Late last night, around 11pm our time, our daughter Eliana found out that she is an orphan no more. She found out she has a family that loves her and wants her more than words can express. And she even got some pictures of her new family. That’d be us!

She has a sweet friend that was adopted a little over a year ago living here in the U.S. and I was able to connect with her Mom last weekend over the phone. They are the ones that contacted the advocates back at the end of November to try and help get Eliana a family. If they hadn’t spoken up I can say with 99.9% certainty that Eliana would have never had a family. This sweet friend has been able to keep in contact with Eliana through instant messaging every week for the last year. So for us there was no one else in the world who we wanted to give our daughter this important news than her sweet friend.

We were all waiting around all Friday evening to see if Eliana would get on the computer and notice her friend was messaging her. Finally, just when I was about to go to bed I got a text from her friend’s Mom that said “Are you still up? She’s online!!!!” Of course I was WIDE awake then! While Eliana’s friend instant messaged her I got the play by play via text from her Mom. She barely got the news out that she had a family and Eliana asked her to please call her! She was so surprised and excited and once they got on the phone together there was lots of teenage girl type squealing. I had written a short note to her from Bill and I that her friend translated and read to her. I also gave her a few important questions to ask her like “what’s your favorite color” and “what do you want to do when you grow up.” Oh and not to forget the most important question, “what size shoe do you wear?” Momma’s got some shoe shopping to do!

My favorite part was when her friend’s Mom texted me while the girls were talking and said “She has a very sweet voice!!!!” I felt like I was there listening. Almost. Thank you Lord we will get to hear her sweet voice in person very soon!! I’m not sure I could take waiting any longer!

It was one of the most special (two hour) moments we have ever experienced. I really can’t even find the words to fully express what I feel right now. We are overwhelmed with God’s love for His children. We pray you are too.

Quick update to tell you that no, that was not an earthquake you felt while you were sleeping last night. No, that was God moving mountains AGAIN!!!!!! Last Friday our dossier copy (big stack of papers about us) was mailed to Chin@. On Monday they were hand delivered and we were issued a “Log-In Date” the same day. Today, we just got word that we have already been issued our LOA (letter of acceptance)!!! This is HUGE HUGE HUGE!!! People are waiting close to 80 days right now from the time their dossier is “Logged-In” to get their LOA!! And the office that issues these things is closing all of next week for a holiday so we really needed to get it so we could be working on the U.S. side of things while they are closed. Our agency asked them to please keep this in mind but our agency was 98% sure this would not happen. But, God.

We are MOVING fast now!! Please keep praying. For those that have adopted from Chin@ you know how crazy ridiculous this is and that only God could do this. Even my agency was doing a happy dance on the phone with me! I told them they shouldn’t be too shocked because I have half the world praying! Thank you for your prayers! Please keep it up!! Sorry if this doesn’t make sense! I have phone calls to make and things to email so I’m typing fast and gotta run!  Go team Jesus!

Since I updated on Friday I feel like my heart has been on overdrive with such a range of emotions coming in and out. Friday afternoon my sister’s sweet 15 month old niece, Sophia, graduated from earth to Heaven after a six month battle with leukemia. We do not mourn without hope but it does not lessen the pain of losing a precious child. My hearts aches for her parents. I cannot imagine their hurt. I love what a friend said a few weeks back when his uncle passed away and it is my heart regarding this great loss of Sophia. And that is this, “Death, you didn’t win. You just became the footstool for Sophia to step into Heaven. Jesus Wins Again!”

In the midst of this great loss we have also experienced tremendous blessing. This week we received a donation that was the remaining amount of money we needed for our adoption. When we started this process just a few short weeks ago we had no money saved for an adoption but the Lord said GO and the money would be there. I believed He said that we would have ALL the money before we were even “officially matched” with Eliana. Less than two weeks in to the process we received a very generous (and miraculous) donation and we had 75% of the money we needed. Through t-shirt sales and many other generous donations we were almost there and knew that God would provide the rest. The donation we received this week gives us 100% of the funds to cover this adoption in full. We received 100% just hours before receiving an email saying that we had received “Pre-Approval” to be matched with Eliana. Pre-Approval is what means you are “officially matched.” THAT IS A MIRACLE!!! But that is just what He does! PRAISE GOD!!!

