They have PASSPORTS!

Our agency director emailed us a copy of our kids passports! WooHoo! We are one step closer to having them home. Oh, I can't wait! She told us that when Amos, the country director, went to the Minsitry of Health the other day they were working on our case history. So hopefully we will get their case histories this week or next week. If we do HollyAnn says we have a good chance of having them home by Christmas! Pray with us to that end! We are ready to get these kids out of the orphanage and into our family!

About our new kids!

"Serena, Gidstina, and Gideon are all loving. Gidstina plays with other girls but never really the same girl. Gideon they say his name like Geo. At first he was shy and now everyday he is by Jana's side. He is a little guy and about 2 years old. He is always smiling. Serena is always smiling, love to have fun and very girly. She and Francis always play alot together."

This is from a mom who is in Liberia now picking up her daughter. She has had time to spend at the orphanage with our children.

CAN'T WAIT TO MEET THESE PRECIOUS CHILDREN!

CASE HISTORY HAS BEGUN!

We got the long awaited email this morning that our case history was officially started this past weekend. AGGHHH!!!!! This is what we have been waiting on for the past 12 months!!! God's timing is perfect. I pretty much knew it was coming and I pretty much know these children will be home by Christmas. It has been neat to look back and see how God has orchestrated this whole thing.

Me letting go and telling God I'm throwing the ball in your court about adoption. I'm not going to pray about it or think about it anymore. If you want us to adopt then you have to totally initiate it! I'm done!

Several months later Steve turning to me after church and out of the blue saying, "It's time to pursue adoption".

God leading me to a woman that has adopted 6 Liberian girls and 4 foster children and has dealt with the same special needs that we deal with in one of our biological children. And how he used her to encourage me to go ahead.

The agency WACSN hearing our whole story and saying they would gladly help us with an adoption even with our unique family circumstances and how that gave me the encouragement to go on.

How God led us to the right organization to do our home study.

All my questionings and God confirming to me that this adoption is his will.

How he has provided all the finances needed.

How he has prepared our hearts and our home for many years now.


It feels kinda scary that it is all happening now. And life is going to change so much. And it isn't going to be easy. It's going to be a LOT of work. I'm a little frightened of that. I'm so used to things being the way they are now. I think pretty much I can sign off on the easy life from the time they come home until Heaven. Because with that many kids even as they grow up and leave home we will continue to be involved in their lives and then grandchildren and all of that. We are on the edge of a MAJOR life change. MAJOR. I never asked God for an easy life though. I've always asked him for the chance to glorify him. And I've always told him I'm willing to do whatever he wants me to do. So this is it. This is it. He gave everything for me. So the least I can do is give my life as an offering back to him. It's not much... But I'm His!

Update!

Things are moving yet nothing concrete to share yet! Our children's orphanage is supposed to be accredited this week which will help everything to go more quickly. The ministry of health has agreed to do our case histories so the social worker should be going out to do them sometime soon. Once we have the case history all we need is the exit interview scheduled for the children's birth parents (shouldn't be hard to get) and then we make Steve's visa appt. to go and pick up the children, their visas, and head home. So we are so close!

We are still praying for our kids home by Christmas!

Dreamy Gelato

I have a friend at work whose wife's dad is from Gambia and she spent some time there. His wife started a new business this year and when she found out what we were doing she wanted to be a part of bringing our children home. Dreamy Gelato http://www.dreamygelato.com/ has been instrumental in bringing in almost $1000 towards our adoption. Some of it from sales and a lot of it from just putting a "change can" by the cash register and our picture. We didn't even know that she was going to do this and it was such a heart-warming surprise to have her hand us the funds from the sale she donated, BUT also to hand us even more money from the "change can." The people who come to her store have been so generous!

Please visit Dreamy Gelato in Cumming, GA to show your support for their business. Click for Directions

Garage Sale 9/19-9/20/08

God has blessed us with some amazing donations from many different families! One specific family - the Olsson's - have been responsible for about 75% of our donations. It's amazing to us how much money has been brought in by their donations. THANK YOU!!!

Update...

We were told today that our children's Case Histories are on the social worker from the ministry of health's "to do list"!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOOO HOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We were told that they will be completed soon, but not exactly sure when. When they are started it will only take this group of case histories two days to complete. They were already started back in October of last year so they should be easy to complete! We are praying for a homecoming date in November or December!!!!

The children's passports are applied for so we should get those in the next two weeks. So pray for the passports to come and our case histories to be completed as well. We are getting close!

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