Our village

We have THE most amazing friends. If you don't know these people, you should. They give of themselves constantly on our behalf. Time, money, prayers, and their hearts.

I am always so grateful when I stop and consider how God positioned us in this town, at this time, with these people that we love and who love us back. Please hear me and BELIEVE me that not even a little of this adoption journey would have been possible without these people God placed in our lives.

Some recent financial needs arose when we got Josiah's judgement and, without hesitation, friends stepped up and offered us gifts with not strings attached. We were humbled.

I ran the Chosen Marathon for Adoption, which, side note is possibly the best race on the planet (besides One Less of course..)...people are so happy and encouraging and everyone is there to either bring children home or with their already adopted children.  Joyful families and friends running for one reason: the fatherless.
It was beautiful. And hard. But mostly beautiful.

I had some amazing friends that not only agreed to run this thing with me for Josiah (all registration money goes to the adoptive family), but they also secretly got together and designed a super fun shirt and sold it around town to help support us. And then surprised us at my door one night. Aren't they the cutest?

Then we went and got it all sweaty. Beautiful friendship 13 mile sweat.

 

We are so grateful for these precious friends who are willing to give and give and give some more. I can't wait for this sweet boy to come home and know what all has been given on his behalf. We are so blessed by this "village".

Quick update:

Once we got the judgement we quickly got busy on our end of the paperwork (I only thought that part of it was over). We submitted everything to our government here and at the US embassy in Kinshasa and now are just waiting on things to process through. We are hopeful that the DGM shutting down in DRC will not affect us (we have been told that by several people in the know that it won't). But, we are still looking at probably a 4-5 month wait for approval to travel. It could possibly go faster. Please join us in praying for the red tape to be minimal.  We obviously would love for him to be here now, but any time between now and 5 months would be great. 

**ALSO...this upcoming Sunday, Nineteen:ten Church's orphan care ministry "Reclaimed" will have an interest meeting for anyone that has felt God's call in their lives to care for the orphan. We know that this comes in many different forms and that God convicts our hearts all very differently. But, we also know that it is a biblical mandate that we take some sort of role in the care and prevention of orphans (James 1:27). So, if you are wondering what this might look like in your life and how it might fit into your family's story, please JOIN US!! No pressure, just some families that have walked through it and have a little wisdom to give. You won't regret it!

Nineteen:ten Church

Sunday, November 3

1pm-3pm

(message me for more info)

It's official...

We got a call tonight.

It is official. Josiah is OURS.

We passed court on August 26 and have also cleared the mandatory 30-day waiting period after judgement. (it's not unusual to find out your court decision AFTER the waiting period. Not really sure why, but it is what it is...).

SO....we are proud to officially present our beautiful son Josiah Michael 

(we can show you his FACE now!)

(this was the first picture we got in January)

 (and here is the other half of the picture I posted last week)

Many of you have already seen these pictures because whenever anyone asks I immediately whip my phone out and shove it in their face. I want people to know that this word,"orphan", has a face. He is real. And loved.

Please know that it is not lost on us that the timing here is sovereign. When we got the call tonight, I pointed over to the chair in our bedroom and said to Mitch, "remember how a week ago I was a total snotty wreck in that chair?"

Thank you God for your timing. It is perfect. And we are idiots most of the time for doubting you.

This doesn't change the exit letter issue. But, we are choosing to press forward with other immigration filings we have to do (stupid US government shut down better not get in our way..) and hope that when it comes time for Josiah's exit letter to be issued, the DGM will be up and running and this whole mess won't affect us at all. We are choosing to believe this and hope that maybe this time will be different. That this part will go fast.

But, if it doesn't...please remind me that in the waiting, God is there. And that when I cried "I'm done", He knew that IT was already done and Josiah was OURS.

No one can take him away from us at this point. Now we can focus on GETTING HIM HERE.

In the meantime, will you pray for him?  His transition from orphanage to foster home will be difficult for him over the next few weeks, but we will have better communication with him and control over his medical care when he gets there. We really need this next period to be quick. The longer he is there, the more chance he will become bonded to another care-giver making the transition here even harder. There are also the mounting foster care fees Mitch and I have to pay each month which will not be easy on our tight budget. Lots of reasons to pray him home, so help us!!

Thank you for all your kind words of encouragement and love through last week. We couldn't do this without you. Really. We couldn't.

(Oh, and the private blog thing is ridiculously painful. Still working on it. But, until then....soak up this beautiful face as much as you want.)