We are settling into a routine here, which has been good for all of us, especially Maggie. She does best when she knows what's coming next. Don't we all?? :) She has been sleeping good - usually 11 hours a night, and takes an afternoon nap of 1-2 hours, so we are happy with the sleep portion of her adjustment! One downside is that she has become VERY picky about what she eats - not sure if that may have something to do with all these new options? She will eat any kind of fruit, except bananas (which was a staple in her diet in Uganda - go figure), and her other "go-to's" are yogurt, applesauce, peanut butter and pancakes. Protein and vegetables are NOT high on her list and we usually have to bribe with one of the above to get her to eat any.
One thing that's been fascinating for us to see is that this girl is FULL of personality. Which totally wears her mama out. :) As Hamza would say, "oh my lawd!" She is SO anxious to learn, repeats most of what we say, talks all the time (even if we can't understand her), counts to 20, sings the ABCs, missing the "QRSTUV," knows about 6 colors, laughs and laughs and laughs, makes jokes by mixing up our names on purpose, loves to dance, laughs some more, tickles her brothers, jumps on the furniture, attempts gymnastics moves, talks and waves to people on TV, talks to people on the phone, tries wearing ALL her jewelry at once, loves shoes, yells at Murphy constantly . . . and just totally has LIFE coming out her pores!! Can't believe the energy/entertainment/exhaustion she has brought to our family. :)
Meanwhile, I can't stop thinking about the kids left in the orphanage. I keep asking God, "why just one?" And all manner of questions bother me: Why couldn't we bring all of them back here and find them homes? Or at least 2 or 3 more? Why is it so hard for people to adopt? Why was Maggie given a family and the others haven't been? With every doctor or dentist visit, with every hug and kiss we give her, with every good meal she eats, with every goodnight, tucking her into bed, with every bonding moment, I think of those faces at her orphanage. I believe they may haunt me forever. They were just as precious as she is, and yet they still sit there, lonely, forgotten, and just a number in a crowd. She's been sick the past 24 hours, running a fever, and all she wants to do is cuddle on our laps and sleep. What do the kids in the orphanage do when they have a fever? Does anyone take their temperature and give them medicine? (From what I've seen, I doubt it.) Who cuddles the sick kids and gives them undivided attention?
I know, now more than ever, that God's plans are perfect and that He holds each one of those kids in His hands. And I know I will never get answers to my questions - but I'm trying to sort out how to deal with them. Do I pray that I could forget? I don't think so. But I find my heart heavy, and I find myself feeling guilty that I'm relieved to be home, to be back in America, to be out of Uganda. There are so many people in that country who are desperate to get out, to come here, to escape the hard life they face daily there.
All I can come up with at this point is to try and honor God with what He's blessed me with and bring up this little girl with a knowledge of the amazing things her Lord has done for her. And trust that HE will take care of the rest.
Saturday, November 16, 2013
Sunday, November 3, 2013
Two Weeks Home . . .
And things haven't calmed down yet! After the entire family welcomed us home, my sister and her family left the next day, and my mom moved in for the next few days to help me get on my feet again. Shortly after she left, Mark's mom and dad came for 5 days, and just in the nick of time, as I got sick.
Nice timing.
As if coming home wasn't hard enough.
Why don't moms of very. busy. toddlers. get an exemption from illness?? I was knocked flat and yet had to drag myself to our travel doctor so I could be tested for all manner of African and exotic illnesses. :) Thankfully, all tests came back negative, and I just needed to GET THROUGH IT. Feeling better, but I can tell my body is still fighting. I think the stress of the trip and the exhaustion incurred on the way home took it's toll and my body said DONE.
And speaking of doctors, Maggie had her very thorough physical, and passed with flying colors. Her doctor was very impressed (shocked, even) with how healthy she is and how well taken care of she was. We are so thankful. She does have giardia, but the thought is that she's likely had it since she was a baby. So we're doing a 10 day course of treatment, which she hates, but takes it like a sport.
She has been busy charming the pants off everyone she meets - which is so fun for us to see. She definitely is NOT a wallflower - this little girl has a *huge* personality. Very outgoing, entertaining and a total crack-up. We are constantly amazed by what she knows and what she catches on to (and how fast). She repeats everything we say, so we have learned to be quite careful - funny how some seemingly harmless things we say sound a lot worse coming out of the mouth of a child.
The downside? She hates dogs. HATES. DOGS. We have two. Do we see the problem here?
We brought home our littler one - a cavalier who is 20 pounds and is the most kind and gentle-hearted dog ever (Murphy). Initially, Maggie acted like he was Satan himself. She's improved from that - will now at least be in the same room as him, but climbs us like trees if Murphy gets too close. Her preference is being anywhere off the ground if he's around.
Meanwhile, our golden retriever, Tucker, is at a friend's house until we see some progress in her fear of dogs. We dropped off some dog food for him today (while they weren't home) and saw him through a window in their garage and, ohhh - that was not a good plan . It broke our hearts, and he looked at us like "WHAT is going on here?" Kindof wishing I hadn't seen him - I was doing ok until then. Just praying he'll get to come home soon!
And so we continue our adjustment, and constantly wonder what Maggie is thinking. She seems to be adapting so well, but we know there are times when she is processing, and we desperately wish we knew what goes on in that precious little head. I for one look at her and am constantly in awe of God and how He pulled this family together. How He plucked her out of a hopeless, desperate situation and placed her in a huge family who adores her. Which is a beautiful reminder of exactly what He does for us - plucks us out of our lost and hopeless situations and adopts us as His own. Utterly amazing.
"See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!" 1 John 1:3
Nice timing.
As if coming home wasn't hard enough.
Why don't moms of very. busy. toddlers. get an exemption from illness?? I was knocked flat and yet had to drag myself to our travel doctor so I could be tested for all manner of African and exotic illnesses. :) Thankfully, all tests came back negative, and I just needed to GET THROUGH IT. Feeling better, but I can tell my body is still fighting. I think the stress of the trip and the exhaustion incurred on the way home took it's toll and my body said DONE.
And speaking of doctors, Maggie had her very thorough physical, and passed with flying colors. Her doctor was very impressed (shocked, even) with how healthy she is and how well taken care of she was. We are so thankful. She does have giardia, but the thought is that she's likely had it since she was a baby. So we're doing a 10 day course of treatment, which she hates, but takes it like a sport.
She has been busy charming the pants off everyone she meets - which is so fun for us to see. She definitely is NOT a wallflower - this little girl has a *huge* personality. Very outgoing, entertaining and a total crack-up. We are constantly amazed by what she knows and what she catches on to (and how fast). She repeats everything we say, so we have learned to be quite careful - funny how some seemingly harmless things we say sound a lot worse coming out of the mouth of a child.
The downside? She hates dogs. HATES. DOGS. We have two. Do we see the problem here?
We brought home our littler one - a cavalier who is 20 pounds and is the most kind and gentle-hearted dog ever (Murphy). Initially, Maggie acted like he was Satan himself. She's improved from that - will now at least be in the same room as him, but climbs us like trees if Murphy gets too close. Her preference is being anywhere off the ground if he's around.
Meanwhile, our golden retriever, Tucker, is at a friend's house until we see some progress in her fear of dogs. We dropped off some dog food for him today (while they weren't home) and saw him through a window in their garage and, ohhh - that was not a good plan . It broke our hearts, and he looked at us like "WHAT is going on here?" Kindof wishing I hadn't seen him - I was doing ok until then. Just praying he'll get to come home soon!
And so we continue our adjustment, and constantly wonder what Maggie is thinking. She seems to be adapting so well, but we know there are times when she is processing, and we desperately wish we knew what goes on in that precious little head. I for one look at her and am constantly in awe of God and how He pulled this family together. How He plucked her out of a hopeless, desperate situation and placed her in a huge family who adores her. Which is a beautiful reminder of exactly what He does for us - plucks us out of our lost and hopeless situations and adopts us as His own. Utterly amazing.
"See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!" 1 John 1:3
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Coming home
One of the most glorious days ever was the day we left Uganda. I know that doesn't sound very "nice" about our daughter's home country, but I'm just being real. This trip was not fun. It was grueling. It took YEARS off our lives. I know people want to hear that we just loved Uganda and were enchanted by the place, but sorry. Not our experience. We were SO READY to come home. That said, though, leaving came with some tough goodbyes. One being to our precious maid, Shamim, who was a joy to talk with everyday and treated us like family. Her twin sister and her parents were killed in a war in northern Uganda when she was NINE. Can you even imagine? A relative took her in and raised her, so she had a special heart for adoption and was so excited for all of us, especially Maggie.
And Hamza, our driver - although he was so much more than a driver to us. He became our family and will always hold an incredibly special place in our hearts. He took care of us, prayed for us, taught us the language and the culture (could not BELIEVE Mark didn't present my family with a cow when we got engaged!), made us laugh our heads off and loved us. We will never forget that it was during his prayer for us (while we were in the embassy) that God nudged him to call for our law firm to bring Maggie's father. He played a big role in bringing Maggie home, and it broke our hearts when we learned he doesn't have email or Facebook or any way to stay in touch with us. So we parted ways at the airport with huge hugs and Mark and I cried like babies saying goodbye, but at least we know we'll see him again in the presence of Jesus. And oh how we'll laugh together again.
And then our sweet friends from Tennessee. A friendship born of our adoption journeys. It is amazing to us how God brought us both to Uganda, during the exact same dates and we are all so similar. Mark and Leighton have the same job, and Mary Craig and I are kindred spirits. We have opinions - lots of them - that are totally united. :) I believe God knew exactly who we each needed to finish this process with, and I pray that this was just the beginning of a long and special friendship.
So, leaving the country also brought one more hurdle. Immigration at the airport. People, there is NO END to the insanity in this country. Mr. Immigration Officer thought he needed to pick apart the facts of our case and started asking questions. It took everything I had left in me to not jump across the counter and smack the guy. But after his little interrogation he allowed us to go, making the comment that if we were taking Maggie, then he was going to keep one of our boys. His attempt at being funny. We were not amused.
And then we started counting MINUTES until our plane would leave, feeling like at any moment, some official would come and stop us for whatever reason. Such an AWESOME feeling to be in the air, flying away with Maggie safely between us.
She was not feeling the relief/freedom/excitement, however. All she cared about was the stupid seat belt and how it was RESTRICTING HER MOVEMENT and was determined to let the entire plane know about it. Flying = NOT HER THING. Mark and I were totally beat after hour one. And we had about 38 hours left. Our itinerary?
Uganda to Ethiopia - 2 hours.
Layover of an hour and a half.
Ethiopia to Rome - 5.5 hours.
Gas stop of an hour and a half (couldn't get off the plane).
Rome to Washington DC - 9.5 hours.
Get processed through customs - MUCH more pleasant experience in this country - WOW. Can hear "Proud to be an American" playing in my mind.
Layover of 5 hours, in which Maggie consumes her first Starbucks. CAN. NOT. TELL. YOU. how unbelievable that tasted after 2+ weeks. Liquid gold, people.
Washington DC to Denver - 3.5 hours.
Layover in Denver of 1.5 hours.
Denver to Rapid City - 1 hour. In which Maggie threw up all over her "coming home" outfit. Turns out her stomach didn't appreciate the tiny turbo-prop plane bouncing around - can't say I blame her.
Walked off the plane in Rapid City and I fell apart. In front of family, friends AND a professional photographer waiting for us. Oy vey. One of my finer moments, captured in megapixels to be treasured always.
I had reached my breaking point. Coming off that plane, after everything we'd been through to bring us to this point, was overwhelming to say the least.
Thankfully, I wasn't the only one. Many tears were shed. There were some beautiful moments, watching our family and friends meet Maggie, touch her and hear her, after their hundreds of prayers for her. Having a front row seat to prayers being answered is a powerful thing.
So we stood in the airport and laughed and hugged and cried and hugged some more, and then moved the party to McDonalds.
Yes, McDonalds.
The boys' request. :) And after everything we have been through, the boys get pretty much anything they want these days. (This will be short-lived, rest assured).
Then we came home to more surprises - a re-stocked refrigerator, meals in the freezer, a clean house, clean sheets, flowers, balloons, a beautiful banner welcoming Maggie home, and people willing to allow us to fall into their arms and just be cared for. It was like Jesus was here welcoming us home Himself.
So we've been home a little over 48 hours and things are going as well as can be expected. Maggie loved her room - my sweet family even filled her room with pictures of her with us, her with her friends at the orphanage and she was taken by all of it. She seems to have made herself at home and we are attempting to settle into a routine. One thing we've discovered is she LOVES puzzles. And shoes. And fruit. And copying everything we say. Reminded of how careful we have to be when we heard her saying "idiot." Ooops.
And so I will continue to record Maggie's adjustment to home, to us, to American life here on this blog. Thankfully, (hopefully?) the stories will not be as crazy or adventurous - however, we are 100% convinced that God has big plans for this little girl, considering this story so far, and so we will try to shepherd her story well. It is our prayer that you have -and will- see HIM in our experiences and her life. And we pray that someday, she will fully understand how deep and how wide and how vast her Father's love for her is. He's not through yet!
And Hamza, our driver - although he was so much more than a driver to us. He became our family and will always hold an incredibly special place in our hearts. He took care of us, prayed for us, taught us the language and the culture (could not BELIEVE Mark didn't present my family with a cow when we got engaged!), made us laugh our heads off and loved us. We will never forget that it was during his prayer for us (while we were in the embassy) that God nudged him to call for our law firm to bring Maggie's father. He played a big role in bringing Maggie home, and it broke our hearts when we learned he doesn't have email or Facebook or any way to stay in touch with us. So we parted ways at the airport with huge hugs and Mark and I cried like babies saying goodbye, but at least we know we'll see him again in the presence of Jesus. And oh how we'll laugh together again.
