Day 11 Update

Wow. Prayer REALLY works. Either God is listening and has his hands all over us, or all of the mishaps that we were told to expect are going to come at once very soon.
So far, we have finished the girls' health exams (both cleared for immigration), recieved our final court ruling and are now officially guardians of the children, and we learned that their passports are ready for pick up tomorrow.
I cannot express to you how quickly this is proceding in the context of adoption.
We still have a few hurdles to clear, so please pray that the passports are indeed ready and that we have all the necessary paperwork, that we are able to secure an appointment with the embassy in due time, and that the interview will go well there. I still cannot say when we will be coming home, because there are no guarantees in this process.
All I know is that so far, we have been most fortunate.
Thank you all for your prayers, and please keep them coming.

Also, please pray for the continued health of our girls. We think Aisha had malaria, so we treated her for it, and she is doing just fine now. We hope that we all can avoid any other illnesses along the way.
I do not know what vaccines they have had (if any) so we will take care of all that when we get home, but we need to keep them safe in the meantime.

We will also be meeting with the girls' fathers one last time, and we hope that the girls will handle the psychological and emotional stress that will certainly come as well as possible. They continue to be excited to come to America, and have now started asking "When? Tomorrow?"

Scot and I are having to learn how to be parents one day at a time, and that includes the good with the bad. Like all normal children, they are starting to test the waters. We are engaging in biblical discipline, and sought the counsil, wisdom, and guidance of the couple that runs the orphanage here. They were a tremendous help! Please pray for us that we do this properly. We continue to point the girls to scripture as often as possible, especially when there are very relevant verses to apply to a particular situation.  The family here gave us a book to read called Sheparding a Child's Heart by Tedd Tripp. A very good read for all you out there that are also struggling in the discipline department.

We miss you all very much, and again, cannot be more grateful for your thoughts, prayers, and encouragement!

Love,
The Wilgings

PHOTOS!

Here are just a few of what we have taken so far. Here we are doing puzzles. The girls are already solving 100 piece sets!

 

The fine art of funny faces

 

Donig laundry the old-fashioned way. Which actually gets the clothes notably cleaner.

The village near the church.

Gangster squad ready to go to our first court date.

Home sweet home for now...

 

The girls went to get their TB tests today and took the needles like champs. We will return to the immigration office to finish the physicals on Monday. Tuesday we see the judge for our final ruling. If all goes well, we can get the passports and finish our interview with the embassy to get the girls' visas and come home.  Thank you for your steadfast prayers, and know that they are being answered. Our time here has been very good. People have been very kind and hospitable, and we are well cared for. Please pray for our daughters as they are having good days and bad. They have had a few breakdowns during very busy and overwhelming days, and the magnitude of all this change is not lost on them. They are excited about coming home with us, but it does not make the loss of what was once home any easier.

Now if you'll excuse me, my daughter wants to brush my hair- and you just don't say "no" to that.

 

Love and miss you all!!!!

Update

I can't upload any photos right now because the internet signal is weak, but we have taken many (and the girls have become quite the avid little photographers as well). We will try to post a few when the signal is a little stronger.

We continue the bonding process. The girls have their moments of being solemn, but they are short-lived, and they are starting to communicate more.
In their culture, it seems to be discouraged for the children to express their grief, so they try to conceal it. When you ask if they are okay, they try to hide their face and won't respond. Flavia did not want to eat breakfast this morning (which is unusual, because these kids are eating more than we are), and I asked if she was okay. She hid her face again, and I asked her to come to me. She came over and I asked if she was sad. She raised her eyebrows once (which in Uganda means "yes").
Scot took her downstairs to her bed and she immediately laid on her bed and played with her doll. We gave a little alone time if she wanted to cry. I came down about 5 minutes later and we talked.  I was able to figure out she is nervous about court. She says she still wants to come to America though, and they are enjoying learning everyones' names and faces in our photo albums. They are particularly fascinated with cousins Brian and Matthew.

They are very respectful, affectionate, and helpful little girls. The orphanage has taught them the value of hard work and cleanliness, so they make beds and do laundry readily. (They were confused and uncomfortable with me washing their undergarments because in this country it is considered disrespectful to ask someone else to wash your delicates.)

The girls love to sing hymns and Sunday school songs about Jesus. Flavia even sings in her sleep!
I cannot even begin to describe how beautiful the church service was.

