GRANTED!!!

This is the Day that the Lord has made...Let us Rejoice and Be Glad in it!

GRANTED!
Well....our morning started at 6:00 am wake up, quick breakfast of USA instant oatmeal and a PBJ...then off to the Land Rover (car )we drove to the COURT.

This is the day of "adoption decree"
We drove for one hour into Accra....morning traffic. ( in our car we had Ashlie in the back with John and Victoria and two other Beacon House kids who were going to court for their decree as well, Stacey, Romana and I in the middle seat and the Power of Attorney and then the driver...Emanuel..(who we love!)
All 10 of us arrived at the court right on time...8:30.

Try to picture a court building....now ERASE everything you just thought and think of this.....dirt parking lot, single story maze of buildings...each building having
a cement walk way between buildings. The windows are all bars with screens. Each
building has a room with 5 to six wooden benches in it, two desks for the lawyers and a platform for the judge to sit behind. A HUGE wooden chair is behind the desk.

*note...sitting in our room typing...Vivian...Beacon House staff just knocked and quietly came in and picked up clothes we had on our floor and took them out to wash. I will write more about hand washing on a rock later....we are soooooo well taken care of here!!!

Back to the building. We sat with the kids on the benches and waited our turn. These kids are soooo well behaved. They sat in a room full of adults for over an hour and did wonderfully. However...I am learning quickly...well very quickly with John...that he responds to TONE not just the words you speak. How I say his name is VERY important. FEW FEW words are needed for him to obey... the more I talk the more he wonders or continues his behavior. So, "John STOP"...firm low tone and LOUD, gets him to stop. "John, please stop you are being unkind to Victoria" not only does not work, it causes confusion for him.

Anyway, back to Court.
We got called into a small room behind the judges desk, Ashlie, Stacey (who PRAYED the WHOLE time...I had so much PEACE and felt so COVERED it was amazing)John and Victoria, the lawyer, the Social welfare worker, and myself all silently walked in and sat.
The Judge looked at the kids while he wrote in a big 11 by 14 paper book...he would write and look up wirte and look up. He said 3 sentences that went like this.
"is the applicant here?"
Lawyer said "yes"
"does anyone oppose?"
Social welfare worker said "no"
He then wrote for another 10 mins....with out looking up...in a BIG Deep voice he said....."G R A N T E D "
He nodded and we stood up and walked out.
Before we could get out of the door way Victoria said "He said Granted...does this mean that we can go to America?"
Yes... I told her....she giggled and jumped up into my arms.
When we got out sidewe all quielty rejoiced. (the buildings all around us house individual Judges rooms.)
The girls decided that they had to go "wee" so I took them while Romana finished up some papers.
OKAY....had to pay 5 cents to get in and 5 cents per one toilet paper square...we only had 5 cents...I thought, okay we will just wash real good when we get into the car. Well, apparently alot of people pay to get in and not alot of people pay for toilet paper....you could tell my the markings all over the walls...we were in and out FAST!
When we got out, Romana walked out and said "oh, no you never go to the bathroom here...just send the kids out to the back of the car and let them squat"
So, I learned my lesson about bathrooms today.
Can I just say that God made Romana for this very job...He is giving her positon and relationship with key people and it really is amazing to watch her work.
She has not had parents come in for "Court" we were the first...it was GREAT!
I am blessed to know Romana and meet the officals who handled the case.
Enjoy the video of our newly GRANTED kids...We introduce to you the newest members of our family:
John Blask and Victoria Blaske.
Blaske Family is now offically 8 members strong!
PRAISE GOD for His unfailing love, His Unfolding Plan, His Great Protection!