I'm not even sure where to begin...so I'll start with the fact that I'm sick. I'll spare you the details, but I've been pretty miserable since last weekend with what was eventually diagnosed as Dengue Fever (caught from an African mosquito) and now is suspected to be Malaria (also caught from an African mosquito). The crazy part is that I literally got 2 mosquito bites the entire time we were in Ghana! Must have been some powerful skeeters. Even though I still don't fully understand why God prompted me to come home when I did (instead of staying in Ghana with Eli as we had planned), I am certainly grateful to be so sick here instead of there.
In other news, I'm frustrated. If you've been following the recent updates to our adoption process, you know that Mary had an appointment to pick up some papers at the US Embassy yesterday. She took Eli with her, and they made the 7 hour bus ride to the capital of Ghana. On the way there, Eli became violently ill and they had to get off the bus and find a hospital immediately. They were able to rush through getting him treatment (we still don't know for what - we're guessing malaria again) and they arrived at the Embassy just a few minutes before 3 pm. They were allowed to enter the Embassy and get up to the window where the packet they needed was waiting, but even after explaining the story (with a very sick baby in her arms), Mary was not able to get the packet because it was after their 2 pm appointment time. The papers Mary needed were literally sitting just beyond her reach, but the US Embassy's policies say that they can only be handed over at 2 pm on Wednesdays. Now, I've learned to understand (and sometimes even appreciate) the policies and procedures we've experienced throughout this entire process, but the lack of compassion and mercy shown here is beyond frustrating.
Please pray for Mary, Eli, and the hearts of the officials in Ghana. Mary will now have to make the long bus ride again next Wednesday, which is expensive, time-consuming, and stressful. It also pushes our timeline back at least an entire week.
In this part of our journey, timing is truly everything. It's just frustrating when that timing is not up to us.
In other news, I'm frustrated. If you've been following the recent updates to our adoption process, you know that Mary had an appointment to pick up some papers at the US Embassy yesterday. She took Eli with her, and they made the 7 hour bus ride to the capital of Ghana. On the way there, Eli became violently ill and they had to get off the bus and find a hospital immediately. They were able to rush through getting him treatment (we still don't know for what - we're guessing malaria again) and they arrived at the Embassy just a few minutes before 3 pm. They were allowed to enter the Embassy and get up to the window where the packet they needed was waiting, but even after explaining the story (with a very sick baby in her arms), Mary was not able to get the packet because it was after their 2 pm appointment time. The papers Mary needed were literally sitting just beyond her reach, but the US Embassy's policies say that they can only be handed over at 2 pm on Wednesdays. Now, I've learned to understand (and sometimes even appreciate) the policies and procedures we've experienced throughout this entire process, but the lack of compassion and mercy shown here is beyond frustrating.
Please pray for Mary, Eli, and the hearts of the officials in Ghana. Mary will now have to make the long bus ride again next Wednesday, which is expensive, time-consuming, and stressful. It also pushes our timeline back at least an entire week.
In this part of our journey, timing is truly everything. It's just frustrating when that timing is not up to us.