The greatest experience, the one which shakes a soul with hopes and fears, the results of which are never ending, and incidentally, the one which pays the biggest dividends, is to be found in the adoption of children.
--Anonymous

Lilypie Waiting to Adopt tickers

Friday, April 15, 2011

My trip in a nut shell

Well, there were wonderful moments and heartbreaking moments. I met with the Consul General who was very kind and did her best to explain the problems they are having trying to deal with the Guatemalan government. I left the meeting feeling hopeful.


Then it was on to the the hearing. The hearing was cancelled. No notification, just cancelled. The judge no longer presides over the court. I'm not sure if she quit or why she is no longer there but no judge means no hearing. We left information so we could be notified of the rescheduling but I'm not sure that will happen. The hearing was my chance to see Nola and since there was no hearing, those hopes were dashed..........until I got back to the hotel. When I told Gloria about the hearing she got on the phone and worked her magic. Within two hours we were on our way to see my baby girl. The day could not have turned out any better. I have pictures but just don't feel comfortable posting them right now with the situation the way it is. Take my word for it, she's as beautiful as ever!


The following day I met with Lissette of the Foreign Ministry. She is very kind, took down our case information and offered to help in any way she can.


And now for the not so good news. We decided to go to CNA and just wait until someone would see us. Well, that's not all together true. We were at CNA at 9:00 and my taxi to the airport was coming at 10:30 so we were prepared to wait for an hour and a half anyway. After about 35 minutes we were called back to Sr Valesquez's office. He proceeded to tell me our case was terminated the day the judge issued the Certificate of Adoptability. He also said they are required to look for a national home for Nola. Talk about tears, wow! They did bring me a box of tissues and a glass of ice water.......if they had just brought me my little Nola, I would have said thank you very much and gone home!


So now we're really under the gun. I'm not sure how hard the US is pushing the Guatemalan government to honor the remaining cases. I'm praying if some sort of agreement is reached, it happens before Nola has been placed in a Guatemalan home.


So much for being "Grandfathered"!


We are now trying to locate the birth mother and yes, it will be quite similar to finding a needle in a haystack! Sr Valesquez told me if we find the birth mother, it's possible we can have the judge's ruling reversed and continue processing through PGN.


I'm just not ready to give up yet. I haven't fought all of this time to quit now. Until God reveals to me that her coming home is not part of his plan, I will continue to pray and believe that Nola's coming home some day. Please stand with me in that hope and pray our little girl home!

6 comments:

Gardenia said...

God bless you and your little Nola. I am praying that your prayers will be answered.

Garland Family said...

Is there anything we can do (write letters to our government for example)? This breaks my heart. I will continue to pray.

Aileen said...

I'm glad that you were able to see your precious girl while you were there, but sure wish the news was better. We will be praying here that you can find the birthmom and get this mess straightened out very soon.

Lisa said...

Hugs and hope.

Guatmama said...

Standing and praying with you all the way.

The gFamily said...

I am so glad that you got to spend time with Nola!! Praying that God will move the mountains!

Gordon Mote - Don't Miss the Glory