TWO "Good News" Days!?!?!?!?

WOW!  I'm so out of practice of getting GOOD NEWS!!!!  I am sooooo very THANKFUL to each and every one of you who are holding our son ~ and us ~ up in prayer!!!!!  IT. IS. WORKING!!!!!!

We got the GREAT NEWS that the clearance decree from the orphanage arrived at our AWAA agency TODAY!!!!!

I feel like SKIPPING!!!!
{about to go for a run.....I might just SKIP instead!}  =)

Kristen said they will deliver the decree to MOWCYA and encourage them to write our recommendation letter soon.  PLEASE keep praying the next recommendation letter is an APPROVAL LETTER!!!!!

SOOOOO PRAISING GOD FOR THIS FORWARD MOVEMENT!!!!!!

And praising Him for all of YOU who are traveling alongside of us!!!!!

Jeff and I are going to make our son a "Build-a-Bear" bear tonight in celebration!......so he can hear our voices in our absence!!!!

Every step counts in this journey and we are so excited to be taking forward steps again.  I have sooooo longed for this feeling of making progress toward seeing him again, holding him again and bringing. him. HOME!!!!

My-oh-my how GOOD I will sleep tonight!!!!!  May you be having precious, precious dreams right now, as I write this, sweet son!!........and may you feel the presence of God in your dreams as well as in your hours awake!   

I LOVE YOU, BABY "K".......I LOVE YOU TO THE MOON AND BACK!!!!! 

JESUS LOVES THE LITTLE CHILDREN

I am seeing today what I have always known to be true.  JESUS LOVES HIS LITTLE CHILDREN!!! Our dear sweet friends from our travel group, The Kishpaughs' received a HUGE surprise phone call this morning telling them that their sweet son are now THEIRS!!!  This was total unexpected news, as they had heard on Friday that there was no MOWCYA letter written for their family.  PRAISE GOD!!!  I love their two sons, and it melts my heart to know that God moved big on their behalf!

The Mason family received their own surprise phone call on Monday, after learning that their family had also received a rejection letter for their adoption of their son!  However.......yesterday, God MOVED on their behalf and they heard the words, "HE IS YOURS!"

Our precious friends, The Boosalis and Klein families are s-t-i-l-l awaiting final news of their MOWCYA approval, and hope to hear the GOOD news TOMORROW that each of their daughters are THEIRS as well!!  

Confused?  Well, God moved the courts to stay open this week to further consider MOWCYA opinions on cases in which letters had already been written by last Friday.  It does appear that some cases that were rejected have, and may continue to be, reversed this week!  PRAISE GOD!!!!  More kiddos are COMING HOME SOON!!!!

The Somers' are still waiting with baited breath that maybe MOWCYA will see the updated HS that was already in the dossier but somehow missed, and The Russell family is still waiting to hear the reason behind their rejection letter.  So there is still a chance for these two families as well!

This is AMAZING movement for all of these children!  Go, God!

Of course, I cannot help but get on my knees in continued prayer for a miracle for our son as well.  I hesitate to allow hope to well up in my heart, because I know that every adoption case is different, and our agency told us that it would not be possible to obtain the information MOWCYA needs from our orphanage in time.  It should be easy to get the information, but just not easy to get it before closures.

However.......OUR GOD IS A BIG-HUGE GOD!  I do not want to be limited by what AWAA says. They are so good at being honest and preparing us for what may come, but I just feel the need to listen to their advice, but CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR A MIRACLE simultaneiously!

I hesitated to post anything that might lead you to think we have a chance.  According to AWAA we do not.  I hear that.  I respect that.  I appreciate the honesty.

Yet.......I feel compelled to PRAY for God to part the Red Sea for us!!!  Until that judge officially ceases to enter that court office, I cannot sit idly by without BELIEVING for our miracle!  

Is my heart guarded?  Sure.  Am I a bit afraid of God's final plan for this chapter of our adoption?  Yes, a bit.  (but I KNOW His plan for us is for GOOD and not harm; for HOPE and a future!)  Do I trust our agency to do all that they can on our behalf?  You bet!  

Do I believe my God wants to bless our family abundantly?  A-B-S-O-L-U-T-E-L-Y!!!!

Now, how such abundant blessings will be bestowed upon us is up to God.  More than anything, we want to be in His Divine will for us, for Baby K and for our family.  Yes, even if that means we have to wait longer to bring home our precious son (remind me of this in a few days).

It's just that.......until there is no way, I choose to believe that GOD CAN MAKE A WAY!!!!

My precious friend, Tracy Autry shared a great verse with me on Friday.  I have clung to it and will continue to ~ regardless of the result of these extended open court days......

