Walls keep coming down...God has this!

Dear Haddie,
    We have only known each other for only a few days but you my girl are so loved.  When we first met you shook like a leaf, scared to even look at us.  The walls came down a little at court after hours of sitting there waiting and playing with books and bubbles.  We have been together for two full days now and the walls just keep coming down.  You went from shaking in fear to shaking in joy and laughter when daddy tickles you.  You went from not talking to trying some English words.  You are so incredibly brave my girl and oh so smart, even had someone comment on you understanding what daddy and I were saying.  You are loved my girl by your family, your friends, and most importantly your God.  Thank you for beginning to trust us little one.

Mama

Andrew and I are so in awe of God.  He is taking so many walls down for Haddie right now it is amazing.  She goes into full laughter moments and smiles at strangers even, only when we are near her though.  I have also noticed her take Andrew to the side so he didn't get run over by a cart.  That is a huge step for her to try to protect her daddy.  She is also so smart she not only knows her ABC's she knows her colors in English and she knows most of what we are saying.  Not sure how because she has had no formal schooling but wow she will outsmart us all.  I know there is a lot of healing and growing to do but she is off to an amazing start.  I can't wait to see how God will continue to help her blossom.  Simply amazing our Haddie girl is.  

Please continue to pray for written orders and her passport so we can get on to Delhi.  Thank you all for your prayers and support I know I say it all the time but we can not do this without your support and prayer.  

Just another day in Hyderabad...

Well yesterday we woke up late and got ready to go to the orphanage thinking we would spend the day there until they allowed us to take her to the hotel.  Well God moved the nessesary mountains and  after three hours at an official office and Haddie with a temperature of 102 we were given custody of our daughter!!! Let me just say all those hoops with a sick little girl was no easy task.  The first thing we did was go to the hospital and had a pediatrician see her.  Thank you to Dr. Suman we were in and out in 30 mins, praise the Lord for allowing us to have such a wonderful contact and friend in Dr. Suman.  After that we took her to our temporary home the Courtyard Marriott.  Here are some pics but keep reading to hear of one of our adventures.

Look at that sweet sleeper!  She slept till 8:00 am!! She loved the blanket and the bed.  She is so incredibly brave.  Everytime I think about how scared and how crazy this must be for her it makes me cry.  Adoption is so hard but so worth it.

On a funny not Andrew drove on a motor bike with our wonderful friend and extreme help to us Kumar.  While I was packed in a rickshaw with three ladies with three babies.  That's just the way we roll.
   

God is so good to us.  He has kept us in His hands throughout this whole week and a half.  Please continue praying for our written orders and her passport so we can get to Delhi and get this wonderful girl home!!!  Thank you so much for your prayers and support.

Yet another holiday in Hyderabad...

Well today is Thursday here in Hyderbad and Andrew and I have spent time in the room a little sick from something we ate, go figure.  We are waiting to get custody of Haddie which will hopefully happen tomorrow.  We didn't get to go see her again today because they have this huge festival of an elephant god.  The roads are blocked and extremely full of cars so we were not able to make it to the orphanage today.  But tomorrow bright and early we are going over to spend time with our girl and hopefully get custody of her.

God is so good to us through this incredibly difficult process.  And wow it has been difficult.  Our court experience consisted of waiting, waiting, moving rooms, more waiting, running around to make copies, more waiting and switching rooms then finally she tells us it is our turn.  When we stepped up to the judge Haddie started crying out of fear and exhaustion.  Her orphanage caretaker led her out of the way and of course a mama looking at her little girl crying is not just going to stand and watch her cry so I scooped her up in my arms and guess what she held on!  My little girl held on for dear life as we stood for ten minutes as the judge spoke to us.  One of the most emotional things I have ever experienced.

Please continue to pray as we wait for custody of Haddie (oh that will be so wonderful), our written orders and passport so we can move on to Delhi and home.

If you know me I would do this anywhere but when in Hyderbad do as they do, ha ha ha.

Speechless....

All blessing, honor and glory to our God!  Well after a rough night of listening to the Hindu festival drums all night, finding out our court date was pushed back because of a Muslim holiday and feeling homesick; we got the best news ever.  We were going to meet our Haddie girl.  But before I get into that I would like to mention some of the things the Lord has taught me thus far.  Listening to the drums all night really wears you down especially when you know that they are celebrating and worshiping so many false gods.  The sadness, anger, and brokenness is overwhelming.  It reminded me of the battle of Jericho and how God used the marching and trumpets to bring down the walls.  Oh  how I wanted to run out there and shout I have the one true God let me tell you about Him!  He has also taught me why He had the book of Leviticus written, never before did I understand until coming here and seeing what happens when people do not know about cleanliness, and the many different topics mentioned in God's Law.  The brokenness, lostness, and hopelessness that I see in some of these people is overwhelming.  But when I think about the hope we saw when we went to church, that was amazing!!! Haddie's people are beautifully and wonderfully made and oh so deservant of the love that God has for them.  If only they knew...

