Favorite Foto Friday and Two Weeks in PGN!

Our little stair steps, just missing the fourth rung.

Ellie, taken in March

My sweet nephew, ready for a bike ride.

We Hope in Him!

There was a lot of "talk" yesterday about the Department of State announcement on Guatemalan adoptions. Things are not looking good according to this statement that was issued. (You only need to read a little to know why prospective adoptive parents are a little nervous right now. By the way, I was cautioned early on by the agency not to put too much stock into these things, because they are hyped and my not be fully accurate. So, read with a grain of salt and a lot of faith in the Lord, not man.) In light of this and the situation with my father-in-law, I wanted to share some scripture that I was meditating on this morning:

"Our soul waits for the Lord; He is our help and our shield. For our heart is glad in Him, because we trust in His holy name. Let Your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in You."
Psalm 33:20-22 ESV (emphasis mine)

I was especially convicted by verse 21, is my heart glad in Him because I trust in His holy name, or because I get the news I wanted to hear?

Lord,
Help me to trust in Your name, and be glad because of that trust. Please let your love be on us, as we HOPE in You. Only You can bring these children home, and heal cancer. I will wait for You, whatever your answer may be.

A New Test

We have recently found out that Daniel's dad has been diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a blood cancer. It is not curable and he will battle this the rest of his life. To the praise of the Lord and to the bafflement of his doctors, he is in stage one and yet, showing no symptoms. We are all in some shock over this, but we anxiously await to see how the Lord will be glorified through this illness. My father-in law has started a website, titled "God Put the My in Myeloma". You will be encouraged by his thoughts on his cancer and see how he is using the blog as a tool for sharing the Gospel.

Please pray for Daryl and Carol to have wisdom as they seek treatment options. We know that the Lord could miraculously heal him, but above all, we are seeking to honor the Lord in this. The adoption has tested our faith in so many ways, and we trust that God will use the cancer to test and strengthen the faith of many.

Daniel wrote his thoughts and links to the Piper article, "Don't Waste Your Cancer", which I highly recommend as well.

In the Club!!!

Apparently, No News at this time is just related to rebellious email systems, as WE ARE IN PGN!!!! We already have week ONE behind us!!! We are out of family court, no problems there. Attached to the email were our September pics (sorry they are tiny, but I can't seem to enlarge without distorting them significantly, and this time she was not only tough to get a smile out of, but she threw a fit when they asked for one) and a medical update (she is healthy, nearly walking, still below 5% for height and 5-10% for weight). So, I am a pretty happy camper...I will NOT be stalking my email this weekend!!! What a comfort to know that God is still faithful despite my lack of faith!
Added: The children's home is still waiting to hear the outcome of the appeal hearing for Onoria and the twins. Continue to pray the courts will rule wisely in this case.

Is No News Bad News?

There is no news in our case. We have basically not had anything new since Sept 2nd. I know that is only 18 days of waiting, but those are loooonnnnngggg days! For some odd reason, we seem to wait the longest of all the blogger buddies with children at EN (Eagle's Nest) for monthly pictures and medical update. They have had theirs for over a week and ours have yet to arrive. Last month, my email just decided to reject them from our case worker, so she might have sent them, but have not received them. :( I admit that I am anxious to hear that we are out of Family Court, and know that all of that paper work is in order. It would be fabulous if we were doing our PGN wait even now, but I need to be prepared that we are not in yet.

On the Guatemalan end, the message the agency is sending is not good. Our agency is very small, with maybe six or so staff members. They work almost exclusively with Guatemala. I have learned that at least two of those (including our caseworker) have taken on other full time jobs. While in my head, I am frustrated that there is no hope of receiving an email bearing good news during the day, except for maybe after 7 or 8 pm, I am realizing the impact that this news has on others. Things are not looking good for adoptions in Guatemala and so many children and families are going to be kept waiting, possibly even indefinitely. A little history on our agency, the parents run the children's home in Guat, while doing other things such as helping to start churches and seminaries, and the four adult children run the adoption agency in the states. The Boggs have invested so much of their lives into Guatemala and adoptions that it must be such a heartache for those to stop, even for a little while. These families will be greatly impacted by loosing their means of livelihood if things are as bad in Guatemala as they look.

It seems easy to justify my selfishness by saying that I just want the best for Ellie (which I do), but my inconvenience is so small compared to what others are going through. I want her to come home, but my prayers need to be so much more eternally focused!

On a prayer note, I do not know how things went for Onoria and the twins, but I do have an email in to the agency for more information on how to pray for them.

Keep praying, faithful saints!

