Crazy Day Ahead

I know that I promised pictures, but I don't think that I'm going to have time to post them today. Next week, I will fill you in on all the details.

I have sorted, organized and priced almost everything! I have had some great helpers this week who have not only been a tremendous help, but who have made the week very fun!

Lots still to do today, but our reinforcements are coming - both of our parents and my sister! We are looking forward to a great day tomorrow. Please pray for us if you think of it.

Registration Re-do and the Yard Sale!!

UPDATE: Just got the following email from CHI:

Allison,

I'm pleased to tell you that your documents arrived this morning, they look great, and they are going out to St. Louis this afternoon along with your check. They will be checked again there and then sent to Moscow where they will be translated.

Praise the Lord!!

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Well, I've once again been a terrible blogger, but we've had a lot going on and I just truly didn't have the time or emotional energy to blog. I'll give you the brief run-down. Last Tuesday, CHI received the corrected letter from Lifeline, which was all we were waiting on. However, Grant (my consultant at CHI) informed me that Russia had just changed the requirements for registration documents (again!). So, this meant that we had to re-do several documents and add others that we had yet to do. Also, Lifeline had to re-do all of the documents that we needed from them, as well as add more items too.

Needless to say, we were very discouraged, frustrated, disheartened and stressed. I want to work as fast as I can to get all of this done, so that adds extra pressure and stress. It's also hard to juggle working with Lifeline, working with CHI, and our schedule to get it all done. But, after lots of hard work and coordinating, I was able to mail everything off yesterday. We tried Express Mail again (one more time), and I am happy to announce that our paperwork made it to Brentwood this morning! So, hopefully it will be at CHI soon, and I am really praying that nothing will be wrong so that it can finally go to the St. Louis office and then head to Russia. I am also praying that Russia won't change anything else in the meantime. It has been a long month with a lot of ups and downs, but hopefully we are very close to getting in the waiting line for our boy. I can't find the camera for the moment, but I'll post pictures later of my second trip to Montgomery to get the new set of documents apostilled.

In other news...the yard sale is SATURDAY!!!!!! Our house is a disaster!! We have gotten a lot of things, and we are so thankful for all that has been given. Because of all that happened last week, I was unable to work on organizing everything for Saturday. So, I'm a little overwhelmed right now and have lots to do! We are really excited, though. I think that it will be a very fun day. And the great news is that it looks like the weather is going to cooperate. This is what the weather service is saying today:

Saturday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 62.

Yeah - not only will it be sunny, but also not too cold! I am so thankful! Please pray that I'll be able to get everything done and also that the yard sale will be a HUGE success. I'm going to try and post a lot this week to document the process, so be looking for reports and pictures. I will also update when I hear from CHI.

Now With A Fancy Music Thingo

Hello dear friends,

Now you can listen to music thanks to my computer guru friend Heath who showed me how to do this. Just click the big play sign to the left and enjoy!

Zac

Package Arrived!!!!

Thanks everyone for your prayers! I am happy to report that all of our paperwork arrived safe and sound to Grant at CHI today!!!!!!!

I called the Montgomery post office today and spoke with their distribution manager. She looked up our tracking number and told me that it arrived in Nashville late last night and then arrived in Brentwood (its destination) early this morning. Around lunch-time I got an email from Grant telling me that he had our documents in hand! I am so very relieved! I was hoping so much that I wouldn't have to re-do all of them again. We've decided that what probably happened is that it got sent through regular mail - instead of Express mail. Needless to say - I'm going to request a refund! It's so frustrating when something doesn't work like it's supposed to, but I am just rejoicing that nothing is lost or got into the wrong hands! Thank you so much for praying.

Grant looked over our documents and they all look good except for one. Oh, well. CHI sent me a format for a document that Lifeline was to complete and the format had an error with some of the wording. I didn't know enough to catch it. So, I've emailed our social worker at Lifeline and hopefully she can send out the corrected version of this letter to CHI tomorrow and then Grant can finally mail everything to the main CHI office in St. Louis to have our documents translated. The good news is that as long as the new letter is back-dated, we can still use the same apostille that was on the original letter that is now incorrect. So, hopefully no extra trip to Montgomery for me!

I have a few pictures that I was going to post before everything happened with our package, so I guess I can post them now. They are cheesy, but we are trying to take pictures to document each step of this process for ourselves and for our son to see and enjoy one day.

Driving to Montgomery on Friday to have all our documents apostilled:


A picture of all of the documents that we sent with their apostilles on the front:


Here we are in-line at the Post Office - Little did we know how much of a scare that package would give us:


The Auburn Post Office where we mailed our first big set of paperwork:

Thanks for all of your prayers yesterday and today. They mean so much to us!

Prayer Request

I know that I have been a very bad blogger these days and have wanted to update for a while. Last week things were very busy with trying to get our documents ready to send off and Zac got a touch of the flu?/bad cold?, which I then came down with on Sunday. I was planning to fill you in on all the details of the past two weeks, but I'll save that for another time.

Please pray for our registration documents. We finally sent them off on Saturday. We mailed them via Express Mail through the USPS with a "scheduled" delivery of Monday by 3:00 pm.

Wouldn't you know...our package has yet to make it. After looking up our tracking number, the last place it arrived was a post office in Montgomery - all of our mail is routed through there - and it arrived there on Saturday. Nothing after that.

This package includes almost ALL original documents (that have been notarized and taken to Montgomery to be certified), a personal check of a considerable amount, and LOTS of personal information. Please pray that it is found soon.

