Meeting HIM!

Sorry for the long delay between posts.  Alot has been going on, namely, our trip in early January to meet Nate!  We had hoped to chronicle our adventure of going to meet Nate on the blog in sort of a daily rundown of events and experiences, but strangely enough, our blog was a blocked website where we were staying during our visit, so we weren't able to make any posts.

Nevertheless, meeting Nate was amazing.  We couldn't have imagined a better first visit and a better response from our boy.  Jenny and I had prepared ourselves for the worst imagining that he might reject us and push away crying to go back to his caretakers, but it was better than we had dared to hope.  He instantly reached out to us and let us hold him and was in a great mood!  We were kind of shocked, I think, at how natural it all seemed.  It was through this first meeting that we really saw the Lord's hand through EVERYTHING on this journey.  It was like Nate was ours all along and we just had to follow God's path to go find him.  His hair is like mine, his personality is like our other kids, and his appetite...well, he's definitely a Richey!

We were able to spend a good portion of the next four days with Nate, getting to know him, play with him, feed him, and even rock him to sleep (my favorite gift of the entire visit!).  Through it all, we found the Lord giving us reassurance and peace that will fuel us through this next step in the process.  Nate's development, although delayed showed several good signs of progress.  He's eating mashed foods from a spoon now and has gained 3 pounds since his last health report.  He's a very well-behaved eater, sitting in a plain chair without a booster or restraint and placing his hands flat on the table to wait for us to spoon him his bites.  The perfect little gentleman, although he will definitely let you know if you are a little slow in times between bites.  We were also able to see the progress he's making in crawling and pulling to a stand.  He's doing alot of verbalizing and we loved hearing all the sounds he made, but no actual communication yet.

Perhaps most comforting though, was the provision we saw in where God has placed Nate and the caregivers that are watching over him while we are away.  The facility he is in is in good condition and, in fact, our translator told us it is the best orphanage in the entire country!  She would be a good judge, because her work takes her to most of the orphanages in the region.  Beyond this though, the women caring for Nate were amazing.  There was a real affection between them and Nate and we felt such peace knowing that he would be in good hands while he awaits our final visit to bring him home.  They were always walking through the area that we had for our visits with Nate and as they would pass by, they would blow him kisses and talk to him gently in their language.  He always lit up a bit when certain favorites would come by and he'd hear their voices.  All these things, left us amazed and grateful for God's kindness and mercy.


So what's next?  Well, there's definitely light at the end of the tunnel for us and Nate.  We're meeting with our agency here tomorrow to get started on some final paperwork.  There's really not that much left.  Updating our medical records and FBI background checks.  Then submitting some additional immigration forms and that's pretty much it.  Why does that take 4-6 months?  We're not sure either, but I think most of the lag time occurs in Nate's country's courts at this point.  We're waiting on the Lord and based on our recent experience are more confident than ever before that He has appointed just the right time for us to bring Nate home!

We can't thank everyone who's been involved in supporting, encouraging, and praying for us enough.  We certainly felt the power of your prayers as we were traveling and continue to appreciate everyone who has supported us on our journey.  We'll keep updating the blog here regarding any news or progress that we make.

Thank You!

Clay and Jenny.