Choosing to Trust His Perfect Timing

Well, here we are only 48 days into this process officially, and we are in a holding pattern.  Honestly, this is an awesome feeling!  It takes most people several months to get where we are, so we are feeling great about it.  We have gathered every document we can gather, had them state and US certified, and are mailing them to the Chinese Embassy in DC for further authentication today.  We have completed all that we need to do for our home study and are just waiting on our report, which could be any day now.  On that note, please join us in lifting our HS Coordinator, Rebecca, up in prayer.  She is trying her hardest to get this report finished up for us, but things that take precedence keep popping up, be it work related, a medical thing, or a need for one of her children.  I continue to encourage her (and myself) that God's timing is perfect.  There is peace in knowing that He holds our future in His hands, and that His perfect plan will come together in His perfect timing.

More news:  The girls are finally in the know!!!  It happened by accident actually.  Samantha and I were thumbing through the pics on my phone looking for something.  Georgia needed something, so I set my phone down and went to tend to her.  Sam picked it up and kept looking for that picture, and boy, did she get the surprise of her life!  My sweet sensitive girl put the phone down and went to her room, not saying a thing about what she had seen.  When I finished up with Georgia, I came back to keep looking for what I was looking for and finally found it.  I called Sam in to share it with her and she was all broken up in tears.   We had the sweetest time that morning talking through what she had seen, why we had kept it a secret from them, and all about her baby brother.  She melted when I confirmed that, as long as nothing goes wrong, yes, he is your brother.  What a sweet, tender spirit God has given that one.  She has a love and compassion for people that is so very special and rare.  I believe in my heart of hearts that God will do great things through that child, and I am so excited that I will have a front row seat to watch it all unfold!  We let a few days go by before letting Georgia in on the secret, but when we did, she hit the roof!  Talk about passion!  What a great word to describe her!  She is passionate all the time - whether happily or not  :) .  Now that they both know they are begging for a name.  In fact, at bedtime last night, Jodie and I were given the "assignment" to discuss names later and tell them what we came up with the next morning.  Ha!  Who is driving this ship anyway???  We have told them his Chinese name, but haven't settled in on an American name for him yet.

So, things are progressing.  And though, right now, it seems to be progressing at a snail's pace, we are finding peace in the fact that this has been and will continue to be God's story for us.  He will bring our son home in His perfect timing.  A few ways to pray:

• Our little man is in a foster home in China.  Pray for his caregivers - that they are giving him the best possible love and care.
• Pray for our son - that God will began moving in his sweet little heart even now, preparing him for the transitions to come.  Pray that somehow, our boy will know how much he is already loved.
• Pray for everyone involved in our journey - from our HS and Family Coordinators at AWAA to every hand that will touch every document we send out.
• Pray for Jodie and I - we will need to make a decision soon about whether or not to take the girls with us on our trip to China.  There are so many things to consider here, and it is not a decision we will take lightly.
• Pray for funds- Tax season was a bear for us.  While we know and trust that God will provide in this area, and we try not to worry, it is definitely a source of concern.  Most people have 12 months or more to gather all the funds needed to complete an adoption.  But, so far our journey is looking like it may not take quite that long.  We are putting together a few fundraisers, so keep your eyes open for options to help out if you are so called.

We want to thank all of you for being on this journey with us.  We feel your prayers and are so very grateful for them.  Stay tuned for more!!