very, very bad news

We just received word that things were moving right along with our adoption, but during the Ministry of Health investigation Moses and Saturday's birthmother changed her mind. The entire family is in favor of this adoption, but it can't proceed if she doesn't think she can go through with it. Despite the rest of the family's desire to proceed, the boys have been removed from the orphanage because the mother is unwilling to go forward. Not that we blame her. We can't imagine having to give up our babies. She wanted the kids in the orphanage so they could receive food and proper care that she can't provide, but they can't remain there if they're not going to be adopted. So here we sit in an internet cafe knowing that we're back to square one. Please, please pray for us. It's going to be a tough night. Pray for Moses and Saturday, too. We're scared for them.

life in the developing world

If you've been anxiously awaiting news about our boys, join the club. There was some miscommunication between Liberia and our agency in the US previously... something that we struggle with at Worldlink as well when we're trying to communicate with those in the developing world. We finally learned that the boys were with their birthmother again... not in the orphanage like we expected. They were officially relinquished this past Saturday and are now safely in the orphanage. Unfortunately, we're now in Costa Rica and dealing with our own communication problems. We found out yesterday that the agency now has all the info on the boys... pictures, history, and medicals. However, she forgot that we can't be reached by phone. We asked her to email us everything. She said she will do it today, but she hasn't yet. We may not be able to get to an internet cafe again today, so we may have to wait until tomorrow. We're both on edge as we wait... Peter even more than Becky, which is quite a surprise. Stay tuned for news tomorrow. Sorry we haven't kept you all up to speed, but we had a miserable week last week before leaving. Now we have to find time to get to an internet cafe for a few quick minutes each day in the midst of working with this team. Being stuck in Costa Rica doing ministry isn't all bad though. You should see the beach!

hurry up and wait

That pretty much sums up the entire adoption process. You work yourself crazy taking care of all kinds of paperwork, and you do it as fast as you can so you can bring your kids home soon. Then you wait for the government to process your paperwork. In our case, we should have been matched with kids very quickly after we got our approval back. Unfortunately, things went wrong so we waited 5 months more. Finally we heard about OUR BOYS. We figured once Moses made it to the orphanage we would get pictures and personal information, but still we wait. We're getting very good at waiting. Hopefully we'll have something to report over the weekend, but we've learned not to put any certainty in the adoption process. It's exhausting, but we know that when all is said and done the perfect kids will join our family. That moment will be worth all the waiting.

MOSES MADE IT!

We were just checking email before bed and learned that Moses made it to the orphanage!!!! We don't have any details yet, but we should be getting some tomorrow. We're praying prayers of thanksgiving. So much for going to bed at a normal hour...

many prayers

Thanks so much to all of you who are praying for Saturday and Moses and the two of us. We haven't heard anything new since the weekend, but we are surprisingly relaxed. Other than Sunday night when Becky didn't sleep a single wink, we're both feeling relatively normal. It helps that we're leading a group from Reading on a mission trip to Costa Rica July 21-29, and we have a ton to accomplish before we leave town. We expect to hear an update on the boys over the next few days, but we wanted to take a moment to let you all know that we appreciate your prayers, support, and enthusiasm about our kids.

lots of kids

Though we don't have any updates today about OUR kids (it feels so good to say that), we did want to share a few pictures of the wonderful nieces and nephews who help keep us amused while we wait. Check out Ava (our only Dunbar niece), Katie, Grace, Jake, and Allie (in order of appearance).

NEWS!!

It's hard to believe that it has been nearly 2 weeks since either of us have posted here, but we've had very little extra time and even less energy. Frankly, most of June was a significant emotional struggle as we waited to hear news about our kids. It's still a struggle to wait, but we FINALLY have something to report!

On Friday, June 30, we called our adoption agency to let them know we'd be out of town for a few days and how they could reach us... just in case. They told us that they were FINALLY going to be taking in a large number of kids... the first time since the adoption process shut down back in March. They told us about 2 siblings that were supposed to enter the orphanage the following day. We were tentatively excited but also overwhelmed to think that the next day a family would have to relinquish 2 children they loved in order to do the best thing for them. We were worried about the boys and how they would adjust. We didn't want to tell anyone until it was certain because we weren't ready to handle the heartbreak of explaining bad news to lots of people. Basically, we were confused.

We headed to North Carolina to visit Peter's family with the cell phone never more than 2 feet away. When we arrived, we (mostly Becky) flew into a panic upon discovering that the cell phone didn't get a signal and the land line at Peter's brother's place was dysfunctional! We opted to casually tell our sister-in-law that our adoption agency might need to call us, and we left a message for them with her number. Sunday night we were out to dinner with Peter's family when Elizabeth passed us her phone. We ran out of the restaurant to learn that the boys had NOT arrived, but they really expected them to. We made excuses to the family and went back to waiting.

Wednesday evening we arrived home and got word that the oldest boy was in the orphanage and grandma would be bringing in the baby on the weekend. We began to feel that this might really happen, but we were still nervous. We opted to tell our parents and get them praying.

Last night we got the call that grandma stopped by. She was on her way to pick up the baby and bring him in. It's a 2 day trek out to the village in the bush and 2 days back (they don't have cars or public transit), so we are still waiting but... it looks like these boys are really going to be ours!

So after that LOOONG intro, we are please to announce that we expect to be the very proud parents of Saturday and Moses. Saturday is 2, and Moses is 1. Saturday proudly arrived at the orphanage and announced, "My name is Saturday, not Sunday." One of these days we'll give him a new first name and make Saturday his middle name... With a name like Saturday Bowersox, you're guaranteed to have a tough elementary school career. We're not sure whether we're going to give Moses a new first name or middle name.

We appreciate any and all prayers on our behalf right now. Specific requests would be: Pray that Saturday continues to adjust well at the orphanage. Pray for grandma and Moses as they travel. Pray for the family as they mourn the loss of their children. Pray for the boys' health... We'll receive the results of blood tests soon. There is also the constant threat of malaria for the young children in Liberia. Pray for our sanity. We still have at least 4-6 months of a brand new Liberian adoption process to survive.

We'll keep posting here over the next week or 2 as things develop. We'll even have pictures to post soon. And don't worry, not all the posts will be this long!