With this being National Adoption Month, I have been putting a lot of thought to the questions that may be asked by others as they see our multi-cultural family. I wish I could put into words what God as put into our hearts. These children are as much "ours" as our biological children are "ours."
We are so anxious to get our arms around them and bring them home. Having a heart for adoption is something I am so thankful for. Having family and friends who are supportive of our hearts call has been amazing and for that we are also thankful.
Below is a video that I watch over and over.
Steven Curtis Chapman, who also has adopted children and has many songs that are related to adoption and orphans has one specific song that I just love. I heard this song last Christmas called "All I Really Want For Christmas" which is right about the time that God was telling us to move forward to bring the rest of our family home. I then came across this song posted with photos on YouTube and saved it to my blog to post around Christmas this year. For some reason it seems right to post it now. I noticed it was posted on another families blog this week too, so I am not the only one who finds this close to my heart.
Click on the link below
YouTube - All I Really Want For Christmas: ""
Enjoy.
Monday, November 12, 2007
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Dancing the Night Away
I thought I would test out the feature that allows you to add video. I am watching my nieces for a few hours and they were dancing with Emilee and a neighbor boy, Kyle. I took some video on my camera and thought I would play with trying to upload it onto the blog.
We'll see if it works. I want to be prepared for when we travel. My mom and sister especially will enjoy having some video footage to see on the blog while we are away. We are also looking at buying them a webcam so we can video confrence with them too. (but we are waiting to see if my dad will really splurge and pay for high speed internet)
Friday, November 9, 2007
National Adoption Month
November is National Adoption Month, a month set aside to raise awareness about the adoption.
So here is some general info regarding adoption in Colombia.
According to the US Department of State, 344 Immigrant visas were issued to orphans coming to the US in 2006. Compare that to the 6,493 from China in 2006. Wow! Due to the issues in Guatemala regarding adoptions the numbers for Colombia will likely increase greatly for 2007 and 2008.
Colombian law does not allow for private adoptions. Children may be adopted only through the Colombian Family Welfare Institute (ICBF) and approved adoption agencies. This means that both the U.S. agency that is contracted by the adoptive parents and the Colombian agency facilitating the Colombian part of the process must be approved by the Colombian government.
Every adopted child must have a final adoption decree in order to leave Colombia. Colombian law also requires that both adopting parents be physically present when the adoption is presented to a “family judge.” No exceptions are made to this requirement, and the process takes two to four weeks, sometimes more. After both prospective adoptive parents have appeared before the court, one of them may return to the United States, but the other parent must remain in Colombia until the adoption/immigrant visa process is completed. (this is the process we are looking forward to when we arrive in Colombia)
So here is some general info regarding adoption in Colombia.
According to the US Department of State, 344 Immigrant visas were issued to orphans coming to the US in 2006. Compare that to the 6,493 from China in 2006. Wow! Due to the issues in Guatemala regarding adoptions the numbers for Colombia will likely increase greatly for 2007 and 2008.
Colombian law does not allow for private adoptions. Children may be adopted only through the Colombian Family Welfare Institute (ICBF) and approved adoption agencies. This means that both the U.S. agency that is contracted by the adoptive parents and the Colombian agency facilitating the Colombian part of the process must be approved by the Colombian government.
Every adopted child must have a final adoption decree in order to leave Colombia. Colombian law also requires that both adopting parents be physically present when the adoption is presented to a “family judge.” No exceptions are made to this requirement, and the process takes two to four weeks, sometimes more. After both prospective adoptive parents have appeared before the court, one of them may return to the United States, but the other parent must remain in Colombia until the adoption/immigrant visa process is completed. (this is the process we are looking forward to when we arrive in Colombia)
One other thing that Colombia is known for are the many holidays that are observed as well as their colorful festivals. They observe more than double what we observe in the states. Here is a list of most of them for 2007.
Carnaval de Barranquilla is celebrated February 17, 18, 19 and 20. The Bogotá Carnival starts at around August 6th. Rock at the park (Rock Al Parque) in October, is the second largest rock festival in Latinamerica. The Iberoamerican Theater Festival held in Bogotá every two years, is the biggest theater festival in the world. Carnival of Blacks and Whites (Carnaval de Negros y Blancos) held from January 4 to January 6 in Pasto. Cali Fair (Feria de Cali), held in Cali, Colombia from December 25 to New Year's Eve.
Public Holidays include:
New Years Day (January 1)
Día de los Reyes Magos (Epiphany) (January 6*)
St. Joseph’s Day (March 19)
Holy Thursday and Viernes Santo (Holy Friday) (variable dates in March or April)
Primero de Mayo (May 1)
Ascension (May 20*)
Corpus Christi (June 10*)
Sacred Heart (June 18*)
Saint Peter and Saint Paul (June 29*)
Independence Day (July 20)
Battle of Boyacá (August 7)La Asunción (Assumption) (August 15*)
Día de la Raza (October 12)
All Saints’ Day (November 1*)
Independence of Cartagena City (November 11*)
La Inmaculada Concepción (Immaculate Conception) (December 8)
Christmas Day (December 25)
So we are sure to at least encounter one holiday and or festival while we are there. They are all about having a day off…smile! On a side note, these are days adoptive parents keep handy, because we know the Colombian agencies are closed meaning no news for us on these days.
Well that’s all from this end for now.
So we are sure to at least encounter one holiday and or festival while we are there. They are all about having a day off…smile! On a side note, these are days adoptive parents keep handy, because we know the Colombian agencies are closed meaning no news for us on these days.
Well that’s all from this end for now.
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