"...For I am doing something in your own day, something you wouldn't believe even if someone told you about it."   Habukuk 1:5,  NLT 

Whether there is still a chance for "our own day" to be this week......or a day in months to come......the TRUTH is.....God IS working to bring us together as a family.  I continue to trust in that.  Regardless of what I can see.  

In Christ lies my true hope.  And strength.

Dear Lord, we once again come to you, asking you to MOVE mountains for our little baby K.  Whether this weeks GREAT NEWS includes news of our son's homecoming or not, I THANK YOU for all you are doing on behalf of so many of these children!  You are moving this MOWCYA mountain for so many families, and it is priceless to witness.  My heart aches to be a part of these miracles, Lord.  How I yearn to hear "HE IS YOURS!"  However, I cannot deny all the GOOD you are doing, loving these sweet precious children HOME.  However things go the rest of this week, we know that we know that you love our son.  And your ways are higher than our ways.           AMEN.

URGENT and FERVENT Prayer Needed!

Wow.  I feel like a zombie walking through a nightmare.  Totally unexpected.


The clock is ticking.  Courts close in 36 hours (Ethiopia timeline).

AWAA called me at work today to tell me got our MOWCYA letter.  However, it was a REJECTION letter!!!!  Floored.  Flabbergasted.  Devastated.  Never even thought about this as a possibility!


We have been praying and praying, asking God to give favor over our adoption; asking Him to get ALL of our waiting-after-court families a letter from MOWCYA before Friday.  Never dreamed our letter would be a rejection letter!


What does this mean?!?!?!?......................


Well, a recent email from our FC at AWAA told me that almost 50% of families receive a rejection letter the first time.  I must admit, this at least eased my mind that this is not some rare and high-risk potential of losing our son!  I've known plenty of families whom MOWCYA needed more information before writing an approval letter, but I was unaware that this request for more information was accompanied with a rejection letter.  PRAYING this is just a "routine" rejection.


Not sure what to think.  In panic and desperation, I posted on FB a request for URGENT and FERVENT prayer.  And I post the same request here.


AWAA will not find out WHAT MOWCYA needs to provide an approval letter until sometime tomorrow.  Please join us in PRAYING that whatever it is that they need, it is something that can be provided with ease and efficiency ~ so that MOWCYA can provide an approval letter BEFORE the end of the work day Friday (keep in mind Friday comes 9 hours earlier in ET than here).


We are SO GRATEFUL for our agency, AWAA!!!  They have kept us up-to-date, even though the news was not good today.  This allows us to pray specifically, and ask all of you to cover this in the POWER OF PRAYER!!!  AWAA assures us that they will do all they can to try to fulfill MOWCYA's request for information with expediency ~  to beat these looming court closures.  THANK YOU, AWAA!!!


If you are on FB, an we are friends, and you have already joined us in prayer, I THANK YOU!!!  We feel the covering of prayer!  I have gone from feeling like the wind got knocked out of me from being SMACKED with a 2x4, unable to even breathe one breath........to feeling as though I can now breathe again.  kind of. sort of......... 

Trusting God to move mountains on behalf of Baby K.  Although I feel I am at my ropes end, and my emotions cannot handle one more loop-dee-loo, I pray this more for the sake of our son.  May God grant "K" less time in an orphanage and more time with Mommy and Daddy.  At HOME!!!   


Lord, we know that you LOVE our son.  Even more than we love him.  Crazy to think that is possible.  Knowing this, and knowing that you desire to bless your believers abundantly, we gently lay our son ~ the creation of our family ~ again at your feet.  We ask you.  Beg you.  Plead, in fact, that your will maatch our hearts desire.  To finalize this adoption of our precious son BEFORE court closures.  We trust that you hold him in your loving arms, as you work out the amazing details of bringing him home.  To us.  


May you move in a mighty way these next few hours.  May your will be done.  Thank you, Lord, for loving Baby K.  Thank you, for loving Jeff and me.  Thank you for all you are doing to bring us together.  May our family be showered in your love, mercy, grace and protection.  May ALL of the families awaiting MOWCYA letters experience your monumental movement in these next hours!  


THANK YOU for joining us in prayer!  Please pray MOWCYA just needs some easy piece of info that can be obtained before closures!  And please ask God to cover our AWAA advocates, as they try to finalize this adoption for us.  


Will keep you posted.  In the meantime, please stay with us, fervently praying.  


Praying.  THE MOST POWERFUL thing we can do.  Bless you for every word sent up to our Heavenly Father on our behalf.


Please God, Please God, PLEASE!! Show up BIG!!!!

