Where are we in our adoption process?

Well tomorrow marks 3 months Aloizs Mitchell has been gone back to Latvia.  I haven't blogged in a month, it gets harder as time goes by.  I still here from him all day everyday, some days he is very talkative and some days he only writes: Mom I love you, I love you for life es apsolu (which is I promise)  one day last week he sent me 83 messages between the time of 8:30 - 5:00.  I am very  thankful that I hear from him everyday all day.  We also talk on the phone about every 3 days.  His English is getting very good, I am glad we are able to talk on the phone, it helps him continue to talk in English and it helps to hear voices.  Saying bye on the phone is still very difficult for me.  We talk about 20 minutes each time and that is the fastest 20 minutes of the day.  Please continue to pray  for him that God will continue to protect and take care of him as he waits.  I can't imagine the waiting and patience this child has had to learn over the years, it makes me feel bad for even saying these last 3 months have seemed so long, when he has been waiting for 6 years.  I have been asked about where we are in the adoption process so I am going to list the process and you can see what we have finished and what we have left.  Thank you all so much for your support, prayers, and being on this journey with our family.  
Here is our Adoption list we have been checking off:
1. Apply to our adoption agency with an application (Jan. 19)
2. Was approved as an adoptive family (Jan. 24)
3.  Applied to NC Homestudy our Social worker (Jan. 28)
4.  Mailed An Open Door Adoption agency our contract (Jan. 29)
5.   Began our homestudy (Feb. 4)
6.  Worked on Homestudy Documents and meet with the Social   work 4 times (all in the month of Feb.) very busy month:)
7.  Completed Homestudy (March 4) (for those that don't know a homestudy is a very detailed 15 page paper of everything about your family that is put together by a social worker.  It has to have interviews with you and your children, marriage cert., birth cert., passports, financial reports, police reports, child abuse clearances, and the list goes on...)
8.  Apply to USCIS with form 800a. (March 6)
9.  Complete Dossier Documents (March 6)
10. Mail Dossier Documents to Latvia  and translated(March 8)
11.  Get appointment letter from USCIS to have fingerprints done in Charlotte. (April 11)
12. Get approval letter to adopt internationally from USCIS 
13.  Family is approved by Latvia and receive a referral of their child (which is his file, that will be sent to us to review)
14.  Family receives an invitation to travel to Latvia!!
15.   Family makes 1st trip for Orphan court, this is were we will be interviewed by orphan court, then granted temporary custody to spend 3 weeks in Riga, Latvia with Aloizs; Our family and Aloizs will be visited by social worker who writes a report for the court recommending the adoption; then we go back to court again where the court approves the formal match of the family with Aloizs; and sends the case forward to a court of Law for adoption proceedings.  
We then can travel back to the US with Aloizs, and wait for our next court date.
16.  2nd trip to Latvia Only one parent and Aloizs go on this trip.  This is an another interview in court for the approval of the adoption.  trip will be about 4 days.  We return home for approx. 30 days 
17.  3rd trip to Latvia to finalize adoption.  Aloizs has final medical exam, and obtains immigrant visa and new passport.  this trip we will be in Latvia for about 7 days.

CAN'T WAIT UNTIL STEP 14!! 
AND THEN OF COURES STEP 17!!
Thank you for your prayers!!

