Yet we also know that there are many new visitors. So for those of you who are newer to the site or perhaps missed this the first time around, here is a video that summarizes our adoption story, which was the catalyst for this site.

Without getting too preachy here, I want to encourage you to throw your burdens on God and let Him do miracles in your life. He won’t let you down! He won’t leave you! He won’t let you go!

We didn’t choose international adoption because we wanted to “save” a child. We wanted more children in our family. But, the day we brought Carmen home, I remember thinking that she had just been given a huge gift. She landed on U.S. soil, became a U.S. citizen and started the adventure of a lifetime.

We were given an even bigger gift. We just didn’t know it yet.

I wonder what Carmen was thinking. We looked different, smelled different, sounded different and were complete strangers to her. She went from the Land of Eternal Spring’s balmy weather to freezing cold.

Yet, she soaked up our attention and love. She stared with huge eyes at everything around her. I loved seeing her world open up right in front of her eyes.

Three years ago today was one of the best days of my life. I hope it was one of the best days of Carmen’s life.

Carmen, thank you for giving us such a huge gift these past three years. No one else in this world could have changed us like you have. You’ve never spoken a single word yet your life is a testimony. You are the best example of God’s love that I can think of. We love you despite your complete inability to do anything for us and that is exactly how God loves us.

We love you!

Jamie was my best friend in high school and my maid of honor in our wedding. Jamie and Danny also have a little boy named Caleb who is almost two years old.

Please pray for this family and especially for this sweet little girl!

Here is a picture of Jamie and Karen Vi.

Lana – You mentioned praying for Dave’s heart to change re: adoption. Can you share any specifics of how you prayed? How long did you pray before Dave got on board? Dave: Can you share your experience of feeling your heart change about this?

First Dave’s response:

Hopefully, the short film above adequately portrays the experience that changed my perspective about adoption so I’m not going to add much writing. I will add just one thing I wrote in my journal on June 26, 2005, after I had been in Peru for just a few days. Here is what I wrote:

We handed out some toys and the kids thought it was Christmas. One girl held her stuffed animal as if it were a little baby. She cuddled it closely, held it out in front of her and stared at it, then crushed it against her chest again as she gently rocked it back and forth. I took several pictures but they simply could not capture the moment. God just might be using this experience to soften my heart about adoption. These kids are precious and beautiful.

Now Lana’s response:

In 1999, a year after Dave and I were married, I asked him to meet with a lady at our church who ran an adoption program. The lady was adopted into the U.S. from Russia many years ago and started her own program to match Russian orphans with families here. I was so excited! Dave was not. He went to the meeting but afterward pretty much said no way. Fast forward a few years, a few miscarriages and finally Lauren. After Lauren was born, I really wanted to pursue adoption but Dave was still hesitant. I think he was hesitant because he had seen several adoptions that had not worked out very well. After Dave’s trip to Peru, I started praying that if God wanted us to adopt, that He would change Dave’s heart. I decided I wasn’t going to mention anything about adoption so that Dave would not feel any pressure from me. About 6 months after the trip, Dave said that he felt that we should move forward with adopting. I was SO excited!

To see other questions we may address in the future or to ask your own question, please visit the “You Ask, We Answer” introduction post.

Carmen’s adoption process cost roughly $28,000. When we started the adoption process in January 2006, we did not have $28,000 sitting around. We had purchased a home recently and spent everything we had on a down payment. So, there we were, starting an expensive international adoption with no apparent way to pay for it. I remember feeling stressed about the whole situation and thinking that we were dumb as dirt to jump into this. But, we felt God’s leading so we forged ahead.

We talked about getting a loan or doing some fund raising to pay for the adoption. We started feeling that we shouldn’t do either but should simply wait on God because He had something else in mind.

And, wow, did He ever!

In March 2006, Dave (who was contracting at the time) was unexpectedly paid for some extra work he had done previously. His contract stated that he would be paid for 40 hrs/week but he actually worked a LOT more during the previous months. $12,000. Later in the year, after Dave transitioned from contracting to a full-time position with the same company, Dave asked someone in his HR department if the company offered adoption benefits. It didn’t. However, the HR representative did mention that they were thinking about adding that benefit in 2007, which would at least be nice for the next adoption. Wouldn’t you know it, his company did implement adoption benefits beginning in 2007 but…decided to make the benefits retroactive to the fourth quarter of 2006 so that we would receive the benefit for Carmen’s adoption, which was finalized in December 2006. $5,000. Finally, since Carmen’s adoption was finalized before the end of the year, we were able to immediately file for the adoption tax credit for both the IRS and Maryland in February 2007. $11,000.

$12,000 + 5,000 + 11,000 = $28,000

Sometimes I think God likes to show off. He could have provided half the money and we would have found a way to pay the rest. Or He could have provided more than we needed. But, no, He provided exactly what we needed.

Whenever I start having thoughts that we sure could use that $28,000, I remind myself that it was never our money to begin with. God specifically provided it for a little girl named Carmen. And I think He provided it to give us yet one more proof that He took care of us then, is taking care of us now and will continue taking care of us into the future.

At the time, our agency had a 12 week wait for the referral of a healthy infant girl. Our best guess was that we would receive the referral for a baby girl in October.

Less than a month later, we received THE phone call on July 27th. We were presented with a one week old baby girl. 8 lbs. 8 oz., 21.25 inches long. I remember our adoption coordinator saying that this baby was as healthy as they come. We were shocked and ecstatic because we thought we had months to wait for a referral. I asked our coordinator why there was such a short wait and she said, “We must have caught up on our waiting list.”