So, leaving the country also brought one more hurdle. Immigration at the airport. People, there is NO END to the insanity in this country. Mr. Immigration Officer thought he needed to pick apart the facts of our case and started asking questions. It took everything I had left in me to not jump across the counter and smack the guy. But after his little interrogation he allowed us to go, making the comment that if we were taking Maggie, then he was going to keep one of our boys. His attempt at being funny. We were not amused.
And then we started counting MINUTES until our plane would leave, feeling like at any moment, some official would come and stop us for whatever reason. Such an AWESOME feeling to be in the air, flying away with Maggie safely between us.
She was not feeling the relief/freedom/excitement, however. All she cared about was the stupid seat belt and how it was RESTRICTING HER MOVEMENT and was determined to let the entire plane know about it. Flying = NOT HER THING. Mark and I were totally beat after hour one. And we had about 38 hours left. Our itinerary?
Uganda to Ethiopia - 2 hours.
Layover of an hour and a half.
Ethiopia to Rome - 5.5 hours.
Gas stop of an hour and a half (couldn't get off the plane).
Rome to Washington DC - 9.5 hours.
Get processed through customs - MUCH more pleasant experience in this country - WOW. Can hear "Proud to be an American" playing in my mind.
Layover of 5 hours, in which Maggie consumes her first Starbucks. CAN. NOT. TELL. YOU. how unbelievable that tasted after 2+ weeks. Liquid gold, people.
Washington DC to Denver - 3.5 hours.
Layover in Denver of 1.5 hours.
Denver to Rapid City - 1 hour. In which Maggie threw up all over her "coming home" outfit. Turns out her stomach didn't appreciate the tiny turbo-prop plane bouncing around - can't say I blame her.
Walked off the plane in Rapid City and I fell apart. In front of family, friends AND a professional photographer waiting for us. Oy vey. One of my finer moments, captured in megapixels to be treasured always.
I had reached my breaking point. Coming off that plane, after everything we'd been through to bring us to this point, was overwhelming to say the least.
Thankfully, I wasn't the only one. Many tears were shed. There were some beautiful moments, watching our family and friends meet Maggie, touch her and hear her, after their hundreds of prayers for her. Having a front row seat to prayers being answered is a powerful thing.
So we stood in the airport and laughed and hugged and cried and hugged some more, and then moved the party to McDonalds.
Yes, McDonalds.
The boys' request. :) And after everything we have been through, the boys get pretty much anything they want these days. (This will be short-lived, rest assured).
Then we came home to more surprises - a re-stocked refrigerator, meals in the freezer, a clean house, clean sheets, flowers, balloons, a beautiful banner welcoming Maggie home, and people willing to allow us to fall into their arms and just be cared for. It was like Jesus was here welcoming us home Himself.
So we've been home a little over 48 hours and things are going as well as can be expected. Maggie loved her room - my sweet family even filled her room with pictures of her with us, her with her friends at the orphanage and she was taken by all of it. She seems to have made herself at home and we are attempting to settle into a routine. One thing we've discovered is she LOVES puzzles. And shoes. And fruit. And copying everything we say. Reminded of how careful we have to be when we heard her saying "idiot." Ooops.
And so I will continue to record Maggie's adjustment to home, to us, to American life here on this blog. Thankfully, (hopefully?) the stories will not be as crazy or adventurous - however, we are 100% convinced that God has big plans for this little girl, considering this story so far, and so we will try to shepherd her story well. It is our prayer that you have -and will- see HIM in our experiences and her life. And we pray that someday, she will fully understand how deep and how wide and how vast her Father's love for her is. He's not through yet!
Friday, October 18, 2013
Days 9 - 10
Thought I'd better post something since I didn't yesterday - it was a "down" day for us, which was nice.
It's amazing how much recovery time we need after each of these adventures.
We've decided we've aged at least 10 years on this trip. Uff da. :) And Jack
and Noah have probably aged at least 5. They are amazing - a couple times Noah
has talked us down out of a tree about one thing or another - he can be so
level-headed and clear at times when we are not. And we are watching Jack grow
into a man each day - it's amazing and horrifying to me all at the same time.
His hands are huge, we can see the bone structure in his face changing and now
Mark was pointing out the hair above his lip (!!) . . . and it's very obvious
his voice is changing. It tears at my heart!! And speaking of hearts, God is
doing something serious in his and I hope I live to see the day when it plays
out - this boy has a HEART for Uganda and the people here. It's something we
can't even relate to, to be honest. He told us tonight he's sad about leaving. ?!?!? And Mark and I are
counting MINUTES, people. MINUTES.
So yesterday was HAIR day for Maggie! Our maid, Shamim, who has become a friend to us, hooked us up with her hair gal, who came to the hotel to do Maggie's hair. She arrived at 10 a.m., after traveling TWO HOURS to get here! She left home at 8 a.m. and had to walk quite a ways to get to a boda boda, who brought her the rest of the way. Then it took an hour and 45 minutes to do Maggie's hair (I have video - can't wait to show you - her hands seriously moved so fast you could hardly see them). Guess what she charged us? $16. Is that insane or what?? We paid her much more than that because that seemed ridiculous to us. She was thrilled. And Maggie was too - we could tell she felt pretty special. She was a CHAMP - sat there perfectly the whole time without ever fussing or fidgeting once. I think she's been trained. So this new 'do should last about 3 weeks - then I need to figure out what to do next! Ha!
Today we went into town - our last day with Hamza (aside from him driving us to the airport) - we had to drop off gifts at the law firm, get passport pictures of US for the airport (yes, ridiculous), then go to the embassy to pick up Maggie's visa, and then went shopping at an African craft market with our friends from TN. Thankfully the embassy stop was quick - Mark was nervous about it because everyone here is on crazy high alert over this terrorist stuff. Evidently Uganda has been put on notice that they are next, so security measures everywhere have gone into overdrive. CAN'T WAIT TO GET OUT OF HERE. Anyway, the kids and I all stayed in the car with Hamza down the street, while Mark went in and it only took him 10 minutes.
Then we got to shop. However, not so fun with a 2 year old! Who has never shopped! And she is a shopper! She wanted to check out EVERYTHING. I would have loved to have spent hours there, but it wasn't possible. We found some fun stuff - and Jack and Noah very carefully picked stuff out for their buddies (with their own money!), which was really cute.
