Friends,

It’s been far too long since we’ve said anything (at least online) about the progress of our adoption.  We have much to be thankful for.  Let me briefly update you so you can continue to rejoice with us and pray with us:

1.  Fundraising went incredibly well.  We are thrilled to announce that we met and surpassed our fundraising goal for this adoption.  Truthfully, this was one of the things I was the most worried about but it was probably the easiest part of this whole process!  This is a testimony to all the wonderful friends we have and God’s faithfulness.  We’ve been blown away by all who have shown their support – friends, family, acquaintances, people we haven’t spoken to since high school…it’s been amazing.  We are so blessed.

2.  We sent off our giant packet of information called a dossier.  This is basically our application to the country.  This means that we are basically done with paperwork and are just waiting for a referral.  We don’t yet know the child we will adopt, but we hope that in the next few months we’ll get a referral, and then we’ll hopefully travel a few months after that.  So it’s completely out of our hands!

3.  Please pray for the country we’re adopting from (I’m not allowed to say online) because they are currently putting exit letters on pause while they do some investigating.  This means that no orphans are being allowed out of the country.  We are told it could last up to a year, but there’s already been positive progress and we’re hopeful things will get straightened out very soon.  Even though it’s frustrating, we believe that hiccups like this cause governments and officials to refine the process, making it better for everyone involved, especially the children without families!  So please be in prayer.

Thanks so much for all the support so many of you have given.  We are truly thankful, and can’t wait for the day that we get to hold our little African girl in our arms.  It will be several months yet, but we’re trusting God to make our paths straight.