Counting Down The Weeks!

We received our Letter of Confirmation from China! We were expecting this to arrive at the end of January, but we were so surprised to receive it yesterday! We found out about it 10 minutes before Tony (our oldest) walked across the stage at his college graduation. What a surreal moment for Dexter and I. A few weeks ago I had the thought pass through my mind while cleaning the house that wouldn't it be neat if God surprised us for Christmas with news from China. He knows my thoughts and blessed us with the most incredible gift. So now we sign the letter and overnight it to the agency on Monday. They will send it back to China, and we will have Travel approval within 3-4 weeks. We should be leaving around the 1st of February!!!! I really cannot put into words all that we are feeling. It has been a yearning in my heart for years, confirmed by the Lord a few years ago, a pursuit down 3 different roads, and now it's only a few weeks until Maggie Mae gets to come home to her family. What an incredible gift from the Lord. Once again, His timing is incredible. This last week has been full of Him speaking words of Life, setting me free from chains, and providing for our needs. His ways are higher and I love being reminded of that.
We were planning on doing a few more fund raising events when we thought we were traveling at the end of March. For now we are going to try and have one more yard sale with all the things we still have left. We are still in need of about $9,000. We are by no means worried about this because we have been overwhelmed by His provision through the community this year. We know He will complete what He has started. Please continue to pray for Maggie Mae's health. We have not gotten any updates and probably will not before travel. Our prayer still remains that God will be glorified through her life, whether that is through healing her eyes or through the way she embraces life with a visual impairment. We definitely believe in the miracle of healing and know God can heal her, and we will continue to pray for His will for her life. Have a blessed Christmas season remembering the still, quiet way He came into this world.
Let Earth Receive Her King!

Logged in and counting down!!!!

As of September 27th, we are officially logged into to CCAA in China. What that means is they have our stuff and let the paper route begin. It should take 3-4 months for our papers to get approved and a Letter Seeking Confirmation sent to us. When we sign and return that letter, we will be traveling within 8 weeks. So for now we are looking at Feb. or March for travel!!!!!
We had a great day out picking up trash in Macon County. We are so thankful to all that came out and helped that day. The Pancake Breakfast was a huge success thanks to the Magdon family. In addition, the Pike Road Arts and Crafts Festival was fun and we shared our story for about 7 hours, literally. Spiritually and financially, it was more than Dexter and I could have ever imagined. God's story is an incredible one and people need to hear what He is doing now, not just what He has done in the past. He is the same today as yesterday and will be the same tomorrow. He is the only constant thing we have. Speaking of constant, we are experiencing a constant flow of support for the rest of our fees and travels. We are now officially all going to China thanks to a generous family member who is going to pay for our trip. This is a huge blessing for our children to meet their sister with us and get to experience this culture first hand. It will be awesome having our children with us!!!
So for now, we wait and continue to seek God on how He wants us to raise the remaining $10, 845. So far to date, He has provided over $12,000 through fundraisers and individual donations!!!!!
Many have asked if the other agency in Florida has returned our money. We have not heard anything from them other than promises they are not keeping. However, the Lord revealed something to me the other day that has brought a renewed perspective on this. I have been walking by faith throughout this process believing He will provide; however, that promise of the $11,000 from Florida was like an insurance policy in my back pocket. The other day, after having a meltdown over their dishonesty and avoidance of us, I sensed in my spirit the Lord telling me to let it go, and rely totally on Him. You see I thought I was relying solely on Him, but somewhere I believed the lie that "if God doesn't come through then you always have the money they owe you." Well there is no IF with God. He has a perfect plan that is His, and He will see to it that His plan prevails. So once again, God is teaching me so much about following Him recklessly and abandoned from the ways of this world.
I close with this scripture that I have been meditating on and cannot seem to move from it. It happens in the throne room of God and I can't imagine being anywhere else, "Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come." Revelation 4:8