St Patrick's Day felt like Valentines day

Our Aloizs Mitchell is one precious child.  I haven't blogged in awhile...but I wanted to share the depth of love that comes from a child that is so full of love, but has been robbed his whole life from receiving the love he should of gotten.  This precious little boy that is now 15 years old is so full of love to give, it amazes me.  
Today is St. Patrick's Day, but felt more like Valentine's Day, like most days do for me.  Most of the time we share how much we love a family member on special days like Mother's Day, Valentines Day or Birthdays.  All the days in between we might say "I love you" in the morning and at night.  Maybe on the phone here and there...how many times do we tell the ones we love, that we love them?  
I hear from our Aloizs all day and night and I am very thankful that one we have the technology to talk and two that he would take the time to write me.  
So today I thought wow how often I have heard him say I love you everyday since he has left which has been 2 months, and thought wow, we should should say I love you more to the ones we love.  That how much more loved we feel when we hear that all day.  I decided to reopen all of my messages from him today and count how many times he told me that he loved me...and it was 40 times just today that he said "I love you my mom for life, I promise."  Have any of us ever told our family we loved them 40 times in one day?  
can I say I feel loved by this child!
I have often said that I feel a lot of times like he says to me what he wants to hear back, of course I say it back each and every time.  He has been robbed of a mom telling him "I love you" everyday of his life, and we have 15 years to make up for.  
Tell your family you love them more, tell your children you love them more, don't miss an opportunity you never know how that could change a day, change a year, or even change your child's future.  When we feel loved we are secure, happy, fulfilled, safe, empowered, successful, encouraged, and even invincible.  Love is a powerful thing.  The Bible says 

1 Corinthians 13 
[ The Greatest Gift ] Though I speak with the tongues ofmen and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I havethe gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing. ...

1 Corinthians 13:13

1. And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
   
   
   
   

To God be the Glory!!

To God be the Glory!!

WOW!  God is so Good!  Tuesday 3-5-13 What a day!!  I blogged the Mountain that was  in front of us...$6000 that was needed to go with our next documents which was double what we thought.  God said do you trust and Believe that I have got this?  It was a hard day, to find out that we had hurried to get our documents completed and then find out we needed that kind of money.  Tony, had said it was double the amount we needed so when God did it there would be no doubt that HE did it.  After my cry yesterday God spoke to my heart and said to do what I had told Aloizs to do and that is trust and believe.  So, I did...I give it to God Trusting that He would make away...

6 or 7 hours later we got a phone call, with $6000!!  Yes!  You heard me GOD turned it all around in less than 8 hours!  

Praise God for His Goodness, He is still God of it all, In control of it all!! There is NO Doubt God is in this adoption for his Glory!!  He has great plans for our Aloizs!  and I can't wait to see this child come here and share his testimony of what God has done in his life!!

We traveled to Raleigh today, to get our documents Apostilled by the the NC Secretary of State.  These documents will be going to Latvia!!  We got up very early, very excited to get this phase completed.  We dropped them off and they said they would be ready in the morning.  We left and toured the Capitol and the museums (School field trip)  It was fun...at 2:00 Tony said lets just stop by and see if they happen to be ready.  So before we headed to our car to leave we stopped in the State office, the lady looked and she said yes they are ready!!  She said now open them and look through them before you leave.  It was 2 big packs of papers, about 90 pages!  so I did and I am so glad we did.  One document was denied because the notary didn't stamp it.  So I called her and we flew (not really) home to get it stamped before the doctors office closed and we have to go back to Raleigh in the morning...for ONE document!!  But I am thankful the papers were ready early, so we can still get them finished in the morning instead of having to go back again on Friday!!  

So, Tomorrow all of these Documents will be mailed (over nighted) with a $6000 check to our adoption agent and then Friday will be scanned to Latvia to be translated!!  I am very excited to have all of these documents completed, We are praying for all of these documents to be approved rapidly.  

The next steps (that are going on at the same time) are to wait on the US CIS to send us a letter of appointment to be fingerprinted by the US immigration office, and then we will wait for them to send us an approval letter.  This Application was able to get mailed TODAY, Thanks to Total Praise in Song, my dear precious friends that raised the funds for this application to be mailed!!  

In the mean time our documents in Latvia will be translated in Latvian, so they are ready to be reviewed.  When we get our US approval that will then be sent to Latvia as well, in hopes that all of the other documents are ready and translated.  Then we wait on Latvia to send us an approval and a date to travel!!!  Sorry I know this is probably hard to understand and boring.  But just know we are now very close but also we are at the hard part of waiting, not knowing how long this could take...

We are now in the stage of raising funds to travel to Latvia, one of the biggest expenses of this journey...We will have to live in an apartment in Latvia for 3 weeks, with cost of airfare for 5 to Latvia and airfare for "6" home,  and all of the other expenses in Latvia.  So as one thing is complete and is a BIG accomplishment we are now facing our next big step which is another mountain, But I am believing God is going to do GREAT things once again.

