Come Home Soon baby brother and baby sister!

We got some very exciting news yesterday from our agency!!!!!

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We started the first phase of ADOPTION COURT on MONDAY the 20th!!!

What does this mean?!?

Baby R and baby girl should OFFICIALLY be OUR kids in the next week or so!!

{Well, our agency is checking to see if this court is for both kids or just baby R. We know we've gotten his birth certificate, but we haven't heard about baby girl's yet.}

Hallelujah!!! Praise the Lord!!

I can hardly believe it is finally happening!!!!

We are only 6-8 weeks from meeting our children face to face and bringing them home!!

It is extremely humbling for me to receive this long-awaited answer to prayer. Why would the God of the Universe ever bother to listen to me or anyone else when we pray? We are sinners, we have all turned aside and gone our own way, put ourselves in the place of God thinking we know what it best for us, and we have broken his law countless times. We have lusted, coveted, and worshipped idols like money and comfort instead of believing that the true and living God is the only true source of joy.

So why would the perfectly just and holy God who created the world and every person who has ever lived on this earth listen to us? Why does God tell us in His word that He listens to Christians when they pray? Because He is an amazing Heavenly Father, and He gave His only Son Jesus so that all who believe in Him and trust in His sacrificial death on the cross and His resurrection to atone for their sin and imperfection have become children of God. I am an adopted daughter of God. He has adopted me into His family. Not because I am or was "good enough" to deserve His love, but because He first loved me (John 14:18)! He tells us that He is our Father and he delights in giving good gifts to His children! He wants us to come to him and ask for the desires of our hearts and he delights in answering the prayers of His children for our good and His glory! Ahh.. I adore my Father! And I am THANKFUL beyond what words can express for Him adopting me, for plucking me out from the deep pit of sin that I was living in, opening my blind eyes to see my need for a Savior, and showing me the grace and mercy found in Christ alone. Since I cannot express my gratitude fully in words, I give him my life. I want to live for the glory of God, and I want to be used by God to expand His family.

 As Elisabeth Elliott wisely said, "The fact that I am a woman does not make me a different kind of Christian. But the fact that I am a Christian does make me a different kind of woman. For I have accepted God's idea of me, and my whole life is an offering back to God of all that I am and all He wants me to be."