Our Adoption Journey

My flights to Uganda always yield some sort of excitement! Weather delays, midflight re-routes, lost luggage…these are just a few we have experienced so far. My flight here on this trip proved to be the most entertaining of the three to date.

The excitement began when a rather “round” guy stood up in the aisle with his head phones in and started dancing! He broke out with some rave dancing mixed in with some classic head bobbing! It was bad…really bad! This guy thought he was the next Usher though! You could just tell he was one of those guys who thought he was the stuff out on the dance floor. After he broke bad in the aisle, he started aggravating some of the passengers. He was basically just being loud and obnoxious. Come to find out…he had been hitting the red wine pretty hard! I and the other passengers in my section (who are now mocking this guy) watched several of the flight crew come and deal with this guy to no avail. Eventually, one of the flight attendants that I would even be afraid to tangle with gave him an official written warning and told him if he did not stay in his seat and keep his mouth shut he would be greeted by Uganda 5-0 at the airport. She was no joke! He put his hands on her one time in that “I love everybody” kind of drunken way and she bout took him out! It made for a good 30 minutes worth of in-flight entertainment!

After they got Mr., “So you think you can dance” settled down, I began a conversation with a woman sitting in the same row across the aisle from me. Actually the conversation got started because we were making fun of the guy together! Don’t worry …I repented later. It was hilarious though! Turns out this lady is personal assistant to Billy Graham’s daughter and lives in Raleigh. She told some really cool stories about Mr. Graham. One of the things that stood out was the fact that at 90+ years of age and having preached all over the world…he is still memorizing scripture. Actually he is memorizing the whole book of Psalms, and because he can’t see well, he has big flip charts with Psalms written out on them in big letters so he can see it. It was really neat just hearing about his character and love for God. The man is the real deal, a true spiritual giant of our day! I can’t wait to see what kind of excitement the trip home with Joyce brings! Please start praying now.

When I got off the plane, I was greeted by the very distinct smell of Uganda. The best way I can describe it is Smokey, probably from all the trash fires and cooking fires. It is very unique and you smell it all the time. I spent the first night at the airport guest house. The guest house is very nice (by Ugandan standards) and I slept great. I woke this morning (we are 8 hours ahead of NC) to all kinds of birds singing outside my window. It felt good to be back. Having been here three times within the last nine months; it really feels like a home away from home. I am so glad to have experienced so much of Joyce’s culture.

I arrived at the orphanage after a three hour drive from the airport. The driving here is the worst part of the experience. It takes forever to get anywhere! When Joyce saw me, she ran up and gave me a big hug. It was so good to see her again. We go to court tomorrow for our ruling, after which I will sit her down and try and explain that she is now my daughter and will be coming to live with the rest of her new family in the States.  I would greatly appreciate your prayers for that discussion…for her and me both!

I also got to meet a new baby here at GSF who captured my heart immediately! I say baby, but he is actually over a year old. I don’t want to give you his real name for various reasons, so I will call him Frank. Frank looks like one of those kids you see on the sponsorship commercials. He is around 17 months old and is severely malnourished. Actually, he is clinically starving. He is just skin and bones. He looks like a little old man! His arm is only a little thicker than my finger and he only ways around 11 pounds. This kid is a real fighter though and has the best smile you have ever seen. Claudia is taking care of him and is a pro at nursing these deathly ill kids back to health. Please keep him in your prayers!

It’s almost 10pm here and I have to be up at six, so I’m going to call it a night! Wherever you are reading this form tonight, I pray you have a great night’s sleep! I pray you grab the ones you love and tell them so. I pray you ask God to give you a true burden for something bigger than yourself, and I pray he answers you!

Goodnight from Uganda.

Wow, our trip to Uganda has been very eventful to say the least. We arrived at the Raleigh airport at 5pm Monday afternoon. As we were walking into the airport, the fire alarm was going off and there was a voice over the PA telling everyone to evacuate. Having been a firefighter for 6 years, added to the fact that no one that worked at the airport was paying any attention to the evacuation instructions, I realized very quickly this was a false alarm and proceeded to check in. Not three minutes after the alarm went off; another voice came over the PA instructing us that the security status in the airport had just been upgraded! This would definitely be a sign of things to come!

We flew from Raleigh into NY. We boarded our plane in NY for London with no problem, but before we could take off, the plane had to be deiced. This delayed our takeoff by about 30 minutes. After we were 2 hours into our nine hour flight, the flight crew captain came and informed me that we had been rerouted because of the snow storm, and due to this delay and extended flight time, we were not going to make our connection in London to our final destination in Uganda, Entebbe. He said they had already rebooked us on a flight to Cairo, Egypt.

