April Wait list Number

 

 Today we received our new number.  We already knew we were number 3 so it wasn't really a surprise.  It's so hard to be so close but still so far from seeing our daughter's face.  We are hopeful to hear something soon though.  We know that the Lord is orchestrating each detail with care and wisdom.  We know that He is trustworthy and so daily we cry out to Him and know that He is listening and that "and we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose."

We love our agency, All God's Children International for a lot of reasons but one thing that I love is that they are so encouraging.  They always listen and really try to be our cheerleaders in this wait.  Today they shared a special verse that encouraged me so so much.

"But these things I plan won't happen right away. Slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. If it seems slow, be patient! For it will surely take place. It will not be late by a single day." ~Habakkuk 2:3

30 months waiting

I have been busy with school and haven't had a chance to blog.  A few days ago, April 21st, marked our 30th month on the wait list.  I really never thought we would still be waiting but here we are.  We are so thankful to be SO close to getting a referral.  I keep checking my phone just to make sure I haven't missed the call.  I have been listening to Matthew West's new album and I am stuck on this song called, "Waitin' on a Miracle."  You know the times when you hear a song and it speaks exactly to where you are?  That is this song, especially the last verse:

"And my soul longs for the day
When I see the answer to the prayer I’ve prayed
And it’ll all be worth the wait
Waitin’ on a miracle"

Here are the lyrics and a video.   

"I’m down to my last drop of faith
My last ounce of strength
My knees are worn
From waitin’ on a miracle

I’ve prayed, God, I’ve prayed
I’ve stormed the gates in Jesus’ name
Crying out night and day
Just waitin’ on a miracle

But I don’t know how much longer
I can hold out hope tonight
And I wish my will was stronger
But instead I’m just a weary heart
Waitin’ on a miracle

I’ve heard Your hands can calm a raging sea
Can You calm the storm in me?
‘Cause that’s how it feels
When you’re waitin’ on a miracle

But I don’t know how much longer
I can hold out hope tonight
And I wish my will was stronger
But instead I’m just a weary heart
Waitin’ on a miracle

And my soul longs for the day
When I see the answer to the prayer I’ve prayed
And it’ll all be worth the wait
Waitin’ on a miracle" 

New October Number

Our number for this month is still...

Isn't that a pretty number 8??  While we were hoping to move up a few spots we know that God is working out all the details of this crazy wait!  Last October we were #29.  We also know that the courts in Ethiopia are open again and we are hopeful that we will get a referral soon for our sweet little daughter!

Once we get a referral, we will wait to be assigned a court date.  Once we get that date we will make plans to travel to Ethiopia and we will be there for 5 days.  After that we will come home and have to say goodbye to our little sweetie and wait for an Embassy date.  Then, after we get assigned an Embassy date we will be able to head back to Ethiopia and stay for a few days and then bring our daughter forever home!!

So, if you're interested in helping support our adoption, we are doing a Kindle Fire HD Raffle right now to help with the costs of those flights.  The runner up gets a $20 gift card to Target.  Each ticket is $5 and you can purchase them via Paypal over there to the right or in person.  Also, if you share the Raffle after you donate, then you can get an extra entry by leaving a comment that you did it.

We are praying that we (including our sweet daughter that we have yet to meet) would know this verse to be true:

"I know the LORD is always with me.  I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me." 

- Psalm 16:8 

p.s.  Please ignore the typing at the VERY top of my blog.  I was fiddling with the html code and I messed something up and haven't had time to fix it. :)

September Number

 Our family's September number is:

{Leo Reynolds photo}

We are officially number 8 this month but I am pretty positive that we are number 1 for our age parameters.  The problem is that we cannot accept a referral until our paperwork is all up to date.  We are currently waiting on our social worker to call us back (it has been two weeks) and waiting on Texas to return some criminal background check stuff.  This would have all been updated earlier but Brian had applied for a position at a church back in August and things were going really well with the process and it would have involved us moving.  So, we waited to update the actual home visit and some other paperwork.  Brian was nominated by the Boards at the church for the position but after a week or so we found out some things that we did not feel very comfortable with so we prayed and prayed and ask for some counsel from good friends and the Lord confirmed to us through His Word that Brian should not take this position.  We know this was the right decision for our family but we are disappointed.  We had hoped things would go much differently.  And now we are seeing that it is affecting our adoption process too.  We can't understand God's timing and we may never but we are going to trust Him.  He knows who our daughter will be and He is much more able to orchestrate every detail even when it looks impossible.  It is all somewhat disappointing though so if you would please continue to pray for all of our hearts, for our daughter in Ethiopia, and for all the details to come together.  I do have some good news too though.

God has been so good to give us encouragement from His Word and with His Spirit.  On Friday I readMatthew 19:26 that says "Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.”  We have been especially concerned about our updates because our US_CIS approval was set to expire in a couple weeks.  As you can imagine we were freaking out and trying to get everything complete.  Well, on Friday we received a really surprising phone call from our case manager at US_CIS.  She was so kind and encouraging and said not to worry about anything.  She set our minds at ease and even though this is not how we imagined the timing of everything going....we know that God is with us and He is in charge.