I also posted many pictures today on the photo site https://5happycampers.shutterfly.com/pictures - you need to check them out and see Maggie's hair! Oh and Jack wanted me to fill you in about his bedtime adventure - he walked over into their room to brush his teeth and we could hear him making these horrible noises - - he comes back looking FREAKED out and said there was a cockroach in their room. Mark ran in with his shoes and killed it, but oh. my. word. people - it was huge. First one we've seen here - this place is so clean and so well kept, so we were kind of surprised. ICK. Not sure if the boys will sleep tonight much. :( Jack searched the whole room, top to bottom, with a flashlight, so we're hoping that's the last one we see. One thing we see a LOT of are tiny lizards (not in our room - outside) - they hang on the walls and ceilings outside, and they are CUTE. Seriously! Anywhere from 1-4 inches long and fast as the speed of light. I also saw a bigger one at the pool one day - more like 8-10 inches long and BEAUTIFUL blue.
Ok that's it for now - except prayer requests!
1) Pray that we get through airport immigration with NO DRAMA. That they won't even blink an eye at us!
2) Pray for our safety until we get out of here - we're watching our embassy warnings and not going near any likely targets, but prayers wouldn't hurt.
3) Pray we can ALL get some decent sleep on the plane - especially the 17 hour flight.
So yesterday was HAIR day for Maggie! Our maid, Shamim, who has become a friend to us, hooked us up with her hair gal, who came to the hotel to do Maggie's hair. She arrived at 10 a.m., after traveling TWO HOURS to get here! She left home at 8 a.m. and had to walk quite a ways to get to a boda boda, who brought her the rest of the way. Then it took an hour and 45 minutes to do Maggie's hair (I have video - can't wait to show you - her hands seriously moved so fast you could hardly see them). Guess what she charged us? $16. Is that insane or what?? We paid her much more than that because that seemed ridiculous to us. She was thrilled. And Maggie was too - we could tell she felt pretty special. She was a CHAMP - sat there perfectly the whole time without ever fussing or fidgeting once. I think she's been trained. So this new 'do should last about 3 weeks - then I need to figure out what to do next! Ha!
Today we went into town - our last day with Hamza (aside from him driving us to the airport) - we had to drop off gifts at the law firm, get passport pictures of US for the airport (yes, ridiculous), then go to the embassy to pick up Maggie's visa, and then went shopping at an African craft market with our friends from TN. Thankfully the embassy stop was quick - Mark was nervous about it because everyone here is on crazy high alert over this terrorist stuff. Evidently Uganda has been put on notice that they are next, so security measures everywhere have gone into overdrive. CAN'T WAIT TO GET OUT OF HERE. Anyway, the kids and I all stayed in the car with Hamza down the street, while Mark went in and it only took him 10 minutes.
Then we got to shop. However, not so fun with a 2 year old! Who has never shopped! And she is a shopper! She wanted to check out EVERYTHING. I would have loved to have spent hours there, but it wasn't possible. We found some fun stuff - and Jack and Noah very carefully picked stuff out for their buddies (with their own money!), which was really cute.
I also posted many pictures today on the photo site https://5happycampers.shutterfly.com/pictures - you need to check them out and see Maggie's hair! Oh and Jack wanted me to fill you in about his bedtime adventure - he walked over into their room to brush his teeth and we could hear him making these horrible noises - - he comes back looking FREAKED out and said there was a cockroach in their room. Mark ran in with his shoes and killed it, but oh. my. word. people - it was huge. First one we've seen here - this place is so clean and so well kept, so we were kind of surprised. ICK. Not sure if the boys will sleep tonight much. :( Jack searched the whole room, top to bottom, with a flashlight, so we're hoping that's the last one we see. One thing we see a LOT of are tiny lizards (not in our room - outside) - they hang on the walls and ceilings outside, and they are CUTE. Seriously! Anywhere from 1-4 inches long and fast as the speed of light. I also saw a bigger one at the pool one day - more like 8-10 inches long and BEAUTIFUL blue.
Ok that's it for now - except prayer requests!
1) Pray that we get through airport immigration with NO DRAMA. That they won't even blink an eye at us!
2) Pray for our safety until we get out of here - we're watching our embassy warnings and not going near any likely targets, but prayers wouldn't hurt.
3) Pray we can ALL get some decent sleep on the plane - especially the 17 hour flight.
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Day 8 - the craziest yet
Ok so I sat down to type this update and told Mark
that no one is even going to believe this stuff anymore. Seriously.
We have experienced and witnessed the absolute craziest things over
here! So are you ready for today? It's a doozy . . .
We left the hotel at 6:00 a.m. to get to the IOM clinic before it opened. We got in and out of there, no problems - they even took us back first! Maggie is 30 pounds, had a negative TB test, and checked out fine. Thank you God!
So we head directly to the embassy. On the way, however, Hamza was a little slow getting moving from a stopped position in traffic, so he got pulled over. ?!? Dumb. And then the cop took his license away. We got swept up in the moving traffic, so Hamza then had to find somewhere to stop and park and WALK back through traffic to find the cop who had his license. Uggh. It's total insanity here, people.
We get to the embassy aka Fort Knox. Good grief they have that place locked down - it's rather intimidating. The point of this initial visit was to: 1) hand in all our paperwork, and 2) request our visa interview. We immediately had problems. The enormous online form I’d spent I-don’t-know-how-much-time on yesterday didn’t load to their system (yes, it has to be done online) so we were told we needed to re-do it with a new case number. And Hajji’s (Maggie’s father) consent and affidavit were photocopies – they needed originals – AND they needed a consent in his native language. ?? New requirement. They can change the rules at any point in the game, and to say it’s unnerving is an understatement. The good news was that the official told us we could get an interview TODAY at 2:30 p.m. if we could produce the above-referenced documents and get the online thing done again – by 12:30. It was 10:30 a.m.
So we tear out of there and tracked down an internet café – which was a shack about 16x10, crowded and hot. I sit there with all my documents and managed to pluck it all out in record time. Next stop: our law firm, where they were to be tracking down the “originals.” Upon arrival, we learned they didn’t have the consent in Hajji’s native language, so they drafted one quick, and sent Hashim (remember, the passport guy?) to track Hajji down to sign it. By the time we got there, Hashim was back, consent signed in Lugandan. They managed to pull all that off in 45 minutes – we were stunned.
Back to the embassy we went, 3 original documents in our hot fists. Mark “ran” them into the embassy (it took almost an hour) while we waited in the car and ROASTED. Mark gets back to the car and says there’s trouble on the horizon, because they warned him they may want to see Hajji in person anyway. Fabulous.
So I sent our attorney a text, and told her someone should at least warn Hajji that he may be needed this afternoon.
Then we grabbed “lunch” at a gas station – ha – which consisted of milk and peanuts for Maggie, chips and pop for Mark and the boys and water and a protein bar for me. You can’t just grab safe food here – there are select few restaurants we would trust in the whole city, let alone in the neighborhood we were in.
