We Are Finally Ready…Again

ADOPTION FINALIZED                                                          \/
BIRTH CERTIFICATE                                                               \/
SOCIAL SECURITY CARD                                                      \/
PASSPORT APPLIED FOR                                             \/
PASSPORT EXPEDITED AND OVERNIGHTED      \/

First of all, the things to the right of each accomplished task is a “check mark” even though I couldn’t figure out how to really make a check mark in WordPress.  All of that means that we will be going to Haiti very soon!  Like I have mentioned before, this news is very exciting and very scary at the same time.  The following 2 lists are the top 5 reasons why this news is extremely exciting and why the news is also scary:

Why We Are Excited:

1. We get to see our kids!
2. Sophie gets to be back with the kids and we get to introduce them to Elijah.
3. We will be back with our friends and our employees.
4. We will get started on a new season of ministry for All Things New and a new year of school for our kids.
5. We will be back where GOD has called us to be.

Why We are Nervous:

1. We are taking 2 children under the age of 2 to a 3rd world country.
2. It’s very hot and we can only run an a/c for a few hours each day (this is just a little uncomfortable for Jess and I, but the heat caused Sophie to run a fever the last time we were there).
3. Even though they are babies, we are completely changing their lives.
4. 2 children are twice the work that 1 child was, and we will have to figure out how to make time for everything and everyone.
5. Did I mention we were moving 2 babies to a fairly unstable 3rd world country?

We learned a lot when we brought Sophie down last year, and we will not make some of the same mistakes again.  One of the big things we are doing is that we are transitioning everything slowly.  We will stay down for a month the first time, 2 months the second time, etc. to help Elijah get used to things slowly rather than trying to rush things.  We also have a better idea of how to keep their rooms cooler in the evenings.  In all, I believe that we will be able to make this a smoother transition than it was for Sophie that first time.  Maybe the easiest part of it is that Elijah and Sophie are almost polar opposites.  Where Sophie cried quite a bit, was (and still is) pretty high maintenance, and does not do well with change, Elijah is about the most laid back person I have ever seen.  He rarely cries, takes every change in stride, and he just seems to always be pleasant and smiling.  I believe these things will help him to take our move much more in stride than Sophie did.

Of course, the reasons mentioned in this blog are all personal in nature.  They are the reason that we, the Bush family, are excited and nervous about heading back down to Haiti.  There are some ATN related reasons as well, and I think I will be blogging about these tomorrow (don’t hold me to that, but I think that is what will happen).  But I just wanted everyone to know that we will be heading back down again soon, and these are some of the things that you can pray for us about.