This verse has been our prayer:

"Let me hear of your unfailing love each morning, for I am trusting you.  Show me where to walk, for I give myself to you.  Teach me to do your will, for you are my God.  May your gracious Spirit lead me forward on a firm footing." -Psalm 143: 8&10

Thank you for praying for our family. 

♥

August Number!! Single digits y'all!!

So, we are officially in the single digits!!  Can you believe it??  I can't!  It doesn't seem real!  In honor of single digits, I'm posting two number pictures. :)  One that Isabel picked out and one that I picked out!  We have already updated our fingerprints but we need your prayers for a smooth transition as we update our home study.  Things are getting complicated with it...for good reasons but it is nonetheless complicated.  I would love to share more details but I can't right yet.  We would just really appreciate your prayers for favor with those involved in helping us update things with our adoption and that things go smoothly and quickly so that we can be READY to accept a referral when it comes because we are SO SO close!!  Thank you all!! 

 Psalm 9:1&2 

 ^"I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart;
 I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.  I will be glad and rejoice in you; 

 I will sing the praises of your name, O Most High."

New July Number!!

Okay, I could hardly believe this number when I saw it in the email.  Seriously.  This is for real.  We are getting SO SO close!!  Are you ready for our new official number?!? 



We need your prayers right now!  We are in the midst of a home study update (that God has amazingly provided the funds for), dossier updates that we found out about, and waiting for our USCIS stuff to come back!  We trust the Lord's timing but we can't accept a referral until we have this stuff updated so pray that we would get all our documentation returned super super quickly!! 

"For since the world began, no ear has heard and no eye has seen a God like you, who works for those who wait for him!" - Isaiah 64:4

April Number & Update

I haven't been very good at updating this blog or updating anyone for that matter.  I guess I've been avoiding this space for some time.  I tend to avoid people and situations when I just don't know what to say or when I don't want to talk about something.  Most of you know that we moved to Texas last summer and then moved back to North Carolina at the end of November.  I've explained the why and everything over at the other blog so I don't feel like I need to get into that but I haven't really explained how adoption plans are progressing.  So that is my goal tonight.  I think I'm finally up to it.

We are still on the wait list to adopt a little girl.  Our newest number for this month is 17.

 {Source: http://www.janbrett.com/numbers/number_17.htm}

We started at 93 in October of 2010.  While we were in Texas we did not update our home study for various reasons but it worked out to be a good thing since we moved back to NC.  Since we have moved back (and our house sold while we lived in TX) we have been living with Brian's mom.  This is one of the best scenarios for us.  Lots of people say bad things about their mother-in-laws but mine is truly wonderful.  She has a spacious house with plenty of room for us.  We are in a great school zone for our 5 year old, Isabel, to attend 1st grade in the fall.  

I have been teaching part-time at a middle school and Brian has applied for more jobs than I really even know.  He has come ridiculously close for many but eventually they choose someone with their Master's degree already or they say that he is over-qualified.  Finally a few months back, he was able to find a job.  We were so thankful.  Even still, we have been so so worried about what all of this does to our adoption process.  Would they even let us continue since our life, finances, home, everything has changed?  Would they think we've lost our minds?

Thankfully, they have been so so kind and helpful.  We do have some work to do.  We have been waiting to hear their opinion on everything.  So, we have to update our home study, we have to be re-fingerprinted (these all expired/will expire soon anyway), we have to add Brian's mom to the mix, we still have to raise money, and we still need to apply for grants (that require an updated home study).  Our agency wants to see how everything is going and they want us to have some stability so they'd like to see the updates fairly soon.

So, basically this is a lot.  Nothing in me really wants to be vulnerable and share all of this.  But, I felt like I should and I really just want to ask for prayer.  Prayer over the whole thing!  Thank you all!!  We still have some fundraising plans going on too that we'll share later. :)

I'll end on a verse I read today from 1 Kings 8:56.

"Praise the LORD who has given rest to his people Israel, just as he promised.  Not one word has failed of all the wonderful promises he gave through his servant Moses." 

March Number

I forgot to update our number for March!  We didn't receive the number until the end of March but somehow I just forgot to post it.  Our current number on the wait list is:

    {Source: Eva the Weaver}

February Waitlist Number......

{Source: duncan}

I heard a sermon today from Haggai and it brought a lot of encouragement to me in this wait where things can get discouraging. Haggai is talking to God's people that have been charged with rebuilding the temple. They obeyed and got started but then felt discouraged and were ready to quit. But God sends a message by way of Haggai.

"Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, declares the LORD. Be strong, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land, declares the LORD. Work, for I am with you, declares the LORD of hosts, according to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt. My Spirit remains in your midst. Fear not."
(Haggai 2:4-5 ESV)

His Spirit is STILL in our midst! He is with us and will never leave us!