And then back to the embassy for the 3rd time today. Mark and I both had pits in our stomachs and were very anxious, so Hamza promised us he would sit outside and wait for us and “play” (pray). J We head in and see our TN friends just as they go in for their interview. They come out 20 min later, all smiles – they get their visa on Friday. Ok, that helps.
We get called in. The first questions are about our tax returns – yes, we can support this child. Then she asks about Maggie’s background. I report it as I know it, and it isn’t more than 3 minutes in when things get ugly. She sees discrepancies. (Okay – this is Uganda – you are not EVER going to find 4-5 witnesses who are all going to say the same thing – it just isn’t possible). She starts firing off questions we have no idea how to answer (i.e. why was Maggie taken to that particular orphanage? Describe her parents’ marriage – describe their divorce) ??? REALLY? We have NO IDEA! MANY total left-field questions that were unanswerable – and the worst part is she was enjoying this interrogation. I have to pause here and tell you how disheartening it was to be on American soil, and be treated like criminals. We expected this to be an oasis, a place of support from fellow Americans – ha – NOT. Then she grills us about why we chose Uganda to adopt from. She was extraordinarily suspicious and we could see we were in trouble. She informed us that with such a “complicated” case like this, she needed to see the father and question him – and then would determine what the “next steps” would be. ?!?!? She asked us to bring him back tomorrow at 2:30.
I’m biting my cheek, holding back tears as I turn around and go out to the waiting room, making a beeline for the door before I cry. The guard at the door starts motioning at us to turn around.
We turn around and THERE SITS HAJJI.
No, seriously. Sitting in the waiting room.
I had no idea how or why he was there but I wanted to hug the man. (But I didn’t).
Mary, one of the social workers at the law firm, brought him. We run back into the interview room and tell Ms. Visa Nazi that HE’S HERE! She arranges for an interpreter and brings him in.
We head outside for some fresh air while he’s questioned. During that time, Mary sits with us and tells us some very interesting things. Evidently Hajji is still celebrating the Muslim holiday that occurred yesterday – in his sect, it’s 3 days. So when asked to come to the embassy, he had told them no. Mary – I love this girl – said “Ok. You don’t have to come. But when the Roisums get denied their visa, we are bringing Maggie directly to YOU, not back to the orphanage. She’s your responsibility.” He told her “ok, let’s go.” She also told us his history of being not very cooperative and playing fast and loose with the truth, so we were not optimistic about what was going on in the interview room.
He came out after ½ an hour. We were called back in, and the gal wouldn’t even make eye contact with us. Said Hajji’s testimony was concerning because it didn’t match some of his other statements and she had “serious concerns” about this case. Whatever.
But she decided to grant our visa application anyway. We can pick up Maggie’s visa on Friday at noon and we are FREE TO LEAVE.
There were tears.
We all headed outside and took some pictures – with Maggie’s father – because we decided it may be important to her later on in life. Then he went on his way, and it was the strangest thing for me to watch this man walk away from his child.
Here’s the kicker, though – once in the car, we told Hamza the story, and told him we had no idea why Mary brought Hajji to the embassy. He told us he was sitting in his car praying for us, as he promised he would, and had the notion he should call our attorney (Alice) and tell her they should bring Hajji. !!! Oh yes he did. He called Alice, and – get this – she told him that Mary already had Hajji at the office, and she would send them immediately. !!!
IS OUR GOD AMAZING OR WHAT???
There seriously aren’t words to describe what it’s like to see something like this play out right before us. HE MOVES MOUNTAINS, PEOPLE – and not just one – SEVERAL.
I’m sure some of you are thinking – well aren’t you concerned that the embassy was concerned about your case?
No. We aren’t.
God has made it absolutely crystal clear to us that this little girl belongs in our family, and we are indeed comfortable with the facts of her case. Yes there are minor discrepancies but THIS IS A 3RD WORLD COUNTRY for crying out loud, and none of the questions change the fact that this little girl is an orphan and has sat in an orphanage for a year and a half.
People, our agency told us this remaining 3-step process would take weeks. We finished it in 6 business days. This is UNHEARD of. People here are in shock. Our God is SOVEREIGN and FAITHFUL. We all know Him now in ways we never thought possible. This has been a long, tough journey – but oh, to have a front-row seat to the workings of the Almighty God is a spectacular thing.
So we are COMING HOME. Hopefully this weekend but that will depend on available flights. We received a warning from the Embassy today about a terrorist threat to Uganda similar to what happened in Kenya, so we are feeling the urgency. And I may just kiss American soil once we’re on it again!
There aren’t words to thank you all for praying – I hope you can see answers to your prayers in all these crazy stories. HE HEARD. HE ANSWERED. HE IS GOOD!
We left the hotel at 6:00 a.m. to get to the IOM clinic before it opened. We got in and out of there, no problems - they even took us back first! Maggie is 30 pounds, had a negative TB test, and checked out fine. Thank you God!
So we head directly to the embassy. On the way, however, Hamza was a little slow getting moving from a stopped position in traffic, so he got pulled over. ?!? Dumb. And then the cop took his license away. We got swept up in the moving traffic, so Hamza then had to find somewhere to stop and park and WALK back through traffic to find the cop who had his license. Uggh. It's total insanity here, people.
We get to the embassy aka Fort Knox. Good grief they have that place locked down - it's rather intimidating. The point of this initial visit was to: 1) hand in all our paperwork, and 2) request our visa interview. We immediately had problems. The enormous online form I’d spent I-don’t-know-how-much-time on yesterday didn’t load to their system (yes, it has to be done online) so we were told we needed to re-do it with a new case number. And Hajji’s (Maggie’s father) consent and affidavit were photocopies – they needed originals – AND they needed a consent in his native language. ?? New requirement. They can change the rules at any point in the game, and to say it’s unnerving is an understatement. The good news was that the official told us we could get an interview TODAY at 2:30 p.m. if we could produce the above-referenced documents and get the online thing done again – by 12:30. It was 10:30 a.m.
So we tear out of there and tracked down an internet café – which was a shack about 16x10, crowded and hot. I sit there with all my documents and managed to pluck it all out in record time. Next stop: our law firm, where they were to be tracking down the “originals.” Upon arrival, we learned they didn’t have the consent in Hajji’s native language, so they drafted one quick, and sent Hashim (remember, the passport guy?) to track Hajji down to sign it. By the time we got there, Hashim was back, consent signed in Lugandan. They managed to pull all that off in 45 minutes – we were stunned.
Back to the embassy we went, 3 original documents in our hot fists. Mark “ran” them into the embassy (it took almost an hour) while we waited in the car and ROASTED. Mark gets back to the car and says there’s trouble on the horizon, because they warned him they may want to see Hajji in person anyway. Fabulous.
So I sent our attorney a text, and told her someone should at least warn Hajji that he may be needed this afternoon.
