Still Waiting....

Still waiting….that has been the theme for the last few weeks! We receive Pre-Approval or what is known as PA the first week of January, and the next step is to receive Referral Approval or RA, which then allows for the process of travel to begin (more approvals have to happen with the travel step as well).


This past week two families that are actually farther behind us in terms of receiving their PA received their RA. We celebrate with these families, though it was difficult to see our family not receive any news. There is no rhyme or reason as to why our RA was not received, but the good news is that our agency checked with China, and there is not anything wrong with our paperwork….we are just still waiting.

If we receive our RA this week, I think there is still a slight chance that we could travel to China at the end of May, but it looks more like June is realistic at this point. This still allows us most of the summer to spend with Emmie, and we are very thankful for that!

Emmie should be receiving her care package this week! We are super excited to see her expression when she opens up her goodies and hears our voices for the first time (we sent her a book with our voices recorded reading the book)! I will share the pictures as soon as I can.

This past Sunday our family was blessed beyond measure as we held “Eat For Emmie”, a spaghetti dinner to help defray the costs of traveling to China. It was a huge success, with over 200 of our friends and family attending! To God be the Glory for moving in the hearts of His people. We are so humbled and honored by the generosity.

God’s faithfulness has never failed to amaze Zack and I in each of our adoptions. I have said it many times before, but “on paper” our family should have never been able to afford three international adoptions. Of course, this is looking at the situation through mans eyes. We know that God sees things in a radically different light! Each adoption, despite all odds, God has a made a way for us to bring home our precious children. We could tell you countless stories of checks appearing in the mail, God providing through the most random sources, etc. It has truly been an amazing, faith building journey. Our only prayer is that we can be as faithful to Him.

Prayerfully, by the end of the week I can “officially” introduce our daughter to you (which means we would have received our RA!). We are hoping!!

                                              Enjoying one last little get-a-way as a family of four ;)  

                                        Spending time with Nana and Papaw on a beautiful day :)

                                                  The dessert table at "Eat For Emmie"

                                                   Eating for Emmie!!