December Number

I forgot to post for November because we had the same number in October and November but we did get a new number for December so here it is!

{Source: duncan}

October Number & 1 Year on the Waitlist

Well, I haven't been great at updating this space but I did want to share a couple things!

Yesterday marked our 1 year of being on the wait list. We officially got onto the list October 20, 2010 at number 93. On exactly the one year date we received our new number for this October.

We are officially:

Source

Last year I posted Psalm 93 so I thought I would post Psalm 29 today. You should go read the other Psalm as well. It's amazing how similar they are. I am thankful that the voice of the LORD is powerful and able to do so much more than I can see or understand. I am thankful that He gives us strength and peace at the same time.

Ascribe to the LORD, O heavenly beings,
ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.
Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;
worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness.

The voice of the LORD is over the waters;
the God of glory thunders,
the LORD, over many waters.
The voice of the LORD is powerful;
the voice of the LORD is full of majesty.
The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars;
the LORD breaks the cedars of Lebanon.
He makes Lebanon to skip like a calf,
and Sirion like a young wild ox.
The voice of the LORD flashes forth flames of fire.
The voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness;
the LORD shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
The voice of the LORD makes the deer give birth
and strips the forests bare,
and in his temple all cry, “Glory!”

The LORD sits enthroned over the flood;
the LORD sits enthroned as king forever.
May the LORD give strength to his people!
May the LORD bless his people with peace!
(Psalm 29 ESV)

Official September Number

{Source: Flickr: eva the weaver}

August Official Number

We received our official August number today!
We are:

{photo by Leo Reynolds}

Our July official number!

{Source}

Today we received our official July number! We're number 40!!
I can't believe we're about to be in the 30's. That is craziness to me. It's getting closer and closer! We're getting closer and closer to meeting our daughter in Ethiopia. Wow.

We have a lot of work ahead of us. I think most of you know that we have moved to Texas! We are super excited about being here. So far we really love it. I love that we all have a tan already and we've only been here for a week and a half. I love that there are TONS of varied Spanish radio channels here. I love that everyone here is really friendly. Unfortunately, because we have moved states, homes, jobs, EVERYTHING....we have to redo our homestudy. We knew we would but it's a lot to gather all over again. Thankfully, the timing of it all seems pretty perfect. We received word from our agency that the court system in Ethiopia will be doing their annual closure sometime in August and September. During about a two month span they won't be having any court appointments. So, our hope is that we can use that time to get our homestudy, fingerprints, and all updated and then be ready when the courts open up again. We still have a lot of fundraising but amazingly, a really sweet friend gifted us with enough to cover our updated/new homestudy here. God is so good to provide each detail at the right time. We know He will provide all we need to cover the next amount.

I looked up Psalm 40 and I wanted to share verse 1. We are going to keep on waiting patiently for the Lord and for His timing. He is faithful to lean in and hear us when we call out.

"I waited patiently for the Lord;
he inclined to me and heard my cry."

Alright, I'm going to leave you with two fun pictures.

Isabel and her new cowgirl hat at the Stockyards.

Brian's Texas waffle!

June Number

Sorry I haven't been posting as many updates over here on the adoption blog. Our "moving to Texas" blog has been a bit busier. :) You can follow along with the craziness here. However, I did want to say that we received our June number today. Unfortunately we didn't move any from last month but sometimes that happens and we can definitely attest that God's timing is always better than ours. Also, we, along with other families on the unofficial list, thought our number would have been one lower...we thought we were 46, turns out we are still 47. Either way, I found this cool picture! It's an old Texas Railroad Commission plate. It's cool because, for starters, it says Texas, and that's where we are moving in 20 days! It's also cool because it has both numbers 46 and 47 at the top.

{Source}

Our May Number

{Source}

That's halfway!!

Our April Number!

I'm about to leave school and off to take Isabel to soccer practice but I wanted to share our new number for April! It's so exciting to see it move more than I anticipated! Wow! We are getting closer and closer baby girl! http://www.flickr.com/photos/duncan

Our March Number

I forgot to update you all with our official number for the month of March. It's so amazing to me to see that there has continued to be soo much movement and families coming together despite all of the craziness and the unknowns surrounding Ethiopian adoptions this month. No matter the situation, God is always trustworthy.

New Number

We just got our new number for February! Here it is. I know we haven't moved much since January but we're hopeful that there will be more movement soon and more families will be able to bring home their sweet kids!

New Number!

We just got our new official number today! I'm so excited because I really wasn't anticipating any movement at all! We have been dying to pull some more links off of our paperchain and yay, now we can! So we are officially:

Isn't that a cute little owl? I had no idea there were that many cool people out there on flikr taking pictures of number sets and sharing them through Creative Commons! I'm sure they have no idea all these mommas on waitlists want them for their blog updates! Haha!
Happy Thursday y'all!