We have APPOINTMENTS!

Today has been a really great day! My mom kept her job amid massive downsizing, prayers for those who didn't, I reached my first goal in my healthy lifestyle plan, my first adoption tshirt arrived in the mail, can't wait to sport it around town, our truck is ready at the shop, and God provided the funds to pay for all the repairs, and

OUR FINGERPRINT APPOINTMENTS ARRIVED FROM USCIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Once we complete these appointments, our I-171H should arrive in the mail a few weeks later and then we'll be DTE and move from PAPER CHASING to WAITING FOR REFERRAL!

God Provides, yes He does!

Why do we worry? Why do we even think about taking one step on that path? I'm learning not to. I'm learning not to entertain even the hint of concern over life, finances, my children, the future. Because I serve a God who loves to pour out blessing on me. He loves me to death, literally. He delights in providing for me. He gets a kick out of coming through for me when I need help. He giggles when I tear up with shear joy from seeing Him move on my behalf.

I almost stepped my foot on the path to worry about the rest of the money for this adoption. I was concerned about the flights, physically and financially, and God showed me today that He's got it all under control. So I'm done! I'm laughing with excitement to see how God provides next, cuz it just gets cooler and cooler, the ways He finds to surprise me. Goose pimples, gotta love em!

We're State Certified!

Our State Certification seals came in the mail today! Now we're just waiting on our fingerprint appts and then our I-171H to arrive and we're DTE! Everything else is in and waiting on the Immigration Dept!

We got the receipt for our I-600A!

Tonight when I went to the mailbox I got the receipt for our I-600A from the USCIS office, which means our 1171-H is officially on the way! (But still a good 2-3 months out!) I'm so excited! We're one half step closer to being DTE!!!
(Don't you non-adopting families just love all this lingo which is plain garbled rubbish to you!?!?) Just say a whoo hoo with us! It's great news!

Moving Along!

I haven't had a moment free to post, but I thought I would carve one out just to update the timeline and preserve some thoughts. . .

The last two weeks have been extremely hectic on the homefront and the adoption front simultaneously! (Of course) We recieved our home study from Katherine, which means we are able to move forward with the next steps in the process. We spent most of Friday in line at the Passport office, what a nightmare! It's of course a usually non-eventful activity but never when it involves our family! Today the kids and I spent a few hours in the car and too much time walking from building to building in downtown Fort Worth trying to obtain Criminal Background Checks on Jason and I. I also mailed off our USCIS application, so we are getting so close to finishing up the paper chase and submitting our dossier.

We're also in the middle of deciding whether or not to sell our home and move. It's a financial and emotional decision I'm just not being willing to commit to either way. On one hand, I want to stay in this house because it makes the MOST financial sense, but on the other hand, I don't know how it's physically possible to fit two more children, or even one more child, into this cozy home. Add to that the stress of home repair, getting a new roof, and a new fence, and replacing a ton of electronics that were damaged in the lightning strike, and I'm just money poor and exhausted.

And today while I'm on the verge of tears with the weight of all of these decisions on my shoulders, I'm thinking about those precious souls God has chosen for our family, and it seems nothing is too complicated or potentially financially stressful to undertake in order to bring them home where God has called them.