Well, our flight to London was also delayed and at the exact time our plane was touching down, our flight to Cairo was supposed to be taking off. As we got off the plane, the crew informed us that they were holding the plane for us (there were several of us that had been moved to this flight) and we needed to RUN to the departure gate. So, Amy and I and the rest of our new late friends sprinted across the Cairo Airport, being directed by airport personnel at every turn! I felt like we were all competing on the show “Amazing Race”!!  We made it to the plane and boarded to angry stares of passengers who were now an hour late taking off thanks to us!

Here’s a friendly heads up to those of you who may be traveling in the near future, if you have to RUN to catch a plane that you were not originally scheduled to be on, you can count on the ground crew NOT RUNNING with you to transfer your luggage onto your new flight!! We finally arrived in Uganda at 5:30am on Wednesday morning. However, our luggage is still sitting in Cairo!! It is supposed to come in at 3am tomorrow morning, so we should have it for the second half of our stay!

Today, we drove into Kampala for our hearing. I had to wear a borrowed suit that was too big and underwear that I washed in the sink with shampoo the night before!! I had packed a couple extra shirts in my carryon but somehow managed to forget a backup pair of skivvies!! Looks like the one pair of underwear I have is going another round in the sink tonight!!

I know you’re all wondering if we got the miracle we have all been praying and believing for. The answer, I am sad to say is no. There were questions about Joyce’s father that need to be answered before a ruling can be granted. Though that seems like a setback, we were scheduled for a ruling on January 25^th. So, as it stands now, Amy and I will return home on Dec. 22^nd, and I will return by myself a couple days before January 25^th and stay for a week to finish up. Then Joyce and I will fly home together.

With that being said, Amy and I still have a strong sense that we need to be praying over this situation surrounding Joyce’s father.  The only way that we can explain it at this point is that there is a strong sense of spiritual warfare surrounding the details of this situation. You all have prayed so faithfully and courageously with us, and I can’t tell you what a blessing and strength that has been. Please continue your fervent prayers for us as we continue to try and bring Joyce home to be a part of our family. This thing is defiantly not over yet! 

That’s right, the time is finally here! Amy and I are heading back to Uganda! We (along with all of you) have been praying for this moment for over a year now, and I can’t begin to tell you how excited we are that the time has finally arrived! However, this trip looks like it is going to be much different than we first anticipated, so I wanted to catch you all up before we head out.

From the beginning, we’ve been told by our attorney in Uganda that once our case had been assigned to the court we would be given a date for a hearing. Once we knew the date of that hearing, Amy and I would both travel to Uganda and go to court together. After our hearing we would both stay in Uganda for two weeks and then return to court to get the judge’s ruling. The ruling is what actually gives us guardianship over Joyce. After receiving the ruling, Amy would return to the States and I would stay in Uganda another two to four weeks to get Joyce’s visa and passport and then the two of us would return home together. If there is anything we have learned in this process, whether it's in Africa or the States, change is inevitable! 

Over the last month, we have been very anxious about our court date because we know the courts close in Uganda on Dec. 23^rd and don’t reopen until the middle of January. This could add several weeks to my time in Uganda if we went to court for our hearing before the break but didn’t get our ruling until after. Last week, we received word that our team in Africa had come up with a new plan. They wanted me to come alone for the first hearing and then return home before Christmas. I would then return in January for the ruling, finish up the process and bring Joyce home. Amy was pretty excited about this new plan because it meant she would not have to go…though she loves being with Joyce, she is not crazy about being in Africa!! So, we have been planning for the last week for me to leave this Sunday...alone.

The down side to this new plan is that it would mean two trips for me and make it even longer before we get to bring Joyce home. So, we have been praying. In our seeking, we have heard his voice. Scriptures have been jumping off the pages of the Bible and stirring faith in our hearts. The messages we have been hearing, even last Sunday’s KidStuf service, have spoken directly to us as if God spoke them just for our benefit. Even as far back as May and the blog post I wrote entitled “The Space In-Between, there is evidence of God prepping us for this moment! To put is as plainly as I can…we have heard God invite us to believe for a miracle. We have been praying that God would give us a ruling the same day of our hearing (which is extremely rare!) and that I would be able to bring Joyce home on this first trip.

Then, just last night, our plans were turned upside down again. We were told that both of us were now going to have to come after all. This news caught us totally off guard! We have gone through a whole range of emotions over the last several days and are now focused on getting ready for both of us to leave the Country together…again. What a rollercoaster ride!

So, here is the current plan. On Monday, Amy and I will leave for Uganda and return on the 23^rd. That is the natural plan! We however, are praying for a supernatural plan. As I mentioned before, we are praying for God to do a miracle and move on the judge’s heart to give us a ruling on the day of our hearing and that we get to bring Joyce home on this trip, even if it means us staying a little longer.

We know, “What is impossible with man is possible with God” (Luke 18:27). And if God chooses not to do a miracle in this situation it will not be because we didn’t ask and believe for one, “for the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are attentive to their prayer” (I Peter 3:12).

I am sorry for such a looooooong post! That is what happens when you only update your blog every 3 months! I am planning on updating often while we are in Uganda, so stay tuned.