Labor of Love

"We love because He first loved us." 1 John 4:19

At last! We are finished with our paper chasing! Hooray! And, thank You, Jesus! We received our USCIS (Immigration) approval on Friday and today, our dossier is headed to our agency. So, it's officially out of our hands and into God's (although we know it has truly never been in our hands, but His!) Now comes "The WAIT". Our dossier should be in Ethiopia within 2-3 weeks and we will officially be on the list to recieve our children. As the Lord prompts, please pray for wisdom for the agency staff in Ethiopia to know the children God has planned before the beginning of time to add to our family. It is so exciting!

The photo above is literally ALL the papers we have been waiting on, collecting, notarizing, tracking down and photocopying for the last 6 months...and it has been a true "labor of love." Just as we experienced in our first two adoptions, the love God has placed in our hearts for these children has allowed this process to be...can I really say it?...enjoyable. Some weeks...nothing happened. Other weeks...we were a flurry of activity. But truly...it has not been overly stressful or burdensome...and I can only attribute that to God's grace...and your prayers! (Thank you!)

As we have been making all these efforts to track down documents, go to the doctor for physicals, get fingerprints, meet with social workers, write letters, get signatures notarized (will I ever sign my name again without a witness?), complete 10 hours of on-line adoption training, read 5 books (required), crunching financial numbers, not to mention beginning to clean out closets, shop for new bedspreads, furniture, thinking about toys, books and clothes...it occurred to me that our children on the other side of the world have NO idea what is occuring RIGHT NOW to ensure that they have a loving, safe and secure future!! Yet does the fact that they don't KNOW what is being done on their behalf make it any less TRUE? (of course not!) As this reality settled into my heart, the Holy Spirit whispered..."just like you don't know all the amazing things your Heavenly Father is doing to make sure you have a loving, safe and secure future, Beth!" WOW! I can tend to worry and doubt that God is working on my behalf because I cannot SEE His hand all the time...yet ultimately I must choose to trust and believe that "in all things God works for the good of those who love Him..." Romans 8:28 This also brings to mind Jeremiah 29:11 " 'For I know the plans I have for you', delcares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.' " He knows the plans...and I know Him...that should be enough to give me peace! Oh, that I would continually put all my hope in His unfailing love and care!

Okay, enough preaching...for now! :) I just thought that was a really cool 'picture' of how God is caring for each of us even when we cannot see it with our eyes. "Now faith is being SURE of what we hope for and CERTAIN of what we do not see." Hebrews 11:1 May God grant us all that kind of faith!

We love you and thank you for your prayers, words of encouragement and support! We are so glad you want to walk this journey with us!

We will keep you posted! :)

TB Tests and Fingerprints...

We have officially begun our home study and that includes all kinds of doctor's tests and background checks and fingerprints for me, Mike and Steph (0ur cousin from Oregon who's living with us while in MBA school). Quite the adventure! (I think I'm gonna be okay on the TB test, what do you think?)

Although the progress seems slow and there is much to do, we are thankful to be moving toward Ethiopia! We met with our home study coordinator and really enjoyed her! She is friendly, very thorough and easy to talk to...such a blessing in a process like this. If all goes as planned, we should be able to complete our paperwork and compile our dossier documents by early 2009. From there it could be three to six months until we receive a referral and once we accept the referral...we would go to Ethiopia within 8 weeks! We are trusting God for His perfect timing.

For those of you who have been praying for Madison and Matthew...thank you! God has given both of them a peace about this 'craziness' and we see their hearts opening up and beginning to get excited about welcoming their new brother and sister. Madison will be going with us to Ethiopia and she is very excited about that! Matthew is content to stay behind, but we'll wait and see how the plans unfold. Continue to pray that God will prepare ALL of our hearts for this adventure.

Well, I better get back to the MOUNDS of paperwork awaiting me...thank you all for your prayers and encouragement. We know we couldn't do this without you!

(Praise: We just heard from some new friends that we met just 2 months ago (to talk about adoption) that they have ALREADY welcomed home their first-born adopted son, Jacob! Woo! Hoo! Thank you Jesus!)