March Update

Ok-What have the Bixlers done toward their adoption the last 3 and a half months? Great question…it seems like very little but in reality it has been a lot. A LOT OF PAPERWORK. I mentioned in my first post that we were waiting for approval from immigration and that was the last piece of paperwork. We got it!! Praise the Lord!! It was really exciting to finally receive our last stamp of approval from the American side. However, that kicked off a process where Matthew and I have to submit and receive official state seals on every document we have completed thus far which includes:

Homestudy

Psychological Evaluations

Background checks

Medical Evaluations

Birth Certificates

Marriage license

Employment Verifications

FBI Background Checks

Letters of approval from HOLT

Official Applications

Letters of motivation and Commitment

Immigration approval

And I am sure I have forgotten a few. This involves multiple states and A LOT of trips to the mailroom. In fact, most of the people in the mailroom know Matthew by name and they joke about all our complicated orders 🙂 As of right now, we are waiting on our last two papers to receive state seals and then our agency will send our document package to Colombia.

So what happens after that? Well…more waiting J When our paperwork is officially in country I will provide another update because I will be given more specifics.

 I heard a friend once say that international adoption is similar to being pregnant but without a due date or ultra sounds. You are feeling the mental and physical strain of pregnancy but you have no idea what the child looks like or when it will actually happen.

This process can seem very tedious but I am so thankful that it is the month of March. Bear with me as I digress… March is a month of remembering God’s faithfulness in our family. Our son was born March 1 2012 after 9 months of an extremely traumatic pregnancy/delivery where both of our lives were hanging in the balance multiple times and yet God chose to sustain us. Three years later, on March 25, our daughter was born after a semi similar pregnancy. However, she made it to 39 weeks, her delivery was very smooth, and we thought we were in the clear. Unfortunately, 18 hours after her birth I passed out which began what seemed like 24 hours of chaos. When I woke up from blacking out I needed a blood transfusion immediately because my body could not keep up with the blood loss, Aivlynn had basically stopped breathing and was rushed to the NICU (where she would recover after a week), Matthew received a job that would move our family to Texas within weeks, and Matthew’s Grandmother passed away.

As I think about March 2019, the tediousness of paperwork can be seen as joy when I know we are being obedient the Lord’s calling to care for orphans. I have carried three children that the Lord has graciously allowed to live and I have lost a child. I am so thankful I get to celebrate the life of two of my sweet kiddos as we prepare to add a 4^th. The Lord has shown us he is faithful over and over in sustaining and growing our family and we can trust him to do it again.

Ways to pray for us:

1.       That we would continue to see and seek the Lord in this time of waiting.

2.       That we would continue to be obedient to what he has called us to and not be easily discouraged.

3.       That we would continue to learn Spanish as a family and continue to talk about the implications of adoption with our kiddos