REFERRAL!!!!!! It's a....

We received our referral call THIS afternoon!!! I still can't believe we got the call!! We chose to accept the referral of a BEAUTIFUL 2 1/2 month old BABY GIRL!!!!! Yes, a girl!!!!! Still can't believe that part either!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We were also told that she has a slight heart murmur...she will have an echocardiogram in the next few months. Apparently they are harder in Ethiopia to have done (as you can imagine) and we had the choice to accept the referral, wait on more information, or decline the referral and wait for another one. We've known all along that God was in total TOTAL control of this adoption and we surrender COMPLETELY to his will and sovereignty!! We didn't hesitate at all to accept this referral. We have an international adoption clinic here at Texas Children's Hospital and we know we will be well prepared for anything or any circumstance that comes our way. Courts are closed now and will not reopen until October so we have time to visit with specialists and are confident we will have a "plan of attack" ready to go when she gets home! So we are confident in God's divine wisdom in placing this beauty in our care! WE LOVE HER already and the boys are thrilled with the news of a new sister!! I however am still in total shock and awe!!! GOD IS GOOD...ALL THE TIME!!!

We cannot share pictures of her until she is legally ours after we pass court in Ethiopia but I will tell you that she has the most beautiful light brown skin, chubby little cheeks, beautiful almond brown eyes, and the cutest pink little tongue sticking out in her pictures we received!!

We share this news because we know prayer works and we are asking that you would help us cover her in prayer. We are praying for God's protection over her; for God's ultimate healing of her precious, redeemed heart; for wisdom for the doctors she will visit while in Ethiopia; for peace for her as she waits on her forever parents to get there; for wisdom, peace, and patience, and blessing for her fantastic caregivers in the transition home in Ethiopia. We pray for patience for us as we wait for courts to open and we ask for prayers over our boys as their little hearts prepare to be stretched to make room for their sister and become a family of 5. We will continue to update you on our prayer requests and ask that you remember to pray for other families in the process with us. I will update as I hear news and I will be posting more about donations we would love to be able to take with us when we travel this fall!

Love to you all,

On deck!!!

We finally got the "on deck" e-mail from our agency today!!! This e-mail basically sums up how the referral process goes and says that you should be expecting your referral in the next 1-3 months. Yes, that is what it said...1-3 months. But from other adoptive families experience I knew it was going to say that as everyones' "on deck" e-mail says that, that I know of. I have seen several families get this e-mail and then wait more than 4 or 5 months to receive their referral. And we have also seen families receive this e-mail and get a referral within the same week! We of course hope we are in the latter group but we know God already knows the day we will find out who He has chosen for us and we rest in that today. Not to say that I still don't jump every time the phone rings! We're so excited that our year long journey has finally gotten us to this point! Hard to believe! Hope to have more news soon!

Getting oh so close!!

Yay for another referral today!! And this time it was for a boy (a tiny 5 week old boy!!) so that makes us unofficially now #1 for both a boy and a girl!! We're so ANXIOUS to know what this child will be!!! We're glued to the phone and the internet to stay updated!! Can't believe all the movement! Please, please join us in praying for our child and our referral call as well as others who are in Ethiopia going to court dates and those that are waiting on Embassy clearance to bring their children home. We so appreciate it!