Bonding Trip

We are on day six of our bonding trip and so in love and so confident that this is the journey we are to be on and she is our daughter....

I had planned to blog every day but decided to privately journal instead. These are such precious, yet exhausting days that we want to treasure forever. When we get home I will edit them into shareable versions as we are so thankful for each of you journeying with us!

Please keep the prayers coming!!!

Thus photo was on Wednesday :)

How can you help?

Since many of our friends and family have asked "How can we help you in a tangible way right now as you head to Haiti?" (outside of the prayers we continually need for us, for her, for our girls etc.) we wanted to get something up!

As we prepare for our upcoming trip we would welcome your support in helping us get some supplies for our little one and her orphanage. If you would like to purchase any of the items below, please just get them to us by Friday December  2nd.

If you would prefer to send us funds to purchase items here or in Haiti (example we will buy diapers there because they take up so much suitcase space), or to help cover the cost of our trip (currently at $3455 not counting food and in-country expenses) please let me know. You can donate to us directly, send us a check or I can get you my email and you can donate via paypal directly. 

If you also just want to support our holistic adoption journey and the expenses remaining (not just supplies or the cost of this trip), feel free to click the "support our journey" tab above. 

Please know this is simply a response to people tangibly asking how they can help and not a pressure for support. We appreciate your prayers, support and words of encouragement as we continue our journey to officially becoming The Fisher Five!

Please keep us posted if you plan to send any of the items so we can space plan our bags accordingly!

Specific Requests from our orphanage right now:

• Formula for the babies (not expired)
• Powdered Milk
• Protein (Beef Jerky)
• Vitamins (Infant Drops, Chewable and Gummies)
• Pedialyte Packets
• Cleaning Supplies (Clorox Wipes, etc.)
• Clothes - all sizes 

For Daniel and I to take:

• 30 miniature scented hand sanitizers (gifts for the nannies) (example: Bath and Body)
• Cliff Bars/Protein bars/High Protein trail mix (multi flavors)
• Gatorade Packets
• Mini Packs of Hand Wipes

If you want other ideas, just let us know! If by chance we get more than we can take this trip we can always take it next time! Thanks again for your love and support.

If you would like to pray for us specifically in the coming month below are a few specific requests:

• Protection and good health for us and the girls and our families while we are apart
• Strength to love and serve our new daughter and the kids and staff at the orphanage for 2 weeks
• That we would find our rest in Him as we seek to daily trust in His plans

Jennie and Daniel

Our Daughter...

Yes, that's right, we got the call. Baby Haiti... Our 3rd daughter has a name and a face and a story and we are yet again forever changed.

Our daughter.

OUR DAUGHTER!!!

11-14-16
I was sitting in a conference room at work around 3:15 finishing up a meeting when I get a text from Daniel that says "Call me ASAP". I finish up and call him, totally expecting him to have a question about something he needs to buy at the store. Nope. He says "Guess who I just talked to?"... I said "no way" and he said "Yes" and I said "You have got to be kidding me" really loudly and then lots of words and tears and "no ways".... And a whirlwind ensues... All we knew at this point was her name, her birthday and her orphanage (all of which we can't share publicly until she is legally ours in Haiti several months from now).

Back up to April and the story most everyone doesn't know...when we got a call that turned out to be a false alarm which resulted in lots of heartache and patience and trying times. All just a part of our journey, but one we knew we needed to walk quietly and privately. Leaning on His strength in our weakness. So this time, between Monday when we got the call and Thursday when we got her sweet picture and paperwork, there was an unspoken uncertainty that our hearts might ride the roller coaster again.

But not this time.

This time, Thursday morning 11-17-16 at 9:41, we received our official referral. We promised each other on Monday that we would wait and open the paperwork together on the phone so we could see her sweet face and learn her precious story at the same time. So of course, I couldn't get a hold of Daniel (for good reasons). Of course I called a bazillion times before us finally connecting an hour later.

We opened the email and immediately scanned to the last page. We saw her big brown eyes and melted. Our Daughter. Her story. Her. Words don't really do justice at this point. As we learned who she was, and how she came to be ours, our hearts were immediately reminded that our great joy comes out of great loss and I was humbled and my heart grew in immense ways. Please be patient as we navigate the road of honoring her and her story. We don't know what we will share or when we will share it. Just know she is and has always been so deeply loved.

The rest of the next two days were filled with all the wonderfully crazy moments of sharing our joy (telling the girls was super fun and I will detail that separately), getting things lined up to say yes and planning our trip to Haiti where we will spend 2 weeks bonding with her precious self. There is so much more but not for now. We received 4 updated pictures of her beautiful self yesterday
(3 taken yesterday) and we are smitten!

We are so grateful for His grace and our adoption in Christ which called us into this journey. We are so thankful for you, your prayers and your support as we continue our journey to fully becoming The Fisher Five.