ENDURANCE TRAINING

About a year ago I decided to start running. I went to the local bookstore and bought a book to guide me in my training. The whole concept of the book is to build your endurance by following a Walk/Run program. I was pumped, motivated, ready to conquer this thing I have always wanted to accomplish, the 5K. To many this is not a big goal, but to me, it was huge. I began to run in a neighborhood, but found that not very convenient, since I have to drive to get to one. So my creative husband decided to get on the tractor and cut me a running path around our 16 acres. It was perfect. I just went out the back door and got to run on our land which I love. Everything was going great in my 13 week training program up until I got to week 3. As I was running one day, I stepped into a rut from the tractor and did something to my knee. I pressed on that day, rested the next day, and got back out there the next day. After about 10 minutes I knew I could go no farther. I really felt defeated. I rested the knee for a few weeks and tried again back in the neighborhood. All was going well for a little while until I got Pneumonia. By this time I am thinking maybe this is not for me. Once I got out of the routine of training it was over. About 7 weeks ago, I decided I would just start working out a little each day to get back into the routine. About 4 weeks into it I decided to pick up that 13 week Walk/Run training program and got on the treadmill. Much to my dismay, the old knee did not like it. I wasn't sure if I needed to go see a doctor about it since the only time it bothered me was when I ran. So I stopped running again. This past weekend our family went to Stone Mountain, GA. It was absolutely beautiful and we had a blast. We took the tram up the mountain and had every intention on taking it back down. Well, me and the kids started following a trail from the top and realized it was the trail to the bottom. So we waited for Dad to catch up, he was lost in "photography land", and set out for the bottom. About half way down my knee started to hurt. Immediately, I got discouraged because whatever was wrong with my knee was keeping me from doing the things I enjoy most with my family. I pondered many thoughts on the way down. What should I do? Should I make an appt. to see a doctor? Should I just stop being active? When we reached the bottom and got on flat land, I was fine. By the evening I forgot about it.
So why do I tell you this long tale? Well yesterday I had an appt. with the chiropractor about my neck. I have been in therapy for months trying to change the curve of my neck. However, this doctor looks at the body as a whole. I began to tell her about my knee history, and she proceeded to check my hip. Now I know I said the problem was with my knee, but she proceeded to work on my hip. You see, my right hip was out of alignment causing strain on my knee. Sometimes we get so focused on where we think the problem is that we never see what is causing it. From my perspective something was wrong with my knee and I needed to fix it or just stop doing the things I love. But, from the perspective of someone who knows how the body was created to work, the problem was not originating in my knee. This was a huge example of the Kingdom of God. In His Kingdom, He has a perspective that we do not have. We see things on the surface and want to fix them. He sees the root that entangles us and wants to free us. The enemy loves to distract us with a "knee ache", but God wants us to focus on Him and see things from His eyes.
Walking through this adoption process has been and incredible journey. We walk some and run some and have gotten a little injured along the way. We have seen Him move and provide in ways we could not have imagined. It's not about His "view from above". It's about His view from within us as He walks through us. "...those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." Isaiah 40:31
A quick update on the process: Our paperwork went to China September 15th. We are told there is about a 6 month wait to travel once they receive your paperwork. So we are looking at March, 2010 to travel. Fundraising is going well. Yard sales have been great. This Saturday Oct. 17th we are picking up trash on a 2 mile stretch of road in Macon County for $1,000. Have you ever thought there was value in trash. Well for us there is! Also on Saturday November 7th we have our Applebees Pancake breakfast and the Pike Road Arts and Crafts Booth. We still have not heard anything from the other agency in Florida except they are planning on returning some of our money, but that has not happened, so we are not counting on it. We are confident of one thing. God has and will continue to provide to bring our daughter home. He has put on the hearts of many to make eternal investments in her life.
As for me, my pray right now is this, that my family will live in a peaceful dwelling place, in a secure home, in an undisturbed place of rest (Isaiah 32:18).

Fund Raising Event Schedule

While we are in wait mode, the Lord has provided several fund raising opportunities for us. The following is a list of the events scheduled thus far.

Saturday August 29th - YARD SALE - The Magdon's house in Sturbridge
Saturday November 7th - PANCAKE BREAKFAST - Applebees on Taylor Road
Saturday November 7th - PIKE ROAD ARTS AND CRAFTS BOOTH -
The Marks House Pike Road

The Macon County TRASH PICKUP is in the process of being scheduled. We'll let you know on that date.

