Jude’s April Update

We have new pictures, and news of what God is doing for GLA. We just love sharing this with all of you!

Yesterday we got an update on Jude. He’s begun to walk very short distances between people and things, and stands strong on his own now with great confidence. He’s also getting more vocal. In addition to “Mwem, mwem!” (me, me!), he now says uh-oh and bye-bye in the appropriate contexts and continually tests his voice with the volunteers and orphanage workers.

It seems that our baby is beginning to finally grow into a toddler, and while it is bittersweet for us as we must watch from afar, we are so grateful to God for the people he’s put in Jude’s life to help him grow and thrive as he should. Loving our son is their offering of worship to the God they love and serve, and we are thankful He called them to this mission in Haiti.

We also got news in the update of what the Lord has done for the orphanage in the midst of the chaos (rioting, etc.) in recent weeks throughout Haiti:

“Because of the problems downtown and the road blockages, we began to run low on supplies such as cooking propane and water. Just as our supplies had run out, we were blessed with successive miracles from His Grace: six water trucks, a large diesel shipment, and a fresh supply of propane. Each thing we thought we may run out of was suddenly replenished. These are continued examples of how we know that the work we are doing here is blessed by Him! Thank you all for your prayers during this time, as they lifted us up, and supplied our needs.” 

God is a God of miracles, and He cares for the hurting here and abroad. He meets the true seeker where he or she is and He supplies the needs of His children as they live in obedience to His will. He causes the rain to fall on the righteous and the wicked alike, and He provides His word as a salve to our hearts and a motivator to our hands and feet. He is good. Regardless of the time it takes to get this child home, we will stand firm in the knowledge that God is good and His timing is perfect and exactly what He knows we need.

We still must report that we are yet in the passport phase with the Minister of Interior. If he abides by his word to process passports more quickly (in one month), we should get word of Jude’s passport completion any day. If he does not, the passport will not be complete for another couple of months.

This Friday we go to our local immigration office to be fingerprinted again…I still think it’s funny that fingerprints expire.

Please join us in prayer this week. We thank God for:

• Immigration returning our re-fingerprinting check due to a new policy that states that one re-fingerprinting appointment shall be free of charge – what a blessing!
• The people described in this link (take a quick peek to put a face on those who are serving our son and our God): GLA staff
• More work for Valerie – what a blessing from the Lord!
• Belinda (our caseworker) and BCS (our agency) – we went last weekend to a session on fostering attachment and bonding with adopted children – it was enjoyable and helpful, and these folks gave up their Saturday to put this on for us and several other families
• Our parents, who are interested enough and supportive enough in what we’re doing and who love our son enough already to give up their own Saturday to come with us to the above – what fun it was to have them along!

And we pray for:

• MoI and the passport processing in Haiti
• The orphanage workers in Haiti
• The masses of people in Haiti in utter and complete poverty; their needs are deep and staggering

Thanks so much for joining us in prayer. Now, on to the new pictures – enjoy the cuteness!

(Hmmm…already getting into things – yikes!