Big News!

We are finally able to share some news a little more publically, but can't share everything yet.
We were matched with a sweet little boy on Sep. 20th. We had 24 hours to give an initial yes or no. I did a lot of processing during those 24 hours! Then we said yes. I'm growing more attached to him each day. He is about 17 mos. old. Beautiful dark hair and dark eyes. Its becoming more real each day. We sure have a lot to do!
After saying yes we had to do some paperwork which did not get off until today because our social worker was out of town. I had been kind of frustrated with that as time is very important now, so we can go get him! I'm studying Isaiah this year in Bible study and this week's lesson was about pride. Well I was humbled today as we found out that we are got our pre-approval (PA) from China on the 25th! Our paperwork hadn't even been sent yet! So God is teaching me AGAIN that He is in control of all of this. He certainly doesn't need me or any paperwork to accomplish His will. It gave us joy and peace knowing that this little boy is supposed to be part of our family. "Oh how marvelous, oh how wonderful and my song shall ever be..."
So next is our Letter of Acceptance (LOA). That is the OFFICIAL letter that says China is accepting us and that he will be our son. When we get that we can post pictures. Pray that it happens quickly, but it can take several weeks.

Prayer: We have a silent auction coming up on Nov. 5th. Pray for preparations for that.
Finances: We have paid about half of what our total costs will be. Praise God! This has been done with about $3,000 from people giving and our garage sales/bake sales, and the rest we had saved. But now we need to pay for the other half. We know God will provide.
Time: Pray that I will use my time wisely. I need to start applying for grants, lots of paperwork. Many other preparations and things to do. I have two children to teach.
Travel: Pray that we will get to travel end of Dec./beginning of Jan. Chinese New Year is Feb.3rd and the country shuts down for awhile. Pray for our many travel preparations.
Thank you for your support!!!

With the trees , again...

In the mountains again, looking at the trees again, thinking of and praying for Caleb. Last time we were in the mountains, we got logged in. Now hoping and praying to meet Caleb very soon.
Pray that I can concentrate on school with the kids and everything else I need to do. But we are anxious to "meet" him and get going on our next phase. I have to keep reminding myself that God is in control and His timing is perfect. I'm looking forward to studying Isaiah this year to be reminded how powerful my God is!

Its official

Our LID was Aug. 28th, so cool, because of the day it happened, the story about being in the mountains. So yesterday or today our "waiting child" paperwork was supposed to get submitted to Grand Rapids ( our agency's headquarters). Our social worker said they were "anxiously awaiting our paperwork". So I'm hoping and praying that we get matched next week, and that it doesn't drag on for weeks!
Started working on some online adoption classes the other night that we have to get done before we travel. Trying to "get ahead" with things knowing that it will get busier.
Please pray that we get to "meet" Caleb soon and that our paperwork will continue to move quickly and smoothly.

It appears we have our LID

I went on our agency's site tonight just for fun, logged into our account and saw that we have a log-in date of Aug. 28th! Not sure why we didn't get a call or anything... Unbelievable!!! Our social worker said it would probably take 3 weeks, but that was only 8 days. Its also kind of cool because that was when we were in the mountains. That night I was lying in bed, looking out the windows at the big beautiful trees, thinking about and praying for Caleb for a long time. It was so cool!
So we should be getting to meet him very soon, maybe even next week! That makes my head spin! But also very excited!