If you have items to donate for the YARD SALE, call us at 286-4035 and we'll come by and pick it up. Bobby Magdon is heading up the PANCAKE BREAKFAST and has tickets to be sold!!! We are in need of items to be sold in the PIKE ROAD ARTS AND CRAFTS booth. A few have responded to paint some pictures, build a few things etc. Another idea is to go to a local business and see if they will donate a gift basket or collect items and make one up yourself. This will be a fun booth with something for everyone.

Once again we are overwhelmed by the GOODNESS OF GOD. Just today I got an email from Bobby Magdon. He sold 65 tickets in 15 minutes for the PANCAKE BREAKFAST!!!! But more importantly, the people in his office are receiving a touch from the Lord through this journey. It is a beautiful picture of God's children being in relationship with one another enjoying the journey together. Blessings to you all. Keep praying for our baby girl!!!

DOSSIER COMPLETE AND MAILED ONCE AGAIN!!!

Finally, without much difficulty, our dossier paperwork and home study are complete and mailed to AGCI. They will review it, and if everything is in order, it will be authenticated and mailed to China. As soon as China gets it, they will process it and log us in. This could take a few weeks. We are told we will travel approximately 6 months from the log in date. We have had a great summer doing fund raisers and hanging out with friends. Of the $10,230 we need, we have $5.000. This money was generated by donations from individuals, fund raisers, and personal savings. We are still hopeful that our first agency will be returning some of our money by the end of July which will make up the remaining $5230. God has provided thus far, exactly what we need when we need it. It has been amazing to see everyone get involved in some way with this process. Dexter has said many people will be remembered by certain things they did. He thinks we will be remembered as the "Professional Yard Salers":):) I'm not sure that's what I want to be remembered as, but I will say the Lord has been ministering to many people through these sales. We have met so many interesting people and were able to share God's love with them. It looks like we will be doing another one in the next month or so due to the overwhelming response in donations. So, if you put off that cleaning out job and need some motivation to give us your stuff, here it is. Remember we made $2500 doing 2 yard sales. We still have to raise another $10,000 to complete the adoption and travel.
Usually when I write, I feel inspired to speak what the Lord has spoken to me. This time is no different. Lately, I have been pondering ways to share the gospel with others and what is the main thing I want to share. Two things stand out the most, God's unfailing and unconditional love and reconciliation. Reconciliation is a big deal to God. So this is what I have been thinking about a lot lately. If this is such a big deal to God, then we need to be asking Him what relationships in our own life need to be reconciled? I can tell you this. I already know of a few people that I can not wait to be back in relationship with. Our journey here on earth is about LIFE, and satan wants to steal, kill and destroy our relationships. Well, there's something for you to ponder also.
Thank you once again for your prayers and willingness to participate in this journey with us.

The Narrow Gate

"SMALL IS THE GATE AND NARROW THE ROAD THAT LEADS TO LIFE, AND ONLY A FEW FIND IT." Matthew 7:14
This scripture takes on new meaning for us as we write this. Once again we are overwhelmed by His faithfulness and provision. We are children of a trustworthy God.
Since our last entry, I (Patricia), have spent a week in Honduras visiting our boys in Forgotten Children Ministries. Meanwhile, Dexter took care of the kids, worked a full week, and planned a fundraiser. We set up a concession stand at the Pike Road 4h of July Celebration and sold hamburgers, hot dogs, chips, and drinks. Between food sales and donations, we added $525 to the adoption fund. This weekend we had another yard sale and sold $755 worth of stuff. Thank you to all of you who donated items, iced down drinks, flipped burgers, and raced to be TOP SALESMAN (you know who you are:):). In addition to these fundraisers we have also received over $650 in donations.
As indicated in earlier entries, we were supposed to be receiving some of our money back from our other agency by the end of June. We have not received anything yet, but after a very good conversation with the man in charge, Dexter feels confident they will be doing as they promised. Riding home today from the yard sale, I was meditating once again on the scripture above. You see the broad road and wide gate seemed obvious. The agency needs to just return our money promptly. It would be that simple. However, the Lord really does want the community involved. Therefore, He guided us down the narrow road. Through that we have been able to talk to so many people about our adoption, their adoption, but most importantly about our relationship with the Lord. So many divine appointments, too numerous to mention. One result, LIFE. God is and has always been what this is all about. We just get to be a piece in the puzzle. Our eyes have been open to so many things in the world around us. Our children have gotten to be apart of all of this too. Some things are better learned in the field.
We should be sending all the paperwork to AGCI at the end of the week. Our hope and prayer is that they can send it to China by the beginning of August to get us logged in. We should have about a 6 month wait for travel. So we are looking at possibly January, 2010. As God leads us, we will continue to raise funds for travel, which will be about $10,000. We are anticipating many more incredible stories to share. Thank you all so much for your enthusiasm and interest in this journey. The Kingdom of Heaven is advancing and infiltrating our lives and the lives of those among us.

