Overwhelmed!

"Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD will personally go ahead of you.  He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you."  Deuteronomy 31:8

Wow, wow, wow!!  Although I know this verse from the Bible very well, I often times forget how He really does go before me and makes a pathway for me (and our family.)  On Thursday, January 16th I shared with you that we had received our state level approval and asked you all to join with us in praying that our national level approval would come quickly.  I didn't mention that many families who already have four children at home are often times denied NOC (the national clearance) and have to appeal the decision, thus extending the time it would take to bring a child home to their forever family.

But, oh yeah, MY LORD goes before me and makes a way!  On Tuesday, January 21st, I got a call from our adoption agency Ind*a program director informing me that we have NOC!!  National clearance in five days...what?!?  We were screaming, jumping up and down, laughing and crying.  It is now getting very real that we will be bringing our sweet S home by summer time!!

There are still the court and passport hurdles to jump over, but we know He is in control and He will make all things happen in His perfect timing.

So, we have one final payment to the adoption agency and then travel expenses before we can go get her.  I know you are probably tired of our fundraising efforts, but we are ALMOST there!  In an effort to jump start the last of our adoption expenses, I am going to participate in my very own 4 By 40 half marathon adventure.  I will be turning the big 4-0 (gasp!)  in May and will be completing four half marathons between now and the big day.  You can help us with adoption fundraising by sponsoring me per mile per race or just a flat donation for all four races.  I stole this fabulous idea from my adoption momma friend, Jeanette.  Donations can be made using the Paypal link on the blog page.  Here are the races I will be participating in:  Seguin Christian Academy Half Marathon (next weekend), Zooma Texas Half (4/12), Dallas Rock n Roll (3/23), and Moe's Better Half (3/2).

So many of you have been so incredibly gracious with your money, your prayers, your encouragement, and your support.  We can't imagine taking this journey without you all!  I cannot wait for S to see how loved she has been before she even knew she had a family. 

Love and hugs, 

Jessica

SARA Approval!!

I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.  John 14:18

Another step forward in the adoption journey!  Please join us in praying that the next government agency will find favor on our family and issue NOC quickly.  Once we have NOC we can send our girl a photo book and she can finally know that she has a family!

Hold on baby girl, we're coming as fast as we can! 

Missing her today....

How do you miss someone you've never even met?  How do you long to hear a giggle or see a smile from someone you've never heard or seen?

I'm having a sense that someone is missing form our home this morning.  Hearing the girls chatter, play, sing and do school is bringing on an extreme longing in me today to have our daughter home.

There are two families who are currently in Ind*a picking up their daughters.  I LOVE following their blogs (you can too here and here).  These families who are traveling have become an incredible source of encouragement to me during the wait to bring S home.  I love seeing their pictures of first meetings and the sights of their daughters' birth country.  Reminds me that I am a child of the Sovereign God who will, in His time, work out the details for us to get on a plane to bring S home to her forever family.  Until then, I will rejoice with those who are uniting with their children for the first time.

We were able to send a package of small gifts to S's orphanage for the holidays.  I tracked the package today and it has still not made it there, but I am anxious for the children and caregivers to receive the gifts.  It, in some small way, makes me fee connected to her a little more to know that she could be playing with a toy that we sent.

I hope you are all having a great start to 2014!