Then we grabbed “lunch” at a gas station – ha – which consisted of milk and peanuts for Maggie, chips and pop for Mark and the boys and water and a protein bar for me. You can’t just grab safe food here – there are select few restaurants we would trust in the whole city, let alone in the neighborhood we were in.
And then back to the embassy for the 3rd time today. Mark and I both had pits in our stomachs and were very anxious, so Hamza promised us he would sit outside and wait for us and “play” (pray). J We head in and see our TN friends just as they go in for their interview. They come out 20 min later, all smiles – they get their visa on Friday. Ok, that helps.
We get called in. The first questions are about our tax returns – yes, we can support this child. Then she asks about Maggie’s background. I report it as I know it, and it isn’t more than 3 minutes in when things get ugly. She sees discrepancies. (Okay – this is Uganda – you are not EVER going to find 4-5 witnesses who are all going to say the same thing – it just isn’t possible). She starts firing off questions we have no idea how to answer (i.e. why was Maggie taken to that particular orphanage? Describe her parents’ marriage – describe their divorce) ??? REALLY? We have NO IDEA! MANY total left-field questions that were unanswerable – and the worst part is she was enjoying this interrogation. I have to pause here and tell you how disheartening it was to be on American soil, and be treated like criminals. We expected this to be an oasis, a place of support from fellow Americans – ha – NOT. Then she grills us about why we chose Uganda to adopt from. She was extraordinarily suspicious and we could see we were in trouble. She informed us that with such a “complicated” case like this, she needed to see the father and question him – and then would determine what the “next steps” would be. ?!?!? She asked us to bring him back tomorrow at 2:30.
I’m biting my cheek, holding back tears as I turn around and go out to the waiting room, making a beeline for the door before I cry. The guard at the door starts motioning at us to turn around.
We turn around and THERE SITS HAJJI.
No, seriously. Sitting in the waiting room.
I had no idea how or why he was there but I wanted to hug the man. (But I didn’t).
Mary, one of the social workers at the law firm, brought him. We run back into the interview room and tell Ms. Visa Nazi that HE’S HERE! She arranges for an interpreter and brings him in.
We head outside for some fresh air while he’s questioned. During that time, Mary sits with us and tells us some very interesting things. Evidently Hajji is still celebrating the Muslim holiday that occurred yesterday – in his sect, it’s 3 days. So when asked to come to the embassy, he had told them no. Mary – I love this girl – said “Ok. You don’t have to come. But when the Roisums get denied their visa, we are bringing Maggie directly to YOU, not back to the orphanage. She’s your responsibility.” He told her “ok, let’s go.” She also told us his history of being not very cooperative and playing fast and loose with the truth, so we were not optimistic about what was going on in the interview room.
He came out after ½ an hour. We were called back in, and the gal wouldn’t even make eye contact with us. Said Hajji’s testimony was concerning because it didn’t match some of his other statements and she had “serious concerns” about this case. Whatever.
But she decided to grant our visa application anyway. We can pick up Maggie’s visa on Friday at noon and we are FREE TO LEAVE.
There were tears.
We all headed outside and took some pictures – with Maggie’s father – because we decided it may be important to her later on in life. Then he went on his way, and it was the strangest thing for me to watch this man walk away from his child.
Here’s the kicker, though – once in the car, we told Hamza the story, and told him we had no idea why Mary brought Hajji to the embassy. He told us he was sitting in his car praying for us, as he promised he would, and had the notion he should call our attorney (Alice) and tell her they should bring Hajji. !!! Oh yes he did. He called Alice, and – get this – she told him that Mary already had Hajji at the office, and she would send them immediately. !!!
IS OUR GOD AMAZING OR WHAT???
There seriously aren’t words to describe what it’s like to see something like this play out right before us. HE MOVES MOUNTAINS, PEOPLE – and not just one – SEVERAL.
I’m sure some of you are thinking – well aren’t you concerned that the embassy was concerned about your case?
No. We aren’t.
God has made it absolutely crystal clear to us that this little girl belongs in our family, and we are indeed comfortable with the facts of her case. Yes there are minor discrepancies but THIS IS A 3RD WORLD COUNTRY for crying out loud, and none of the questions change the fact that this little girl is an orphan and has sat in an orphanage for a year and a half.
People, our agency told us this remaining 3-step process would take weeks. We finished it in 6 business days. This is UNHEARD of. People here are in shock. Our God is SOVEREIGN and FAITHFUL. We all know Him now in ways we never thought possible. This has been a long, tough journey – but oh, to have a front-row seat to the workings of the Almighty God is a spectacular thing.
So we are COMING HOME. Hopefully this weekend but that will depend on available flights. We received a warning from the Embassy today about a terrorist threat to Uganda similar to what happened in Kenya, so we are feeling the urgency. And I may just kiss American soil once we’re on it again!
There aren’t words to thank you all for praying – I hope you can see answers to your prayers in all these crazy stories. HE HEARD. HE ANSWERED. HE IS GOOD!
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Day 7
We are having a quiet day around here, which we needed after yesterday, and in preparation for
whatever awaits us tomorrow!
Maggie's had a great day so far - no major fits, so we are happy and
thankful for that. She finally got into her Color Wonder markers and thinks
they're fascinating, so that's kept her busy, which is helpful. We all tend to
get a little stir-crazy here, her included. I worked on embassy paperwork most
of the morning, the kids all played well, we spent some time outside with our TN
friends and now Maggie's been having a good nap. That's about it!
What we REALLY, REALLY, desperately need, though, is a great deal of prayer for tomorrow. Starting now! I'm having major anxiety, and Mark is having a fair amount as well, about what we'll encounter next - mainly at the embassy. It seems we are never prepared for whatever curveballs come our way, and we are weary of being bowled over time and again. We don't anticipate problems in finishing up at the IOM clinic in the morning, but pray that it goes smoothly anyway! As for the embassy, pray that:
1) We have all the correct documents, and they are completed correctly;
2) That they WON'T ASK FOR WITNESSES. This one is big. If they ask for Hajji to appear in person, that could turn into a nightmare (getting him to come, and when, etc.).
3) And then for the "big ask" - that we could have our visa interview tomorrow afternoon! That would be AMAZING.
We are obviously praying too - but probably not as thoughtfully, thoroughly or eloquently as those of you who are more "removed" from the situation. :) The only reason we are surviving this is GOD, and His providence, and we believe He listens and answers.
Thank you so much for all you are doing, and have already done for us - this is such a group effort, it amazes me. We couldn't do this without all of you!!
I will update tomorrow as soon as I am able.