We have months and months ahead of us but for now, we celebrate this milestone and long for the moment soon to come when we get to look her in those beautiful big brown eyes for the first time.

Our Daughter.

Three Years...

Yesterday marked three years since we were officially accepted into the Haiti adoption process by our agency for a process we anticipated taking two maybe three years max from start to finish. We were to be here in 2016 with our three daughters preparing for a second grader, a kindergartner and a preschooler. We would likely already have had a year of being a family of five under our belt. 

Yet here we are, still the Fisher Four waiting as patiently as possible for that official call. Seeking daily to trust in His perfect timing regardless of how hard the waiting is. Oh the waiting. It is HARD ya'll. I am not going to sit here and pretend it's all sunshine and roses. It is not. April was really tough due too some really unique challenges we faced in our process which were new even to our agency (will share once all is said and done). 

Yet God is good and we still trust. He has shown Himself in the midst of the hard times in some really awe-inspiring ways that will be told in their own time as well. Little confirmations, big totally amazing non-coincidences, encouraging words from people we have not heard from in a long time, and simply sharing in the joy of other adoption journeys.

I know we have been quiet on here but please know we still cherish your prayers and support. We are confident our February prayers were heard, even if the answer was not what we were seeking. In a recent sermon we were so humbly reminded that just because He doesn't answer our prayers in our preferences, doesn't mean He is not answering.

I know I have shared it before but He has fully impressed upon my heart in this journey Exodus 14:14- "The Lord will fight for you, you need only be still" and so that is where we rest. Praying daily for the precious one He is preparing us for from the beautiful country that has captured our hearts.

Our present journey is nothing compared to what lies ahead, we just need to patiently wait and trust... 

Thank You for praying us through!

Daniel Trip #2 to Haiti

Hi All -

Daniel here. I have the privilege to take my second trip to Haiti with - Heartline Ministries - Haiti!

I am headed to Haiti the week of July 30-August 5 on a trip designed to use soccer as a way to share the love of Christ and the Gospel with the youth in Haiti. We will also spend time during the week at the various Heartline facilities supporting the work they are doing in partnership with the people of Haiti. This includes the maternity center, men's discipleship program, women's education center, and likely visiting some orphanages and schools. In addition, it looks like we will be doing a shoe distribution through Samaritan's Feet and serving food through Feed the Hunger.

Please pray God would continue to prepare our team for our time in Haiti. Pray for the hearts of the Haitian people we will have the opportunity to love. Pray God, in His grace, would work in and through us as we share the Gospel in word and deed. Pray that many would trust in Jesus as Savior and King. Pray that believers would be encouraged in their faith through our time together. Pray for our safety and our families while we are away. Thank you!

You can also support our team through the donation of soccer equipment especially balls and cleats. In addition, I am planning to take jump ropes (short and long) and Jesus Storybook Bibles in Haitian Creole (see link below) and could definitely use more. It is very difficult to mail supplies to Haiti, so our ability to pack them with us makes a big difference. You can either mail them to me (prior to July 26) or send me a donation which I will use to purchase the items. Anything is appreciated. Let me know if you need my address.

Thanks ahead of time for your support!

Jesus Storybook Bible in Creole

Praying Big Prayers... will you join us?

Breaking the silence of the last several months with a request... BIG PRAYERS!

We are almost exactly 2.5 years into this process (will be on 2.8.16) and really have had little news to share since November of 2014 when we entered the Haitian system...

I know that sounds crazy, but it doesn't mean He is not working.
It doesn't mean we are not praying, preparing and longing for the little one He is preparing us for.
It doesn't mean that we are not imagining what her precious face looks like, what her story is, what the future holds.

It does mean we have completed a lot of paperwork.
It does mean we have been waiting a long time.
It does mean that we are tired, ready and hopeful for that call. The call that will change everything.

SO.....

We are boldly going before the Lord and praying EVERY DAY in February that we would receive our formal referral from Haiti. This may or may not be His plan, but we are boldly asking Him in faith that it is!

Please join us by picking a day (or two or three) to stand in faith and pray with us. You can sign up here:  BIG PRAYERS

Specifically:

• Pray that God would move mountains in Haitian adoptions - specifically ours. 
• Pray for the IBESR Staff to move quickly in matching us and that we would have favor in their eyes. 
• (IBESR is the Haitian Agency that is the the equivalent of the department of family and children's services, and are responsible for approving each international adoption and ensuring that the adoptive family meets criteria, that the child is eligible for adoption, and that the adoption itself is legitimate, according to Haiti's adoption legislation)  

Background - if we do not receive a referral AND travel to Haiti and submit our application in Haiti before April 1st, we will need to update our paperwork under a new process. There is nothing inherently wrong with that, its just more work, more time, more money and potentially more waiting.

SO... let's boldly go before Him and pray that we get that call that we are matched in February... as Daniel likes to say... Go Big or Go Home! :)