Thank You...

Pretty as a picture and 1o minutes later enjoying her favorite pastime.


Alea at the zoo.
Alea with Alice and Carl the camels. She's not too impressed...

Mommy and her girl...


This is a post I've been meaning to write for a while now. I just put Alea down and I have some precious spare time before bed:O)

As you all know, when we started this trip to Kaz, we left on May 21st, fully expecting to meet and begin bonding with our little girl by the 26th. When we arrived we were met with quizzical expressions at the govt. office wondering why we were here. They had made a mistake by sending for us and consequently had no children available for us at the time. This was the second time that we had been sent an official Letter of Invitation from Kaz, and the second time that it was wrong. They assured us that there would be three girls available at the end of June. We went back to our apartment devastated and unsure what to do. You see, this kind of mistake only seems to happen in this city. We didn't know what to do, and all of our hard work and prayers and financial sacrifices were on the line. Needless to say, we were devastated and we were sure that we couldn't trust that there would be a little girl waiting for us if we left the country.

As Warren and I sat down to pray, we strongly sensed the Lord leading us to stay and fight for our daughter. It was an amazing time of prayer together that led us right to the feet of the Father and drew both of us closer than we had been in a long time. The next day, we asked if we would be able to meet the children that were going to be available. We were SURE that one of them was our Alea. Our translator told us that this would be impossible because it was illegal. He told us point blank that it would not happen. When our coordinator called the Baby House to ask if we could do this, she was told yes. Praise God!! When our translator and coordinator were in the car with us telling us that it wouldn't happen, both Warren and I were telling them that we had prayed to God and that we knew that He would make it happen. Talk about a testimony to God's faithfulness!!!!

The next day, we were to go to the Baby House to meet the girls, and that was the day that I got Kidney stones. I was not going to let them beat me, but I'll tell you, I really wanted an epidural:O) lol!! We were really trying to get me better before 2 o'clock because that was the time to go to the Baby House. Our coordinator called and told them we couldn't make it and they said that was fine because they were really busy. It was only by the grace of God that they didn't get really mad. The director of the Baby House is really mean!!! They just said come tomorrow. We did and Alea was the first child that we met. We instantly knew she was ours, there was no doubt in our minds. We only had to wait almost a month to begin our bonding process with her.

Now God told us to stay and fight for her, but He didn't tell us how He was going to provide the finances to enable us to do this. But there was absolutely no doubt in our minds that God was telling us to stay.

On May 31st, the very day we met Alea, Stacy Segebarth, a friend and fellow adoptive Kaz mom, set up a blog titled http://www.helpbringaleahome.blogspot.com/ to help us raise the funds to help enable us to stay and to help pay bills for the extra month that Warren would be off of work. Through this blog, Stacy was able to raise $1,300 for our family from people that I have never even met!!!! Many of the families that I have met in cyberspace through this adoption sent out emails to all of their contacts telling them about our family and many of them pitched in to help us out. The most incredible and touching part about all of this is that I have never even laid eyes on Stacy or ever even talked to her on the phone!! Stacy, thank you so very much for your sacrifice of time and encouragement and prayers for my family!! I love you and am so very happy to call you family!! We really have to get all of our Kazakh princes and princesses together.

Stacy and another adoptive mom, Kim Prudhomme have started an organization called Two Hearts for Hope. Their goal is to raise awareness and collect donations for the orphans of Kazakhstan. They have a raffle every month and you can buy a ticket for just $5. Please check out their website at: http://www.twoheartsforhope.blogspot.com/ Obviously, their mission is very near and dear to my heart. They also have cookbooks for sale and a monthly donation list. Each month is dedicated to a specific donation like school supplies, winter coats, shoes etc.. Just click the link above to check them out, it will be well worth your time.

Another friend, Denice Gustafson, one of my best friends and big sister extraordinaire, emailed Our Creators Hope, an adoption grant agency set up to help unite children with their forever families. She had submitted an application for a grant on our behalf and we were awarded $1000!!!! Denice has sacrificed so very much for me. She's sacrificed many hours of prayer and tears and energy and brainpower when I had none left after all this paperwork:O) She and her husband Lance have given financially of themselves in so very many ways to us when they were still trying to recover from their own adoption of their Kazakh princess the year before. Just yesterday she went to my house to get Warren's passport because once again they needed some other paperwork over here that they forgot about. She scanned and sent and had to make it "more better" when it was already perfect. I love you so very much Denice and I'm so sad that you are moving away. I guess this just means that I need to make a trip to Wisconsin for cheese more often than I would have in the past:O) LOL!!! I could never have made it through this adoption without you:O) Thanks for being a true friend, I love you!!!

The other part of how we've been able to stay is through the prayers that all of you have lifted straight to the ears of God. Many friends and family and church family have prayed for us while we've been over here. I can honestly tell you that we have felt those prayers. I don't really know how I would have been able to make it without my kids for so long if it weren't by some act of God enabling them and I to have the grace to endure. That is 100% God's doing. Thank You, each and every one of you, for your prayers on our behalf!!!!

We have just been told that I will be required to stay an extra week due to a new law change. I asked if we couldn't just be grandfathered in since we were already here, but was told that it wasn't an option. Please be in prayer for us about this. The only opportunity for me to leave earlier will be by a miracle, but God has been with us so far and if it is His plan, He'll get us home early. No matter what the outcome, I know that He has been with me through all of this and He will carry me all the way home in His perfect timing. I just need to rest in Him, and that's the hard part:O) We're still trusting God to provide for all these delays and know that He hasn't let us down yet.

Ok, this was a forever long post. You know, if I would post more often, they might be a little shorter cause I'd have less to say:O) Anyway, I love you all and pray for blessings on each and every one of you!!

Lots of Love,
Jenn & Alea