HOME STUDY REPORT

Well, it has been a while since I've posted. I was waiting for something newsworthy to update. Here is something......

AWAA APPROVED OUR HOME STUDY TODAY!

We are so excited! We are now waiting for our caseworker, Becky, to finalize the home study by getting it notarized, etc. Once this is done, she will give us the original and 3 copies. We will be able to then send our home study report along with some other forms to our United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Once our government approves our desire to bring a child into the US as a member of our forever family, they will send us a very important form. The I-171H form! That is our ticket to sending our Dossier to Ethiopia! They say to expect a wait of 3-4 weeks to receive our I-171H form. We have all the other documents required in the Dossier completed, so we are only waiting for this one little ~ but oh-so-important form.

Prayers for expediency appreciated! :o)

Hope each of you are experiencing God moving in your life daily!

Send me any prayer requests that I can be saying for you, as we believe together in the POWER of prayer!

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LAST MEETING A SUCCESS!!

WOO HOO!!! We had our LAST meeting for our homestudy today, and it was a success! Our caseworker is already working on writing up the final report! Once written, and we and a few others review it for finalization, we will be able to send it to USCIS to receive US approval of our adoption! Once we receive that approval (and do fingerprints again), we can send the Dossier to ET for translation and then be put on the waiting list!

We feel a forward momentum once again!

THANKS for ALL your prayers! We feel your love and support and are most grateful for it ~ and for each of YOU! :o)

Two Quick Updates

1. We have one more meeting with our caseworker ~ TOMORROW at 3pm! This is a HUGE step in the journey to our son! Once we "pass" tomorrow's meeting, the caseworker will write a report that is a big part of our Dossier (term used for all the required documentation sent over to ET). It could take up to 2 weeks for her to complete this report. Our next step will then be to send things in to our government to receive approval from the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (UCIS), which allows us to bring our child home from ET forever! :o) Not right away, of course, this only clears us to send our Dossier to Ethiopia (DTE)......

2. Ethiopia has re-instated the two visit rule, starting May 9th. Yes, this will mean that Jeff and I will travel twice to get our son. First visit will be about 4-8 weeks after we receive our referral. During this first trip we will meet our son, love on him and show up in ET courts to commit to loving and caring for our him forever. We will stay in ET approximately 4-7 days and then return home to the US (WITHOUT our baby boy).

We may "Pass Court" the first time, though 50% families need more than one court date to pass. "Passing Court" means our son is officially OURS FOREVER and we are his FOREVER FAMILY! Six-12 weeks after passing court we will return to ET to pick up our son! I still cannot imagine leaving him there after meeting him and loving on him. We are leaving that to God, knowing that He will somehow help us through that part; and that being together forever with our little boy will be worth it in the end!

TRUSTING GOD WITH EACH NEW DAY

I hope everyone had a wonderful and blessed Easter weekend! Jeff and I sure did! After being blessed by a sweet church service and enjoying brunch with friends, Jeff and I just sort of collapsed with our full bellies on the couch. This is where God continued to speak to me, picking up from where we had left off at church, earlier in the morning. We watched this movie called "As Far as My Feet Will Take Me," which is about a German man who escapes from being a POW in Siberia, travels ON FOOT (3,000 miles!) over a 3 year span, to reunite with his family.

I surprised myself as to how frequently I would say out loud (good thing we weren't in a theater), "God, why would you let THIS happen on top of everything this man has already been through?!" or "Gosh, why would you make him endure so much 'Bad' in his life?" "Why didn't you cut him a break?" EVERY SINGLE TIME I thought or spoke such a thought, a few frames later in the movie, the man's "bad" in life would result in something for his good. For example, after walking his 3,000 miles he became imprisoned ~ again! Yet, this imprisonment actually helped lead him to his family!

I began to realize how quick I was to question God's plan and what He allows in our lives. It was during this movie (and after) that God gently tossed a question in my direction, "Why is it that you are so quick to doubt me?" and "Where is your trust in me, and my plan for you ~ and for others?"

After 'sleeping on it' last night, I was reminded that, yes, we all have to make that initial choice to accept Christ or to not accept Christ ~ and by ignoring this question, we are choosing to deny Him. However, once deciding to follow Christ, I am reminded that we must renew our choice to TRUST in Him every single day. Trust doesn't automatically come with our initial decision to follow Him. We must choose with each new day if we are going to trust our life to God or to ourselves or to the enemy.

Sure, things have happened in my life. LIFE has happened. Just as it happens in others' lives. But it is what we DO with whatever happens that really matters. Are we going to give in and die in the POW camp OR are we willing to walk 3,000 miles on foot if we are asked to? Are we going to give God our trials and let Him bring good out of it OR are we going to use our past hurts to further press into our own need to control things in our life?

