CoC

Axel has been home for 48 days today, and today his Certificate of Citizenship arrived. This certificate gives him the same rights that every American has if they were born here in the U.S.

That means tomorrow he and I will be taking a trip down to the Social Security office to apply for his social security number.

Prayers please

I can't go into specifics right now, but we need prayers for our next step. LOTS of them. Hopefully in a week or so I'll be able to be more detailed.

Waiting

Picture an old-fashioned covered porch, with a rocking chair, in the stillness of the countryside. There is someone sitting in that chair. Quietly rocking. Watching the world go by. Quietly waiting. Always waiting. Always rocking.  Patiently waiting. Then IT will happen.  The waiting will end and the person will get up and walk down the porch steps. Moving because the waiting has ended.

I am the person.

Waiting.

And when the waiting ends, I will get up and DO. When the waiting ends, the doing begins.

I am waiting to do something.

Amazing!

Do you want to know how amazing our God is? You KNOW you do!

In 2009, there were 76 children who found their forever families through Reece's Rainbow.

In 2010 153 children were brought home!!! 153!!! That is almost 3 children per week! LOOK at all the faces of the children who came home this year. 

That is how amazing our God is! So many people contributed SO MUCH to help us...the families who adopted...to bring our children home. There was monetary support, there was "behind the scenes" work, there was support.

What do you suppose He is going to do in 2011? I happen to know that 2011 is going to be even better!

Axel

His name is Axel.

I have now had custody of Axel for 32 days, and he has been home for 19 days.

Since he was never tested we have no idea how long his hearing has been bad. It could be his entire life, or only a few years. Whatever it is, I don't think he ever heard Serbian very well, and I don't know how well he recognized his name when he was there.

Today I found an old pair of Angela's hearing aids with a volume switch on them (most of the newer aids don't have them anymore) and old ear molds of Angela's that actually sit kind of decent in his ears. To give you an idea how small Axel's ears are, these were Angela's ear molds in 1st grade!!! Angela wore them with the volume at 1.5. For Axel I cranked the volume up to "3".

We sat on the couch, and I whispered his Serbian nickname "Djole" (not sure that's how it's spelled though.) and he didn't recognize it. I said it a little louder, in a normal tone of voice. He didn't turn or flinch or anything.  I used his full name "Djordje", and he didn't recognize that either. I turned on a video of some of my Serbian friends saying his name (since they say it correctly and I probably don't!) and he still didn't turn. There was nothing. No reaction.

Then I whispered it. His name. Axel. He turned and gave me a HUGE smile, then signed his name sign. Gave me his silly laugh and went back to what he was doing.

His name is Axel.

*note, Axel's birth certificate will still list Djordje as his middle name, so it's not completely gone.*