"the PUZZLE" Update ~ 304!!!

So, we arrived home to a mountain of laundry and mail . . . and are in complete awe of how God is continually working! 304 pieces of "the PUZZLE" sponsored so far!! Who knows, maybe we'll be working on puzzle #2 soon!!

With every piece of the puzzle that we put together, I look forward to the day when I can sit with our child(ren) and read them the names and tell them about our amazing God who loves them and knew them before they were born, and who works everything together . . . for our good and HIS glory!!

"I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart,
and I will glorify your name forever." ~ ~ Psalm 86:12

Our Trip

We just got back from a trip out east to visit family - a week in PA with the Jordan side, and a week in NH with the McDaniel side for Joe's parents' 40th wedding anniversary. It was really a great, fun, and, yes, exhausting time. We are glad to be home and in a regular routine, but miss all of our family!

Katelyn's Fund

A while back I had mentioned in a post that we had a phone interview with Katelyn's Fund for an adoption grant. We received a call Friday night that they are giving us a $3,000 grant toward our adoption expenses!! We are so excited and praising the Lord for His faithfulness and continued providence!

We spent last week in PA visiting w/ family and we are now in NH. God is continuing to provide for us in many ways, including "the PUZZLE". Lord willing, I will be able to get that updated and post new pictures early next week.

"I will bless the LORD at all times;
his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
My soul makes its boast in the LORD;
let the humble hear and be glad.
Oh, magnify the LORD with me,
and let us exalt his name together!"
Psalm 34:1-3

Made It!!

I've been tracking our dossier's travel to Ethiopia all week via FedEx, and today it is in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia!!! Praise the Lord for seeing it safely there to it's next leg of the journey!

We are DTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

. . . which means "Dossier To Ethiopia"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We spent most of yesterday in the car traveling out to PA. I checked my email several times throughout the day, but went to bed last night wondering and praying that nothing went wrong with the paperwork. Well, I never thought to check my spam box, but apparently our email had gone there. So, as of yesterday, our dossier is on it's way to Ethiopia and we are officially 9/4/09 DTE!!!!!!!!! Lot's of exclaimation points because now we are officially waiting for a referral for a child or children!!!!!!!!!!!! The DTE date is basically our place in "line" for a referral. We praise the Lord for what He is doing, not only physically through allowing us to complete the paperchase stage and supplying the needed finances to get to this point, but for how graciously and mercifully He is working in our lives to strengthen and encourage our walk with Him. My heart is FULL!!

They gave us the FedEx tracking number, so rest assured I will be checking that more often than I should over the next several days . . . right now, from our agency in VA, our dossier is now in Newark, NJ :o)

"Shout for joy to God, all the earth;
sing the glory of his name;
give to him glorious praise!"Psalm 6:1-2

The PUZZLE

Just a quick update. Praise the Lord, we have continued to receive sponsorships for "the PUZZLE". We are so thankful for how God is working and for the willingness of family and friends to sacrificially step out in faith and join us in this ministry of adoption!

And speaking of family, I am actually posting this from my mom's computer in PA. We had been planning with Joe's sisters for a few years now to get together this year for his parents' 40th anniversary in NH, so we are stopping for a visit w/ my family for a few days before heading up to NH to see the other half of our family. All this to say that I won't be able to update "the PUZZLE" with the new sponsorships until we get back, and if you've mailed sponsorships they may be being held with our mail while we are gone. We look forward to updating you when we are back in Indiana.