Paperwork, paperwork, and more paperwork!

Well a lot has happened in the past 3 weeks. We have been so busy with paperwork and the home study that we haven't had a chance to update. The Yard Sale was a huge success!!! $1790.55!!!!!! We were totally overwhelmed and surprised, but then why should we be, nothing is impossible with Him!! You know, that brings up a good point. Why do we get so shocked when He does things like that? We say He is able, we say He will provide, we say He is in control, yet when He does these things we act surprised. It's just something to ponder. Let me know what you hear from the Lord.
Our paperwork is almost done. The new home study should be complete this week, and then it will go to AGCI for review. If all is well it will get notarized, certified, and authenticated. Wow that was a mouthfull. Every document we collect must go through this process. Once this is complete we will update our immigration status and send everything to China. We hope to be logged in by the end of July which is one month ahead of the deadline. Therefore, it is one month closer to bringing Maggie Mae home.
We tried to get an update from a lady who has contacts in China; however, Kunming City Children's Institute would not allow it. So we really have no new information about her. We are planning another yard sale in July to try and sell that which was left over. We have also received some donations from others that were moving etc. We are not sure what else is in the works, but I'm sure God will let us know when the time comes.
I, Patricia, am going on a mission trip to Honduras with my church to work with Forgotten Children Ministries. This is one of my favorite trips and am so excited about seeing the boys on the farm and ministering to the people of that community. Please pray God would move through me. My heart for this trip is that I would be available for whatever God has me do and that I would leave knowing I was a channel of blessing, freedom, and salvation.
Lastly, what the Lord revealed to me about Maggie Mae and this whole process is a bit difficult to explain, but I'll do my best. For so long I have known her. I knew she existed and was mine. I didn't know where she was or what she looked like, but I knew her. This is how the Lord feels about us. He knew us before we were even in our mother's womb. Before the creation of time, He loved us. He knew the exact moment we would make our grand appearance on planet earth, but even before that He knew us. So for many, it's hard to understand how you can love someone that is not there or that you do no know. The only way I can explain it is that it's His love not mine that has connected our hearts together. I'm not sure if we will ever be able to understand His love for us, but as we follow Him, He will continue to reveal Himself to us. So pray, listen, obey and walk boldly in the power of God and allow Him to move through you.

Do You Trust Me?

