God is so personal!

An amazing thing happened. Common for God. After all, He is the Creator of the universe! But to us, He sometimes does the miraculous. And He sends us personal messages to remind us just how good and loving He is. Well, I was doing some researching, looking for info on Joy's orphanage. Any tidbit of information is a gift. I discovered a travel blog of a family who also adopted a little girl from the same orphanage as Joy about 8 years ago. They took a trip this summer to show their daughter her heritage. They were allowed into the orphanage, and they were even allowed to take pictures. I was reading their post, just taking it all in and feeling so encouraged about the conditions at the orphanage. As I scrolled down the page, there was a picture of a little girl sitting on a nanny's lap.

My heart skipped a beat as my mommy instincts just knew that it was my little Joy! What?! Really?! I had even just been thinking . . . wouldn't that be amazing if there was a picture of Joy? What are the chances? Well, with God all things are possible! I called to David from the other room to confirm what my heart already knew to be true. We hadn't seen her in so long, and we were just aching for an updated picture. (I wanted to make sure that my eyes were not playing tricks on me.) It was absolutely her with a bit more hair and looking a bit older. She just looks so precious, healthy, and loved. It is the first picture we have seen of her where she is not all bundled up. She is wearing a t-shirt, and we can see her little arms. And the nanny in the picture is the same one as in the other picture we have of Joy walking. Her ayi has the same joyful smile, and she is cherishing our little one. God is so personal!

"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Letter of Approval!

It finally came!! The infamous "Letter of Approval", better known as the LOA. We were so excited to receive this approval. We have submitted immigration documents, and now once again we . . . wait! It should take 2-3 weeks for the approval from immigration, and then everything goes to the Consulate. Finally, once all of that is approved we will receive our "Travel Approval", also known as the TA. We are prayerful that we will travel in October! Little Joy, we are getting so close. We can hardly wait to meet you face to face and hold you in our arms! We have requested some updated pictures, so we will pray that we receive those soon. What joy it would be to see a smile! :)

God continues to sustain us, strengthen us, and grant us peace through this waiting process. He has been ever so faithful to guide us every step of the way! Never before has it been so real to follow after our Shepherd . . . where He leads, we follow! He is completely trustworthy, good, and loving. We know that His timing is perfect. We are clinging to Him. He is the Vine, and we are the branches. Please dear Father, watch over our little precious Joy. Please allow her to know You and Your great love for her through us! Thank you for being in control. Our trust is in You alone!