit frustrating... so no one is in country right now and apparently this province will only allow one family to travel at a time. They have been keeping the families in the province for a minimum of 10 days before preforming their G&R ceremonies. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason for their madness. The last baby home was the youngest and the next one out is the oldest... Maybe they line them up and play musical chairs... the winner gets to finally go home.

Sorry, I seem a bit sarcastic. But dealing with no system and quite a few people that don't care about your situation or your child's for 3 years now, has finally gotten to me!

On another note. We are SO incredibly thankful for this Easter weekend. We are here, and we live for Him who lived and died for us. This weekend we can celebrate that we won't only have Dillen for our lifetime but for eternity because of what Christ has done for us.

Completed G&R!

We are excited to announce that another family completed their Giving and Receiving Ceremony! The father traveled alone to bring home their son and stayed in the province for 10 days before the Justice would complete their adoption, however it finally happened!

Unfortunately, the family that traveled didn't take any pictures for us, so I have no pictures to post. Thuoc did take some measurements of our BIG girl while in the province. Supposedly Dillen weights nearly 19lbs and is 29inches long. Sounds like a really long little girl, right?

Hopefully we'll be able to post continued good news very soon. We are expecting to hear that another family can travel very soon.

PeBoBe Randusty Benefit Concert

We had such a great time on Friday night at Connolly's with the PeBoBe Randusty Band. The band did a great job talking about International Adoption and our precious Dillen, not to mention the music was so FUN! I was so excited when I heard the tribute to our childhood with a little Vanilla Ice and some Sir Mix-a-lot! The band was able to raise almost $700 for our adoption. Thanks to all that came out and supported us and PeBoBe Randusty.

The wonderful Randy

Above and Below... the Fabulous PeBoBe Randusty Band

Brooke and Jen, the BEST caseworker we could have asked for. She is the reason we have a beautiful daughter waiting for us in Vietnam!

We love her dearly.

Chris Mize and Chris Myers... not confusing at all...

The soon to be Mrs. and Mr. Hornsby!

The girls... Katie, Tara & Jen

Dillen's Nana Betsy and Martin came for a long night out!

Kim and Karla

Just a few of the ladies from my wonderful Dare to Dream Bible Study!

They were joined by Karen and Claudia which made introducing a tongue-twister!

One Family in the Province

One family is in the province but we do not know if they have had their G&R as our province leaders will not set those until after the family arrives. The family left the US on March 21, 2009. Thuoc plans for them to fly to Hanoi on the 28th and fly home on March 31st. This is a very ambitious plan and it will be amazing if this all happens as planned. I certainly hope so because if it can happen once, it may happen again. We will send an update when we know more.

On a side note, we will be at Connolly's Irish Pub in downtown Greenville on Friday night. The PeBoBe Randusty Band is helping us raise money to bring Dillen home. If you are in town, we would love to see you there. The music should be a lot of fun. I don't want to spoil it, but I think we may hear some 90's jams! We hope to see you there. If you are unable to come, I will post some pictures of the event on the blog!