It has arrived! Both our paperwork to Ethiopia and we have officially arrived at the "wait" stage :) As of today we have turned in all paperwork and done about everything possible to get ready to go get our boy. Our next step is waiting to hear from Ethiopia and receiving a court date from them!!! My heart is in hurry up mode but my mind knows Gods timing is more than perfect! He has shown us so many ways along this journey that His timing is much more perfect that ours and that He has a plan in it all the way! There are 3 big miracles of timing that the Lord has done for us in this time and I just have to share them with you....there are so many more too...some time over a cup of hot joe I would love to share them with you too.... :)
- In the beginning our paper chase and fundraising we needed about 4,500 to be able to move forward and begin the homestudy etc. We were so confused on how it was to happen but were trusting along the way. One night I was crying out to God to tell Him I just couldn't see past this and did not know where to turn...I think I may have fell asleep crying out to him and praying....The next morning we had coffee with some dear friends...they handed us an envelope, a gift they said, they wanted to support us and felt God told them to help us...guess how much the check was for? Yep, 4,500!!! I am so thrilled God used these amazing people to be part of our sons story.
- We were madly fundraising and paper chasing and deep into the "paper pregnancy" when we realized we did not have enough funds to turn in our dossier...we were getting so close to having it done. Well, we had a few snags and hang ups with our paperwork so we did not get to turn it in when we wanted to..and we didn't have the funds so...BUT GOD is much bigger than that, the day before we finalized and smoothed out the paperwork to send off...our account had enough funds!!! Again He knew..it would of been so hard to have our paperwork all ready and then not have the funds. So He made them go hand in hand...just as He planned all along.
- Our next big due date was coming up and we didn't know exactly when but were madly fundraising again and trusting God. We had 2 fundraisers coming up so we were excited to see how God would unfold it all. We had had these fundraisers lined up for many months and we never knew how they would line up in our due dates with money..well on Wednesday we received our referral, we were so excited!!!! We had to sign a few papers and accept and then send a check along with it, the agency wanted it to be turned in on Monday. Well we had two fundraisers that weekend and sure enough the fundraisers on Saturday and Sunday made us the amount we needed to send in, even a little more. We literally deposited money from Sunday afternoons fundraiser the next morning and wrote the check. This time God made it all happen within 24 hours, nothing like waiting until the last minute.
There are MANY other little miracles happening all the time in our story. This journey is about getting my son home but is SO much about us and God stretching our faith. Every time we make a deadline or things fall into place it is just confirmation that we are doing exactly what God asked us in adopting this boy!
The orphanage has now told him we are coming for him and we can start to communicate with him more now and send care packages! I can't wait!! We get to ask more questions about him and get monthly updates until we get to go get him and bring him home. As most of you know Ethiopia requires two trips there...so we wait...but it seems so doable with the peace that God has given us. I pray every day that it comes quickly of course but only He knows what that looks like. I dream about the day I am reunited and get to hug my boy...but until then we lean hard into our amazing God and hold tight as He leads us.
Many of you are asking how you can help or pray. Here are our updated prayer requests:
- Please pray as we fund-raise for our next amount of about 15,000. This covers travel costs, in country fees, etc. Pray God will continue to surprise us and provide in miraculous ways!!
- Pray for our son far away that he can stay happy and healthy until we arrive. Pray that his heart is content in this waiting time, pray the same for us:)
- Pray for my health as I have been struggling with some unresolved issues. Pray the Dr.'s have lots of wisdom on how to diagnose, treat and relieve the pain I have been in.
We thank you all for your continued support of our growing family!
God Bless!
