Court Date!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I received a call today from Anna just before 11:30. I braced myself for more delay news. She said she had some good news for us. Our paperwork is finished and was submitted for a court date. Our new court date is February 16th. I was so not expecting this today. God is amazing!!!!! In 2 weeks he could be ours and we can upload our introduction video so all of you can see our sweet, sweet baby boy! Be warned it is sort of long since we will have been waiting 8 long months! God is doing some amazing things in our lives right now that I can't wait to share. This was just the icing on the cake right now! We are so close to holding our baby boy! Please continue to pray with us that we pass on February 16th and our wait is over.

Yeah God!!!! I am so glad He is so amazing and loves me like He does. With God all things are possible! God has been with us every step of the way, holding us close to his heart. He will not forsake us now, He can bring Daniel home!

January Update

We received our January Update today. Our little man is getting so big! He is standing and pulling himself up on stuff. He looks so big and I just want to hold him and squeeze him. Here is what we know:

* 21 pounds (up 2 pounds from last month)
* He eats pasta, fruits and vegetables
* He is crawling and pulling himself up on things
* He likes rattles, is active and playful
* He is starting to hold his bottle by himself

All these updates are so exciting that he is doing well and doing these things but breaks my heart that we are missing them. God will move these mountains, please God move the mountains soon! So ready for our baby to get home!

More care packages are being sent and more pictures being taken by great families who are willing to take a little time to love on our boy while they are there uniting with their own children. Thanks friends!

Homestudy Update

We just finished our visit with the social worker to update our homestudy. Our paperwork for USCIS was set to expire Valentines Day. Hopefully this will be our last update before we get to bring Daniel home.

Yesterday at church the sermon was on waiting. That was definintely a sermon I was glad I did not miss. While we are waiting we will continue to serve and praise God. He has this all planned out, we just have to be willing to accept his plan.

Melkam Gena

Melkam Gena! Merry Ethiopian Christmas. Today is Christmas in Ethiopia (they are on a different calendar). As I am putting away all the decorations from Christmas, the gifts are all in their new homes and I am slowly reclaiming my house back - our baby boy is celebrating Christmas today. The holidays came and went so fast this year in a bustle of food, family, friends and gifts. We thought this would be the year we got to celebrate with a child of our own. God obviously wasn't ready for that to happen. Daniel did get plenty of presents though. They are all under the tree that is still up and the gifts are all still wrapped. The tree will remain up until we finally get to bring him home. Then we will celebrate Christmas all over again. Who doesn't like a Christmas party!

December Update

We received our December update today with 3 pictures. He is getting so big! Here is what we know:

* 19 pounds
* 27 inches long
* He has 2 teeth and is babbling more
* He smiles a lot!
* Likes to take a bath and play in the water
* Food he likes best is Pastini (a type of pasta prepared for babies) (we will get along great!)

I also talked to the agency today and there is some good news, our case is able to start moving again. There are still some pieces up in the air that need worked out and a rep from the agency is going to that region in the next couple of weeks to see if they can get more answers and things moving. Please pray for nothing but good news to start the new year!

Postponed Again

Well Mark got the call today, we didn't pass. No one passed today due to an office taking a training day, so no recommendation letters were written. This is getting extremely frustrating. Why does it seem like we are never going to be able to bring our baby home? We are so ready and willing, so what is the problem?!? I know patience is a virtue and we have to trust in God, which we do. But today I am frustrated and am ready to stomp my feet and scream! Good news is, hopefully, the agency will follow up with us next week not sure on what but we are praying it will be only good news and that the hold is over and our paperwork is moving through again. Please pray that we only get good news because I don't know how much more bad news I can handle at this point.

Court

Well Friday is our next court date. We still have not heard any good news on the investigation moving along or our paperwork moving through. At this point it looks like we will just be given another court date and wait longer. With Christmas coming the waiting is getting harder. Although we trust in God and have faith that he will bring our baby home in his timing, the selfish side of me is screaming for him to come home now! I feel like a 2 year old who is on the verge of throwing a major temper tantrum! Do you think God minds?!?!?

