The Big Day Arrived!
Finally, after all the paperwork… after all the heartaches… after all the waiting (on his part as well as ours)… we FINALIAZED Gambo's adoption in the United States!!! Woot Woot!
We are so proud to say that our son now legally has our last name.
His adoption is Legal, Final, Complete.
He is now a United States Citizen.
He has now all the legal rights to our family including any inheritance from us.
What an amazing journey God took us on to get to this point… the point where we have our son, and our son now has a forever family.
About Four years ago is when we began this journey. Four years till we can now breathe. Four years to come out on the other side of it all smiling and joyful.
Our day began early as we had to be at the big impressive court house by around 8am.
The place seemed looming, but we at least knew we weren't there for anything we had done wrong.
We excitedly waited outside the courtroom in the hallway with our friends and family.
Gambo was so cute I could just squeeze him and squeeze him!
Finally we were allowed to go into the court room for a closed proceeding, where only the people we wanted there for the adoption could come in.
All our friends and family who came for the court date.
We excitedly waited for the judge to arrive.
(We decided to take silly pictures with my phone while we waited)
Finally the time had come that the proceedings began without fanfare.
We were sworn in.
We were asked some questions about if we understood what was happening.
Then the judge announced that the adoption was granted!
For a unique addition, I got Mark to write a few words about the finalization. Here's what he wanted to say:
"That day the judge said that Gambo was ours; that he had all of the rights and privileges of a biological child including inheritance rights. What a picture of the standing that we have in God’s family!
Court was exciting in spite of being a little bit nerve wracking. There was great relief and happiness that the process was over and that we didn’t end up in another loop of futile frustration. There was also joy that Gambo had been officially and finally given a family to be his forever. Included were almost vow-like promises like you would expect in a wedding. Court culminated in our son being given a new name. He now bears the name of his father (and mother), just like we are given the privilege of bearing the name of our Father, God. This is not a day Gambo will remember, but it is a day that will dramatically impact the rest of his life, and a day that I can’t imagine ever being able to forget.
We already knew Gambo was ours, that was more or less a given at this point in the process, and he had been part of our family for 11 months already. On that day, though, as the courtroom proceedings finished, I looked in his eyes, and as I tried to compose my emotions, told him, 'You’re a Struska now. You’re an American citizen. I love you.' One day I hope to be able to look into his eyes and say, 'You’re a child of God now. You’re a citizen of heaven.' As a human and a parent, I know I will fail him, but I know that God never will."
For a unique addition, I got Mark to write a few words about the finalization. Here's what he wanted to say:
"That day the judge said that Gambo was ours; that he had all of the rights and privileges of a biological child including inheritance rights. What a picture of the standing that we have in God’s family!
Court was exciting in spite of being a little bit nerve wracking. There was great relief and happiness that the process was over and that we didn’t end up in another loop of futile frustration. There was also joy that Gambo had been officially and finally given a family to be his forever. Included were almost vow-like promises like you would expect in a wedding. Court culminated in our son being given a new name. He now bears the name of his father (and mother), just like we are given the privilege of bearing the name of our Father, God. This is not a day Gambo will remember, but it is a day that will dramatically impact the rest of his life, and a day that I can’t imagine ever being able to forget.
We already knew Gambo was ours, that was more or less a given at this point in the process, and he had been part of our family for 11 months already. On that day, though, as the courtroom proceedings finished, I looked in his eyes, and as I tried to compose my emotions, told him, 'You’re a Struska now. You’re an American citizen. I love you.' One day I hope to be able to look into his eyes and say, 'You’re a child of God now. You’re a citizen of heaven.' As a human and a parent, I know I will fail him, but I know that God never will."
We took a picture with the judge before leaving.
Then our huge group walked out, celebrating the big change that just took place.
We are so excited now to have a little Ugandan AMERICAN
This was his Citizenship Day
And even though he was already in our family and considered our son, we could now say…
...It's official!
We celebrated with everyone in the the nice sunny California weather in our backyard.
Gambo enjoyed cutting his cake
And eating it too!
We were thankful for all the family that came out for the special day
Praise the Lord for His faithfulness!
P.S. ...What's next?
Photos by Kristy Struska
