Oh the crazy month of May

So, at the end of May, KC and I experienced THE most stressful 48 hours. We got a call from our agency asking us if we had the rest of our Dossier/big fat file documents and if so, could we please send them to our agency in Little Rock. I told them that I sent them already, and they're waiting to be State Sealed (so I thought). Our social worker tells us that they only had a few pieces of paperwork and that we must not have sent the rest.  They could not find our Dossier?! ..... !!!!!!!!

At this point in time, I'm FREAKING OUT. I am a very organized person. We had an accordion file with all our documents that has been attached to my hip since day 1. I know, that I know, that I KNOW that I sent them to Little Rock. Our social worker insists that "I really feel like you didn't send them, and could you please just look at home one more time". Obviously, I'm miffed, but KC and I look through the ENTIRE house. Nada. To say we were having some anxiety issues was definitely an understatement. That was 65 pages of our lives, of paperwork, that took us FOREVER to gather. 

I call our social worker back and tell her I need to come to her office to figure out what happened and what KC and I need to do now. Before I left work early, I thought, there's NO way. I know I sent it! And it dawned on me, I document every step in our process with pictures. If you follow me on FB or Instagram, you know this to be true. Lol. So I frantically start looking on IG for a picture. And I find a picture of me putting the big manila envelope in a big blue mailbox - back on AUGUST 16th. They've had our file since late August. 

I get to her office and show her the picture and date. It turns out, they thought the packet I mailed them 3 weeks ago with 4 updated documents was our dossier. I explain everything and understanding spreads on her face. She calls the Little Rock office. They had it the WHOLE time in another file. 

So, 2 days of complete and utter stress and madness and them telling us WE forgot to send it when in reality, they forgot all about it being in another file. This has caused a few more delays than we initally thought. We thought our home study was already updated, but that is still a week or two out. Please join with us in praying that this is it. Pray that we will be on the wait list no later than July. We've come SO far but still have a ways to go. But it'll all be worth it when we see her sweet face.   <3  

  

  

Hard Fought

{I get it now. God takes those “less likely” and turns us inside out if we’ll let Him. It’s breathtakingly beautiful what happens in this great romance between Creator and created…Crucified and called…Lover of souls and the lost. He mends and blends, transforming us and spilling out of our regular lives. God has not forgotten you. Your dreams and passions are not wasted. Perhaps Jesus is asking you to blindly follow…To let the cold of discontent drive you into the warmth of His embrace…}

He trained us first, passed us like silver through refining fires,
Brought us into hardscrabble country, pushed us to our very
Limit, Road-tested us inside and out, took us to hell and back;
Finally he brought us to this well-watered place.
(Psalm 66:10-12 The Message)

I cannot tell you how hard this devotional hit home. I have been pulled and stretched further than what most would consider to be comfortable. KC and I have been in a place where we had nothing financially and were literally digging in the couch cushions – but God ALWAYS pulled us through. I have had seasons of feeling like I have heard nothing from God for months, but kept plodding on. I have had times where I have had to force myself to talk to God – the one Whom was still remaining silent. I have had seasons of powerful “emotional purges” (aka bawling my eyes out) to my husband because I felt like I COULD NOT do this anymore. As KC was finding out more about his ministry and our ministry together, I was hurting inside because I still did not know how God was going to use little old me. Yet still I trudged on. Why? Because I knew, I KNEW that God had brought me too far for me to turn my back on him. I knew that this season wouldn’t last. Deep DEEP down, I knew He’d pull me through.

In those times, He was teaching me; even in His silence. And with each step I took, I passed another test and became stronger in who I was and stronger in Him. When the trials came, I could fight on knowing that He would be waiting for me on the other side. I was growing. Learning. I was being refined. And you know what? Right now, KC and I – we’re in that “well-watered place”. I’m not going to lie, it didn’t happen easily within a few months – we’ve been “road-tested” for about 2 ½ - 3 years. But man, I can’t tell you how sweet this feeling is: knowing we’ve made it.