I called the post office and they are filing a missing report through the Express Mail office. They will call when they know something, but who knows when that will be. Our contact at Children's Hope knows what has happened and will keep me informed if they receive anything.

We are very worried and upset and hoping so much that it turns up tomorrow. Please pray that we hear something soon. I will update when I know more.

Gazing Out from Sorrow's Shore

I wrote this a few months back at a time when daily, it seemed, we would find out more couples we knew were pregnant. And while happy for them, it was difficult for us. It hurt, and though our adoption had begun, it was still heartbreaking that things seemed so easy for the many, and our journey seemed so treacherous. I hesitate to share it, but I hope many will find encouragement by it.

zac

Gazing Out From Sorrow’s Shore

I stood and swayed in the church pew, shifting my weight from one foot to the other. Mimicking what I wished I could do in that moment, run away. The words marched loudly. I stood silent, allowing my heart to be trampled by their depth. Tears streamed down my face. I closed my eyes and it was then I began to feel the sand between my toes.

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul...

A dear friend once told me about the author of this hymn, and the events that would inspire it. And in that gut-wrenching moment, between those church pews, as I watched the multitude raise their hands with smiling faces, I began to wonder if Allison and I were the only ones standing on sorrow’s shore…

Horatio G. Spafford was a lawyer who, along with his family, lived in Chicago in the late 1800’s. He was wealthy, having invested heavily in Chicago real estate along the shores of Lake Michigan. In the early months of 1871 he lost his only son to scarlet fever, but that was a small taste of what would come. On October 8^th, 1871 the great Chicago fire wiped out his real estate and almost everything he owned. He and his wife Anna would spend the next two years assisting and ministering to the homeless, needy, and grief-stricken as they attempted to recover.

In 1873, at their friend D.L. Moody’s urging, they were to travel to England. First, Horatio, his wife, and four daughters would aide Moody and Ira Sankey in an evangelistic crusade then the family would enjoy a vacation throughout Europe. The ship was set to sail and at the last minute Horatio was delayed by business and chose to let his wife and daughters sail ahead of him, promising to catch up with them in a few days.

Their ship, the S.S. Ville Du Havre, never made it. On the night of November 22, 1873, in the waters near Newfoundland, the ship which carried Horatio Spafford’s most precious cargo, his family, collided with the Lochearn an English iron sailing vessel.

Mrs. Spafford was found clinging to a floating piece of wreckage, one of 47 survivors, out of 273 passengers aboard. Her daughters did not survive. She telegrammed her husband and the words simply read “saved alone – what shall I do?”

Horatio immediately boarded a ship to be near his wife. And as his ship sailed near the place of the tragic accident and his children’s grave, the ships captain pointed it out to him. Horatio returned to his cabin and began to pen the words to the hymn we now sing; It Is Well With My Soul.

As broken as I was in that church pew that day, I was afforded the luxurious gift of my dear wife’s hand to hold… standing in the sand… amid sorrow’s ceaseless billows.

Were it not for one thing, this mournful beach would surely consume us. Were it not for Him… We would surely lie desperate and broken until we drew our last breath of bitter salty air…

… But if you can stand to lift your eyes and fix them on the horizon, you shall clearly see a Glorious sight breaking forth under the Eastern sky… It is the Man of Sorrow Himself, King Jesus, standing on the silvery shores of the City of God. And the raging torrent on sorrow’s shore will not dare assail you in the mighty presence of the Master of the Seas.

And with each passing day that lengthy span of cold dark water grows narrower in width, until at the last of this life you will step over it as a shallow pool and be quickened into Glory, and The One who has drawn you to His side will greet you at eternal rest with His embrace. Praise The Name of Jesus.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

My sin, oh, the pleasure of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

I dare not visit another shore, though they be sunny, happy, and comfortable. From such places Christ is scarcely seen, and in this moment, at this time, I cannot afford a more distant look than the glorious One I’ve found gazing out from sorrow’s shore…

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.

-Zachary Boman

Isaiah 53

1 Who has believed our message?
And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?

2 For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot,
And like a root out of parched ground;
He has no stately form or majesty
That we should look upon Him,
Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.

3 He was despised and forsaken of men,
A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
And like one from whom men hide their face
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

4 Surely our griefs He Himself bore,
And our sorrows He carried;
Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten of God, and afflicted.

5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,
And by His scourging we are healed.

6 All of us like sheep have gone astray,
Each of us has turned to his own way;
But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all
To fall on Him.

7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
Yet He did not open His mouth;
Like a lamb that is led to slaughter,
And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers,
So He did not open His mouth.

8 By oppression and judgment He was taken away;
And as for His generation, who considered
That He was cut off out of the land of the living
For the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due?

9 His grave was assigned with wicked men,
Yet He was with a rich man in His death,
Because He had done no violence,
Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.

10 But the LORD was pleased
To crush Him, putting Him to grief;
If He would render Himself as a guilt offering,
He will see His offspring,
He will prolong His days,
And the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand.

11 As a result of the anguish of His soul,
He will see it and be satisfied;
By His knowledge the Righteous One,
My Servant, will justify the many,
As He will bear their iniquities.

12 Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great,
And He will divide the booty with the strong;
Because He poured out Himself to death,
And was numbered with the transgressors;
Yet He Himself bore the sin of many,
And interceded for the transgressors.

1 Peter 2

²¹ For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, ²² WHO COMMITTED NO SIN, NOR WAS ANY DECEIT FOUND IN HIS MOUTH; ²³and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously; ²⁴ and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. ²⁵For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to The Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.