I can't tell you how many times I heard the Lord ask me this question last Thursday May 21st. So much has happened in the last 2 weeks. WE HAVE RECEIVED AND ACCEPTED A REFERRAL!!! She is perfect and exceedingly more than we could have ever asked for. Her given name is Guan Fanhua. She was found on the road on August 28, 2008 and brought to the police. They were unable to find anyone who knew who she belonged to so she was considered abandoned and placed in the Children's Welfare Institute in Kunming City, China. She was estimated to be 6 months old and given the birthday February 28 , 2008. She is now 15 months old. She is precious. We have 3 pictures which we are unable to post on the blog at this time, but we will be glad to show her off anytime. She was placed on the waiting child list because she has Optic Nerve Atrophy which is a permanent visual impairment caused by damage to the optic nerve. We do not know the extent of her condition, but it could be minor or lead to blindness. So there's the facts, now let's get to what the Lord is up to.
We were emailed her picture on Wed. 5/20/09 as was all other China Families. I have seen so many pictures and read so many stories, but this little face made my heart skip a beat. When Dexter got home we emailed the agency for further information and had a pediatrician and ophthalmologist review her medical information on Thursday. She is physically and developmentally very healthy other than her vision impairment. After receiving this information Thursday morning, I had to wait to contact Dexter because he was traveling. For almost 2 hours I prayed and asked the Lord what to do, "Is this her?", "What do we do Lord?", What about the unknown of her eyes?", etc. I heard nothing but "Do you trust me?". I began to question do I really trust HIM and believe in HIS healing power. The story that came to my mind was when Jesus healed the boy who was blind from birth. The people asked what did he or his parents do. Jesus said they didn't do anything," this happened so my Father in heaven would be glorified." Finally, I was able to reach Dexter and tell him all the details from the doctors and his response was the answer to my prayer. He said he had been driving and praying all morning and all the Lord was speaking to him about was "Trusting HIM". WOW, talk about confirmation. It wasn't a "yes, this is your daughter" or "yes, take the referral", it was simply Trust Me. There was a peace that truly passed all my understanding that I will never forget. Her life will be for His glory, whether He chooses to restore her sight completely, or whether He chooses to use her impairment for His good. We are at peace with whatever the outcome; however, I feel a strong sense in my spirit to pray for healing. This is not coming from a mother praying for her child, but from a daughter of the King believing in the power of her King. So let the river flow Lord!
God has been moving in many ways this past week. I'd like to share a few with you all, and understand when I share these things they are to testify of His goodness and faithfulness. First of all 2 scriptures were given to us by friends. The first was Psalm 81:10 "I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth and I will fill it." The second is the story of the Widow at Zarephath in 1 Kings 17:7-24. This is a great story about God providing what you need when you need it. This has been our prayer this week and God has already answered it. We had $66 left in our adoption account after making our first initial payment to All God's Children (the new agency). We needed to do some adoption education courses online that are required, but they cost $170. Last Wednesday at church someone put an envelope with $100 in my bible bag while I was in prayer meeting. We were able to sign up for the classes. Also, we were told we had to do all our immigration paperwork over, about $900. I got a call this week from an Officer in the immigration office in Atlanta. He said we do not have to reapply, and we get 1 free country change. All we need to do is update our fingerprints in October which is only $160. Someone we don't even know that is following this blog sent an envelope with cash in it to go towards the adoption. So, are we trusting HIM? Yes, and AMEN!!!
Please know that I share with you the financial side of this so you too can hear about what God is doing in and through His children. He is taking care of everything and will continue to do so.
Well, I know this was a long entry, but I wanted to bring you all up to the present. I'm sure I have left out something, but I'll save it for another day. Lastly, I leave you with a few more details. The fundraising yard sale is next Saturday June 6th from 7am-12noon in Sturbridge. We have gotten a lot of donations, but still need more. Thanks to everyone who has helped so far.
All our dossier paperwork, updated homestudy, and next payment has to be submitted to China by August 22, 2008. That's 3 months to get everything done and raise $10,340. We will travel approximately 6 months after that. In the physical realm this seems like an unattainable goal. However, in the spiritual realm He will accomplish this through the church. His intent is for the church to be a witness of His love, provision, and faithfulness.

RUNNING WITH HIM

What an eventful two months!!! We have been in His presence, experienced weeks of silence, and finally have been given some direction. We are now clients of All God's Children International and are adopting from the China Special Needs program. There is much work to be done, but we are totally at peace with this new agency and their reputation is incredible. They are walking through this WITH US as we RUN WITH HIM. I say run with Him because so many times we feel we are supposed to run to Him; however, I believe He wants us to be WITH HIM following Him daily in all aspects of our life. We studied a scripture last night in John 21:1-8 about Jesus and the miraculous catch of fish. It wasn't the huge catch that we focused on though, it was Peter's response to the Lord. He jumped out of the boat to be with His Lord. He wasn't focused on all the fish and what to do next. He was recklessly abandoned to be with Him. We can learn so much from Peter. His willingness to stay in the game even when he messed up so many times. He was still willing to follow the Lord. We just want to stay engaged in this process and learn from our journey. God knows exactly who our daughter is, and He is so faithful and patient to lead us to her.
We are updating our homestudy and gathering more documents for the new dossier. We are told once our paperwork is logged into China our wait for travel will be approximately 6 months. God has been speaking to me a lot about community and showing me creative ways to raise funds for this new process. We don't by any means want to make this about money, but the reality is, this process has cost us a lot and we are having to start over. So right now we are beginning to plan a yard sale and a fundraising pancake breakfast. If you are cleaning out the house, attic, or garage and want to donate items for the yard sale, please let us know. We will post more information later about the time and place.
Once again your prayers are the most important thing to us now. Please pray specifically for financial provision. The process for China is $26,000. We are supposed to be getting back $11,000 from the other agency, but have not seen it yet. So we are setting a goal of $15,000 to raise in the next 3 months. It seems like an impossible task, but I am reminded that with Him ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE!!!

