Gracie Turns One and Grammy & Papa Boots Visit

We came into the new year expecting a bit of quiet. We hoped to slow down...chill a little after the hubbub of the holidays.... yeah, that didn't happen. Many unexpected adventures were about to make their appearance in our lives.

First, Gracie's re-adoption took place in early Jan. There is a previous post regarding this with pictures. But it was a special day because Gracie became 100% officially a Foote and her name was changed from her Ethiopian name: Tsegaynesh to Aria-Lu Grace Foote ("Gracie").

Second, the earthquake in Haiti. On January 12 the lives of millions of Haitians were tragically interrupted. Little did we know that God would make the tragedy of that earthquake very personal to us. I cannot share most of the details at this time, but we have been on the faith journey of a life time regarding one specific orphan in Haiti. When we can, we will tell you the whole story. For now, just know that a 6 year old orphan girl (and thousands of others) in Haiti needs your prayers tonight. Also, see my previous post on some action you can take to support pre-quake orphans in need of families.

Our first event in the new year was a revival in Tucumcari, NM. It was truly the middle of nowhere...but there in the middle of nowhere was God. We met some of the most amazing people during that revival. I truly expect God to transform Tucumcari by the work He is doing in just the handful of lives by which we were personally impacted. Below is a picture of Billy and I on the famous Route 66. There were murals like this one all over the town.

Though it is really hard to believe - Gracie turned one this month - Jan. 22, 2010. We decided to make her birthday party part of our weekly house church meeting on the week of Billy's parents' visit. We gathered our family, church body and a few close friends and celebrated Gracie's miraculous life and gave praise to God for the amazing work He has done in her. Our first picture of Gracie was of her in pajamas with Eric Carle's "Hungry Caterpillar" on the front. So, in honor of that special theme written on her life we made her first birthday party into "a beautiful butterfly" theme - for indeed, she has blossomed into a very healthy butterfly!

BC and Winky were so sweet to drive down and join us for the special occasion. Below are pictures of their visit and Gracie's first birthday party:

We stopped in Wimberly at a dude ranch that Winky used to visit on vacation with her family as a young girl.

Then we had lunch at a fabulous place called "The Leaning Pear"

Libby LOVES to show our picture books to anyone who will give the time. Grammy was given the personal "photo tour".

The gift table at Gracie's party.

Fifi and Sha (what Libby calls them!) - A precious couple in our house church came early to help prepare the rice (Iranian style - YUM!)

Me and the birthday girl.

Love this picture of Gracie and Winky. Gracie is holding up her dress with the most delicate hands and lifted pinkie finger. What an angel!

Who can resist that smile?.... NO ONE!

Those sweet delicate hands again.

I adore this picture! Libby, of course, insisted on wearing her "power girl" shirt to the party. I have to wash it almost every day.... This picture says a whole lot about the complete opposites these two are. Love 'em both sooooo much!

Winky with the prettiest Chicken you ever saw... haha! Chicken = Katie... again, a nickname given by Libby.

Billy and Libby with Grammy, Gracie and Papa Boots

The sweet, proud grandparents of the birthday girl.

Maliah and Libby

The XTI dorm girls helped get the party started.

Gracie playing peek-a-boo from under a table.

Worship at house church.

Gracie and her cake!

Family photo.

Having fun at Mi Tierra's!

Dresses we found at the market. The girls will be so cute in these on the beach this May!

Grammy and Papa Boots bought Libby her first real cowgirl hat. She is the cutest Chinese cowgirl I've ever seen.

We helped Gracie open her gifts the day after the party. Here you can see the card and gift card sent to Gracie from Aunt Wendy, Uncle Robbie and Brooke.

One of many precious outfits Gracie received. This one is from BC and Winky.

The Graham family went in together to purchase Gracie's first "everywhere chair". Her name is monogramed on it too.

A special gift from Grammy. Each of Grammy's granddaughters has this special toy.

And then there was my birthday... the big 35... and my father-in-law sweetly reminded me on this card that I'm halfway to 70!

My gift from BC and Winky... CLINIQUE! Yeah!!!!

