A Whole Lot of Stuff...

Oh the weather outside...

Rainy season is in full effect here in Kenya.  It rains every day now.  Thankfully, the mornings are hot and sunny and by the afternoon, it’s gloomy, grey and cold with either a few sprinkles or a torrential downpour. 

I don’t mind the rainy season, well except for the mud part (which includes walking in the mud, getting the car stuck in the mud, mud covered feet and mud covered clothes) and the part where it takes a few days longer for your clothes to dry out on the line.  I don’t mind the “cool” days; it’s an excuse to light a fire, make a nice hot chocolate and wrap myself up in a warm, fuzzy blanket and curl up with my sweet husband on the couch.

A whole bunch of people...

This year, In Step has quite a few teams coming, which is exciting.  The kids always enjoy having visitors and being loved on.  It’s just that many more hands to hold, arms to be hugged with and fun times to share.

The last weekend of June, we have a team coming from Sean’s and my home church in Canada visiting for two weeks.  We can’t even describe how excited we are about them coming.  Like I’ve said before, it is always such a gift when family/friends from back “home” come and visit. It brings a little piece of Canada to us. Plus one of the team members will be staying for a few months. Yay Karin!

One hundred and twenty-five kids...

In Step picked up their 125^th kid today. His name is Gilbert and he’s four years old.  We don’t know how long he will be at In Step for as it depends on his mother’s court case.  It is not a case of abandonment or abuse on him.  His mom wants her son back, once she is cleared of charges.  If she is not cleared of the charges, Gilbert will stay at In Step.

We had a massive flu bug go around In Step a few weeks back.  It was a messy flu bug to say the least.  It swept through all the age two and under babies first and then went to a few of the older kids and then stopped. A few of the adults got sick; it was a nasty bug.

Thankfully, everyone is healthy and the home seems to be back to normal now.  Well as normal as it can be with 125 kids running around.

(IM)Patience....

On a personal note, Sean and I are still (im)patiently waiting for a letter from the Ontario government.  I contacted the Canadian Embassy (as they’re the middle man for us) and they haven’t received anything yet.  To know that we’ve done pretty much all we can, it’s difficult to wait on one more thing.  One more thing and then we can hand in our paperwork.  Oh, the wait.

We have a bin of clothes of baby’s clothes; we have a high chair. We have a baby carrier; we have a playpen.  We are anxious to meet and hold our little one.  It takes a lot of patience though to not have a crib built, to buy things to decorate his/her room. 

We don’t know if we will have a him/her. We don’t know if he/she will be a six-week old, a six-month old or a sixteen-month old. We just don’t know so it makes it more difficult to “plan” but no matter what the gender or the age, he/she is going to be our sweet little child.  So won’t you continue to join us in prayer over this whole adoption process?

Prayer Requests:

Our adoption process

Finances for projects at In Step (dorm, veranda, etc.)

Sponsorship of In Step kids (check out: http://www.rehemainstep.com/getting-involved/donations-sponsorships/)

Health of all the kids, staff and volunteers.

Much Love,

Meredith

Adoption Paperwork Update

We have been asked by a few people how the paperwork is going for the adoption so we thought we would put out an update.

The paperwork isn’t difficult to work on or get, it’s just the waiting period of getting them all.  We had a “hope” to have all the paperwork done and in our hands by the end of February so that we could have it submitted to the adoption agency before the Kenya elections on March 4^th. Unfortunately, there are two things that likely won’t be available by the end of the month and so we will likely delay putting our paperwork in until mid to end of March.

We’re not upset, slightly disappointed but not upset.  As one of the ladies said in bible study last week, “It’s just part of God’s plan to be perfectly orchestrated so that you get the baby He has specifically chosen for you and Sean.”

Ah, yes.  God’s plan. Not mine.

I just can’t wait to hold our sweet baby girl or boy in my arms.