"MY JERUSALEM"

"Living a life of faith means never knowing where you are being led, yet loving and knowing the ONE who is leading." (My Utmost for His Highest March 19th). How do we live never knowing where we are going to end up? What does it mean to be so intimate with God that you need not ask Him to show you His will because you ARE His will? Making decisions based on the Holy Spirit revealing what is on the heart of the Father is the only way to walk intimately with HIM. I have been desperately seeking the heart of the Father for 3 weeks as to how to explain what is going on. The reality is this. I don't really understand where we are at, other than a place of surrender.
Out of respect for others involved, we don't want to go into a lot of details. Basically, we have withdrawn our petition for adoption in El Salvador and no longer are clients of Homecoming Adoptions. We have requested our original dossier to be returned and are doing what we can to recover some of the money. Recently it was brought to our attention that our home study and some other documents were rejected by OPA due to the fact that our agency was not Hague Accredited. In addition, we were informed that our adoption, whether a young child or older, would not be completed for another 2-5 years. There have been several incidents that have caused us to question our trust with the system. We have extended grace and stayed the course; however, at this time we do not feel we can continue this process in El Salvador.
Having said all this, I know you are all curious as to what are we going to do? So am I. The only thing I can tell you is that we did hear from God about adoption, He is who he says He is, and we are desperately seeking Him. One thing I know I (Patricia) am hearing is that I have to let it go. I could easily go to another agency, get a few things changed in our paperwork, and pick another country. However that is not where God is leading me. For a while now God has been speaking to us as church at Pike Road through the passage in Ezekiel 37, The Valley of Dry Bones. It appears this is about death when ultimately it is about LIFE, His LIFE. During this past year, the Lord has been speaking to me, and I have been expressing what I have been hearing by writing it down. I am leaving you with the following that the Lord gave me last year. I really didn't know how it applied to me personally until now. Please continue to pray for our family as we continue to be led by the ONE we love.

With all my strength I have tried to follow you
My heart is ready to do Your will
My soul is longing for more of You still
But there's a path that I must take
Where my vision is at stake
I am on my way to my Jerusalem

Unless is falls to the ground it will never die
Until it dies it will never live
I'm holding on to a dream that I'm never going to see come true
Until I let it go to YOU.

WHO IS THE LEAST AMONG US?