Church is a 4-5 hour event. I will not be able to ever explain with mere words how the Holy Spirit was truly in our midst.
We met in a brick and mud tiered arena that sat about 150 people, where slim tree trunks held up tarps overhead to block the sun. The chairs were plastic dollar store variety. The pulpit was two 2x4's holding up a plywood book rest.
The people gathered, some from as far as a five mile walk through the jungle.
We sang, Rashid preached, Scot spoke to the crowd about our adoption and education.
These people gave testimonies about how God is working in their lives. They raised their hands in praise and sang loudly and beautifully. They were very kind to us, and cooked us a delicious traditional Ugandan meal.

It is amazing to me how with all our modern comforts that we easily feel we do not have to rely on the Lord as much as we should. These people hang their very existance on the provision of God. Every meal. Every article of clothing. To heal every injury and illness.
The village has no local hospital. The people have to travel a minimum of several miles, on foot, to get to the nearest city with grocery stores and medical clinics. They trust that the Lord will provide for them, and He has, and He does.

Day 1

Since we are blessed to have internet at the moment, I'll try to catch you all up to speed since our departure.
The first leg of our 3-leg flight had a little hitch in the giddyup.
We were supposed to leave Albuquerque at 8 am to fly to Washington DC, then to Brussels, then to Entebbe.
Well that plane's engine wouldn't start.
Luckily, we met a wonderful man named Doug that worked for the airline, and he understood how important it was for us to get going, so he immediately arranged a diversion through Chicago instead.
The few extra hours of waiting made for shorter lay over time in between flights, but after that, it was all smooth sailing.
Thank you Doug!

The flights had us in our seats for a total of about 22 hours.
Now I fancy myself a semi-pro couch potato, and there were movies included on the flights, but I couldn't wait to get off of those things.
By the by, if you get an opportunity to fly on Brussels Airline, take it.
They give you ice cream!

We landed in Entebbe about 20 minutes early because we had a tail wind pushing us along.
Luckily Pastor Rashid was there with the girls already waiting.
They ran to us smiling and gave us hugs, and held our hands.
Pastor Rashid told us that they recognized us getting off of the plane, and they jumped up and down.
On the 20 minute ride to the orphange, the girls cuddled up with me in the back seat.

We got to our family apartment, and looked over the pictures that we had sent to them a few months ago. They had some questions about who some of the people were, and they giggled at a picture of me in shorts. (Women don't wear those here.)
We got them ready for bed, and then Aisha started crying. I couldn't figure out why, but I kept telling her it was okay, and Scot gave her a doll. She stopped crying after about 5 minutes, and then fell asleep.
She seems to be much better today.

We have been spending time getting to know each other. They have been singing hymns to us, and we worked on puzzles. We watch them play with their dolls (which they named Angel and Dana ::giggle::). These girls already know how to do hair better than I do. They speak to each other in their native tongue, and then look at us and giggle... which I won't lie, makes me super paranoid.
They speak english fairly well, but not as well as we thought they might. They seem to answer agreeably to all our questions, which makes me wonder if they are trying to be nice, or if they have no clue what we are saying.
Oh well, it'll all work out.

We're going to head out for a little walk. It has been raining all day and finally stopped.

We'll be in touch!

And away we go!!!

Lord's blessings everybody!

Scot and I received a call on Friday that we will have our first court hearing on February the 4th.
Short notice you say? Yes. Yes it is.
We will be flying out this coming Wednesday, January 30th.
We expect to eventually land in Entebbe Airport in Uganda on Thursday, sometime around 11 pm.
Along the way we'll be stopping in Washington DC and Brussels, Belgium... as in Belgian chocolate.

We learned that our phones are not capable of making global phone calls out of Uganda because they use a different operating system, rendering them useless.
We will try to pick up a pay-as-you-go phone while we are there. We will make calling our parents the priority, and my mother and sister will most assuredly be posting our status on Facebook, so please check in with Joyce Hogue or Teresa DiMillo if you want to.
We will try to post onto this blog, however, internet and electricity are not reliable and consistent there, so we do not know how much or how often we will be able to communicate.
We do not know when we will be able to come home, but I look forward to sharing our experience with you as we are able.

Please, PLEASE pray for us and the girls. We trust that no matter the outcome, the Lord does indeed work all things for good to those who love Him, but it is always comforting to have you all interceding on our behalf. Thank you again for all that you do, and have done, it is most appreciated.

We will be in touch!!

Love,
The Wilgings