ICBF update

"I love my family!" This outfit was a gift from Gladys Costaneda and was the perfect thing to wear for our interview. Mateo loves tongues ... he sticks his out, and loves when other people stick out their tongues - he grabs for them and is strong enough to yank it out if you're not careful.

Mateo with his forever family

Mateo's footprints and basic birth stats

With Mommy before the ICBF interview

Mateo as a newborn. When his biological mother abandoned him to the police, the umbilical cord and placenta were still attached. But he was born healthy; the bronchitis and reflux developed later.

An early picture of Mateo, around 3 months. You can see breathing tubes attached to his nose and face due to his frequent bouts of bronchitis.

Mateo with Zulema, the social worker with ICBF who visited him monthly at Pisingos. Mateo recognized her right away!

Mateo with Joanna, the ICBF lawyer who oversaw his case

Our interview with ICBF went very well. We met with Joanna, the lawyer who was in charge of Mateo's case. She showed us the folder with all the available information about Mateo. There is very little factual information available, but here is the little that we do know:

Mateo's biological mother is from Santander, Bucaramanga - the upper right part of Colombia, famous for big-butted ants. Jaimie's mom has one at her house, a gift from one of Edelmira's close friends.

Mateo arrived at Los Pisingos through the Police department. Before Mateo could be adopted, ICBF (social welfare system) had to make sure that he was eligible for adoption. Part of the investigation included broadcasting a picture of Mateo on different channels in Colombia with his mother's name to see if any known relative would respond. No one responded. In October, Mateo was officially adoptable.

There was a large file with all the documentation from Mateo's stay at the hospital and in the custody of the police and ICBF, as well as a few pictures from when he was newborn. We were not able to take the file with us. It will actually be sealed once the adoption is final, and not made available again for the next 20 years. We were, however, able to take pictures of the pictures in the file.

As we left ICBF, Mateo took a short nap, snuggled up to my chest in the car. I couldn't help but think of the picture of adoption in the bible that God paints for us in Ephesians 1:

3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace 8that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.

Just as God chose us in love before time began to be adopted into the family of God, and called his children through Jesus Christ, and just as in Romans 8 Paul speaks of us waiting eagerly to be adopted as sons of God through the redemption that is through faith in Jesus Christ ... so it is with Mateo. I was overwhelmed with emotion thinking about this beautiful illustration and the blessing God has given Jose and I to adopt Mateo. Not only to adopt, but thinking about how God placed all the pieces and timing together perfectly so that Mateo would be our son in our family, and that this was part of His plan all along. We are overjoyed and are lavishing our love on Mateo.

One of the first things the ICBF representative said to us was, "Los Pisingos really did a good study in matching Mateo with you - he looks just like you!" We know that it is much more than Los Pisingos having completed a thorough review of our profile or luck or chance that Mateo is our son. There is no other explanation other than that God chose Mateo for us and He chose us for Mateo. Mateo ... "gift of God." Father, thank you for this precious, priceless gift!