I can only begin this update by quoting Matthew 25:40, "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'" Do we really look at serving the least? What does it mean to be the least? According to Webster's, least means lowest in importance. How do we deem a life, created by God, His workmanship, as the lowest in importance? I have been asking myself this question for the past two weeks as I have been pondering this scripture in my heart. Needless to say, the Lord had a purpose for that scripture to be brought to my attention and for me to meditate upon it. I still can't fathom the thought that we think so highly of ourselves that we would have the boldness of putting others below us. The background of this scripture is very interesting. Jesus is speaking about when He will come in all His Glory, and how as He is seated on His throne He will separate the peoples like a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He is not looking for outer beauty, He is not ranking them, and He is not bringing attention to things that they obviously DID FOR HIM. What He is concerned most about in our journey of righteousness is what we did without knowing by simply letting the LIFE OF CHRIST flow through us. It was the simple things He brought attention to, the basics of life, the provisions no one should have to live without.
With all this being said, OUR FATHER, who is so faithful to take us by the hand, and lead us ever so gently down the path He chose for us, has spoken to our hearts concerning this adoption. All along we thought we were totally yielded to His Plan, but really we created our own image of what all this was going to look like. We pictured this little girl around 18 mos old coming into our home, and we pictured this whole process being so simple because we were yielded to HIM. Thursday of last week that image changed and it is even more beautiful and precious, like nothing we could have ever created in our own minds.
We heard from Rick in El Salvador for the first time. He was incredibly kind and communicated to us all that is going on down there. We had some news that was not good, yet God had already worked it out. Our home study and our agency are not Hague approved which as of April 1, 2008 is necessary if you are adopting from a Hague Convention country. However, Rick took the liberty to send our file to an agency in Kentucky who is willing to oversee the process of redoing the home study so it will follow the guidelines set forth by the Hague Convention. In our conversation, Rick also stated the process for adopting a young girl would take up to 2 additional years. There are a lot of changes going on in El Salvador which affects all aspects of the government. During our conversation, I asked Rick some questions about the orphanages and the children waiting to be adopted. The greatest need at this time is to place older children with families. There are already older children that have been processed through OPA and are waiting placement with a family. They are considered special needs sometimes because of their age. They get passed over because they are a little older. We had some decisions to make. Dexter and I talked and we believe with all our hearts that our daughter is in El Salvador waiting on us to bring her home. We are not backing out of this because of a few technical issues that have come about. However, it has caused us to look at what God wants to do in our family. He knew her when she was in her mother's womb, and he knew she would live with us one day. As Dexter and I talked, it was obvious to both of us especially Dexter that age really is not a determining factor for us. This is where the scripture came to life in me. These older children are considered the "least", yet scripture also says in the Kingdom the least shall be the greatest. These are words of LIFE to us. For our family, this is what God has planned, and we are one with Him.
So, this week Rick is going to OPA and changing our petition for an older child. He will obtain a list of girls that are already processed through OPA and are ready for placement. We then will pray the Lord makes this very clear to us which child is ours and will begin the process of bringing her home. We do not know a time frame. El Salvador is in the process of electing a new president and this causes delays. Please continue to pray for our family, that we will hear from the Lord and do what He says.

HE LOVES US!!!

Today really didn't start out the way I wanted it to. I called the adoption agency in hopes of hearing some good news. Our paperwork has been in the governmental office in El Salvador since September awaiting a Certificate of Approval. It appears the office closed for about a month to celebrate the holidays and is just now reopening. There are 17 families waiting for approval and the process is unusually slow according to our agency. Rick, the liason in El Salvador, had a meeting with the Director of OPA yesterday and gave him a list of all 17 families waiting for approval. He requested the Director step in and help find a way to expedite the process. There is no meeting scheduled for January, so we assume they might meet in February. Which families they will discuss at the meeting is unknown. We are just part of a stack of files right now. As you can see, this was very discouraging to me because we haven't heard anything or seen any progress since the end of October or beginning of November. Thus far the wait has not been so bad because the Lord has continued to give us something every few weeks to either work on or pray about. Today, as I finished that conversation with the agency, I was feeling a bit frustrated that nobody knows anything or is doing anything. I went about my morning, took Sissy to piano, homeschooled the kids, and then I got the call. No not from the agency, but from a dear friend who no longer lives in our town, but the Lord has protected our friendship despite the distance between us. We usually keep up via email or facebook, but today she called. We had a great time catching up on our families and the kids etc. In the midst of talking about the adoption she shared with me how her family is joining us on this journey. Her children are so excited about Maggie Mae. You see they have walked through this process before, they have a sister who was adopted. They understand the significance in adopting a child who needs a family, but more than this they have learned an invaluable Kingdom principle. They have discovered what it means to hear God's voice and do what He says. In that they have also learned what it means to be adopted into God's family. As their mom was sharing with me all God has taught them, she shared with me how their family is partnering with us. I don't feel at liberty to share the details of what they are doing, but I am so overwhelmed by the Lord. God loves me so much that He caused her to call today, He is loving our daughter through 2 young boys and their parents, and He brought news of this on a day when I was feeling very helpless. We are blessed to have not only this family, but another family who has adopted to be walking so closely with us through this process. They are holding our arms up when we feel like we can't lift them up anymore. God is truly glorifying Himself through these 2 families. We don't know what she looks like, we don't know how old she is, and we don't know when we can go get her; however, we do know Maggie Mae is loved by many and God has His favor and unfailing love upon her. To my sweet friends, and you know who you are, I love you and am truly overflowing with joy!!!! He loves us, oh how He loves us!