Happy, Happy, Happy

We are some big Duck Dynasty fans around here so I am very glad to call this post, "Happy, Happy, Happy" for more than one reason.  The biggest news is that our home study update has been completed and our USCIS paperwork has been approved.  Our precious social worker completed the home study last Friday.  Me and the girls raced over to pick it up before they closed.  We had to wake Hadley up from her nap, but hey, we all have made sacrifices at this point! ha! From the agency's office we went straight to Fed-Ex and our lovely little packet arrived at the USCIS office this past Monday.  I emailed them on Tuesday and again on Wednesday just "checking the status" of our paper work.  I was overjoyed to see an email from them on Wednesday afternoon saying we had been approved!  Of course this email was immediately forwarded to Lesley (our agency director) just in case she were to get the file of our precious son any time soon. I am so thankful that the Lord allowed us to grow during this set back and showed us His power by getting everything corrected in record time.  He is so good in it all!

In other happy news, we got our August update number and we are number.......

I am not 100% sure of this, but based on the families that are on hold and the last infant boy referral this means we could be the next family to receive our referral, which means we are "Happy, Happy, Happy"!  Our agency has partnered with two new orphanages so there were many children matched with their forever families last month, hence our huge move forward on the wait list.  God redeems brokenness and heals and one of his tools for this is adoption. I always, seriously always, feel sadness when I get excited for new families getting to see their child/children for the first time via a referral.  I don't like rejoicing in the fact that an orphan was made so now a family can be complete.  But the truth of the matter is that in a sinful broken world there are orphans. Since I can't change that fact, I have to rejoice when I see a family stepping out in faith to make one less. A child that has experienced trauma and loss now has a family to walk along side of them on the road to healing.  That is God. That is His love shining in the darkness of loss.  Redeeming the brokenness and giving new life.  Congrats to all the Lifeline and West Sands families that got to see their sweet ones for the first time this month!!  Praying for quick court and embassy appointments for you all : )

One Year of Waiting

Today marks one year that our dossier has been in Ethiopia. The day before my birthday no less. I have wondered where we would be on this process on this day for awhile now and I must say I had no clue. 

Our first wait list number was 64 and we are now officially #22. We have moved to a new state, Josh got promoted, Hadley is close to potty trained, Camy starts Pre-K in less than a month.....life happens while you wait.  Have I "waited well" so far? In some respects yes and some respects no. My heart loves my son already and is desperate to see him, hold him, and bring him home.  I have cried more than I care to admit when my knowledge of God can't get control of my emotions.  I have read countless books, blogs, and articles. I will have read through the bible completely here in just a couple more weeks. My marriage has been stretched and grown. My views on the world and the church have evolved. My faith is indeed much stronger than it was last year. So even when it has been ugly on my part, God has used this wait for his glory. My heart is humble and thankful to Him. 

Last week we found out that our agency has given out 13 referrals this month! One of which was an infant boy to the #19 family!! We could literally get "the call" any day. Excited doesn't begin to describe it.

Enter set back. Since we moved pretty quickly to Missouri we have been renting a house for the past 8 months. We close on our new house Aug. 22. Our agency advised us to wait and update our home study and USCIS paper work once we were in our permanent residence to save us time, money, and hassle. Once we moved 9 spots to number 22 I contacted them and we decided to do a quick amendment to our home study so that just in case it got to us that we could receive the referral. Upon finding an agency here I learned that by Missouri standards our home study was expired and they cannot amend it. KY home studies are good for 18 months, but not in good ole Missouri. What this means is that we are in a dead sprint to do a full update. This includes fingerprinting (because our fingerprints obviously expire! Note my sarcasm) background checks for 4 states, medical forms, employment verifications, home visit, and a lovely $800. Praise The Lord that we found a really great case worker who is very accommodating and trying to get done as fast as possible. After our update is done we file new immigration paperwork and once that gets approved we are good to go. Immigration approved can range from 3 weeks to 90 days so please pray all of our paperwork gets approved at record speed and we get to see our already beloved son, very soon! 

Our agency had no idea that things would move so quickly so this is just one of those things that stinks but The Lord can resolve. When I first found out we had to do a full update I was beside myself. To think that after all this time waiting and praying and hoping we may get skipped on the wait list because of paper work just killed me. I cried for a few days. But, true to who He is The Lord brought me peace through his word, encouraging friends, and prayer. He has ALWAYS taken care of me and he has always known we were going to experience set backs on the road to getting our son, the one He picked for us from the beginning. He is so good and I am so NOT.

So that is where we are, one year on the wait list for Grayson. Thank you for following our journey and know the best part is coming soon!

Sunday :)

This past week has been extremely tough (post explaining it coming if I can put it into words) so today this is what we did. Well, we went to church to worship our God who restores, loves, protects, and keeps all his promises. And then this is what we did. All day. Through the storm He is Lord and I have so much to be thankful for!

Magic House fun

One of the best investments we've made since moving to St. Louis is our magic house pass!! The girls love it, they are stimulated, learn something new every time, and are wore out by the time we leave. Since the temps are in the mid 90's all week it is the perfect outing to stay out of the heat! We love the Magic House!  If you want to come and visit us we can get you in for free, (hint, hint!) :)

July Update

We are now #22 on the wait list for Grayson!! 10 children were matched to their forever families and we moved up 9 spots!!!!! What an incredible encouragement to this momma's weary heart. God is good even when the numbers don't move but I am so happy that they did this month  :) Praise him for everything!

4th of July 2013

Yes, we are alive! I just haven't felt like blogging during the few moments of spare time I've had. Call it a funk, if you will, but I am going to try to spend this month getting caught up on a few things I've missed. After all, this is to record our family memories so as long as I get them written down at some point we're good :)

We had a great first 4th of July in St. Charles! Josh's parents came down for the weekend and we filled it with good times. On the 4th before they had arrived we went to the 4th of July parade in O'Fallon. It was a little long but the girls did like it. Next year we have a plan to get seats near the front of the parade so the kids will get lots of candy and we won't have to wait so long for the action to make it our way. Be ready for us next year people!

After that our guests arrived and we ate a holiday meal and then hit up a local fireworks show. It was a great show and we loved how easy it was. We arrived 15 minutes before the show, parked and sat out chairs out. We brought snacks and the mall was still open so Josh even ran in and got a milk shake :) The Chesterfield Mall is where it's at!

The rest of the weekend we just relaxed, ate way too much, and got family photos taken. I can't wait to see how they turn out! Feeling very blessed for our country and the family God has given me.

March Update

Our wait list number did not change for the month of March so we are still #38. Not what I wanted to hear, but trusting in God's plan for us to get the child He has for us, when He wants us to have him. The agency we are with went through license renewal and many people, including one of my very best friends, got court dates!!! Erica and Preston have waited almost 4 months since they accepted their referral for sweet Sutton and they are leaving to meet her this afternoon! I can't explain how happy this makes me :) please lift them up in prayer for safety, health, and for God to prepare their hearts and the heart of their daughter. I pray this next week is full of precious memories for their family.

Isaiah 40:31 says:
“but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint”.

God bless and have a great weekend!