Grateful for Your Prayers!

Thank you soooo very much for all your prayers for

Richie and Lydia

as they prepare for Thursday's surgery. 

We can't tell you how very grateful we are

for all your love, support, and prayers!

It means so much to all of us!!! 

Our God is so good and mighty,

and

He is hearing all your prayers,

and answering!

 

Leavenworth Trip!

We had an awesome time on our weekend in Leavenworth, WA! 

It was a very festive Christmas celebration

and a beautiful winter wonderland! 

I have lots of pictures to share,

but time is limited now,

so I'll post two for now!

 

A few of us are off on our way now to

meet with our adoption home study social worker

and to take Victoria to have two teeth extracted

for her othodontia work!  : -(  

We Will Lift Up Our Eyes to the Lord!

The Lord has been so faithful to us and our extended family through some very significant trials this year!   (Many of you also!)  We are all so thankful that no matter what comes our way, that we can trust Him and know that He will always be our refuge and strength. 

Psalm 62:5-8
"Find rest, O my soul, in God alone;
my hope comes from Him.
He alone is my rock and my salvation;
He is my fortress, I will not be shaken.
My salvation and my honor depend on God;
he is my mighty rock, my refuge.
Trust in him at all times, O people;
pour out your hearts to him,
for God is our refuge. "

A sweet friend of ours recently showed us a little book she is reading called the Red Sea Rules.  (Thanks, Carolyn!) It is a small book packed full of encouraging reminders of God's sovereignty, lovingkindess, power, goodness (and much more!)  I haven't had a chance to read it yet, but it sounds really awesome!  I'm hoping some will find it to be refreshing to their weary souls!  This is a description of it:

"Just as Moses and the Israelites found themselves caught between "the devil and the deep Red Sea," so are we sometimes overwhelmed by life’s problems. But God delivered the Israelites, and He will deliver us too. The Red Sea Rules reveals, even in the midst of seemingly impossible situations, God’s promise to make a way for us. His loving guidance will protect us through danger, illness, marital strife, financial problems--whatever challenges Satan places in our path. Using the Israelites’ story as an example, Robert Morgan offers ten sound strategies for moving from fear to faith. Among them: Realize that God means for you to be where you are. Acknowledge your enemy, but keep your eyes on the Lord. Pray. Life is hard, especially for Christians. It is certain that we will face difficulties, and that God will allow them, as He allowed the Israelites to become trapped between Pharaoh’s rushing armies and the uncrossable Red Sea. But just as certain is the fact that the same God who led us in will lead us out. As The Red Sea Rules makes comfortingly clear, He is in control."

I also ran across this encouraging song recently, and it seems to go really well with the theme of this book!  

Psalm 121

I lift up my eyes to the hills, where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot slip, he who watches over you will not slumber.
Indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
The Lord watches over you, the Lord is your shade at your right hand;
the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.
The Lord will keep you from all harm,
he will watch over your life;
the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore!

Praises!

We received our passports in record time!  We can hardly believe it!  We turned in our paperwork just before closing time on November 15th, and received them yesterday, December 3rd!  So, we received them in approximately 12 business days!  (And that is with one of those days being Thanksgiving!)  We were told it could take anywhere from 4-8 weeks!  Wow!  Thank you, Lord!   (Not that we need them to travel anytime soon! But it is necessary to have copies of the passports to submit with all of our paperwork for the Dossier.)  

Also, we finished the last of our paperwork for the home study and sent all the remaining documents (reference letters, employee verification, medical reports, etc.) on Friday night.  Yesterday, we were able to schedule our 2nd interview for next Monday with our home study social worker.   This has all gone very quick as well!

Now, we just need a few more documents to complete the bigger collection of documents that will get sent to the Ethiopian Government for their approval.  This is called the Dossier.  (French word; loosely translated . . . BIG stack of papers; pronounced DOSS-EE-AY . . . I'm still working on NOT saying it the way it looks.)   One of the documents we need for the Dossier is an approval letter from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service, which can take up to 3 months or so to receive after submitting our application.  So, we'll have a good case of hurry-up-and-wait.  Then, once we receive this USCIS approval, we will submit our Dossier to our adoption agency.  Then, we'll wait again for its approval by the Ethiopian Government, and then we'll wait for a referral of a child(ren)! 

But, today, I'm rejoicing!  And feel greatly encouraged with how quickly and fairly easily everything has gone to this point!  We'd be ever so grateful for your prayers for continued smooth (and speedy) sailing through this process!   And for safe travels on this long journey, as we have an enemy who would love to see the process thwarted!

Gotta Love a Small Town Christmas Parade!

Here's the parade watchers . . .

 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

This young man was making the most of the opportunity

to share the Good News of Christmas!

The next two parade watchers were just lookin' cute

in their Christmas sweaters,

thinking they should be IN the parade!  

 The other parade watchers,

minus Valerie who was with Mabel on another little mission.

 

 There were a lot of great entries in the parade,

but this was probably one of my favorites!

I continue to love the weather here,

even through all the rain!

The other parade watchers in the family . . .

not so much!

So, our family chuckled a bit about this one!!! 

And Meemom and PapaBob know all

about how it

NEVER snows here!   

 

But the thing I loved most about the parade is

that there were many

 "Merry Christmas" greetings

and many nativity scenes around! 



More Christmas Traditions and Memories in the Making!

As we prepare our hearts and minds

to celebrate the birth of Christ, and all that means to us,

we started our Advent Jesse Tree yesterday!

It's been a few years since we have gone through it,

so it will be fun to refresh our memories,

and see Timmy and Joe learning all about

God's redemptive plan for the world.

The book goes through 25 devotionals that trace the heritage of Jesus Christ from the beginning of Creation. 

And each devotional has a symbol/ornanament

that coincides with it,

wrapped up and numbered, to be opened and hung on the tree after each day's reading.    

 

Christmas Traditions and Memories in the Making!

BIG brother helping little brother put on Great Grandma's Chrsitmas tree angel.  

Littlest brother (supervisor) looking on

while bigger brothers fill gum drop tree!

Timmy and Joe decorating a ginergerbread house,

while Benjamin plays with the box!

Timmy passing down a very imortant skill to  Benjamin . . . 

how to operate the Christmas train!