Here’s the list of what is needed and what we have so far (check marks indicate what we have - blogger wouldn't let me post it differently):

• ü  Passport copies
• ü  3 full size colour photographs
• ü  Copies of Birth Certificates
• ü  Copies of Marriage Certificate
• ü  Application Forms
• ·         Medical Certificates  (going in the next two weeks)
• ü  One reference from someone overseas 
• ·         One reference from someone in Kenya  (should have in the next week or so)
• ü  Legal guardians letter of consent 
• ü  Consent letters from extended family members
• ü  A report on finances
• ü  Copy of work permits and residence pass
• ü  Letter from employer
• ·         Certificate of good conduct (Kenya)  (will be ready at the end of the month)
• ü  Criminal Clearance (Canada)
• ·         Consent from government authority (Canada) permitting the adoption (going to apply for it soon!)

We’ve already been given a few little gifts for our child.  First we received a baby carrier from a missionary family here.  The day we got it, yes, Sean and I did try it on.  We were so excited.  We’ve been told to put a large watermelon in the seat of the carrier and walk around. That will give us a bit more of a “real” feeling.

Note to self:  go and buy a watermelon.

And the second thing we have gotten is a high chair. A real high chair!  Awesome.  Love it.

And so we wait and try not to buy baby stuff. Yet.  J

If you could all pray for us, it would be so appreciated.  We know that with the upcoming elections and what may or may not happen with them, it will delay things.  But we know that when we hold our baby for the first time, the wait, will have been worth it all and maybe, we’ll forget how long the wait really was.

Much Love,

Meredith

Personal Update from the Stewarts

From the day Sean and I knew that we were in love, wanting to get married, then got married (almost four years ago), we knew that we wanted to have a family. 

We got married when I was 32 and Sean was 35 so we had already decided that we would try for a family right away. Two years went past, no baby.  The day before my 35^th birthday, I had a miscarriage.  Heartbroken doesn’t even begin to describe how we felt.

Our hearts desire has always been to have children. It’s been my desire since I was six years old and got to watch the birth of my sister in the front seat of my dad’s Mercury LN7. I was in the back seat (well, actually the luggage compartment) with my three year old brother and six month old cousin.  It was absolutely AMAZING (maybe not for my parents at that particular moment) and I couldn’t wait to be a mommy some day.

It just may not be the way we always thought it would be...

Over the past six to seven months, Sean and I have been really praying to God as to what His steps are for us.  We kept quiet about it for awhile, just for us to really seek the Lord, asking Him to open and close doors so that we could see His path.

A few months ago, I did some research and found that what we were praying about was possible and a bit easier than what we thought.  So we then brought it to our families to pray with us about it.

And so....

On Monday, January 14^th, 2013, Sean and I visited an adoption agency in and have begun the paperwork to adopt a sweet baby boy or girl from Kenya.

Because we have lived in Kenya for a minimum of three years, we are eligible to adopt a baby as Kenyan residents and not as an international adoption.  We still have quite a bit of paperwork but not nearly as much as an international adoption does.  We still have a fee to pay but again, not nearly as much as an international adoption.

We were over the moon excited that we could proceed this way (and the child would also become a Canadian citizen). We shared it with a few close friends/advisors and asked for prayers from them.

Without even asking, soliciting, anything, we had great friends of ours say that they would like to help us pay for the adoption fee.  And in fact, they are paying for the whole fee. We have other friends, who told us that they too, would like to help pay for what is needed. 

We had found a lawyer in our area that has fees for adoption but they are quite expensive so we talked to the adoption agency about it. They are passing on some contacts of lawyers for us that will be at least half the cost of the lawyer we know about here.

I am continually in awe of my Father and how He takes care of us.

We have our eyes and our ears open to the struggles too.  We are not going into this blindly. We know that my IMpatience of the slowness of the adoption process and all the paperwork needing to be completed will flare up from time to time.  But my impatience stems from just wanting to see and hold our sweet baby for the very first time. 

But all good things come to those who wait.....

(at least that’s what the Heinz Ketchup commercials would say...)

So won’t you join us in prayer and in this journey?

Prayer Requests:

1.       All paperwork can be done in a quick manner. We are aiming to have everything complete by early March.

2.       The adoption will be approved right away and not deferred or rejected.

3.       Those who are skeptical or afraid of adoption will learn from our walk that it’s not based on blood, genes or skin color but of God’s amazing love. Love is love.

Thank you to those who have offered amazing encouragement and love to Sean and me so far. We can’t thank you enough. Keep ‘em coming!

Stay tuned...

Much Love,

Meredith