Feeling so excited today! A couple that just got back from DR Congo just posted photos that they took at the orphanage while they were there....and we got to see 2 photos of Isaiah!!! He is growing so much! It was so nice to see him in the arms of one of the workers and he looked so content!
This was a much needed little blessing in the midst of our waiting!!!
God is so good! He has such a way of throwing in unexpected blessings when you most need them! Thank You Lord!!!!
Thank you all for keeping us in your prayers...
We are expecting to be getting our court documents very soon to go over and look for errors and then send them back for further processing.
God's timing is perfect and more and more we are learning to fully depend on Him...Love to All!

Waiting... patiently....

Okay, so God has definitely been speaking to us on our low level of patience. He is showing us more and more each day that trusting Him is mandatory. Resting in Him is a must. Listening to Him moment by moment is necessary.
In the news, Congo is obviously having issues.
They are coming up on elections on Nov. 27th. The last time they had elections, thousands, even tens of thousands, died. There is the threat of Civil War, again...
While this could be discouraging to us, it could also remind us that even moreso, our Isaiah needs to be with us, his forever family. But, not before God gives us the green light. Not one single moment before.
You see, our Heavenly Father Was and Is and Is to Come...that means He knows whats coming and He alone knows when certain things should happen and how they should happen. Therefore, our trust MUST be in Him and His timing. We cannot see what He sees. We cannot know what He knows. We cannot do what He can do. Why would we want to do anything else but to trust Him? We simply can't risk going our own way...it's to dangerous. Its too risky. There are too many unknowns for us. We must follow Him fully and completely, or face serious consequences.
As for us, we will Trust in the Lord!
As we await the right timing for the Certificate of Non-Appeal, please be in prayer for us, for our agency, for Isaiah, for the careworkers at the orphanage, for the workers processing the cases, and for the country that could be at war in a few short months. Please pray God's protection and provision and power over all.
Thank You All for your sweet Prayers!

The remainder of our process looks like this:

Certificate of Non-Appeal...up to 60 days (approx. 30)
Prepare and submit paperwork to DFA...1-2 weeks
Approval by DFA...4 weeks
Apply for I600 approval from US CIS (Immigration)...up to 2 months
Request Embassy Appointment
Embassy Appointment...2-6 weeks
Visa issued...1 week
Travel!!!
Submit paperwork to DGM...1 day
DGM letter Issued...2 weeks
Travel home!!!! :)

Please pray that each step will take the minimum amount of time...
Blessings to you all!!!

Our prayers have been answered!!!! We have passed court!!!! Woohoo!!! Finally, after about 14 weeks of court!!!
Praise The Lord!!!
Now, we have a few other steps to go. These steps can take anywhere from 2-5 months.
Our next step is to wait for the Certificate of Non-appeal (30 days)...
Thank you all for your prayers!!! Please continue praying as we continue this process...

Jeremiah 33:3 "Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not."How often do we want God to show us the great and mighty things, but we are not willing to "Call Unto" Him???
Lord God, we call unto You and we pray that you will show us the great and mighty things that you have promised. We give ourselves and our wills over to You that You may be glorified. We praise You, for You are our Creator and Sustainer. We thank You for Your provisions! In Jesus Christ's glorious name.

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!!!