PAPERS and Spiritual Warfare!!

"Praise God from whom all blessings flow..."

We are doing "praise dances" over in the Neely house because, after MUCH craziness, the original adoption papers FINALLY arrived at our house yesterday evening at about 5:45pm! Hallelujah! We are overwhelmed by the goodness of God.  I wanted to give the DHL lady a huge hug when I saw her. Haha! As soon as the truck pulled up, I yelled, "DHL is here!!!!" and ran to get my camera.  We all three met her at the door with camera in hand. I think she was very surprised, needless to say.

We were a *little* excited! :)

Getting the papers here was some kind of crazy. I finally just called it what I truly believe it was- spiritual warfare!  It would take much time to go through every detail, but to sum it up, first the package was delayed an entire day because of "clearance" (we are guessing it was because of the current political situation between the US and Guinea Bissau), then it was sent to the wrong facility, then they "lost" it (and let me tell you, at this point I had talked to about 7 different people at DHL and I finally "lost it!!"), we later found out it had gotten a new tracking number and it was never entered into the system, THEN after it was finally on the truck the driver couldn't find our address. UN-REAL. It took 8 days in all when it should have taken 3 or 4. I cleared my schedule day after day since this paperwork was irreplaceable and had to be signed for upon arrival. 8 days doesn't seem that long of a wait, but when we'd been waiting 6 months, we were so close, and were tracking the package every hour+, along with talking to a total of 12 DHL employees, I just about went crazy!!!!

I have to admit that I actually cried on the phone with a DHL supervisor (!) when they told me they could not locate my package. I asked to talk to the CEO, told them children's lives were at stake (a little dramatic, eh?), and said I was not getting off the phone until someone told me exactly where my package was. From now on, I know that fighting for your child (against the schemes of the Devil and more) will sometimes make you see a side of yourself that you didn't know existed!! Haha. Praise God He is a redeeming and gracious God!  DHL probably has my number tagged and draws straws for whoever has to answer my call!!

We have sent the papers off to be translated and once we get them back (5ish days), we will overnight a package to USCIS and email DHR. As soon as we're approved, we make an Embassy appointment and TRAVEL to get our babies!!!

A few prayer requests:

1) Please pray that the translator translates the papers correctly and in a timely manner.
2) Please pray that USCIS and DHR approve us without needing any further information.
3) Please pray that the plane ticket prices miraculously go down (as it will cost more than we expected due to summer time) or God provides in a different way.
4) It would be AMAZING if we could travel before June 12, as this is when our english speaking missionary contact is leaving the country.  We will definitely be cutting it close!
5) The current political situation between Guinea Bissau and the U.S. resolves (or at least calms down). This will, of course, help the safety of the people in Guinea Bissau, as well as possibly help our trip to be a bit less of a dangerous one. (We know God is always with us!!)
6) Please continue to pray for the hearts of Judah, Jewel, and us as we will meet soon. Pray He will prepare all of our hearts for such a huge change. Pray we will love each other with a selfless love.

Thank you so much for your support! We love you all.

By His Grace,

Kimberly

A Response to the Criticism of "The Christian Adoption and Orphan Care Movement"

I want to begin by saying I usually do not enter into debates as they tend to not end with.. how do I say it... much fruit. However, today, I was met with something I feel I cannot be quiet about. In light of the bible and eternity, I do not believe what I have to say matters all that much; but oh how my heart hurts for those that have adopted or know that God has called them to do so. It also hurts for true orphans who have no family to care for them.  I cannot imagine being silent when friends and family are possibly confused with the uprising criticism of the "Christian adoption and orphan care movement."  There is much I can say, but I will direct to Jesus, the bible, and those who have done far more research than I have. I hope and pray it encourages those of us who know in the depths of our hearts that God has chosen us to love and care for the fatherless.


Each time we are critiqued, I believe it is an avenue for us to look at our lives/hearts and examine them. I believe we can take the critiques to the Father and ask Him hard questions about our hearts. We can dive into the Word and re-examine what we have learned. And, lastly, talk it all over with those who care for us. I have done this today regarding adoption, the movement of adoption, and my calling to adopt.

I want to post this article as it says so much of what I would say in response to the recent critiques of this "movement." I think this response (written in 2011 about a particular article, but still holds true today) is very well written and encouraging to true believers who have a call on their lives to adopt.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2011/aprilweb-only/adoptioncrusade.html?paging=off

I like this quote from the article:

"Christians must always pair compassion with knowledge in caring for orphans, and even an article like "The Evangelical Adoption Crusade" [or book, etc on this subject] is an important means for weighing how best to do so. But it provides no excuse to ignore the cry of the orphan. The world is hurting, and to address this hurt wisely will always come with difficult questions. But we dare not turn from sacrifice and hard decisions and return to comfortable homes and lives simply because the cost and complexity are too great. That was never Jesus' way—and it must not be ours."

I also encourage myself and other adoptive families to know that none of the corruption of adoption is outside of the hand of God. He can turn the heart of any king (Prov 21:1) wherever He so chooses. He can also turn the heart of any corrupt agency/lawyer/middle man, etc. as well. These children (even when trafficked) that have been placed in homes were not taken out of God's hand. Even though we do not understand why He allows the things He allows, or understand all of His ways, we must hold to the truth that He is sovereign.  Nothing can happen without His allowing. Nothing.

