To celebrate our 4th anniversary Jared and I floated Joshua Falls today and had another wonderful day on the River! Jared caught some fish and I enjoyed reading another book while getting a nice tan!
July 5, 2010
Well I am supposed to go tomorrow to get my fingerprints redone however my car is in the shop and I will have no ride. So once again I will have to cancel the appointment. Unfortunately I had my first cry over frustration of “road blocks” from keeping us from mailing this application that has been sitting on our desk since April 20th!!! I am refocused after spending some much needed time with the Lord and I am praying that the application will be mailed in his timing. Today that Lord taught me more about his heart for orphans.
“Seek, justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow” Isaiah 1:17
July7, 2010
Jared finished his online training course and we completed the USCIS paperwork!!! We just have to finish the homestudy before we mail the USCIS paperwork. Today we have felt the Lord give us a peace about sharing this exciting journey with our families. I have butterflies in my stomach as a anticipate these events. We have been and will continue to pray that our families hearts will be open, supportive and receptive to Gods calling in our lives. We are praying for opportunities to share with everyone over the course of the next two weeks before we leave for the beach. We are so excited to get to share with our loved ones that there is a precious child in Ethiopia waiting to be a part of our family!! :)
“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this; to look after the orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” James 1:27
July 8, 2010
I finally was able to get an appointment and got my fingerprints redone and the officer thinks that I PASSED, so we shall see. After I left LUPD I went and MAILED the FORMAL APPLICATION!!! What a relief to be done with one of the main parts of this paperwork process! Jared and I also both filled out paperwork for our passports today! We are checking items off the list everyday! There is a picture below of the envelope and the post office. I really wanted you to see the big smile on my face when I mailed it but I thought maybe a stranger would think it was weird if I asked them to take a picture of me in the mail room..........
In the meantime……. I find myself wondering what our precious child is doing, if he or she is hungry and satisfied, and longing to provide the love and care our precious orphan needs. Jared and I both are praying for our child, their families, the caregivers and that God will be glorified in this process.
July 8-24,2010
We finally told our parents, brothers and sisters! We were so excited to finally share Gods journey with them! A lot of people cant believe that we have been able to keep such a good secret for almost 9 months! Everyone has asked lots of questions and we have been given many opportunities to share Gods faithfulness and give HIM glory!!! What a blessing!
July 16, 2010
Today is an exciting day because Jared and I became an aunt and uncle for the very first time! Here is our nephew Tank below!!!! Mom and baby are both doing well!
July 22, 2010
Today we drove to Northern VA to meet with our social worker for our joint interview to complete the third step in our home study process. She asked us a lot of questions about why we are adopting and once again we were able to share Gods story with her and just share his awesome story that HE is writing!!! We both felt like our interview went well and that the Lord had equipped us for that day! God is so good!! She also told us that it will take her a few weeks to write up the home study and that hopefully by mid August we should be able to mail our USCIS paperwork when the homestudy arrives!
July 23, 2010
Today we had our individual interviews for our last part of the homestudy with our case worker and Jared went first. So while I was waiting in their lounge I spent some time with the Lord and he lead me to a devotion about the verse
“Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us? And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” Isaiah 6:8
It talked about God calling us to a task were we feel completely inadequate and how the key to taking on the extraordinary challenge is to worship God, to spend time in his presence and meditate on how awesome HE is. It also said, “Like Isaiah, we can face these hard assignments with confidence that if God has called us, he will equip us.” Then God lead me to this verse again
“May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him.” Hebrews 13: 20-21
God continues to speak to my heart and knows my every need. I was feeling a “little overwhelmed” about all the paper work, traveling and actually parenting this child that God has chosen for us. God reminded me that he has already equipped us for a lot of this journey and will continue to provide us with everything we need along this journey to be able to complete HIS plan. I was overwhelmed by the Lords presence at this time and I had such an awesome prayer time with the LORD while sitting on that couch. I went into the interview with a new confidence and renewed strength that can only come from Jesus Christ. Praise the LORD!!
July 26, 2010
We received an email today from our case worker that my fingerprints PASSED!!! We are so excited….the Corn Huskers Lotion must have been worth it!! We are at the beach and having a wonderful time with family and relaxing! Everyone knows about us adopting a baby from Ethiopia and everyone has been asking questions about our process. The more people talk and ask questions about our child, the more I find myself wondering about what our baby will look like and what type of personality it will have and what it will enjoy, love, how it will like to be held, etc. I find myself lost in thoughts that turn into prayers about its safety, that its basic needs will be meet, that it will have a heart for the Lord and that the Lord will be with the family that will have to decide to give their child to the orphanage. I find myself wondering whether it is born or just still in Gods heart waiting to be created in its mothers womb….. In those moments I am often reminded of the verse that my sweet sister Emilee shared with me recently…
“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”
Psalm 139: 13-16
I look forward to the day when I can be holding the precious child that God has intended for our family. Oh what a glorious day that will be!!!
Here are some wonderful pictures of our beach trip! What a blessing to be on vacation!
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