Also - don't have a picture of it, but my parents helped me purchase a Shark Steam Mop... love it!

The eating of birthday cake continued for a couple of days... and so did the wearing of the cowgirl hat. In fact - the later still continues.

Help Us Spread the Word!!!!

Friends,

I am behind... WAY behind on posting to this blog. I am going to update very soon, but for now I need to inform you of an opportunity to advocate and support the orphans of Haiti. This is an urgent matter for the lives of many orphans so please read on and then ACT, SHARE, and PRAY!

As many of you have seen on the news, the impact of the Haiti earthquake on orphans has been devastating. And now... there are more orphans in Haiti than ever. Immediately after the earthquake both the US and the Haitian governments were open to bringing orphans into the US via humanitarian parole. But then UNICEF stepped in. UNICEF has money which = power and apparently they also have an agenda that is 1. PRO-CHOICE and 2. AGAINST international adoption. Over and over again I have watched UNICEF representatives on CNN and other news state their view that children are best kept in their own culture and that though it seems like there are a lot of orphans, most of them will be absorbed back into their communities and orphanages. UNICEF's calm and seemingly intellectual approach is everything but. While they calmly state that adoption is not the answer, children lay behind them with barely any clothes, looking underfed as they swat away flies and cry. You tell me - if Haiti could not take care of the 380,000 orphans that were there BEFORE the earthquake, then how in the WORLD are they going to handle the thousands of orphans created by the earthquake. It's insanity... no CRUELTY... to not offer at least some of these orphans a hope and a future. They may not get to keep all their culture (though, as an adoptive parent of one child from China and another from Ethiopia and I attest to the fact that we encourage the learning and experience of those cultures in our daughter's lives) they may get to keep their LIVES!!!! If only we do something now before it is too late. Orphanages are now overcrowded with new orphans and the Child Welfare Act that states that children should not be adoptable for 2 years after a tragedy like this earthquake (in order to make sure families have time to step forward and reunite with their children) is holding hostage those orphans whose parents relinquished their rights before the earthquake. Just because they were not matched to a family before the earthquake they are being held back for 2 years from being adoptable under the Child Welfare Act and this simply is not logical.

So here is the good news: Rep. Hoekstra recently introduced legislation H.R. 4603 (the HOPE Act) to Congress which addresses some of the Haitian orphans that were not previously covered by Humanitarian Parole Policy as of Jan. 18. Remember, that for the last few weeks the only orphans allowed to come to the US were those who were matched to families BEFORE the earthquake and all other children fell under the Child Welfare Act keeping them stuck in Haiti even if their parents legally relinquished their rights to the child/children before the earthquake. But The HOPE Act addresses those Haitian orphans that were not covered by the DHS policy exemption by: Having DHS create a ³third category² to expand their humanitarian parole policy on a case-by-case basis for Haitian children who were legally confirmed as orphans eligible for intercountry adoption prior to the earthquake on January 12, 2010. If a suitable family is not found to provide care for a Haitian orphan, under the HOPE Act they would be eligible for placement in the Unaccompanied Refugee Minor Program. This legislation is aimed at helping those Haitian orphans that are eligible for intercounty adoption but did not yet have a prospective family at the time of the earthquake.

Here is a link to where you can read about this Hope Act for yourself: http://chrisitianallianceblog.org/?p=433?a1657b90

To help this Act pass through PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE look up (you can google it) your local Senators and Congressmen and email them (or call in) your approval of this H.R. 4603 Hope Act!!! Please take a little time to do this and then share this information with EVERYONE you know. And after that - pray! Pray for God to move mountains for these orphans that have no voice without ours. This is the time for the church to rise up and BE the change!

Thank you!
Cindy

Orphans in Haiti... A complicated issue

Orphans in Haiti
A complicated problem… Here is my random list of thoughts/questions... I don't have the answers, but I just need to get this onto "paper" so I can put my thoughts together in one visual place.

