Ethiopia or India?

About a month ago Eric and I received a phone call from a lady named Lisa who had worked with Childrens Hope when we first started the adoption process. The conversation went like this...

Cheryl: Hello

Lisa: Hi, Cheryl this is Lisa I used to work at Children's Hope International.

Cheryl: (Feeling skeptical)and thinking why is she calling me, surely nothing else is going to go wrong! I said, Yes.

Lisa: She continued to talk about our process and how sorry she was for the frustrating things we have gone through up to this point and wanted us to know she thinks about us and is praying for our process.

Cheryl: Still feeling awkward, yes, its nice she is calling, but why now? We have moved past all of that chaos.

Lisa: I am also contacting you to let you know I have been praying for your family and felt it necessary to contact you about a "baby girl available in India".

Cheryl: Shocked!!!! I said O.K.....not sure what to say

Lisa: She was born pre-maturely so she is automatically considered special needs but I have been told that she is in good health and making good progress. I don't have anymore information then that.

Cheryl: OK! Still completely shocked and speechless...as you can tell I just kept saying OK, OK, OK.

Lisa: I am traveling to India next week and will be able to get medical information, photos and find out how old she is while I'm there. I can tell you are shocked and not sure how to respond, its not Ethiopia. I also want you to know if you feel your child is in Ethiopia thats where I want you to go. I just felt I needed to contact you and let you decide.

Cheryl: I explained how shocked I was and that this was something Eric and I would need to talk about and we would get back to her.

End of Conversation..........

After much thought Eric and I felt that we could not say no but tell her we were open to getting more information. Well today is that day.....Lisa and Becky (our caseworker) are coming tonight to bring us all the information and photos of this baby girl from India. I feel excited, nervous, sick, excited all at the same time. One thing we do feel strongly about is that God knows what child will be best for our family and maybe that means a baby from India or maybe not. I don't know!

My hope and prayer today is that after our meeting tonight we will have a clear answer of how to move forward. Please pray for us this afternoon and we will keep you posted.

Praying for a miracle!

This sweet baby girl is the niece of Eric and Tara Silvestri. Eric's sister and brother in law (Jenn and Filipe) are in the process of adopting her from Guatemala...the whole adoption process has taken twice, almost 3 times as long as it should have! As you can see from her precious face- she is the most perfect baby girl ever! They have fallen so deeply in love with her and yet for some reason the Lord is taking them through a time of waiting and patients. Jenn and Filipe were able to go visit Shiloh last month and spend a few days with her and of course it was such a special bonding time but it made them so eager to get her home and out of the orphanage....
Right now the Guatemalan government is trying to close all foreign adoptions...including those that are already in the process. This would leave so many sweet babies homeless and abandonded and so many loving families without the children they have longed for! This has caused quite an uproar and so it is begining to look like they will go ahead and allow the families who are alreay in the adoption process to finish and bring their children home, but it is still VERY scary and no one knows what will happen.

I am (Tara) writing this because we (our family and friends) have decided to spend all day this Wednesday in prayer and fasting for Shiloh and for the Lord to show them favor and bring that sweet girl home soon.
We are asking anyone who knows their family or who wants to petition God on behalf of this precious child and her family join us. If you have a blog or myspace please link to this post or cut and paste this request so that as many people as possible read this before Wednesday.If you want to pray with us please do so. If you would like you can leave a note on my blog or Jen's letting us know you are joining in or just write a note of encouragement for this family.Thank you so much for your thoughts and prayers!

Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!

Several months ago we were approached by many people in our congregation about how they could help with our adoption process. After lots of thought and feeling uneasy about asking for financial help they took it upon themselves and started planning fundraiser's for us. We have had lunches, an Auction and a bake sale. These fundraisers have brought in close to $6,000.00.....WOW!!!!! We have been truly humbled and so very grateful for all of you who have joined us on this journey. We feel a huge burden lifted as the financial fears no longer loom as heavy.

We know how very blessed we are. We know that we are not doing this alone. We are so excited to share with our new little one what an important role our church family played in making it possible to bring her home. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you. Those words fall so shamefully short to expressing our hearts. Yet we don't know how else to say it. So, thank you.

Trick or Treat

We had a great time trick or treating. We went to our friends neighborhood and scored more candy then we ever needed.

Blake was a Roman Soldier

Kaylin was Sacagwea...