Sweet Girls that Need our Prayers

I have mentioned a little girl, Onoria, in a previous post. She and her twin, biological sisters(about 2.5 years old) have been removed from the Children's Home by the courts. The staff is doing all they can to bring these sweet girls back, and to help their adoptions continue. There is an appeal hearing TODAY. Pray that the decision will be reversed, as the situation they are in now is most likely not a good one. There are two adoptive families involved, and I am sure that they are deeply burdened and saddened by this news. I ache for these families and for these girls. Please pray for their spiritual condition as well as their physical condition!

Video from Labor Day Weekend

This is a video from Cameron's family. Thanks so much, Aimee! Ellie is a tough one to crack, so most of it is her refusing to give them even a nod! If you skip ahead to around 3:00 to go, there are some shots of her WALKING!!

The Non-Update Update

We will not know until next week (at the earliest) if we have our social worker report and have been submitted into PGN. Please be praying that we are there even if we do not know it yet! There is a missions team with a professional photographer going to Eagle's Nest soon, so picture updates will be good this month :), but late. :(

Also, on the Guatemalan presidential elections, there will be a run off held in November between two candidates/parties because no one candidate got 50% of the vote. I do not know if this is good or bad as far as adoptions are concerned, but I did send an email to our caseworker to see what she knows.

On an positive note, it feels like fall today and I am loving it! I had a fabulous run this morning and our windows are open, yeah!!!! The corn is brown for harvest and I feel the need to go to the apple orchard. While God has appointed "a time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted"(Ecclesiastes 3:2b), He has appointed a time for Ellie to come home! We trust in His perfect timing and know that He is in control!

More trip pics:

I love her delighted smile here on Daddy's lap!

How can I help but think she is beautiful!

Another great smile!

I have a feeling she will experience this again, with a big sister and 2 big brothers!

Only a look of righteous indignation, I am sure!

Election Day is Sunday!!

Please pray for the Guatemalan presidential elections that will take place on Sunday. Pray that the right party would be put in power and then the right candidate. This will have an important affect on adoptions from Guatemala! These people need your prayers and the Gospel in their lives!

Baptismal service held at Eagle's Nest for a local community of believers that had a retreat there.

Daniel surrounded by children at the public school where the team held an outreach for 200+ students.

Ellie and some of her pals waiting to come home!

Some of the boys from the school.

Case Update

We got a case update, and basically we do not have new information. Our good friend and attorney, Pedro, did pick up the PA on Tuesday (we really have never had any direct contact with this man, but he is doing a good job for us). We were told that the Social Worker report for Family Court takes "2-3 weeks" to complete, and this past Tuesday was 3 weeks. Keep praying that the report would be complete so we will be ready for PGN!

A little Guatemalan Adoption Process education:

1. PGN stands for Procuraduria General De La Nacion (translated: "Solicitor General"), but it is the "final court" in the Guatemalan adoption system.
2. We will not have a "court date" or have to appear for PGN. Our attorney will submit our papers, and they will pass between desks (first and second reviewer) until we are signed "OUT". PGN can take an average of 8-12 weeks, or it can take many months on end. If they find a previo or error in our papers, they can kick us out (KO). We must fix the problem and we are resubmitted, basically at the bottom of the stack, to start another 8-12 week wait. There are no guarantees with amount of time spent in PGN.
3. Only once we are out of PGN will we have a vague time line of when we can pick Ellie up. The wait after the OUT is around 3-7 weeks (time it takes to get a new birth certificate, passport and set up an Embassy appointment, also referred to as getting "Pink". We will appear for the Embassy appt. when we pick her up.)

Ellie's Labor Day Weekend

While it is not my custom to reveal a whole stack at once, I thought I might spoil y'all as I was last night with this batch of pics from Aimee! Thanks, again!! I have prayed that the Lord will keep putting people in our path who are going to Eagle's Nest, and He keeps answering that prayer!

My Labor Day Weekend
by Ellie

I hung out in my crib and looked at the camera. This is my surprised look.

This is my silly look.

Hanging out with the Mamas'.

Played with a fun green cup while practicing my tongue wiggle.

Found myself sleeping in Katie's crib.

Wondered what Cameron's dad was up to.

There is always room for quality time with Strawberry Shortcake!

And Tiger!

If I look like I have been in a fight, I think I was...but this has not been verified with my people.

Look! No hands, Mommy!

Nothing like the old stand by way to get around...it is safer!

A New Pic!

This was taken yesterday of Ellie and Cameron. Cameron had his embassy appt today, and should be heading home soon! Thanks for the picture Aimee!!

She is wearing shoes now, so she must be walking or close to it!

And After 62 Days...

WE HAVE PA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Praise the Lord!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday!!!!!

Happy Birthday to my Sweet Hubby! He is 30 today! I love you!
"Sneaking Ellie on the Bus"