Long Overdue Update

Dear Friends,

I am ashamed that is has been so long since we have connected with you! From April until now, life in Finchville has been crazy! Chris graduated from Boyce the second week of May along with my sister Stephanie, and that same weekend we had the joy in being a part of her and Andrew's wedding. We also had a brief time with our families as they all descended on Finchville for the weekend. :) Chris and I then got away f0r a few weeks to the Smoky Mountians to get a much needed respite before the summer of church activities began. June brought VBS, and many new students to youth group, followed by July which was filled with missions trips to Guatemala and youth camp. Labor Day weekend capped off our busy summer with a youth outreach event here in Shelby County that involved several big name Christian artists. Needless to say, we are finally beginning to know what sleep is again and having a chance to breathe. :)

As I am sure, many of you are wondering about the missions trip to Guatemala this year. I was unable to go, due to work and finances, but Chris went with 11 others during the week of July 11-17th. They actually were supposed to leave on the 10th but when we got to the airport, they had cancelled their flight due to an engine failure. We were very thankful and grateful that God protected them from that danger.

Chris was able to spend some time with Rebeca while he was in Guatemala, and he was able to take her some presents from us, as well as a note that our good friend Sara Gonzalez helped us translate. It was really hard for me to be here, not able to hug her or love on her while Chris was there and I spent much of the week struggling with my attitude. It is a weird experience, opening up your heart a child that is not your biological one and then beginning to love them as fully as you can. When Chris returned, I was so excited to hear about how big she had gotten, how his time with her was, and began to ask questions about any progress on the adoption front. Strangely enough, he didn't seem as happy as I had thought, and after I had metioned adoption, he said "we may have a slight problem." At first, I thought he was just talking about the closed adoptions, but then it dawned on me that he meant something else. After several minutes of thinking, I said, "Is someone else interested in adopting her?" He said, "Yes, a family there in Guatemala."

At first, I didn't really react, he had gotten differing information from people while in Guatemala, so I thought that there may have been a mix-up. We emailed the Hope of Life main office here in the States that Monday and received the information that we were not hoping for, a family in Guatemala had already begun the adoption process of Rebeca. See, nationals don't have the same kind of restrictions that we do. In fact, Chris meant the father of the family that has begun adoptin Rebeca while he was there.

For several days and weeks, I was angry. Angry that we had opened our hearts up and that they now felt trampled all over, angry that the governments of both countries can't figure there stuff out, angry that someone else was taking "our" little girl home. We cried and mourned over the loss of her in our lives, and it was a hard battle each day. Then one day Chris reminded me of something. We had been praying that God would bring Rebeca home. He said to me, "Hannah, God did, just not to us." That took me a minute and then I was humbled by my arrogance. Obviously, God's plan in Rebeca's life is to have a family that will love and cherish her, care for her and provide for her. And He does, it's just not with us as we had thought. Chris and I are continuing to sponsor her each month until her adoption is finalized and we pray that you will continue to pray for this little girl that so greatly touched our lives. We still don't understand all of why God has brought us through this experience, but we are trusting that His way is best and that His plan for us is great. Psalm 61:1-3 has become a source of great comfort and encouragement for me during this time, and reminds of who it it that we serve.

"Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer; from the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I, for you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the enemy."

I am going to include a couple of pictures from Guatemala, as well as a couple of us from the summer. We ask that even though Rebeca isn't going to come home to us, that you would keep her in your prayers as she begins a new life with a new family.

~Hannah