For those who are wondering, we are going to continue to sell t-shirts on our website for two reasons. The first is simply so that you will continue to raise awareness and give voice to the fatherless. Every time you wear your shirt you create an opportunity to share about what God is doing in the lives of these precious children and how others can be involved. The second reason is to continue to support others who are adopting. We have several close friends who are also adopting right now and we would love to be able to take this t-shirt money and use it to bring more children home. So for those who want to know where the money is going now you know.

Over the weekend we have also been able to connect with several people that are very important for our adoption. Several of these people are helping us connect with other people that have the ability to request some of the U.S. side of paperwork be expedited so that we have an even greater chance to get this adoption finalized before Eliana’s birthday. I don’t want to go in to too much detail on that but we are overwhelmed at the favor of God for our daughter that He would connect us in such a way.

The most recent thing that happened was just last night and it makes my heart do cartwheels. Many of you that read the advocate’s blog knew that all of Eliana’s friends were adopted last year. The Mother of one of those friends contacted me last night! How exciting is that?! Her daughter talks with Eliana every week!!!!! This Mom is super sweet and glad to answer any questions we have and I’m so looking forward to talking with her more and learning even more information about our daughter. This is just huge for Eliana too. This sweet friend is like family to her. Really, they’ve lived together like sisters. How sweet of God to let us be able to reconnect these sweet girls here in their new homes. I could keep writing about how much that means to my heart but I don’t have time right now. My heart is overflowing…

Let my cry come right into your presence, God;
provide me with the insight that comes only from your Word.
Give my request your personal attention,
rescue me on the terms of your promise.
Let praise cascade off my lips;
after all, you’ve taught me the truth about life!
And let your promises ring from my tongue;
every order you’ve given is right.
Put your hand out and steady me
since I’ve chosen to live by your counsel.
I’m homesick, God, for your salvation;
I love it when you show yourself!
Invigorate my soul so I can praise you well ,
use your decrees to put iron in my soul.
And should I wander off like a lost sheep—seek me!
I’ll recognize the sound of your voice.

Psalm 119:171 (The Message)

Today we received word that we have been given pre-approval to adopt this precious girl that many of you have been praying for. Praise Jesus for getting us one step closer. Please continue to pray for miracles. Going forward I’m probably going to give less specifics about what to pray for because again this is the internet for everyone to read and that includes everyone. Just know that until you see a post that says the adoption is finalized and complete that many miracles still need to be called in.

Many of you saw the advocate’s blog I shared before we decided to adopt her and read a little about her story. I don’t want to share a lot of information about her because we feel that is her story to tell someday but, it is public knowledge that she has been asking for a family repeatedly. We wanted her new American name to have a special meaning to both her and us and we are excited that the Lord has given us the perfect name for her! The Hebrew meaning of the name is “The Lord Responded” or “God Answered Me”.

And so without further ado we introduce to you the newest member of our family… Eliana Faith

In my distress I called to the LORD; I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears. – Psalm 18:6

I know several of you have been waiting for an adoption update but I have kind of been waiting to have something to tell you.  I do have specific prayer requests. It seems like every time I’ve asked everyone to pray for specific things that things start moving quickly. So here are my most urgent prayer requests:

1) Please pray that the document that was supposed to have left the Embassy in D.C. makes it to my agency tomorrow.
2) Please pray that we receive Pre-Approval immediately
3) Please pray that we receive a Log-In Date within 24 hours of receipt of our dossier
4) Please pray that we receive LOA before January 23rd (I’ll explain more about all of this later)

I know those of you in the “Adoption World” will immediately recognize that I’m asking for the impossible. And you are right. But I’m asking anyway and believing that He can do anything. So please ask Him with me. Thanks friends. There have been more money miracles but I will write a separate post about that soon. I promise. Thank you again for all of your prayers and support.