Thank you to all of you that donated this week you guys are amazing, and such a BIG part of this journey with our family!!  The money that was donated to Open Door this week by so many of you, will stay in the Bell account and go towards our travel expenses.  We still have much to raise...

Some fundraisers coming:

March 23rd Yard Sale 

April 6th All fore!  Aloizs Golf tournament at Sapona Golf club.

April 27th Spaghetti Dinner at The 1st PH Church in Winston-Salem

**Thank you to all of you that are planning and working so hard on all of these fund raisers!!  WE LOVE YOU ALL!  

Do you Believe me?

Do you Believe me?

Today was  a precious moment with our Aloizs, that I am going to share even though I don't normally share our conversations, but today I feel God needs to be glorified.  This morning I am in conversation with him and he asked me "mom, do you really know that we will be together forever?" 

I said back that yes, I know we will be together. why? did someone say we wouldn't?  He said "mom, I worry"

I said you will have to trust me, do you believe me when I say we will be together?  He said "Yes, I believe, I believe you that we will be together, I love you my mom forever."

It was a very precious moment.  He then went on to tell me in 6 more messages in an hour that he loved me.  I share this because of what happens next...

I then was on the phone with the adoption agent, most of you know we have all of our paperwork ready, I have worked very hard to get it done very quickly...I am on the phone with her reviewing all of what is needed this week, checking off each thing...I have down that we will need $3000 by Friday, (which we only have $850)  but I am not worried, knowing it is going to happen some how...

When she gets to the amount the check needs to be for she says...$6000.  I say ok and hang up...

Can I say my heart went to my stomach and I felt as though I could of thrown up...that's me being real with you guys...very real...letting you all into a part of my life I wouldn't normally share...I called Tony,  and he says it will be God for sure when this happens this week!  Feeling sick and overwhelmed I go sit in in my bathroom on the floor and cry my head off...I prayed God I know you have this but I am worried, this is a lot of money!  God said "Do you remember what you said to Aloizs today?"  WOW!  Does God have a way with just a few words!  I melted in tears, and said God I believe, I believe God you have this.  How God is teaching me through this journey is absolutely amazing.  I don't know how or where this money will come from...But I am believing God for a miracle.  I wanted to share this most intimate  moment with you so when it does happen God will be glorified in it all.  Is this hard for me to share absolutely...but To Him be the Glory for what he is about to do.  I love this child and I know God is doing amazing things in his life and through his life.  He is definitely changing me and growing my Faith everyday!  Love you all!!  God is still in control of it all, I Believe Him do you?

Waiting for forever

How long does waiting feel?  This picture of Aloizs (Mitchell) was taken a year after being taken away from his mom.  In 2007 he was removed from his home and placed in an orphanage, not knowing what the future held.  How long was the waiting?  Every day not knowing how much longer he had to wait...was she coming back?, did she still love him?, would he see her again? Then the day his mom's rights are terminated, does he understand what that means?  how old was he?  How must that of felt, to know she wasn't coming back, that he wouldn't see her again...Then a new waiting began.  Would he get a new family? would today be the day?  how long would it be before his new family came for him?  ...

...now 6 years later he still waiting for a family...Waiting for forever...Waiting for a family to love must feel like forever, waiting to have a mom to love you...waiting for forever is what it must feel like to a child.  Day in and day out not knowing if that day will ever come.  

Many times He has said he waits every day for me.  I can't imagine how long waiting must be for a child without a family.  Six long years (about 2,190 days) without a family.

Now, he has found a family that loves him.  He is happy and sad everyday.  back waiting for what feels like forever.  He cries because everyday he wants to see his family that he loves again.  He says his dreams have finally come true...he is so close, but yet still waiting, still not very sure what the future holds, but has a glimpse of hope that that day of being loved in a family could finally be just around the corner.