As for Haddie, WOW!  When she walked into the room it was like we were dreaming.  I just wanted to run over scoop her up and comfort her but her poor little body was shaking from fear and her beautiful brown eyes looked through us afraid of what do or look at.  Until we brought out the bubbles and of course daddy knows how to get kids to smile.  Her first smiles happened when Andrew was playing bubbles with her.  I had the honor of making some of those smiles on the swings, surreal!

This is Hadassah Bharathi Moore our daughter.  

https://g.co/kgs/gUJLHz.   Our song throughout this.

Day four...before meeting Haddie

Quiet, Reserved, and Timid

Three descriptions of Haddie that we have received from people that have had the privilege of meeting this little girl.

It breaks my heart to think why she is quiet. I wonder if she feels that she is not worth the attention of others. If only she knew. If only she knew that I would listen to her for hours. I’d listen to all of her hopes, dreams, and thoughts to no end. If only she knew how much the Creator of this world values her.

And reserved?  Not a bad characteristic I like to think, yetreservation out of fear is what I fear. What and who does she fear? I hate to think about her fears and how she has learned them. If only she knew. If only she knew that I would protect her with every ounce of my strength. If only she knew how powerful her God is.

I think the timid description is the hardest to hear. What circumstances made this little girl timid? How will she learn to be unashamed of who she is? If only she knew. If only she knew how much we love her and accept her. If only she knew that God has a wonderful purpose for her life.

The transition of her life as an orphan to one seated firmly inside of a loving family will not be easy. Getting her home is the first step! Our court date has been rescheduled for tomorrow. Please pray that the judge and court system are moved to grant Rachel and I custody tomorrow. Occasionally our kids will group together and have “mega-prayers”. Now would be a great time for one!

On a lighter note. Rachel, myself, and our friend Josie went exploring in Hyderabad. I can only start to describe it as something out of a movie that I will probably never forget for the rest of my life.

Written by Andrew

The above pictures are after a taxi driver drops us off in the middle of one of the dangerous streets of Hyderabad after we asked him to take us shopping, lol.  We ended up here and let's just say a crazy white man was in the middle of the road asking all the rickshaw drivers to take us to our hotel for 1000 rupees.  Well this guy did, lol.  Safe and sound.  Thank the Lord!!

Day three...Oh wow God you are GOOD

All glory and honor to our Lord!  Today is only half over but has been one of the single most amazing days in my life.  We ventured out of our shell today and took uber to meet some of the wonderful ladies from Sarah's Covenant Homes at Fusion church in Hyderabad.  This was completely amazing! We got to worship in song with amazing people and the sermon was incredible.  Funny thing is he spoke on control and how we so want to control everything in our lives.  And how we need to learn to give God all control this will lessen our stress and anxiety.  Seriously!!! Lord your timing is spectacular!!

Throughout our four year road I tried to have control over everything that happened or didn't happen. It wasn't until I gave up that control did I come to realize God has had this the entire time.  Amazing what could have been if I learned that in the beginning, lol.  Well on to the pictures...

This one is from the church we went to today. 

Please continue to pray for our safety, health, Haddie's transition, and our transition, and that our process be done in a timely manner.  Please keep Haddie's brothers and sister in your prayers also, they are missing thier mom and dad.  Thank you again for your prayers and love.  

Day one and two of our trip!

Well we made it!  We traveled for 27 hours, 3 planes, a couple layovers, and many hours in lines.  So many things to praise the Lord about.  We got through every checkpoint line and security line without any extra searches or hassle.  All our flights were on time or minimal wait time.   Our health was perfect and we feel great.  God moved the mountains where they needed to be moved and helped us move right along on our journey here.

The only incredibly crazy moment was on the way over to the hotel.  We went with a prepaid taxi and wow!!! Let me just say going 120mph, beeping throughout, swerving, and brake slamming went on.  I honestly had to close my eyes and pray that the Lord didn't bring us all the way to India to die in a car crash on the way to the hotel.  He is faithful though and we made it to the hotel safe and sound with only a few nerves rattled, mostly mine.  Andrew thought he was on a carnival ride, LOL.

Seriously though God has had this all in His hands and I have not at one moment doubted His provision and protection in all of this.  We are so grateful for His protection and provision thus far...

So we are sitting in the same city as our youngest child, Haddie.  We try to imagine how she must be doing and thinking.  Finding it hard not to just run over to the orphanage and hug her right now.  But with the holiday it is looking like we will have to wait a couple more days.  Ugh!! We are going to try to get over there earlier but we will see God has this.  In the mean time...we are catching up on sleep and orienting ourselves with the fine town of Hyderabad.

Please be praying for our first meeting with our daughter, and our court date on Tuesday the 13th.  We are so grateful to each one of you whom have been praying, donated and helped us get here.

More to come....