Not Sure What to Think....Update!

Well, we are not sure exactly what is going on, other than we did not hear a word today....So, we shall start the wait all over tomorrow. I have to tell you, it is exhausting, mentally and physically, but the Lord will sustain us while we wait.

Unfortunately, a few families did hear something and it was not good news. The Semlow and Kulp families did not pass court today. They are looking at new tentative travel dates for the first week in February. They are heartbroken....I know how they feel, but to think they must wait two more months is almost too much to handle.....Please keep these precious families and their children in your prayers. Also, the Sparr family was told that certain circumstances must come together for them to be able to travel as scheduled, so pray for them as well.

We will let you know as soon as we hear something- keep praying!

UPDATE- We have come to the conclusion that we must have been told the wrong court date....our travel dates are still the same as far as we know, and will be as long as we pass court. So, that means our court date must be Thursday or Friday...so, once again..keep praying!

We Wait with Expectation.....

We had a great weekend with our family and friends (got to see both :) And we topped it off by taking a group of youth from our church to see some great Christian bands last night....What is Thanksgiving/Christmas without TobyMac?? He is still so awesome after all these years :)

So, yes, tomorrow is the big day. I will be honest, it is hard for me to concentrate on much else right now! Not sure how the sleeping will go tonight either. As we lay in bed tonight, thousands of miles away our court case will be heard. When we wake up tomorrow morning, our case will have most likely already been decided. We will know sometime tomorrow if our waiting has come to an end and we finally get to meet Caleb, or if the waiting will continue. Please pray for all the necessary paperwork to be in the proper place, as this seems to be the major roadblock when families do not pass court. We look forward to sharing joyous news with you tomorrow, as well as introducing you to our son!

As I was sitting in church yesterday morning, I was reminded that many years ago there were also people waiting for a special baby to arrive. This group of people had been waiting much longer than we had for this special child. Waiting with hope, and expectation, for the one who would be their Messiah. Father, thank you for sending your son to earth, to be our Savior and Redeemer. What hope we have because of your great sacrifice and love for us.

One Week and Counting.....

So, today marks one week until our court date....wow! I have been a bundle of nerves and excitement this week, and probably will continue to be until we hear something next Tuesday!! I have asked the Lord over and again for his provision on Tuesday not only for us, but for the other ten (I believe this is the right number) families as well. What a sweet and precious Christmas we will have with our blessed children home for Christmas with us...please Lord, may it be so!

I have also faced the tremendous fear that I have of not passing court. I have confessed it to the Lord, and asked him to take it from me. I have asked him to strengthen my faith so that my only hope may be in him- nothing else. That is such a challenge for me, I admit it! It is a challenge to balance the overwhelming love you have for your child and the yearning you have for him to be with you with the knowledge that God is in control. Slowly, but surely, God is teaching me!

In terms of our paperwork issue (totally seperate from passing court), I have still not heard back from the USCIS caseworker who had emailed me, but I did get a call from Senator McConnell's office yesterday. They asked me some more details about our specific situation, and they said, "We'll see if we can't get this paperwork expited for you." Yipppee!! They actually will be speaking to the "big dogs" at USCIS, so all I can say is, keep praying!

There is a song by Addison Road that I just love. It is called "Hope Now". The words of this song describe exactly how we are feeling right now!! Hope you enjoy it....

Please Pray!! - UPDATE #2

We received some very unexpected news about our paperwork today- It is a long story, but basically, we had to have two addendums added to our homestudy for an age change and change of address. These were done in October and send to USCIS, and we thought everything was fine, until today, when our social worker notified us that she had heard from USCIS and everything was not fine. Apparently USCIS may have a new policy in place that requires the home study to be redone completely when an addendum is added. If this is the case, we could be looking at an entire new home study, which most likely will mean a new approval from USCIS. As you can tell, this is all very up in the air, but we should know more tomorrow. At any rate, this is very bad news as we are scheduled to travel in about three weeks, and we must have a new approval by then. Our heads are spinning right now, as we don't know what to think! Please keep the folks at USCIS in your prayers, as we are asking God to give them and us mercy in this situation. I will update the blog as soon as I know something. Just Pray!!

