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.)