Marlee has a number!

At 1:30 today we got a call from AGCI saying we were officially on the waitlist at Number 121! And in the above picture I'm working on making a countdown banner! We were all in the car on the way home from the church and I said "Yea!!! Hooray!! wow, that's the biggest number I've heard of yet!" So our parameters on the 'girls waitlist' are no. 121 for an infant girl 0-12 months old! Marlee may have a number now, but she was and always will be much more than a number to us. She's being wonderfully made by our loving Father in her birthmother's womb. We are so excited to be waiting on you, Marlee!
"Love is never tired of waiting" 1 Corinthians 13:4

And Isn't this bib adorable?! It was sent to me from a dear friend, Kat, from Uganda! Thank you so much Kat! You are so thoughtful and it came yesterday-when I really needed the encouragement :) AND it will match perfectly with the fabric you got me so she'll have a matching bib and outfit from you in Africa!

Is it Friday yet??

Though the Lord has been steadily showing me things and growing me-I have a LONG ways to go. starting with my impatience...:) honestly though, this week especially, I have felt so impatient with this adoption journey. And I've learned that often times my impatience is a direct result to an ungrateful heart. who knows if that's the case this time or not, but I do know I will justify myself to the bitter end usually and, people, it gets a whole lot worse!

Two things are heavy on my heart and mind right now...
1. yesterday I was finally able to send in our paperwork revisions, but I had missed the delivery truck by 10 min. so my overnight shipping turned into the next day's which means that our papers will arrive to our agency friday mid-morning. If our case manager is able to review them friday, and we need no more revisions we MAY be put on the waiting list...possibly will have to wait until next week if they are swamped. I am very ready to be officially 'waiting' haha, but I'm also very nervous. And if you know me, you would say 'Amen' to that last statement ;) I've wondered "Do I have what it takes to stick out this 18+ months of waiting?" Myles reminded me in our paperwork-errand running this week that we follow Jesus; and trusting Him is what I need! So I'm trying to do this-moment. by. moment.

2. You probably already know, but there is a devestating drought turning into famine right now in the Horn of Africa. It's the worst it's been in decades they are saying. Worst right now in Somalia-oh my heart breaks for this country that is war-torn and now destitute as thousands seek salvation in refugee camps in Kenya-which is also feeling the hard effects of drought, high food prices, corrupt governments, and now thousands more refugees. Ethiopia is right along with them; as is Uganda. Sometimes I get so overwhelmed by injustice and poverty. My heart breaks. I'm so glad our Heavenly Father's heart breaks too, and He will uphold the cause of the poor. So I've been praying, and struggling with what to do. We sponsor some children through www.World Vision.org and www.Compassion.com. (Blogger wont let me post pics or link to their websites right now, but these are at least their URL addresses) Our almost 9 year old little boy, Gideon, lives in rural Kenya so I donated to compassion's "african drought" fund. I have Marlee's birthmother in my heart too as I think about such hardship in these countries. I can't imagine what it would be like to be pregnant on the equator in the third world during a severe drought. We get updates from compassion and in the one I got yesterday they said many women are reporting miscarriages after having to work/walk so hard/long to get water. compassion also has a fund for pregnant women and babies 'at risk'. I may donate to that as well. But is that all? God, what would you have your church do to help save your people? what would you have me do? It's hard to sit in my airconditioned house sipping on clean cold water while dinner is in the oven and know this is not even close to reality for millions of people around the world.

So, I'm unsure of what to do, and maybe you are too. Maybe we should hang out, pray together, see what God wants to say. Check out those website links and donate if that's what you hear God saying to you too.

Hopefully I'll have more uplifting news tomorrow/soon!

"F"avorable "D"etermination "L"etter

Our FDL came in the mail yesterday. what?!? haha I could not believe it, even when I saw it! It has only been a week since we were printed and we already received it in the mail-crazy! that may have been the shortest wait for an FDL in recent history! I guess we waited on the front end this time. That letter completes the dossier officially and speaking of dossier's; ours is being reviewed tomorrow! Pray it doesn't need revisions and we can jump on the waitlist!

The Dossier is Done!

I'm sitting outside on my front porch watching the rain showers bless the earth; and it's a very literal picture of what God has done in my life over the past 9 months-blessed me. Today was the biometric fingerprinting appointment for Michael and I. The sweetest lady did our prints and we were so disappointed we didn't get her name! She said she loves getting to meet the families of adoptees and loves to watch the children as they grow in their forever families. She even got our blog address to follow our journey! These prints provided us the last piece of paperwork we needed to finish our "Dossier"! The approval letter (FDL-Favorable Determination Letter) will come in several weeks and will officially complete our dossier, but our agency is letting us turn in the paperwork and start waiting without the letter. :)

After we got printed, Michael and I went to Keifer's to get some lunch and celebrate quickly before we had to get back to "life" and Michael asked me how I felt now that our paperwork was done. "Well, excited, I guess, but it hasn't hit me yet" is basically what I told him!

I know you wont believe me, but I'll tell you anyways...I went to pick up Myles and on the way home I saw a big rain cloud and a scattered rain shower on the right side of the interstate. Well, I asked God if He would move that shower over to the left side of the road and let it rain at my house and be a sign of Him raining His blessings down on us. I'm not lying when I tell you, I looked at the traffic ahead of me for a sec, then looked down at my tea, got a drink, looked back at the sky, and the shower was on the left hand side of the road! I hadn't turned, or exited, and there was not a path of rain across the road or anything. I believe God just moved it...for me. It looked like it was positioned right over our neighborhood! I just started to thank God for all of His blessings in my life, and how He had done a work in me over these past 9 months. The tears started to flow as I recounted the two things I was most fearful over beginning an adoption-money and the paperwork-He had used me to accomplish. Y'all get it?? He did it! and He used me! Humbling, and amazing to me! As I looked down at that massive stack of papers I became so grateful for the calling He gave us to not only get Marlee; but to complete a Dossier-because it has increased my faith. oh, and I've also learned to throw all my timetables out the window! ha! Our 6 month deadline was tuesday...printed wednesday and mailed in...Our agency has been gracious and at least they received it in the deadline week, right?!

Thank you, Lord, for pouring your blessings out on me and my family in so many ways, but also for the very specific ways you have loved me through all the small details of compiling a dossier. I love that when I am weak, You are very strong. And thank you for showing me You will go to the ends of the earth for your children. Your love is amazing!

"Today"

Today was the first day I haven't stalked the mailbox. Today was the first day I didn't even get the mail at all. Today I had resigned to the holiday weekend bringing me NO official government mail that I have been waiting for. Today I was wrong!

Our US.CIS biometric fingerprinting appointment came in the mail TODAY!!

I was trying to remember how long we've been waiting for this little letter yesterday, I think it's 8 weeks, but I'm a little fuzzy after so long :) I really was ok in my spirit about waiting on it-knowing it would come in God's perfect time. It's just great when NOW (Mine and Myles favorite word) is God's timing :)
Today was ordained by a sovereign God. The way He cares about the small details in our days is humbling and fills me with gratitude. He cares for you too. He is teaching me to pour my heart out to Him more and more because He is so trustworthy and He loves so deeply.

Now, we WAIT until our appointment (july 13th) and then send in our paperwork with a photocopy of our fingerprint letter! We'll WAIT until the US.CIS approves our fingerprints to be "officially done" with paperwork, but they will let us turn it all in after we get our prints taken. When we send in our papers, they will put us on the "WAITing list" to be matched up with our little girl!!

More WAITing to come, but another step closer to Marlee is SO sweet!!