Answered Prayers!!

I know that several of you have been waiting to hear about all that the Lord is doing in our lives right now, so I will do my best to update you while respecting a new request from our agency. As you know, the past week has been a roller-coaster ride for us. From finding out that "she" was supposed to be put back on the shared list after her first referral was declined by the agency/family that had her locked. And thank God that it was, or we likely would not have even known that "she" was already on the shared list until it was too late. With a TON of help from our agency, we literally ran through our remaining paperwork last week, and by Friday we had set our appointment for our homestudy with our social worker. By Friday evening I received 2 emails from different people at our agency with some "homework" for the weekend, that we needed to have completed by Monday (yesterday). In one of those emails, was this request:

Given the unique circumstances in your adoption and the tendency among waiting parents to communicate online (via blogs, listservs, forums, etc.), I’d like to request that you refrain from posting details of your situation publicly in order to avoid misunderstandings among other adoptive parents waiting for a referral. Your wait and process will be significantly shorter and not representative of the typical process. I hope you understand and I’d be happy to discuss this further with you.

I can understand their concerns, as I know our situation isn't the least bit typical. And it is important to me that I respect their wish. I will still post when I have news, but it will be a little more vague and in much less detailed. But I couldn't just cut this off cold turkey and leave all of our faithful followers and prayer partners just hanging. I think most of you already know that our situation is pretty unusual and should not be referred to as what is typical in this process. But I wanted to make that disclaimer, just incase. I'm still not certain of many of the details myself, but what I will tell you is that our homestudy went well and our weekend homework (PA and LOI) were already translated and submitted. So that should answer the main question that I know everyone is dying to hear: Yes!...our agency located her file and it was granted to them with the understanding that they have our translated paperwork to them before the end of Tuesday (today!). I received confirmation this afternoon that it was submitted and hopefully we will hear back from the CCAA within a couple of weeks. Please continue to lift us up in prayer for the rest of our process and for favor with the CCAA and the USCIS.

I'm so grateful to everyone who has been praying for us! It means more than I know how to express in words. The support has been a great blessing to me and has helped sustain me through this very intense and stressful time. With last week being particularly emotional, I was delighted when I received this special gift from my little sister Kami, in the mail on Friday. I think she was bound and determined to ruin my makeup that day!! :) She sent me an adorable pair of pink and white maryjanes with a very encouraging letter and scripture. Such a sweet gesture and it really touched my heart and lifted my spirits. Thanks Kam!!

So right now we are still moving full speed ahead with more and more paperwork. Currently it is our I-800A forms for the CIS. Though the papers never seem to end and filling them out can be a bit daunting at times, I am SO grateful that we are still moving forward. It's a far cry from where I was just one week ago today. I am in complete and utter "awe!" of all that has happened and know that "HE" is the ONE who is in control...and to GOD BE THE GLORY! So I am just taking everything one day at time and leaving the rest in my Lord's hands. He will lead the way to our daughter, of that I'm certain!! And right now he is using the wonderful staff at our agency to hold our hands as we "run" through this race to the finish line! Please keep the prayers coming... HE is definitely hearing them!! <>< God bless!