Heading to DC!!!

In my last post, I shared some personal thoughts I was having concerning our adoption (you can read it here).

It's getting harder and harder to wait for Tobias to be able to come home.

Our faith hasn't been shaken - we know and trust that our Lord is in control as always...the waiting time is just hard because he's not home.

Something else that makes our situation hard is that we are DONE with our adoption process.  Tobi has a visa and can travel...but Congo is not issuing exit letters at this time.

Well, we are going to DO something next week!

A group of adoptive parents, accompanied by reps from Both Ends Burning will be in Washington DC next week meeting with the House and Senate regarding the exit letter situation in Congo.

I originally thought this trip was completely out of reach...most of all because we can't afford any of it!  But The Lord has provided the funds for my plane ticket and there will be no cost for lodging (explained below).

So we are praising Him for the provision and moving forward with the other parents.

• So next Tuesday, June 23rd we will be meeting with Senators and presenting them with our stories.

• On Wednesday, we will be meeting with Congressmen and Congresswomen for the same purpose.

Our prayer is that this will light a fire of ACTION in our government and things will start moving.  We have found the Dept of State and the Embassy (the ones that have most communication with DGM in Congo) to be lacking in the motivation that we believe is necessary to get our kids home.

We are really hoping this will do the trick.

There has also been an application for a permit to hold a candlelight vigil on the lawn of the Capitol to honor our children waiting for us.

I know...makes me tear up just thinking about it.   We'll have to wait and see if that pans out.

As of right now, there are about 55 parents traveling to DC and we are hoping to add more by the time Tuesday gets here.

We also have meetings with over 65 Senators/Congressmen(women)!!  That's really exciting.

We will soon have an itinerary of what our days will look like.  I will be in a group with other California moms (3 of which are adopting through Compassion For Congo!!) and will likely have more in our group as well. 

We will be assigned several meetings in addition to our meetings with our California senators (or their staffers) and congressmen/women.

We have been told to dress comfortably and be ready for long days.

I will be staying with my friend Emily (she's updating her adoption blog here).  Her sister-in-law's sister is opening up her home to us at no cost!!!  That cuts out HUGE travel expenses for us and we are so grateful.

Emily and I are also hoping to see some DC sights while we're there....if we have time :)

I'm really trying to focus on the logistics of this trip and praying that it is effective....while NOT thinking about the fact that I will be missing my family terribly. 

I have NEVER left them.  The kids will sometimes spend the night with my parents..and we went away for a couple nights before Jackson was born, but nothing like this.  

4 days may not seem like much to some people, but I'm dreading it!  The kiddos are in good hands though, Chris is a 100% hands on daddy and is involved in all aspects of our children's everyday lives.

So I know they'll be fine...they'll have WAY more fun with dad then with me.  I'll just miss them :(

So pray for me and the other parents as we leave our families for a few days while we represent and advocate for our children that are a world away.