Hopefully soon...

Well, I am now feeling better after about 4 days of stomach and head stuff! Although...now Lizzy is running a fever and feeling nautious! Well, we are a family that shares everything! haha

No official news on the adoption front at this time, but.... we did catch wind that there are a few cases that have recently come out of court that went in at the same time that we did. Our case worker seems sure that we will hear news of being out of court soon, perhaps within the next week! Please pray with us that this will happen and that the rest of the process will go very quickly. We need to get that baby boy home!!!

Other issues that are under consideration right now are:

the orphanage seems to have an issue with head lice, since their are new kiddos coming in daily and they cannot control the passing of it to one another. Therefore, we are preparing for battle. We will be armed with a shaver to shave our baby's head if needed. This is the easiest way to deal with the head lice and hopefully we will not have to worry about contracting it ourselves. We will immediately change his clothes upon receiving him and dispose of or donate his clothes to someone else at the orphanage.

We are also unsure if we will be able to go to the orphanage to visit other children since the lice thing is such an issue. We'll pray and see.

At this time, we are very hopeful that we will be traveling sometime between October and December. We would love to take any donations anyone would like to make to the orphanage for the children and/or workers. The donations would need to be small since we will be limited on the luggage that we can take and will need to take an entire suitcase for Isaiah.

God is so good and His timing is PERFECT!!!
Thank you for rejoicing with us as we continue this journey!

The wait continues

The wait continues. We are trying to stay focused on other things right now, so we don't get too discouraged.
We began homeschool last week, so we are now on week 2. The girls did great last week! Hopefully, this week will be great too!
Some friends have asked why we have started so early. Well, it is for several reasons.
One, when we start in July, we have the flexibility to take time off whenever we need it without having to cram for make up work.
Two, it allows us to finish by May, so that we can enjoy nicer weather and be free during our busiest month of the year to do whatever we need to do.
Three, the kids are pretty bored by mid-July.
Four, as a homeschooler, we can do what works best for our family's needs.
We do thank you for your prayers!
Please pray that our case will be out of court soon!
Thank you all!
Blessings!!!

We straightened Hannah's hair. She is looking more and more grown up every day. What a beautiful young lady she is! We are very proud of her. She is such a compassionate person as well. She loves the Lord and wants to live her life as set apart for His purposes.

Still waiting...day by day it gets harder and harder to wait for our precious Isaiah. This is perhaps one of the toughest journeys that the Lord has taken us on.

The mother's need to nuture her children is so very evident in my life at this time. God has so blessed mothers. We do not often realize what a blessing it is to have that nurturing instinct. Granted, some have said that they are perfectly content without it, but for the most part, a mother feels that strong pull on her heart to be the one to comfort, teach, and love her child.

This need is not lessened by adoption. It may even be stronger at times, since the awareness is so consuming that someone else holds their child in their hands. She may wonder, "Are they giving him the care that he needs? Are they loving him as I would? Does he know in his heart that he is loved with a love that only comes from His Creator?" Many thoughts tend to consume one's mind when waiting to hold that gift from God.

And still, you wait. They learn to roll over, sit up, stand up, perhaps even walk, without you. And you wait. This is the hard part of adoption. Waiting for your turn to hold them, to teach them, to love them, all the while knowing that they are already doing so much without you.

We wait. And we pray.

Please pray with us.

Thank You!

Well, we now have a new photo! Poor baby, he really looks like he wants to say, "Momma, please come get me now so I won't have to wear these girl clothes anymore!" Haha...

I know he doesn't really care about that yet...
Still, we are praying and praying that we will be out of court soon...please pray along with us...
Each day is tougher and tougher, but our Lord is sufficient to meet our need. He has blessed us with several who are praying for us and with us for our son's homecoming.
I do want to thank those of you who have encouraged us so much and who are faithful to show encouragement to us when we really need it...without you and God's continued hand of comfort, this would be an impossible journey.
A mother's love reaches across the world and aches to see her child's face and to hold his embrace...you have made this burden lighter...Thank You!

Still no news :(....but we had an awesome time at Student Life Camp this weekend in Orange Beach, Alabama.
What an answer to prayer! God blessed us so much!
The Speaker, Dave Rhodes, spoke about so many issues that really encouraged us to continue the calling God has placed in our lives.
He also spoke about he and his wife, Kim's, adoption of their son, Frankie, from Haiti. So encouraging!
Hannah had a great time too! She is growing and changing into such a bright young woman..
Greg was able to be a chaperone to about 7 middle school boys, which challenged him in many ways, but God was so faithful to be his strength and allow Greg to be an example for them and a witness to them!
I enjoyed being chaperone to 6 middle school girls, who I am looking forward to continuing a relationship with and being a mentor to.
What a joy it was to go on this journey with our youth group!

Please be in prayer for us as we (as Kim Rhodes shared with me):

"instead of seeing time, see God's timing"...

Still no news. Feeling discouraged. Waiting. Waiting. Waiting. This is torture. Hhhhmmmmm.....
Well, our VBS week went really well..had a blast with our 21 tourists in Big Apple Adventure! Kept us busy and now we are pooped! Time for some R & R. I hope.
Please pray for Greg's family. He has had 2 uncles pass away in the past month.
Mom and Dad returned from Ohio to wish our Nephew Brandon well for his high school graduation. He will be serving in our US Navy in a few short weeks!
Blessings to All!

Hello All,

Just writing to let you know that we are still waiting to hear from the courts in Congo about approval. Hopefully we will be hearing something pretty soon...
Everyone here is doing fine. We have completed homeschool (as of April 29th) and we completed IOWA testing on Tuesday, May 24th.
We are FREE for the summer!!!! YAY!!!!!
Now to get ready for VBS!!! Tina will be teaching 1st grade and Greg is leading a VBS prayer team this year! We are pumped up and ready!!! (Almost) :)
The next event on the calendar is the Youth Student Life Camp to Orange Beach, Al. on June 24th-27th. Hannah will be going and so will Greg!!! Tina is on standby incase she is needed... :)
Well, not much more going on, but if you'd like to get together this summer, let us know!!!
We love you all!