Another Christmas Closer: A second Christmas letter to our future daughter

Last Christmas I wrote an open letter to our future adopted daughter. (Read it here) Currently, we are enjoying another Christmas, and yet we are still waiting for her to come home.  Our hope and prayer is that she will be with us by next Christmas.  This letter is in honor of all the families who are waiting for their little one to come home.  The pain of waiting, and the agony of another holiday passing without being able to be with them is, at times, overwhelming.  This is what I wish to say to our little Polish girl.

"My dear little girl,

I wrote you a letter last Christmas, with all of the hope that you would be with us by this year.  The months have come and gone, and you are still not home.  In some ways this year is easier, since we have at least learned your name, and seen your picture.  Funny, but the same things that make this year a little easier also make this year infinitely harder to bear.  I can't help but imagine what life will be like with you here.

I know that you are being taken care of, but I wish we were the ones giving you that care.  Truly, the only gift I wished for this Christmas was to have you here.  God has seen fit to postpone that gift; and so we must wait.

I would want you to know that we are doing everything we can to get to you.  We are working extra jobs.  We are begging people for money. We are saving, and dreaming, and preparing.  It won't be long now.  This year our church gave us a new set of luggage for our trip!  I can't wait to use it.

Be well, my little girl, and know that we love you.  I love you.  Soon we will be together.  Perhaps you will be here with us by next Christmas, and then it will be the best Christmas ever!

Love,

Your Dad


If you are an adoptive family who is waiting and missing your child this Christmas, I am praying for you. Our family understands the heartache as the second year passes since we began this process.  I know the wait will be worth it.  

Merry Christmas

Christmas is such a fun time of year, isn't it?! We think about carols, Christmas lights, decorations, cookies, time with family and/or friends, parties, Christmas programs, and so much more. At one time, I would have included snow on my list of "Christmasy" things, but we don't get much of that here.  There is just something about snow falling silently against a backdrop of Christmas lights and carols playing.... Unfortunately, today it is pouring rain. *sigh* Oh well, we still have the Christmas lights on and the carols playing.

A Reason to celebrate

This year as we celebrate Christmas,  the emotions are mixed in our house.  As we sat at the table eating lunch a little while ago, we looked at the clock and determined the time in Poland.  It was about 6:30 p.m. on Christmas Eve there, and we asked the question, "Will (she) be getting any presents this year?"  I don't know.  I do know she is being cared for, and I am grateful for that but still await the day that she will be here with us instead of thousands of miles away. We look forward to sharing all that is special about Christmas with her and the meaning behind the celebration.

Since our last post, we are another step closer to bringing her home.  Our immigration paperwork (I-800A supplement 3) was sent out on December 9th, and we received the immigration notice that says they are processing our request to update it.  This should take two to three weeks, so taking the holiday time into consideration,  we are looking for it to come back by the beginning of January.

We also got all of the documents together and sent in to our agency for our dossier.  Some of them have to be notarized and apostilled before being mailed overseas.  (Apostilling was not a requirement for our dossier to Hungary, but it is a requirement for Poland.)  The only thing we are waiting for to send our documents overseas is our immigration approval, and we can move on to the next step. :D

At the County Courthouse getting Background Checks done for the dossier

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas!