7 months!

So. It’s probably going to be a pretty long blog, explaining what has been happening and the changes that have come about the last few days, so be ye warned! 🙂

A while ago, we had had a scare about the amount of time it would take to be able to get a passport for this baby to be able to leave the island and go home. We were finding it would be 3+ months. We contacted the US Embassy, asking questions and were told we can get a passport in 8 days once we apply for what’s called the Consular Report of Birth (CRB). (That is how you get a US Birth Certificate when you are born as a US Citizen overseas). So that made us feel better and the plan up until today was to have the baby in Jamaica. We were going to travel to Kingston June 10 and stay until the baby was born. A few days after him being born, we would go and apply for the CRB and then within 1 1/2 weeks, get the passport and voila! Be on our way back to the States for our much anticipated 2 month visit. My family had been planning from last year a reunion in MI the week of July 14, which we feel is very important to be at. Especially since we haven’t seen some of my family for 2 years.

Anyways, as I was reading more through the CRB application, I wanted to double check on some things. Before it listed the items needed for the application, it stated that if you don’t have some things, it is likely that it will be alright and there can be other things used in place of it. I was thinking the paper that the hospital will give us to go and register our baby for the Jamaican birth certificate will be fine in place of the birth certificate, but wanted to double check. So I emailed the US Embassy again (two weeks ago). Nope. No go there. They need the FINAL Jamaican birth certificate. So we asked around and got information (two Mondays ago) about how long it would take to get a Jamaican birth certificate. The answer we got was a minimum of 7 business days. So that’s another week and a half….. minimum. And really, this is Jamaica. We have seen that things don’t always happen when they are said to happen. We’ve also seen that with the US Embassy down here.

So. We were really struggling with the timing of it. We felt such peace about having the baby down here and the Drs and everything, but did not feel comfortable or at peace with the huge uncertainty of how long we would have to be here after the baby’s born until we could get a passport for him to travel with. (The US Embassy before had said it would be illegal for the baby to use a Jamaican passport because he would be a US citizen. Sigh.) So we felt like we needed to look at options again and other possibilities. We talked with Galen and Gloria that Monday night, asking if going home was a possibility. We really were feeling torn with what to do because we felt such peace about having the baby here. We’ve been praying for wisdom, discernment, and God’s leading and guiding especially for this situation, for a looooong time, but weren’t feeling like we were on the same page or really could discern His will for this situation. When Galen and Gloria called back Thursday night and told us that returning to the States to have the baby was an option, I think Rodney and I both felt God’s leading at the same time. After continuing to pray about it, talking to Precious Kennedy, the headmistress of the school, and talking to our parents, (and did I mention praying about it?!?! A lot?!?!), we both felt like going back to the States was the best option and what God was leading us toward.

Things that have happened that confirmed that for us:
1. When we went to go register at the hospital in Kingston on April 25, we had the money for the down payment. We could not do it because we had to pay the Dr. first and then get a letter from the Dr. and then go register at the hospital and make the down payment. Therefore, we have no money paid to anyone down here that we would have to try to get back (which was different from what we had been told earlier.)
2. We had called the place we were going to stay while in Kingston to reserve rooms.  The woman Rodney talked to said she would call right back after checking (which in the past has always happened the same day). She has yet to call back and it’s been over a week later. Very strange.
3. EVERYONE we have talked to, including Jamaicans, has been very concerned about it only being a minimum of 3 weeks. It could well be that we wouldn’t get back stateside until the end of July or later.
4. VMM has graciously said that we would have 4 weeks of family time on top of the 8 weeks of home leave.
5. Maranatha School for the Deaf has been planning on having the final exams weeks early, which they say is not normal. So I was planning to be done with reviewing and having the test given about the time we are leaving anyway. Praise the Lord!

So! That’s what’s been going on! We are planning on leaving May 30 and then returning back here  August 29. We will stay in VA until after the baby is born and plan on heading up to northern MI for the week of July 14 for 2 weeks and then head straight down to southern IN for the next 2 weeks and then end back in VA for the last 4 weeks! On our way out of the country, we will be stopping in Sarasota, FL August 26 to 29 to meet with some of our supporters down there. We had a special request from some supporters to come and visit and get some updates in person. Then we’ll be back to Jamaica in time for school to start on Sept. 2!

My pregnancy has been going very well. I haven’t had any problems with blood pressure and my ankles haven’t even started swelling! I’ve been so thankful for that! So we are praying that will continue and there won’t be any issues with my flying back home at 8 months. The Dr has said she sees no problem with it. Praise the Lord!

We would ask for prayers for us as we start to try and get everything done and in order to leave in 3 weeks. We would ask for prayers for strength, wisdom and discernment, efficiency, our visa extension to go through and happen this month, a place to stay once we are back in VA, and my pregnancy to continue without problems. Thanks again for all your prayers!