It is so very hard after being with us for 4 weeks to now be separated. a lot of children that have been institutionalized have attachment disorders, and so far with our Mitchell he shows no signs of this, he is very much attached to me and our family.  I hear from him every morning when he gets up at 7:30am (Latvia)  which is 12:30am here in the US.  Usually by 1:08am (8:08am Latvia) He is at school and is at the Library writing me.  and so goes the rest of his day.  He writes me most days all day or at least once an hour every hour.  It starts at 12am for me and then he will go to bed and I stop hearing from him at about 4pm (11pm Latvia)  I am very thankful for every message from him.  I am glad he is able to stay in touch, I don't know what we would do without it.  It is a blessing to be able to communicate so much.  We also talk on the phone every 3 days.  His English is getting very good, and we are able to talk more and more while on the phone.   It is a blessing that I am so grateful for!!

With all of that said you can see why there are never any blogs:)  I am writing him all hours of the day and night...while working diligently on ALL of the adoption papers and running that goes along with it.  Not to mention Ministry, and homeschooling and fund raising... but I miss being able to update everyone.  I want everyone to know I greatly appreciate all of the encouragement from you guys during this journey.  This has not been an easy road to go down.  I get little sleep, my heart is heavy, my mind is full of all the "Adoption detail stuff", and I love my family and try to still be with them and keep up with their schedules.  I hope I live to see him come home:) 

update on where we are in the process.

A few days ago we had what I thought was going to be a big bump in the road and that it would set us back 2-3weeks, I had my moment of a cry on my bed. (which I can't remember the last time I have had one of those)  after my wonderful husband reminding me God is still in control I got up and got back to work on our next set of papers.  With in the next few days...maybe the next day, It all turned around...God is still in control!  We have now jumped ahead in the process with a miracle of having our Home study finished (should have final copy this week), ready for our next application for the US, and on Tuesday we get our final papers for LATVIA notarized and should be ready to head to Raleigh to have them Apostilled with the next week !!  We are very much ahead of the game, God turned it all around.  Praise God for His Greatness, and care for every detail of our life!  We serve a God that nothing is impossible!!

Now that we are ready with these papers, we are at a very expensive stage in the adoption process.  These next documents are very expensive costing $1000s.  with these next few steps we will need around $3000-$4000.  But just with the issues from last week we are believing God for a miracle, because we know He can do the impossible.

If you would like to make a donation, we could use your help right now.  Every amount helps!!  Thank you all for your prayers and support!

To make an online donation you can go to the link below, and designate for Tony and Melanie Bell

Thank you and God Bless each of you!!

https://www.networkforgood.org/donation/ExpressDonation.aspx?ORGID2=581703392&vlrStratCode=Qs5LEJsEjix6r%2fBjarcVS80AkVHBB3nKThmaZxcgBsUXz7ND%2bNAJwjDEuDzCl%2bcf

God is Always on time

      God is Awesome and always right on time, not a minute too early and not a minute too late.  As most of you know we needed $1400 today for our home study.  Well our fund raiser went very well and we were very thankful for everyone that bought our Double love Bouquets for Valentines.  But as of  8am this morning, we were still $500 short.  I went to bed last night without one worry.  Tony and I had peace that it was going to be ok.  That sounds like I am making that up or like that is easy...but in times past I would of been worrying and Tony would of been worrying, but I would of been more verbal about it.  But we really didn't worry we went right to bed and never give it another thought.  I had told Tony that we are being tested, and things will be provided as we show we trust God for every step.  8am came around 2 hours before we need the money...I get a text "did you get all of what you needed?"  I text back no.  9am, 1 hour before the social worker arrives, and we have a check in the mailbox for $500. Praise God for being right on time.  We serve a Big God and He and only He can provide when we trust Him.  I know that this whole journey will be like this, I said it from day one, it will be one step at a time.  When we got to adding  up all of the donations, we were off by $5.  (not much or anything to worry about) and in a matter of seconds, I got a message on my phone that said, "Melanie I just made a donation online for $25 for your adoption"... the timing was amazing.  God is just Awesome!  so we paid what needed to be paid and God started our next hurdle with $20 to start.  
     The Home study was long and full of paperwork, we had everything that was needed to be turned in.  And she give us 4 more things to accomplish this week.  She had originally told us that the Home study would be finished by mid March, today she said she would have it finished to be reviewed by THIS weekend!! one month ahead of schedule!  