What we REALLY, REALLY, desperately need, though, is a great deal of prayer for tomorrow. Starting now! I'm having major anxiety, and Mark is having a fair amount as well, about what we'll encounter next - mainly at the embassy. It seems we are never prepared for whatever curveballs come our way, and we are weary of being bowled over time and again. We don't anticipate problems in finishing up at the IOM clinic in the morning, but pray that it goes smoothly anyway! As for the embassy, pray that:
1) We have all the correct documents, and they are completed correctly;
2) That they WON'T ASK FOR WITNESSES. This one is big. If they ask for Hajji to appear in person, that could turn into a nightmare (getting him to come, and when, etc.).
3) And then for the "big ask" - that we could have our visa interview tomorrow afternoon! That would be AMAZING.
We are obviously praying too - but probably not as thoughtfully, thoroughly or eloquently as those of you who are more "removed" from the situation. :) The only reason we are surviving this is GOD, and His providence, and we believe He listens and answers.
Thank you so much for all you are doing, and have already done for us - this is such a group effort, it amazes me. We couldn't do this without all of you!!
I will update tomorrow as soon as I am able.
Monday, October 14, 2013
Day 6
We are EXHAUSTED, but saw a
miracle take place today -
seriously - and I think that's the only reason we're still functioning. So here
goes (grab a cup of coffee - this gets long because I want Maggie to know all of
it someday):
We leave the hotel at 6 a.m. to beat traffic - even then, it takes an hour and 15 min to get to our attorney's office. Upon arrival there, the receptionist informs us that the IOM clinic likely isn't open today because it's Columbus Day. ?!?! We said our understanding is that it's a Ugandan-run clinic? Yes, she said, but they observe both US and Ugandan holidays. Oh. Well isn't that nice? Good for them. We decide we're going to check it out anyway, and head over there with Stella, the social worker with the firm.
We arrive, and good news - they're open! Happy dance. Stella goes to the desk and chats for a while, then comes back and says we have a problem. My heart hit the floor. When someone says that in Uganda, it's usually a BIG problem. The normal procedure is for families to come in, pay their fee, hand over their paperwork, get their file started and then come back the next business day for their appointment. We were hoping for an exception - that we could be seen TODAY. They see children only on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Tomorrow is a Ugandan holiday (Muslim - something to do with the moon phase), so they are closed. Next business day for children is Friday. Oh, but guess what - the doctors are in training that day. So we can't get an appointment until next Monday. At which point they have to administer a TB test (which is fluid inserted under the skin and you wait for a reaction for 48-72 hours), so we wouldn't be finished with the IOM until a week from Wed. - - except they don't see children on Wed., so who knows when the test can get read and be finished.
I ask if we can go talk to the reception/scheduling guy. Stella says Mark can, but I should stay put. (Cultural thing - you know, a woman's place).
So Mark goes and pleads our case with the guy but he's not hearing it - there is a procedure in place, this is policy, yada yada yada.
Mark comes back looking like he'd been punched in the gut.
And this is where Mark flips out. He looks at Stella (and this isn't her fault) and says "Well, I'm leaving."
?!?! Say what?
I'm thinking "YOU'RE leaving? And the rest of us . . .?" But he told me afterwards he meant "us." I hope so. :)
She looks back at him like he's crazy and then he tells me he needs some air and leaves the building.
My head is spinning at this point and I can't even comprehend what this means. I do a fast calculation and it appears like we'll be stuck here for another two weeks, minimum.
Mark comes back (thank GOD!) and says we're changing our tickets and going home tonight or tomorrow, and Stella can finish up the medical process for us and we'll come back in a month or so and do the embassy stuff. Stella says "ok." (What else can she say at this point? She could tell Mark was on the verge).
So there's our plan.
But first we have to sit and wait to pay the fee and get our appointment time for next week.
So we sit for an hour, and finally get to pay our fee. The gal at the "fee desk" tells us to go back and wait, and we'll be called again to receive our appointment time.
So we sit for another hour.
All the while, thinking "Really, God? How can this be? Why did you give us Maggie's passport in 2 days - RECORD time? Wasn't there a reason for that? This doesn't make sense!"
And all the while with Mark rattling on endlessly to Stella about everything that's wrong with Uganda. Seriously said some things he shouldn't have. But she found him funny, and she was fine with his tirade, thankfully.
The waiting room empties, and it's just us and a couple other people left.
A nurse, who has walked back and forth past us numerous times in the past 2 hours, approaches me and kindly says "Did you have an appointment?"
I tell her no, we've paid our fee, but are waiting for our appointment time, and isn't there any way we could please possibly be squeezed in today?
She says, well, let me see what I can do - and immediately grabs a doctor walking by. Explains to that doctor that we've paid our fee, and could we have our exam? The doctor (witch) says "No. We are finished here today. You come back next Monday." And leaves. (It's 10:15 a.m.)
The nurse then goes over to the appointment desk and talks to Mr. Procedure, but he won't budge - yammers on about the TB test and the scheduling just doesn't work, etc.
The nurse then finds another doctor, explains the situation to her - - an angel in disguise - finally, someone who had a heart.
They devise a plan in which we have Maggie's TB test administered right now, and then read at her exam appointment on Wednesday.
Wait a minute - what? Wednesday?
Yes, we'll make an exception for you - you bring her in at 7:30 and we'll check her out quick.
If I wasn't concerned about the cultural aspects of public displays of affection, I would have hit the floor and kissed their feet.
Mark grabbed the nurse and hugged her.
She was thrilled she was able to help us, and proceeded to apologize for the inconvenience this morning.
COULD. NOT. BELIEVE. IT.
And oh, you should have seen Stella's face - remember, she's done this with several families. She looked like she'd seen a ghost.
As we walked Maggie back to the lab, once again I felt like I was living someone else's life - a few minutes ago, we were talking about coming home, and yet here we were - the waters had been parted again.
The nurse gave us her name - Michelle - and told us to ask for her when we get there on Wednesday.
We just may use her name for Maggie's middle name. :)
As we walk out into the parking lot, Stella, still looking shocked, looks at us and says "that was A MIRACLE! They made a special exception for YOU!" I think she was stunned for several minutes. As were we - so strange, being completely overwhelmed at what in the world to do next, and then having God step in and solve it. Love having the front row seat to His hand at work, but oh my, the highs and lows - and the vast space between them - are exhausting.
And so we are watching this little spot on Maggie's arm, praying it doesn't react and get bigger (no, I have no idea what happens if it's positive). After we're done at the IOM place on Wednesday, we'll head straight over to the embassy to have them look over our paperwork, and hopefully schedule our visa interview.
Our victory this morning was followed by a tough afternoon with Maggie - thinking she got overtired (she was up at 5:00), didn't like to get poked with a needle, and really didn't like it that Jack and Noah went swimming (she saw them in their suits) and she didn't get to (can't get her arm wet). The combination of all those really set her off (even AFTER her nap) and by the end of the day, Mark and I were taking shifts off and on to clear (and cool) our heads. This evening, she was delightful again. ?? We braced ourselves at bedtime, but she only fussed for about 1 minute and that was the end of it. Thank you, Jesus!