I didn't think I would be posting this song again this Christmas, but here it is and this year it means so much more since we have a name and a face that we are fighting for!



Merry Christmas Daniel! May God hold you in his arms as we tell you from our hearts, we wish you Merry Christmas!

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! Today is the day we give thanks, eat lost of food and celebrate with family and friends. I am thankful today for:

* My wonderful husband. I would be lost without him.
* Our family who have been so supportive on this emotional journey we are on.
* Friends! I don't know what I would do without my group of friends old and new. They keep me sane at times when I think I just may go crazy.
* AWAA for guiding us on this journey and connecting us with our baby boy!
* The staff at the TH (where Daniel currently is) and the way they love and take care of our baby when we can't be there.
* All of my Yahoo Group friends, who take pictures and love on our baby, who are there for support when no one else could possibly understand what is going on or what we are feeling!
* Our baby boy! He is happy, healthy and growing. We love the pictures and always see him smiling.
* Most of all I am thankful I have a loving and caring God who is with us every step of the way and we don't have to go through this journey alone!

As I am sitting here watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade I can't wait for next year already when we will have our little boy home and he will celebrate his first thanksgiving with us! I guess I better go get ready to eat!

Happy thanksgiving everyone!

November Update

We received our November update today! He is getting so big, here is what we know:

* 18 pounds
* 26 inches
* He is eating cereal, potatoes, carrots and fruits
* He is babbling
* He can stand with support
* Active and energetic
* Likes to observe his surroundings
* He is starting to teethe, one on the bottom jaw
* Favorite toy is rattles that make sounds
* He moves his body and smiles when he hears music!

I can't wait to get him. Praying we will get our turn very soon!

New Court Date

We did not pass court today, but we already knew that would not happen going into today. Our new court date will be December 18th. That is one month for the officials to finish whatever they are doing so our paperwork can move. Meanwhile I have been listening to the following song, words to live by right now:



Some of the lyrics of this song:
I’m waiting
I’m waiting on You, Lord
And I am hopeful
I’m waiting on You, Lord
Though it is painful
But patiently, I will wait

I will move ahead, bold and confident
Taking every step in obedience

While I’m waiting
I will serve You
While I’m waiting
I will worship
While I’m waiting
I will not faint
I’ll be running the race
Even while I wait

I’m waiting
I’m waiting on You, Lord
And I am peaceful
I’m waiting on You, Lord
Though it’s not easy
But faithfully, I will wait
Yes, I will wait

Amazing Things Happen

What a night! Tonight is our Jr. High/middle school program CRASH at church (5th-8th grade). Tonight we talked about coveting and what it means to covet. They learned that the opposite of coveting is contentment and to be content is to give (in a short version of the lesson). They watched a video and after the video Audra (the jr high leader) had me come up front with her and told the kids about the adoption and Mark and I were doing God's will adopting a baby boy from Ethiopia. She told them how we were suppose to go to court on Friday but that is not going to happen due to an investigation,etc. Then she had me go into the middle of the room and all the kids (I would say approximately 100 including adult volunteers) surrounded me (not easy for someone with crowd anxiety) and put their hands on me. Then a 8th grade student, 5th grade student and one of the adult volunteers prayed over me. Of course I was crying and just overwhelmed with the presence of God in these 5th-8th graders. It doesn't stop there....

Before the program started Audra and I were talking about how the older kids over in Ethiopia need things like shoes and basic necessities. We thought that would be a good service project for the kids and something they could relate to. So after they prayed Audra told them that while we were over there we also wanted to help the other kids who we couldn't bring home with us. We are going to collect shoes and Mark and I will deliver them to the Ethiopian kids. We don't care how much we pay in baggage fees we will get them there. The kids were excited and immediately we received almost $30 dollars to buy shoes. That may not seem like a lot but to a jr high kid that is a lot of candy!!! But it doesn't end there....

