April Showers....

Here we are. Still in Kansas. Still sort of living as if any day now we might grab our bags and hop a flight back to the land of our children's birth, the place where we both left projects and jobs, back to the friends we worry about constantly, back to the daily challenges and inspirations that come from living in such a remarkable place. Yet the bags packed with housewares are gathering a bit of dust in the corner. I was forced to unpack the suitcase full of children's summer clothes "for Haiti" when warm weather arrived before our departure date.

With spring in full swing, we've relocated to my parent's house on the farm in Kansas. Here the "twins" get to check for new baby calves every afternoon with their Pop-Pop, the grill is usually flaring up in the evenings as we gather to play and chat on the deck, and the prairies and gravel roads stretch for miles inviting long walks. Thank goodness for an all-terraine stroller. Now the kids can ride the dirt roads that I love, they can watch wild turkeys run across the path in front of them and see deer peering out from a grove of trees. Even as a full-time mom of two toddlers, I feel more reflective and centered here.

Our children are growing. They now can tell you what a dog says and how a cat meows. Cici's first word is "up" and she uses it often to get herself lifted to a birds eye view of her surroundings. Solomon likes to say "out" thanks to his deep love of cows and mooing at them any chance he gets. I look at my beautiful, funny children with their unique and incredible personalities and try to be a better person. I try to find patience with the dance with bureaucratic landmines, the hiatus from work, the unknowing.

Our return to Haiti still is a big, fat, annoying question mark. Adoptions seem to be coming along nicely, but we are encountering new hurdles that seem bigger than the last. We are cursed with a "unique" situation. Not a lot of families are trying to take their Haitian children BACK to Haiti right now. With children safely in the States, lawmakers aren't putting crazy people like us high on their priority lists. We are finding that we are treading in a situation not well versed. Not a lot of laws pertaining to humanitarian parole and travel exist and that leaves a lot of experts scratching their heads when we share our story. Thus we keep asking, we keep pursuing new avenues trusting that something will come up, information will be made clear and definitive, one way or the other.

Global Ministries has responded to our situation once again with compassion and flexibility. We have now been placed on official home-stay status (advanced up from healing-stay). So we are "back to work" in a redesigned way. Our jobs are to visit with churches and organizations about Haiti, educating and advocating for CONASPEH, their struggle and their work. We are setting up an itineration schedule over the next few months to visit partner churches and organizations that have been supporters of Haiti and CONASPEH. It feels good to at least have something to do in this limbo time. Our home-stay has been granted through July. We both hope that a miracle happens and we'll be on our way back to Haiti by then. If not, more creative life plans will have to be made.

Patrick heads to Haiti on Sunday for a week to visit CONASPEH and the Villiers as well as our many friends there. He goes to reconnect, revisit, and see with his own eyes the state of affairs in the town we've grown to love. With updated information and impressions, he hopes to have more to share with concerned people State-side. I'm fighting the green beast of jealousy that he goes without me, but such is our reality now. I'll stay back to moo at the cows.

If internet access can be found, Patrick hopes to blog and add pics during his time in Haiti to keep us all informed of his raw impressions. So stay tuned...