BELIEVING GOD

THIS IS THE WEEK!  The big countdown!  If that MOWCYA letter arrives by this week's end, Baby K will be home in 4-8 weeks!  If that letter does not arrive, he will be home in 4-6 months.  U.G.H!!!!

As the reality of this sinks in, I begin to feel the cloud of doubt and fear hover over me.  I feel anxiety and stress build within me.  Afterall, they say that MOWCYA is one month behind, and we only have 16 days between our Court Date and Court Closures.  

However, I refuse to give in.  I refuse to let the enemy toil with me.  I refuse to live in fear.  I refuse to try to endure this wait in my own human efforts.  I can only call upon my Lord. To ask Him to create a miracle and produce this letter this week.  To ask Him to help me TRUST in Him and His divine plan for our son.

Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God,

but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God,

being fully persuaded that God had the power to do what He had promised.

Romans 4:20-21

I AM CLAIMING THIS VERSE!!!!

GOD has really really been working on me in regards to BELIEVING and having NO DOUBT throughout this entire adoption journey.  However, this message has become so very loud and clear that there is no denying it is still high on GOD's list for me to Learn.  Grasp.  Breathe.  and Live by.

Prior to receiving our surprise Court Date (CD), I had written a post that talked about how our pastor's sermon on Mark 9:23, 24 really spoke to my heart.  I didn't get it posted before we were blessed by a CD earlier than we ever imagined we would get one!  I mention it now, as it is till fitting today.

Remember the story in the Bible (Mark 9: 23, 24) where the man is asking Jesus to cast out a spirit that is in his son?  The man said to Jesus, "......but if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us."

"If you can?" said Jesus.  "Everything is possible for one who believes." 


Immediately the boy's father exclaimed, "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!"  (NIV)

In this post that I never published, I admitted to God my fear and doubt in getting a July Court Date and how very much I wanted to just stand strong and BELIEVE.  I asked God to help me with my own unbelief.  And HE DID!  I really was able to believe ~ with no doubt! ~ that we were going to get a CD before the court closures!  And WE DID!!!!  

Well, the enemy soon tried to then fill me with fear that we would not get that MOWCYA letter (that is required for our adoption of "K" to be finalized) before the courts close.  Again, I prayed and prayed, asking God to fill me with His strength to BELIEVE and remove any shade of fear or doubt.  I was blessed with this sweet confidence and peace that I know can only come from above.

As we approached our departure date for ET ~ to meet our sweet baby ~ I started to find myself listening to the enemy more than I should.  {WHY do I even give him the time of day?!?}  I found myself thinking on things of the past ~ the infertility struggles, miscarriages, dashed hopes, etc.  "So, do you really think God is going to be there for you?  You really think He is going to bless you with a FINALIZED adoption BEFORE Court Closures?  Look at what struggles He has allowed you to endure.  WHY would He spare you an extended wait due to court closures?"

"SHUT IT!  GET BEHIND ME, ENEMY!" I would say in defense.

Then we got to ET and were blessed by spending time with our sweet son, and our pure JOY over-rode any fear or doubt.  That is, until the day to leave our babe in ET crept near.  The dark cloud of anxiety and doubt crept back into my days.  And now, being home only two days, I battle between that sweet peace.  and fear.

However, I am happy to say that God's Sweet Peace is WINNING!  As I pray and ask God to help me in my unbelief, the fear erodes.  The fear diminishes as I focus on WHO our Heavenly Father is and WHAT He has done for us via the cross.  As I ponder how He has drawn each believer into His loving arms ~ adopting us into His Divine Family ~ room for fear squelched.  As I reflect upon God's love for every one of His children, His Peace flows through every fiber of my being.

I read a saying in our Art Hallway at church yesterday.

  

"We enter into this casual life not as demanders, but as thankful recipients." 

I am so THANKFUL for this precious boy God has gifted to us as our son.  I will refrain from "demanding" this next step go my way, and instead, continue to ask God to help me bask in my Gratefulness as I await the outcome of this MOWCYA letter.  As I await God's plan for baby K and for his mommy and daddy.

I BELIEVE!!!  

I KNOW that God's plan for our family is nothing but GOOD!  I know that I know that God has this adoption covered in His love, mercy and grace!  I choose to believe. that. God. is. going. to. finalize. this. adoption. BEFORE. the. courts. close!!!!  A big THANK YOU to each and every one of you joining us on this journey.  And helping us to pray our son HOME!!!

I STAND FIRM IN MY BELIEF!!!!  

NO room for fear or doubt!  
GO, GOD!!!!  

MAY YOU PLEASE SHOW UP!!
 BIG!!!