Favorable Determination Letter

We got our Favorable Determination Letter in the mail today. I was completely surprised. It can take up to 2 1/2 months to get this from the USCIS government office. We got it in 2 1/2 weeks. This is the letter that states the government will allow us to bring an orphan into the United States. This is also the last piece of paperwork we needed for our dossier to be able to go to Ethiopia. This makes us one step closer to bringing our child or children home. God has allowed our proces, up to this point, to happen pretty quick. I feel extremely torn knowing that a mother somewhere in the world will be giving up their child so we get a referral. During our wait I pray daily for that mother and her journey. I pray that God will give her peace and comfort. I can't imagine the dispare she will have to feel knowing that the only way to save her child is to give her away.

Wait patiently for the LORD.
Be brave and courageous.
Yes, wait patiently for the LORD. (Psalm 27:14 NLT)

Waiting List!

Number on the Sibling's List!

Number on the Girl's List1

I apologize for not updating this sooner. We had our dinner and Gabrielle got her wisdom teeth taken out unexpectedly this week.

On Tuesday, February 14th at 4:28pm we got the call. It was the day of our Connecting Hearts dinner. I was driving home to get changed for the dinner and Soojin called, from AGCI, to let us know that our dossier was complete and they had everything they needed to add us to the waiting list. Our official numbers was 133 for the girls list and 50 for the siblings list. I got off the phone and called Luther to let him know. God is so amazing. We were able to share this news with people at the dinner that evening.

I never thought this day would come. I didn't know what we were in for back in October when God spoke to Luther and I about adopting. It has been such a blessing so far. We are one step closer to bringing home our child or children depending on what God has planned for us. Thank you to all of you who have supported us so far during this journey!!

Exciting Day!!

Today we did our USCIS fingerprinting in Nashville. Our appointment was scheduled for Feb. 29th, but we decided to see if they would take us as a walk-in.  The people there were very nice. We completed a little paperwork and then did our fingerprinting. We were only there about 10 minutes. I got in the car when we finished and cried. I was so excited. I felt just like I did when I found our I was pregnant with Grace and Gabrielle. I knew we had a long wait ahead of us but at least we had finished the long trail of paperwork. We are one step closer to our child. That was the last piece we needed to complete our dossier for AGCI. We put it in FedEx this evening. It will arrive at AGCI tomorrow. They will look over it and let us know if we need to make any changes. Once everything is cleared, we will get a phone call from Soojin and she will let us know our number on the waiting list. I know God has this all in his hands. I have already seen him work in our process up to this point. In his timing we will get to see and bring home our sweet girl. I look forward to the day I can see her face and then finally bring her home to her forever family!!