So I need some sleep! I know I have one round of photos I haven't posted yet - haven't had the time, and the internet is not good most of the time. Will try to post them tomorrow.
Prayer requests:
- No more difficulties at the IOM clinic - that we could be in and out quickly, with no hiccups.
- That the embassy interview could be scheduled quickly and that they would NOT ask for any witnesses (we realize this isn't likely, but it doesn't hurt to pray about it).
- Peace and calm for Maggie and whatever she's experiencing in her mind. Patience for the rest of us.
We leave the hotel at 6 a.m. to beat traffic - even then, it takes an hour and 15 min to get to our attorney's office. Upon arrival there, the receptionist informs us that the IOM clinic likely isn't open today because it's Columbus Day. ?!?! We said our understanding is that it's a Ugandan-run clinic? Yes, she said, but they observe both US and Ugandan holidays. Oh. Well isn't that nice? Good for them. We decide we're going to check it out anyway, and head over there with Stella, the social worker with the firm.
We arrive, and good news - they're open! Happy dance. Stella goes to the desk and chats for a while, then comes back and says we have a problem. My heart hit the floor. When someone says that in Uganda, it's usually a BIG problem. The normal procedure is for families to come in, pay their fee, hand over their paperwork, get their file started and then come back the next business day for their appointment. We were hoping for an exception - that we could be seen TODAY. They see children only on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Tomorrow is a Ugandan holiday (Muslim - something to do with the moon phase), so they are closed. Next business day for children is Friday. Oh, but guess what - the doctors are in training that day. So we can't get an appointment until next Monday. At which point they have to administer a TB test (which is fluid inserted under the skin and you wait for a reaction for 48-72 hours), so we wouldn't be finished with the IOM until a week from Wed. - - except they don't see children on Wed., so who knows when the test can get read and be finished.
I ask if we can go talk to the reception/scheduling guy. Stella says Mark can, but I should stay put. (Cultural thing - you know, a woman's place).
So Mark goes and pleads our case with the guy but he's not hearing it - there is a procedure in place, this is policy, yada yada yada.
Mark comes back looking like he'd been punched in the gut.
And this is where Mark flips out. He looks at Stella (and this isn't her fault) and says "Well, I'm leaving."
?!?! Say what?
I'm thinking "YOU'RE leaving? And the rest of us . . .?" But he told me afterwards he meant "us." I hope so. :)
She looks back at him like he's crazy and then he tells me he needs some air and leaves the building.
My head is spinning at this point and I can't even comprehend what this means. I do a fast calculation and it appears like we'll be stuck here for another two weeks, minimum.
Mark comes back (thank GOD!) and says we're changing our tickets and going home tonight or tomorrow, and Stella can finish up the medical process for us and we'll come back in a month or so and do the embassy stuff. Stella says "ok." (What else can she say at this point? She could tell Mark was on the verge).
So there's our plan.
But first we have to sit and wait to pay the fee and get our appointment time for next week.
So we sit for an hour, and finally get to pay our fee. The gal at the "fee desk" tells us to go back and wait, and we'll be called again to receive our appointment time.
So we sit for another hour.
All the while, thinking "Really, God? How can this be? Why did you give us Maggie's passport in 2 days - RECORD time? Wasn't there a reason for that? This doesn't make sense!"
And all the while with Mark rattling on endlessly to Stella about everything that's wrong with Uganda. Seriously said some things he shouldn't have. But she found him funny, and she was fine with his tirade, thankfully.
The waiting room empties, and it's just us and a couple other people left.
A nurse, who has walked back and forth past us numerous times in the past 2 hours, approaches me and kindly says "Did you have an appointment?"
I tell her no, we've paid our fee, but are waiting for our appointment time, and isn't there any way we could please possibly be squeezed in today?
She says, well, let me see what I can do - and immediately grabs a doctor walking by. Explains to that doctor that we've paid our fee, and could we have our exam? The doctor (witch) says "No. We are finished here today. You come back next Monday." And leaves. (It's 10:15 a.m.)
The nurse then goes over to the appointment desk and talks to Mr. Procedure, but he won't budge - yammers on about the TB test and the scheduling just doesn't work, etc.
The nurse then finds another doctor, explains the situation to her - - an angel in disguise - finally, someone who had a heart.
They devise a plan in which we have Maggie's TB test administered right now, and then read at her exam appointment on Wednesday.
Wait a minute - what? Wednesday?
Yes, we'll make an exception for you - you bring her in at 7:30 and we'll check her out quick.
If I wasn't concerned about the cultural aspects of public displays of affection, I would have hit the floor and kissed their feet.
Mark grabbed the nurse and hugged her.
She was thrilled she was able to help us, and proceeded to apologize for the inconvenience this morning.
COULD. NOT. BELIEVE. IT.
And oh, you should have seen Stella's face - remember, she's done this with several families. She looked like she'd seen a ghost.
As we walked Maggie back to the lab, once again I felt like I was living someone else's life - a few minutes ago, we were talking about coming home, and yet here we were - the waters had been parted again.
The nurse gave us her name - Michelle - and told us to ask for her when we get there on Wednesday.
We just may use her name for Maggie's middle name. :)
As we walk out into the parking lot, Stella, still looking shocked, looks at us and says "that was A MIRACLE! They made a special exception for YOU!" I think she was stunned for several minutes. As were we - so strange, being completely overwhelmed at what in the world to do next, and then having God step in and solve it. Love having the front row seat to His hand at work, but oh my, the highs and lows - and the vast space between them - are exhausting.
And so we are watching this little spot on Maggie's arm, praying it doesn't react and get bigger (no, I have no idea what happens if it's positive). After we're done at the IOM place on Wednesday, we'll head straight over to the embassy to have them look over our paperwork, and hopefully schedule our visa interview.
Our victory this morning was followed by a tough afternoon with Maggie - thinking she got overtired (she was up at 5:00), didn't like to get poked with a needle, and really didn't like it that Jack and Noah went swimming (she saw them in their suits) and she didn't get to (can't get her arm wet). The combination of all those really set her off (even AFTER her nap) and by the end of the day, Mark and I were taking shifts off and on to clear (and cool) our heads. This evening, she was delightful again. ?? We braced ourselves at bedtime, but she only fussed for about 1 minute and that was the end of it. Thank you, Jesus!
So I need some sleep! I know I have one round of photos I haven't posted yet - haven't had the time, and the internet is not good most of the time. Will try to post them tomorrow.
Prayer requests:
- No more difficulties at the IOM clinic - that we could be in and out quickly, with no hiccups.
- That the embassy interview could be scheduled quickly and that they would NOT ask for any witnesses (we realize this isn't likely, but it doesn't hurt to pray about it).
- Peace and calm for Maggie and whatever she's experiencing in her mind. Patience for the rest of us.
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