Oh Happy Day!

We are on the list!!   We can not tell you how excited, relieved, and blessed we are to have been given the news yesterday.  We are officially number 98 on the list.  How the referral list works is very simple, yet hard to understand at times.   As families receive a referral of a child we will go down on the list.  However, not every family on the list is looking for an older child.  Children's Hope has told us to use our number as a guide of progress, but not to hold to much weight in the number since there are not 97 families on the list looking for a girl between 2 to 4 years of age.  Some families are seeking infants, boys, or siblings.  We have been informed that due to the US embassy requesting more documentation of the status of the children being orphans the referral process has slowed down.  Ethiopia is a very relaxed country that does not have the conveniences of Internet, fax machines, or at times working phone lines.  Please join us in praying that God will provide the money needed to finish our journey, that our daughter is safe, for all orphans in Ethiopia and the world, and that God will grant us patience as we patiently wait for our phone call.  We will update everyone with our new number when it is received. 

We are almost on the referal list!

Wow it has been a long six months of ups and downs, but we are happy to announce that we should be on the referral list by the end of January.  Praise God!!!  We were informed this week by Children's Hope (our adoption agency) that the US embassy in Ethiopia is requiring more paper work on the children prior to the adoptions being finalized.  This has created a back log of paper work and has slowed the entire process.  We were told that our wait on the referral list will probably be close to a year due to these new requirements.  This is sad news, but we do trust that God is in control and his plan is the perfect plan.  I have to admit that I can not wait to meet and hug our daughter.  We have a few fundraisers currently going on:  T-shirts are still for sale at $15.00, a garage sale planned for late March early April, and a new fundraiser of purchasing a puzzle piece.  Our puzzle is a picture of Noah's Ark. We chose this puzzle due to the fact that God keeps his promises and they are always true.  A puzzle piece can be purchased for a donation of $2.00.  You or your family will be able to write on the back of the puzzle piece any message you would like.  Once all 1000 pieces have been purchased this puzzle will be framed so that both sides are visible as a reminder of how awesome God's love is to our family.  Please pray for continued guidance as we are approaching the long wait period.

New Year

Wow Christmas was great this year full of family, friends, love, and Christ birth.  So much has happened lately.  We can hardly contain our excitement.  On Thursday we mailed in our dossier packet to Children's Hope for final approval before sending them on to Washington.  We are so close to being on the referral list!   God has provided so much for us while on this journey.  We are praying that he will continue to provide the last amount needed to bring our little girl home.  We are only $18,000  from being full funded in our adoption.  In March we are planning to have a large garage sale as our next fundraiser.  While cleaning up from Christmas and the beginning of Spring cleaning please think of our family with any donations for our garage sale.  This sale will be a wonderful event.  Please pray with us that God will bless our family with the means to bring our little girl home.