We went to cluster groups where we break out in groups by boy/girl and grade. Since I was the cluster group leader for the now 6th grade girls last year when we started the whole journey and this year I am the cluster group for the 5th grade girls where we will end the journey, I combined the two and we had a prayer meeting. I started off and we prayed for all the orphans of Ethiopia, one by one the girls took turns praying. Then we prayed for the government and the officials and all investigations to be quick so all the kids could get homes, once again one by one they prayed. Then we prayed for Daniel specifically for his health and happiness and that God would protect him, again one by one as tears started they prayed. Finally one of the other leaders asked them to pray for Mark and I and our families specifically. I have never felt so much love and support as I did in that room of about 40-45 middle school girls. Their prayers were honest and heart felt and sweet and I thank God and praise him for every single one of those girls. As tears were streaming down my face I could not help but smile. I have an amazing God and he put these girls in my life not so I could mentor them but so they could support and love me! They prayed for 25 minutes straight, once again for a middle school student that is huge!

It doesn't stop there, I went to say goodbye to Audra and someone stopped me and told me that for all the shoes the kids collected and we were taking they wanted to pay the baggage fees! Do you believe it! I am so overwhelmed with the love and support and grace of God. I went to CRASH tonight kind of feeling bad, knowing in my heart that Daniel will be home in God's time and I left feeling peace, energy and such amazing love that my heart is bursting.

God is so good and I love being a Jr. High Volunteer!

Thank you God for the amazing people you have put into my life and the trials you put us through. I know this is frustrating to us but I also know that we don't have to worry about it. You have it under control and for that I am so unbelieveably grateful. Am I hurt and sad that we don't know when Daniel will come home? Yes but God I know you are there with him and with all my heart and soul I know you will not leave us to do this on our own. I am so glad that I serve an amazing God like you! Thank you for amazing friends and family and thank you for pushing me to be a jr high volunteer! I love you! Amen

No Court

I just talked to the agency. We will not pass court on Friday. Our paperwork is stuck at the first level of the system in his region. We have no indiciation how long we will be waiting. The officials are working out their internal processes and doing investigations. Please pray that they figure their stuff out soon and out case moves. Could be a couple of months. I saw it coming and yet I am still slightly heartbroken. I keep going back to what it says in scripture. God will not give you more than you can handle and he will walk with you through whatever comes your way. This gives me some comfort right now.

3 days.....

3 days until our court date. I now have mixed feelings about this. I am excited but yet guarded with the possibility that our paperwork will not be done in time. I know that it is already handled and I don't have to worry. God is in control and He loves me and will continue to take care of me. He will continue the good work he has started through us. God can and will move the mountains!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

...being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.... -Philippians 1:6

Many Prayers Needed

As you all know our court date is suppose to be on Friday November 20th. We just received an email there is still paperwork moving through the system, the officials are still working out internal issues, whatever that means. There is a pretty big chance that this paperwork will not be signed off on by Friday and we will therefore just be given a new court date. We are growing very tired and know that God can perform miracles and that is exactly what we need. Please pray the officials figure out their internal issues and we are able to move forward. We have waited so long paitently, I am not sure how much longer I can be paitent! Our little boy is growing up in the transition home without us. I know he is very well loved and taken care of there but it is not the same. God please help us, it is time Daniel comes home. Please pray....

4 days....

4 days, we are getting closer. I can't believe we are only 4 days away from court. I continue to keep my heart guarded somewhat but can't necessarily contain the butterflies that are starting in my stomach everytime I think about it. In 4 days we could be officially parents! This is such a journey. Please continue to pray for our court date Friday. If you could also keep in your prayers our friends the Reeds who are having some communication/paperwork issues and are travelling to pick up their baby girl this week. Please pray that everything works out and they have a smooth trip. Their journey has been very long. They are also taking a care package to Daniel and will get to see him and hold him next week. I am praying they will be able to tell him that mommy and daddy are on their way!!!!

Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you. -Psalm 9:10