     Then Tony and I headed off to the Doctors office to have TB test and blood work etc...for our Physicians report.  Which someone had told us they called a week ago to get an appointment and they didn't get one until April.  I call the end of last week and got one for today.  Can I just say God is just Awesome!  We got everything we needed and the test results should be ready on Thursday.  Dr. Hess is the Best!

     Okay so if that wasn't enough to be the best day ever,  Aloizs sends me a message about a video(Hillsong, lead me to the cross, with Latvian lyrics)  I posted on the Latvian social network called frype, and he said that song made him cry.  He said he loved Jesus.  I said it is beautiful what Jesus did for us on the cross.  He said that Jesus was his savior.  Then he says he is thankful again the God has given him a family. 

     It really has been a great day.  We are Blessed beyond measure, Just that God loves us so much he sent his Son that we might be saved, and every other Blessing is just because He can.  
Matthew 7:11

As bad as you are, you still know how to give good gifts to your children. But your heavenly Father is even more ready to give good things to people who ask.

What is in a Name?

What is in a Name?

I have often taught or even preached about the importance of a NAME.  Over and over in the Bible we see this to be true.  God names Adam, and he lets Adam name all of the animals.  When we give something a name it shows that it belongs to you.  Adam(man)  had dominion over the animals on the earth, so God shows this by letting Adam name the animals.  We also see over and over where God changes a name of a person to show a new identity, like with Abram to Abraham, Saul to Paul.  We even see King nebuchadnezzar tries to change the name of Daniel to try and change his identity.  This name change wasn't a positive thing but was a way to take away Daniels identity as a child of God's.  With Paul his name change was a away to put away old ways and to start a fresh new ministry for His new found Savior, Jesus.  There is a great meaning behind a name.  We name our children we give them that special name, it shows ownership, or a since of belonging.

Aloizs for the last several weeks has been asking me to give him a new name.  He doesn't want to be called Aloizs anymore.  I at first thought he was referring to a middle name because he doesn't have one.  But I later figured out he doesn't want the name Aloizs.  I ask him what name he wanted, and he said "No mom I want you to give me a name."  Can I just say that all the years of teaching God's Word and about the importance of a name and an identity all came back to my remembrance.  It has melted my heart for sure.  Every day he would ask me what his name will be, and I have told him I would have to think about it.  Until finally it came back to my remembrance a name that I have had for a very long time.

11 years ago today, Morgan my youngest was born.  February 7th.  On this day Tony and I anticipated the birth of our child, not knowing if it was a boy or a girl.  We had a girls name and a boys name ready on this day.  Of course we had our beautiful baby girl that we named Morgan.  But I had a boys name, that is If I ever had another son I would call him Mitchell.  Well 11 years later I have a new son,  that is wanting me to name him.  God brings this name back to my remembrance and today 11 years later I get to use this name and name Aloizs, Mitchell.

Aloizs/Mitch everyday tells me he loves me at least 50 or more times a day.  He tells me he loves God, He loves Jesus, He loves Dad, He loves his brother and sisters, he loves our church, He loves the dogs, and then in 20 more messages in a row He will tell me that He loves me over and over.  He is the most loving child, full of love.  There isn't a more perfect name for him, the meaning of Mitchell is Who is like God, and I got to thinking about that God is love.  He is like God in that he is so full of Love.  

A child that hasn't been shown very much love in his life could be so full of love has to come from a Heavenly Father, God has poured this love on Him and it over flows out of him.  

I have met a new friend on Facebook that knows Aloizs from going to Latvia on mission trips over that past several years.  I told him about Aloizs wanting his name changed, and he said he remembers him and another boy talking about that in the past.  That they wanted to change their name, and they did several times picking around.  He said he is eager to change his identity, to put his past of Latvia behind him.  He also said you see this in children that have a very painful past.  Aloizs is very serious about doing this, and told me he wants me to call him Mitchell now.  That he doesn't like the name Aloizs because of Latvia.  

So from now on his name is Mitch, a precious child sent to us from God, full of God's love.