God's Littlest Angels Reunion

This coming weekend, Aug. 5-7, my mom and I are taking a trip... a trip to Grand Rapids, MI for the God's Littlest Angels (GLA) Reunion. This is chance for families to see old friends and make some new friends- I only hope I can make this a yearly event! We get to try Haitian food on Friday night and go to a Haitian church service on Sunday night.

I am very excited for a few reasons.....

1. I will hopefully make some connections with adoptive families who have adopted from GLA in Haiti.
2. Saturday morning there will be discussion groups around relevant adoption topics. I plan to attend the following:

• What do you do with a Haitian Girl's Hair? This one I am really looking forward to attending
• The Future of Adoptions in Haiti
• How do you know when your child's "issues" are just normal "kid" stuff and when they are something more?

3. My mom is coming with me and I am excited that she so is excited =) It's real nice to feel so supported by your mom =)

I will hopefully have a lot of good stories and knowledge when I get back to MN next Sunday, I will share then.....

God's Littlest Angels Orphanage Haiti

This is the Orphanage that Baby Cakes will come from- this is her 1st home ! P.S. Mine will be her 2nd and forever home =)
www.glahaiti.org/

"Birth" days

A very good friend of mine, Pamela K. is close to having her baby =), this has gotten birthdays on my mind the last few weeks. On Friday night at church, I began to think about the day my little girl will be born, I thought, maybe today she was be born, maybe today is her "birth"day? That would be beyond weird (and a very cool God story) if her birthday really ended being July 22nd... Birthdays bring names to my mind...

I also have been talking to friends and family about names for her... this is not a new thing, I have been picking out names with my sister for a long as I can remember. In fact, on a trip to Disney World in 1987, my sister and I spent our "line waiting time" picking out names for our further children =) So, it's like a family tradition.... skip to present day- My mom has named her, Baby Cakes", so that's what we go these days !

Last week, God gave me this verse:
"Don't be afraid, I've redeemed you. I've called your name. You're mine" Isaiah 43:1 Message

What an encouraging verse, I have to admit, I am afraid sometimes, afraid to get sooo close to this little Baby Cakes and then something happens in the adoption.... afraid that I am crazy to take on single motherhood and really afraid that I will mess up my adoptive child up real bad. God reassures me that I am HIS... and I am redeemed!! I can't control any of this craziness, but the Lord can!!!

As read this verse, I thought to myself, "God is saying this same thing to Baby Cakes ". She may be real afraid too. But, the amazing thing about God is HE already knows Baby Cakes (even if she's not born yet), He knows her Haitian name and her US name. and she is also HIS. God continues to amaze me !!!

Thanks for reading and until next time.....

Haitian Adoption Process

I found this wonderful explanation of the Haitian Adoption Process on a adoptive mom's blog and thought it would be good information for family and friends to read- p.s. I am on step #1

1) The Homestudy. This portion should take two to three months. It requires some paperwork, a home visit with social workers, obtaining four background checks, vital statistics, etc...
2) The Dossier (the huge file that gets sent to the Haitian government). We'll be working on a lot of this while the homestudy process is in gear. All the paperwork has to go through a number of channels before completion an it should take a few months, as well. We also have some US immigration-type things to complete.
3) The Referral. Once our paperwork is in order, our orphanage will match us with a child. We review the information they give us and prayerfully make a decision.
4) The Wait. We have zero control over this part. It's all in the hands of the somewhat unorganized and s-l-o-w departments of the Haitian government.

God's Littlest Angels (GLA)

This is Kimberlie's home for now.......  GLA - Who?

Situated in the mountains above Petion-ville, Haiti, God has blessed John and Dixie Bickel with the ability and resources to help God's Littlest Angels grow, while continuing to adapt to meet the unique and challenging needs of the children in Haiti.

NICU

God's Littlest Angels runs a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and we are able to provide life saving medical care for infants and toddlers, not readily available in many of the hospitals and clinics in our area.
God's Littlest Angels offers emergency and urgent medical care to all children in our area who need it.
God's Littlest Angels NICU has saved many lives, reunited many healed children with their birth andunited many children with their "forever families".
Our wonderful nursery staff give our children the love and attention they so need and crave, helping them to develop and grow

Orphanage

God's Littlest Angels has been finding "forever families" for children in Haiti since 1997. There are many unfortunate situations in Haiti where birth parents are unable to provide for their children.
The role of God's Littlest Angels is to stand in the gap and provide those children, newborn to 10 years old, with a healthy, loving, safe environment while we work to find the "forever family" that God has planned for them.

As of January 2013 there are 140 total children at GLA. 76 children at the Toddler House (3 yr old and up)  and 64 children at the Main House (0-2 yr old).   Kimberlie is at the Main House. 


Click HERE for more information and to see pictures!  Click HERE to see a Youtube video of the Parkers' (a missionary family at GLA) experience at GLA.  Look closely on 43 seconds, Kimberlie makes an experience =) There are many videos on Youtube if you want to explore more !

Single, Single +1, Family -- Which one am I ?

Today I had to call the Health Partners Member Services line to get, yet another form about insurance coverage for my girl, for my home study.
While I was explaining my situation to the patient lady, I heard myself saying, "I am adopting interationally...." Sometimes I have to remind myself that the adoption is really happening and that eventually there will be another person that I am going to be responsible for in this world. Another person to make appointments for, rearrange my schedule for and and get home from the mall for to take a nap!! I am really good at looking at Target for SUPER cute dresses for my girl, but will I be just as good at making important decisions for her? Hopefully so, with the Lord's leading....