The things some agencies and people do in the adoption world are horrific. But our God is King over it all. There is a reason each adopted kid has his or her story, came from where they came from, grew in the womb of whom they grew in, and ended up in the country and home they are now.

I am very encouraged by Joseph's words to his brothers and continue to remember them in my heart, "As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good..." (Gen 50:20).  He works all things together for our good and His glory. I take an incredible amount of comfort in His sovereignty. He opens and closes the womb, He opens and closes doors for each adoption. I believe it with all of my heart.

I am praying for all of those whom God is truly calling to adopt children who have no family or who's families refuse to care for them. I am praying against confusion for adopting families and praying for specific direction. I am praying for each kid who has been adopted, that God will draw their hearts to Himself and they will receive comfort in the only Father who will never abandon them. I pray for every family who has adopted. Lastly, I will continue to pray against corruption in this "adoption movement."

I am trusting and resting in the arms of a sovereign God, as there is no other place for me to receive true comfort. His is so good.

Kimberly

One Paper Away

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning..." James 2:17

 "..A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven.." John 3:27

So many of you have been texting/emailing/asking on Facebook, etc about where we are in the process. I wonder why??? I am CONSTANTLY updating this blog.. just look at the last time I wrote. ;-)  Honestly, I wish I could say we have new and exciting news, however, we aren't much further in the process than we were the last time I wrote.

One exciting thing that has happened is that we passed court. Hooray! We didn't find out until months after, but we officially passed court on December 5, 2012. This means Judah and Jewel are officially Neelys! We are so thankful and excited that we have two more children. Truly it is a blessing from God!

So many ask, "If they are officially Neelys, why can't you bring them home??" Oh how I wish this was how it worked! To make a long story short, there is a lot of paperwork that needs to be filed with the US government (USCIS) and the state of Alabama (DHR) in order to bring them into the country. Without it, they cannot approve the babies to be brought onto US soil.

The paperwork has been in the hands of the missionaries at the orphanage for a couple of months now, however, we are missing one document. ONE DOCUMENT.

As soon as the lawyer (in Africa) brings this document to the orphanage, the package of papers will be mailed to us.  It will take about 5 days to get here and as soon as we have it translated, we can file with the US government and the state of AL. Once they approve it, we travel!

We assumed this would have been in our hands back in February, early March. And that we would be traveling by now. Oh how our plans are so different from God's sometimes.

In my flesh, it is so easy to lash out and say,

"Really?! One document??! ONE DOCUMENT IS BETWEEN US AND OUR BABIES?!"

It is so easy to grovel and complain in what I would think would be a worthy and deserved response to this looooooong and frustrating waiting period. It would be so easy to say to God, "Haven't you heard my cries to you? Don't you see us, more importantly, don't you see the babies lying in those cribs hour after hour? Waiting? Sometimes crying themselves to sleep? MY babies? Alone. Don't you see?!"

Then by God's sweet grace, He hears my cry, comforts me, and then gently reminds me that His plans are best. His timing is best. He will never leave me nor forsake me. He is El Roi, "the God who sees." He sees me, them, our family, just as He saw the Israelites in all their turmoil in Egypt (Ex 3:7). And just as he heard their cry, He hears ours. And just as He chose to wait to deliver the Israelites, so He has chosen with us.

It is not one document holding us from our babies. It's Him. 

He is sovereign. He is God. He wrote the story. It is for His glory. We are His. He is good and He loves us.

"And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good for those who are called according to his purpose" Romans 8:28

I need to be reminded of this daily. Hourly. Minute by minute.

Thank you, Lord, for your goodness. Thank you that it is not all about me. (Oh the mess we would be in if it were!) Thank you that it is not all about the babies. Thank you that is is all about you and your glory. And thank you for loving us in the midst and calling us according to your purpose.

Here are the next steps:

1) Lawyer in Africa brings the last needed document to the orphanage.
2) Missionaries go to DHL and mail the package to us.
3) We receive package 4-5 days later.
4) We have documents translated.
5) We receive translated documents 3-5 days later.
6) We overnight package of translated documents to USCIS.
7) We email translated documents to our social worker to send to AL DHR.
8) WAIT (yes, again) for approval. The wait time can be 10-90 days. (We expect somewhere around 40 days.)
9) Get letter saying we are APPROVED!
10) Wait until the approval reaches the US Embassy in Dakar, Senegal. (about 10 days)
11) Make Embassy Appointment on the next available Tuesday. (They only do appointments on Tuesdays)
12) Travel the Wednesday before our appointment to pick up babies from Guinea Bissau and take to appointment in Dakar.
13) Get visas and COME HOME!!

Please pray God's will over all these steps and that our hearts will continue to be drawn to rely on Him and Him alone. Please pray against fear and anxiety. Please pray our babies' hearts will be ready to meet us, and our hearts to meet them.

Thank you, as always, for all your support! We love each of you and praise God for you!

By His Grace,

Kimberly

PS: This truly deserves a blog post of it's own, but we have officially raised over $25,000!!! Praise be to God Most High! He will ALWAYS provide if He has called you, my friends. ALWAYS.