Still waiting....the story of our lives the last few years

Well its Thursday morning & I just got an email from Dinora. She said that our paperwork is at the Embassy awaiting preapproval & our file is still at family court #7. Apparently they are working slow. I am not sure why. I think I just had gotten it in my head that we would only be in family court for a week or two, because that is how long my friends were in family court. Although, you would think after 3 1/2 years of doing this I would realize that nothing ever goes the way you think it would.

I am thankful that Mateo is in a home that has people who love him, if it wasn't for that, I think I would have had to move to Guatemala my now. I see pictures of him, and he is just growing up before my eyes. With each picture update I see how much time I have missed with him.

I am looking forward to the trips to the pool, the zoo, snuggling in the mornings in bed with the whole family, reading him books before bed, okay, so I am getting a lump n my throat just thinking of all of these things. I try to get through each day by leaning on my faith. I know God has a bigger plan, and most of the time we don't understand what his plan is, but I KNOW he will be home soon. I keep picturing the moment we land at the KC airport & Rylie & Adyson get to see their brother walking off that plane & they get to hug him for the first time. My heart breaks for all that he & they have missed out on.

As I am writing this and my heart is breaking for my own situation, I realize that I am one of the lucky ones included in the Guatemalan 900. So many of my friends that I have met along the way are so much farther behind us. Many have no direction on who to talk with, where to go. The CNA is no longer accepting any applications for transition cases. So if you didn't have your paperwork submitted before a few months ago, they apparently sent everything back to Embassy?? So its now apparently in the US hands, although no one is willing to step up and make it a priority & get these children home. One of my friends Audra has been waiting 8 years!!!! Another one of my friends & her husband have no other children at home, they have been to Guatemala like 7 times to see their daughter, but because their daughter was born Dec 22, 2007..they didn't get their POA in time before they officially shut down adoptions Dec 31st, 2007. So they cant be grandfathered in with the old law, they don't fit into the transition cases, so who is their advocate?? Who helps them?? My heart breaks every time I talk with them because I can feel the hurt & pain in their voices. Financially this has put a burden on so many of us, we are at over $60,000 out of our own pocket. Most people cannot afford to pay that kind of money & we aren't even done yet!! I think of the families that couldn't afford to keep fighting & hiring one attorney after the other, so they had to give up. I wonder if that was Gods plan for that family & that child, or if that child was really meant to be in their home.

Why can our government find a past president of the US to go to Korea & work with a country that has no relations with us, to bring home 2 reporters that were stuck in a prison with a 12 year hard labor sentence ( even though they should have never been in prison & I am so glad they are home), but they cant help the 900 children that are STUCK in Guatemala that have US families that have been in process for years!!???? If anyone has a phone # to the President, Oprah, to a Vice President, or ANYONE that can really help our children & these families...PLEASE let me know! In the meantime I pray, that is all I can do.

I dream of our life and what it will be like when Mateo is home where he belongs. I have been nesting for over 3 years, there isnt more to decorate at my home. LOL

Please continue to pray for us & please say extra prayers that we get out of family court in the next week! We need Mateo home, we need him & he needs us!

Thank you!! Blessings, Valerie