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Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Really, really, REALLY good news.

Two weeks ago, our dossier F.I.N.A.L.L.Y. made it out of the Malagasy Embassy and boarded a plane for Madagascar.  Can I get a big AMEN!!!  It was beginning to look like we were never going to get out of the states after being stuck at the embassy for over 7 weeks, but just when frustration was setting in, I opened my email to see this:

Hi Shawna,

Your dossier is on its way to Madagascar! Congratulations!

Best regards,
Micah 

Oh, you can imagine how happy that little sentence made us!!!  I'm sure that sweet Micah at our agency had no idea that she just made our summer!!  Well, she might have had some idea since I had been bugging her every week for about the last seven weeks.  The coolest part of this milestone was this:  The day before this email came, during prayer request time at church, I asked for prayers for our adoption process and specifically that God would get our dossier unstuck at the embassy and move it on to Madagascar FAST.  It had been a while since either one of us had asked for prayers for our adoption in a public setting, but that morning it was really on my heart to ask everyone to pray about it.  I had been getting some conflicting reports about how things were going in the Mada program from different sources, and I just was feeling discouraged and unsure to be honest.  Jonathan told me when we got home later that he actually was going to ask for the same thing but I beat him to it.  Then, the first email I opened up Monday was that little jewel above.  I love how God loves to so quickly and obviously answer our prayers sometimes.  He gets ALL the glory for that.  Hallelujah!!   

"And this is the confidence that we have toward Him, that if we ask anything according to His will He hears us."       1 John 5:14

Thank you, Father, for continuing to blow us away by Your faithfulness and Your love.    

Our dossier has made it to Madagascar, so what does that mean?  Well, we are not on the official waiting list yet.  It still has a couple more weeks of certification that it has to go through before it gets to the Central Authority.  (I'm surprised they didn't make it stop at every country it flew over to get their certification too)  When it gets to the CA (hopefully by the end of the month), we will be put on the wait list to be matched with a child.  We have been told the wait time for a referral is around 6-12 months.  We are currently the 4th US family on the list as it is such a new program here in the states, but ahead of us are European families and we have no idea how many.  So, we ask you to continue to pray BIG that God will move QUICKLY and bring us to Tallulah as soon as His time and purposes are served.  

I feel bad that I've been sitting on this news for two weeks, but it has been the last two weeks of summer break around here and I have been trying to savor the time that was left with the boys.  Today was the first full day of school, so summer break is officially over.  We had a really great summer and had the opportunity to take an incredible two week trip together.  It was a trip full of dear friends, beautiful sights, hard work and amazing witness of the light of Jesus that is breaking through in a very dark place.  I am hoping to share about it soon.  It was a summer we will never forget- and this news was a wonderful way to end it!  

I have gobs of photos from the trip that I will eventually share- but I'll leave you with this sweet one for now.  After a 70+ hour work week last week for Jonathan, he spent a lot of time Saturday making more of the crosses that we are selling.  Eli wanted to help of course, so I snapped this of them both working hard.  Can't wait until she can see this picture one day, of a father and brother's love for a girl they've never met.  


  

ps- I am having an instasale on instagram Thursday night at 9 CST.  I'm cleaning out closets as another way to raise money for our adoption!  If you don't follow me already, find me on ig if you'd like to participate.  @sugarmillie  If you've never done one before, well I haven't either, so I know just about as much as you.  :)