That evening, I sent an email to our adoption agency’s yahoo group, a group set up for adopting families to ask questions and receive support from each other. I was excited to announce our new baby girl. A short time later, I got an angry email from another family waiting for a referral. This family knew they were ahead of us on the waiting list and were irate that we had received a referral before them.

I called our agency back to ask why we had been presented with this baby girl when others were ahead of us on the waiting list. Our adoption coordinator said she couldn’t believe what had happened. She had accidentally entered our dossier completion date incorrectly, which bumped us way up the waiting list. She said that in all her years as an adoption coordinator, she had never made this mistake. Once she figured out — after presenting Carmen to us — she and others at the agency discussed what to do and decided that God must really want this child for this family.

The day we found out that Carmen had Tay Sachs, I flashed back to this discussion. I am very thankful that God made it so very clear that He wanted Carmen in our family. In the darkest of times, I have clung to that assurance.

Dave and I accepted one-week-old Carmen’s referral on August 1st (our anniversary). From reading every word I could find on the Guatemalan adoption process, we fully expected a rather lengthy ride before Carmen could come home. The most unpredictable part of the process was PGN, the Guatemalan court system. Once you were “in”, you never knew how long you might have before being signed “out”. There did not seem to be any rhyme or reason to who got out when and certainly no first-in, first-out rule.

From August to December, Carmen’s case moved through the various processes including the biological mother interview and DNA testing. We decided to travel to Guatemala and meet Carmen in early December. We had not been notified that we were even “in” PGN yet so we fully expected that we would have months more of waiting before Carmen could come home.

Dave, Lauren and I flew to Guatemala December 8, 2006. Meeting Carmen for the first time was an amazing experience and one that we will always cherish. We had a wonderful, wonderful time in Guatemala.

Despite how much we enjoyed our trip to Guatemala, I couldn’t stop thinking that we might not bring Carmen home for months, even years. Every adopting family we talked to had been in PGN for months. We met several families in Guatemala whose cases had been in PGN for years. Dave and I prayed that Carmen would come home soon.

We flew home December 13, 2006. When we arrived home late that night, I decided to check my email quickly before going to bed. I sat in the basement and could not believe my eyes. The first email I saw was from our adoption agency saying we were OUT of PGN! The day we said goodbye to Carmen in Guatemala, her case was signed off and she was legally ours. Not only were we in PGN, but we were OUT! Carmen’s case stayed in PGN 9 short days.

I ran upstairs, yelling to Dave that Carmen was ours. He had the biggest smile on his face. He told me that on the flight home, he was praying when suddenly a warm and bright ray of light landed on the side of his face. He looked out the plane window and noticed that it was the only ray of sunshine that made it through the thick clouds in the sky. He felt total peace that Carmen would be home soon. I got a little mad that he hadn’t shared that with me earlier!

I still get chills thinking about that day. Apparently, our agency tried to contact us in Guatemala but we were already on the plane. They were just as amazed and excited as we were.

Less than a month after first meeting Carmen, we flew back to Guatemala and brought sweet 5 month old Carmen home. God knew that this precious little girl needed to come home quickly. He gave us several months of enjoying and loving Carmen before the Tay Sachs’ symptoms started progressing.

First meeting Carmen in the Guatemala City Marriott baby room, December 8, 2006

A few days ago, Sarah wrote that she had received a phone call from Hill-Rom that the Vest machine for Amelia would be delivered soon. What she said next is something that we have also experienced in our journey with Carmen.

“Amelia’s pulmonologist told me a few months ago when I requested the Vest that my insurance would not approve both the Cough Assist and Vest. I told him that I’ve had more answered prayer in the last year than I’ve had in my entire life and to just order it. Apparently faith isn’t a criteria for ordering medical equipment. Then again when Amelia was in the hospital he said it would get denied, and we’d have to appeal it. I don’t know why these medical people don’t get it. Our children are angels, and they will be provided for.”

After reading this, I started thinking about all the miracles we have experienced with Carmen. Some of them we have shared, others not. So, stay tuned for the miracles in Carmen’s life!

January 10, 2007 we flew home. When we landed, Lauren and NY Grandpa were waiting at the airport. Lauren was SO excited! She held Carmen’s hand all the way home and kept saying, “My sister! My sister!”

Carmen, we can’t believe two years have gone by so quickly. We hope and pray that you have felt loved in our family. Love, Mom, Dad and Lauren

P.S. Happy Birthday Uncle Steve!!!!!!!!!!!

Dave and Carmen, checking out of the Guatemala City Marriott

View of Guatemala from the airplane

NY Grandma and Carmen, finally home

We sat next to a family adopting a 3 year old boy. We asked why they decided to adopt and they told us how they lost a son in a car accident. They said adopting their son was a dream come true. They didn’t know any Spanish and the little boy didn’t know any English but he chatted away with them. He was being a little rough and the dad kept saying, “Easy, easy!” The little boy finally said, “EASY, EASY!!!!” I wish I had gotten that family’s contact information.

Another family was adopting two teenage boys. I’ll never forget the HUGE smiles on those boys’ faces.

A man was there with his tiny two year old daughter. I heard him tell the Embassy worker that his wife stayed home with their three other Guatemalan children.

That was a day of new beginnings. Wouldn’t it be interesting to hear everyone’s stories now?

Carmen and me, back in the hotel after Embassy Day