Recently, I found myself questioning whether we were ever really going to be united with our son in Ethiopia. Various things keep popping up to delay the process. Doubt had entered my mind and began to filter into my soul. The enemy is wicked that way. I found myself recalling moments of "bad" that God has allowed to occur in my life (notice, I did not say that He made it happen.......He just didn't stop it from happening....there is a difference, I believe); and I began to allow those not-so-good past events to invade my hope for our future.

However, Easter was a perfect time to be reminded that GOD is our source of hope! We not only must choose in our core belief, whether God is real (which I totally KNOW that He is!), but we need to choose to trust in Him every single day! This renews my understanding that I CAN trust my God. No matter what happens in my life, I can trust that a few frames later in the movie of my life, I will be able to see how God orchestrated all the details for my good. IF I choose to give it all to Him.

I cannot control the timing of our adoption, as MUCH as I would like to (and have tried to)! This inability to manage the speed in which we progress forward was starting to get me down a bit, as I want to RUN to him, not walk a slow paced 3,000 miles! I thank God for using Easter to remind me that I have to consider where I am letting my thoughts wander, and to whom am I giving control of the timing of bringing our son home. I don't want to be in control. I certainly don't want to give the control to the enemy. I want this all to go according to God's will and His divine timing! Even if it IS a bit slower that I would prefer. I know that He can orchestrate this far better than I ever could; and I need to remind myself to have a proactive approach with our adoption, without crossing that fine line of controlling this adoption.

On my knees, I give this whole journey to our son to you, Lord. I trust that your timing is perfect. I chose You many years ago, but I thank you for the reminder that I need to renew my trust in you with each new day. It revitalizes me. And excites me. And fills me with that overflowing peace that I know only comes from giving it all to You. Please give me the strength to walk or run at your deemed pace. Thank you for holding my hand in the journey. May your Will be done. In Your divine timing. Thank you for watching over our little boy.

GOOD FRIDAY

As Good Friday draws to a close, I reflect upon what God did for each and every one of us. He sent His son to live in the flesh on earth, to die a terrible death of a criminal.....only to conquer death and the evil one by rising again on the third day! VICTORY! Not just for Christ, but for each and every one of us! Because of this, we not only can enter into heaven, but we can have a relationship with our Lord! What a sacrifice paid for our gain!

I know there are some who wonder if this is really the truth. That we can enter into heaven not because of what good we accomplish, but simply because we choose to believe in Him. Knowing this TRUTH has made such a positive impact on my life, that I wish that I could help all whom I know to understand this truth. We all have to make that individual choice. Do we believe Christ died and rose again? Truth is truth. Remember that whether we believe something to be true or not does not change the fact that it is true. But the choice we make concerning these truths makes all the difference in the world ~ in our lives today and after we die!

Some people question God's existence, given the pain and conflict amidst our world. I thought I would only write original thoughts in my blog, but I received this email from my Dad, and I just couldn't pass up sharing it. Please read the email below, as it succinctly addresses this question of God's presence in a world of sickness, suffering and pain. May we all be choosing to come to Him who is loving, forgiving, steadfast and kind.

A man went to a barbershop to have his hair cut and his beard trimmed. As the barber began to work, they began to have a good conversation. They talked about so many things and various subjects.

When they eventually touched on the subject of God, the barber said: 'I don't believe that God exists.'

'Why do you say that?' asked the customer. 'Well, you just have to go out in the street to realize that God doesn't exist. Tell me, if God exists, would there be so many sick people? Would there be abandoned children? If God existed, there would be neither suffering nor pain. I can't imagine a loving God who would allow all of these things.'

The customer thought for a moment, but didn't respond because he didn't want to start an argument. The barber finished his job and the customer left the shop.

Just after he left the barbershop, he saw a man in the street with long, stringy, dirty hair and an untrimmed beard. He looked dirty and unkempt. The customer turned back and entered the barber shop again and he said to the barber:

'You know what? Barbers do not exist.'

'How can you say that?' asked the surprised barber.

'I am here, and I am a barber. And I just worked on you!'

'No!' the customer exclaimed. 'Barbers don't exist because if they did, there would be no people with dirty long hair and untrimmed beards, like that man outside.'

'Ah, but barbers DO exist! That's what happens when people do not come to me.'

'Exactly!' affirmed the customer. 'That's the point! God, too, DOES exist! That's what happens when people do not go to Him and do not look to Him for help.

That's why there's so much pain and suffering in the world.'

.....May Christ's pain and suffering be worth it, as we all find our way to Him......