What's New?

Well, I haven't updated like I should have, though lots of you know what is going on with our adoption through other means.

We finished all the US side of things as far as paperwork goes, and last week mailed off our dossier (paperwork for the government in Ana's country). That means that it will be received (if it hasn't already...I need to check on that), translated, and submitted to their government. Then we will receive a travel date. We are hoping that will be sometime before the end of the month...but God's timing is perfect =).

That's where we are in the paperwork part of the process. Now our focus is packing and finances.

So, I want to say- Praise be to God for the ways He has provided so far. We needed $24,000 at the start. We are left only needing $7,000. How huge is that!? Keeping my eyes focused on that is encouraging.

I have been reminded and told that I can't just close my eyes and wait for Him to deliver the rest as well. We have known He would provide. Yes sir that is true indeed. I have to confess though, that my follow through with prayer for that specific area has been lacking though. Since I trusted that He would provide...I only prayed it here and there. Not like I should.

This week: "You do not have because you do not ask." James 4:2

Oooookaaaay....I guess you've got me Lord. We had some conversation. As usual, He was right. So, our prayers have reflected that. We have changed the error that the Lord brought to our attention and listened to the verses that tell us to ask. To ask persistently. (Did you know there are quite a few of those? Who knew!)

Then also...ummm....well, I had a harder time listening to Him about another area, so He had to bring in the hammer. You know, when He has to hit you over the head with it in such an obvious way that you can't blame Him for not making it clear. It's all on you after that. He used some other folks to basically tell me that I am being foolish and selfish by not sharing our needs.

As I am sure most of you know, it is hard to ask when something is for yourself. Even if it's for a really good reason. I have no problem with letting people know about the needs of others when it comes to their adoptions, but I know I am not the only one that has a hard time doing it for our own. It feels uncomfortable. I avoid getting into numbers in any way other than sharing what the Lord has done. And seriously, that's a good thing to share too. It's amazing what the Lord has brought to us! I don't ever want to forget that. I don't want you to forget it.

But God also said, share your need. Don't rob others of the chance to be blessed by giving. (Ouch.) He knows where to hit me because this year I have been growing in the area of generosity a lot, and have learned the JOY that it is to give. And to rob others of that joy...(though I still argued that there are lots of places for people to give...He didn't even give me a response to that one though)

So, uncomfortable as it may be for me, I feel that I need to share our specific physical need. God has given us close to $17,000. That's awesome stuff! We only need $7,000 more before we leave. If I'm honest with you, that number still feels really big when we only have like a week and a half to receive it (bank stuff means we need it two weeks before travel) ...but I shouldn't feel that way. God's been so faithful. And actually, my faith has been raised recently. Amazingly raised. And now that I feel that I am being obedient to the Lord, I feel even more confident that He will provide somehow. He is God.

I am asking that you pray specifically for the amount that we need and for it to come in the next week.

Now, I must also say that I feel so blessed to have blog friends and readers that I can ask for prayer from and know that it will come. So many of you have been a great blessing to our family and I thank you for ALL the ways that you have blessed our family.

And lastly, on a slightly different topic, when we leave we will be posting to Ana's adoption blog. We are going to change it to a private blog for the time while we are out of the country. If you would like to be able to view it while we are gone please e-mail me with your e-mail address or leave it in the comments. (You won't get an invite until we are close to leaving.) Then you can follow us through the process while we are there. I do plan to write there more than I have here recently. I might have a little more down time =).

HA! I also forgot one large thing. We have been trying to figure out this whole time who "child number two" is. Well, the questioning is done there as Handsome and I found out a little over a week ago that we are expecting in late May.

...sorry I forgot such an important detail...