Now, I know we won’t be in this level place forever. I’m keeping up my strength for the next season – but it’s amazing to see even what I’ve learned in this place of rest. KC and I are doing well financially (PLT), God is speaking to me more often than not, and I finally feel like I know what my role is. I finally know how my role ties in to KC’s ministry and our ministry together! All these things are appreciated so much more because they were hard fought.

So, for those of you who feel as though you’re being taken to hell and back – stay faithful. He’s waiting for you on the other side with open arms. He’s ready to let the rivers of plenty pour over you. And man, does it feel nice.

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Wow... 2 months

Yikes! My last post was at the beginning of February. Sorry to leave you guys hanging. It was a crazy couple of months. I’ll continue on with trying to update everyone at least monthly; especially now that we’re getting to the homestretch! I’m finishing up with all the paperwork to update our home study and will get that to our social worker here in the next couple of days. Then, I’ll send our updated information (and notarized home study) to Little Rock to be state sealed and double checked. Then, it’s off to Ethiopia! This should all happen within a matter of weeks.

We can definitely use your prayer as we continue on. God has been so good to us through all of this, always providing. We’ve had a few people ask if we are going to have another yard sale for our adoption, and we said yes. So, if you have a garage or attic full of yard sale worthy items, we’ll be more than happy to take them off your hands. :-P

On a related topic, I’m not sure how many of you remember me posting about little L. A girl on the wait list that KC and I prayed long and hard about. But she was in South Africa, and we didn’t feel like we were able to switch programs. Well, after seeing her month after month on the list and praying for her, I just noticed last week that she is no longer on the list! That means that she has been spoken for! I praise God for answering prayers and sending a family for this beautiful little girl. Each time we pray over a new girl on the list, it’s so exciting to see when she is taken off. You really have no idea how full of joy you are after praying and getting a gentle ‘No, she’s part of someone else’s family’. I mean, in little L’s case, she was waiting for 7 months after we inquired about her. But God had different plans for her and us. So little L is now someone else’s daughter, and I’m glad that all our prayers were answered.

March, April, May!

Hello to all you lovely readers!

I’m sorry that I've been so quiet this month. January is notorious for being insanely busy. Well, we've not had anything new happen since my last post. We will be able to re-submit our USCIS paperwork in March; so long as we don’t hit any snags. And we've made sure everything is in order because we DO NOT want to do that. Haha! After talking with our family coordinator, right now our time line is looking like this:

MARCH

·         Bethany sends employment verification letter to JB Hunt

·         Once Bethany receives letter back, they will update home study

·         Once home study is updated, we re-submit our application to USCIS

APRIL

·         SHOULD get our USCIS approval back by middle/end of the month

·         Will be able to send USCIS approval to Little Rock to finally join the rest of our Dossier/BigFatFile

·         Bethany in L.R. will get Dossier State Sealed

LATE APRIL or EARLY MAY

·         Our Dossier/BigFatFile should be on its way to merry ol’ Ethiopia!

·         Approval of Dossier by Ethiopian government

And the last step: FINALLY ON THE WAIT LIST FOR A REFERRAL!!!

So what happens after our Dossier is approved? We wait. Haha. BUT, all our waiting counts. Right now, it could be anywhere from a year to 18 months of waiting. Possibly longer. But we’re not worrying. We just cannot wait to finally be at that point! I’m beyond excited thinking about it. I mean, c’mon! It’s already February! May will be here before we know it.

Please join us in prayer that everything goes smoothly and we are able to get our Dossier approved by the end of May. This has been a long time in the making – and it’s so surreal to think that we are only a few months away from actually being able to receive a referral. Thank you all SO much for your thoughts and prayer during our journey.

We started this process on my 24^th birthday, and next Monday is my 26^th. Gosh, it’s crazy to look at it like that. But it’s worth it. This could be the year.   <3   

-Sandia