The situation with Haiti's orphans is so complicated, but something HAS to be done... Trying to wrap my head around a ridiculous CNN interview I just watched in which the lady said that adoption is not the answer and that many of the kids will be absorbed back into the community... What does that mean??? They need families!!! There were 380,000 orphans BEFORE the quake... so many more now... And don't tell me the Haitian PM is highly concerned about trafficking... if he was really concerned about that it wouldn't have been such a huge problem in that country before the quake... There is a stronghold here that no one is confronting.

Do I think adoption is the only answer... NO. Do I think the adoption process is even possible right now... NO. Due to the quake, Haiti doesn't even have a government capable of the organization, paperwork, and checks and balances it takes to process adoptions by normal procedures. It will take a loooooooong time for such structure to be put back in place... But time is what these orphans DON'T HAVE! They are scared, hungry, refusing shelter out of their fear of another aftershock. I'm not implying that Haiti can't take care of their own. No, it was a fact before the earthquake that they had 380,000 orphans. The lady in the CNN interview said that nannies are loving on these kids and the community is taking them in... really??? And that's enough???? Why does it seem that we are changing into a generation that is not pro-family. Why is it that the difference in the color of our skin or our nationality seems to be enough reason for Haiti's Prime Minister to deny orphans the shelter, love, care, and real family that we can offer here in the States - or in any other country with families longing to help through adoption?

I don't think a kid needs to have all the toys, food, big rooms, tvs, etc that American children often have. I'm not looking at this as "oh, those poor Haitian kids need to have more entertainment, more clothes, more toys." I am just saying we should be allowed to "rescue the perishing, care for the dying"!!!! and "set the lonely in families".

At the tower of Babel all the people spoke the same language and understood one another. One thing they had was unity. But they sinned in their pride and arrogance and God broke that unity by giving everyone different languages -sending people across the globe, isolated and unable to communicate. Our sin got us to that point. And so we live in an earthly manner divided by nationalities, borders, etc. But in the Spiritual realm there is but one King and one Kingdom. The reason my multi-cultural family "works" is because God ordained us to be family before the foundations of the world. We are a picture of His Kingdom - multicultural and full of love for one another and our similarities and differences.

Haitian authorities have got a lot to consider. I wouldn't want to be the person deciding what child is free to go and what child is not.... But let's just say Haiti takes a look at the adoption agencies around the world who have had legitimate adoption programs with Haiti for the last 5 years. There would several, if not many. And let's say Haiti chose to let 15,000 children who were already orphaned BEFORE the earthquake, be released to these agencies who could then - with appropriate background checks/home studies/etc. place those orphans into families.... Even then - it would only be 15,000.... That's not even a dent in the number of orphans there were before this disaster. But that would be 15,000 lives saved and given hope. Adoption is vital in the endeavor to saving the lives of the Haitian orphans. But it is not the only answer simply because it would be impossible for the vast number of orphans in Haiti to all be adopted. So - what are the other answers??? I don't know. But let's start somewhere. Emergency visas for the young children orphaned before the quake seems like a good place to start.

Today I learned that several Haitian children already matched to families in the US still have not been released to come here. The Haitian PM told them today that even if he signed the papers, he would only be releasing the children to go into Child Services in Florida.... WHAT??? That is crazy. The families have been matched to these kids after great investigation into the parents' ability to care, love and provide for these children. Many of these parents have even traveled to Haiti more than once to visit their children... And now the Haitian PM can declare that even if he releases the children they won't go to the homes chosen for them yet? There is something really wrong going on here. My stomach is in knots over it.

I am saying - no declaring - May those standing in the way of families being united be found guilty in the eyes of the Lord and be shamed for their evil ways. And may those whose hearts are FOR the orphans find themselves in places of favor and decision making so they can make a positive impact on the lives of as many orphans as possible.

It is time to pray, friends. There is a stronghold over these orphans that must be broken by the cries of God's people before it is too late.

I have more to say. I have more to ask. But I'll stop here for now....

Christmas Day and Gracie's Re-adoption Day

Christmas day photos and Gracie's Re-adoption photos tell the story well enough. Christmas was WONDERFUL! And having Gracie's re-adoption done is a relief. She is now officially Aria-Lu Grace Foote and will be receiving a TX birth certificate soon. Don't have time to tell all the details for now... just enjoy the pics....