Good News

I just got an email yesterday saying that all paperwork was submitted to the courts. So we beat the deadline and as of right now we won't be traveling twice, just once to bring our kids home! Also, we should have a court date in the next couple of weeks and the date will probably be, I'm guessing, late May to early June! I just received the cutest pictures of the kids from a family that just traveled! Derek, I, and the boys are so excited about Ash and Mekdes! We can't wait to bring them home!

Referral

We received our referral of two little girls on last Thursday. We were on our way back from Indy and received a call from our adoption coordinator and she said "have you been checking your email? I sent you pictures of two little girls. Let me know what you think". So it was an exciting drive home then. When we got home we looked at the girls and they were so precious. There were a few issues though. They were unrelated, the one girl didn't have her medical papers ready or any information on her, just her pictures. So once we were considering looking at unrelated children, I told Derek that I received IAG's newsletter this past month and they had some waiting children unrelated in there that we should look at. So we pulled it up and I showed him this little boy, Ash. And he is so adorable. So we continued to look over this 3 children and had medical reports on Ash and Mekdes but not on the other girl. So I took the 2 medical records I had and had them looked over and evaluated by a doctor. She came back on Friday afternoon with a good report. So Derek and I prayed that entire day about Ash and Mekdes and we knew God was telling us to accept those 2 children. However, after seeing that one little girl it was so hard to let her go especially since I would be able to get 2 girls but I know that God has a plan and it's for Mekdes and Ash to be in our family. So on Saturday morning, we submitted our referral acceptance form into our agency. So it's offical that we accepted Mekdes,girl age 2, and Ash, boy age 4.

We are overjoyed with excitement right now! The boys are excited! But I won't lie, we are a little overwhelmed with joy and fear at the same time and everything we want to get done before we can bring our children home. So satan has really been working hard in us to bring fear and doubt into our lives. I know with all my heart that we are where God wants us and that we need to hold strongly onto his Word and be praying that God will help grow our faith through this and make us stronger! God is so amazing in how he works out his plan in our lives. I have seen so much of how he uses us or others or situations to change and work it to how he wants it to come out. And it is so amazing to me! So please be praying for us as we are going through this process! We ask for strength that we may keep our eyes on the Lord and keep moving forward. We ask for prayers for our children in Ethiopia, for our children with us all ready that they will be accepting of their new siblings that will be coming, and for Derek and I to grow even closer together in faith. We thank our friends and family so much for all your support and love you have been showing us. It is such an exciting time but yet so scarey. And with out your support, love, and encouragement it can be really hard some days! So Thanks!

But also, there is also the possiblity of traveling twice still. The deadline is May 9th and even though we accepted our children we have to have everything submitted to the courts by that date or we will have to travel twice. So we are just kind of waiting to hear what will happen with that.

So that is the update for now! I will keep you all posted when we receive further information!

Wendy