UPDATE- Tomorrow we will be picking up our updated homestudy in Lexington, then traveling to meet with USCIS in Louisville. We will give them our updated paperwork and hopefully have a chance to speak with them about our situation. Oh, and Senator McConnell is also having someone from his office give USCIS a call to urge them to process our case quickly! I truly feel at peace with the situation, and we both want to thank everyone for their prayers! Though there is no guarantee yet that our approval will arrive before December 12, which is when we are scheduled to travel if we pass court, we have a peace that the Lord is going to take care of this situation.

UPDATE #2- We made it to USCIS in Louisville with all the required paperwork but....they said they could not accept it from us, that it had to come from the agency!! It was not good, as I burst into tears right there in the immigration office in front of everyone :) So, we drove back to Lexington to the agency, and they were not happy either. They said they just had a family a month ago in the same situation and USCIS accepted their paperwork directly from the family...so, not sure what happened. We put all the paperwork in a Fed-Ex envelope, and USCIS should get it first thing Monday morning. The good news- our case worker at USCIS did email me last night, and I was able to email him back assuring him he would have the paperwork Monday. I also asked him directly if there was any way that we could get our approval in time for us to travel...so, we shall see. Please, just keep praying.

A Few of My Favorite Things....

So, this weekend I had the chance to do a few of my favorite things....watch football, and decorate for Christmas! Here is a look at our weekend in photos....

UK vs.Vandy....brrr.....
There are actually little snowflakes on our coats...you just can't see them ;)

This is our living room tree....it's just a little guy:)

Zack putting the lights on the "big tree"....He is great at doing the lights!

ta-da!!!

Working on Caleb's tree....

Pooh "helped" for a while....

But it was just too tiring for him :)

In the end, I decided to use a paper chain I had made a while back :) Merry Christmas Caleb! We hope you like your Christmas tree!

Celebrate Adoption!

Today we had the second annual Celebrate Adoption! This event offers those interested in adoption the chance to meet with international, domestic and foster care agencies and other adoption related groups, as well as the opportunity to speak with adoptive parents about the process of adoption.

Okay, so I have to tell you how all this kind of got started. Last October I was sitting at my desk at work, and a lady I have never met walked in and asked what we had available in November. Well, we didn't have any space available. She asked if we knew of anywhere else where they could hold an adoption fair.....I looked up in amazement....what? Well, around this time Zack and I, along with my parents had really been trying to get something going at our church in terms of an adoption ministry, but just hadn't been able to get anything going. So, when I heard that this lady, who I had never met, was interested in holding an adoption fair, I got excited :) We talked, a few days later Zack and I had dinner with Sherri and Mike and met their beautiful family, and the rest is history :) We held the first adoption fair a month later, and now Mike & Sherri have established JMS Ministries- a Christ Centered Adoption Ministry. They are an amazing family, and God is doing amazing things through them!!

This year's Celebrate Adoption was extra special to me because my parents were awarded the "Adoption Advocate of the Year" award. I was able to record a short video for them and in it I spoke of the blessing they have been in my life, as well as the way in which they have relentlessly advocated for adoption. They had no idea about the video or the award, so it was a great surprise!! Congrats mom and dad....you deserve it!!!

Vote!!

Tomorrow we have the amazing privilege to vote for the President of the United States, among other positions. I hope we all will take advantage of this opportunity. I also pray that we would search not only our hearts, but the heart of God as we decide whom to vote for. I have not passed along many emails or other info that I have received this election season, but when I saw this video it seemed to sum up much of what all those other emails had to say. Just click on the link to view the video. It was produced by the Catholic church, and they have done a wonderful job in sharing an important message with all Christians and the world. May God lead and guide our nation as we seek to honor Him with our choices.

http://www.catholic.org/video/?v=1562