Signed, Sealed... Delivered!

Happy Valentine's Day friends! I hope you're all having an AMAZING day, because I have some incredible news to share with you...

Our first round of adoption paperwork is on it's way to THAILAND!!!

That's right! There's a big packet of about 50 pages that have been signed, copied, sealed, and prayed over... and they should be delivered by 10 am this morning to an office in New York! There our packet will be reviewed and sent on to Thailand! 

For some people, that may not seem like a big deal - but to us it is a HUGE step. If you've been following our journey, then you know it has not been an easy one. We thought that by 2013 we would have our homestudy and dossier done and be on a waiting list for our little girl. But that was not God's plan. We have, instead, walked through many disappointing conversations and faced many closed doors. It would be easy to feel hopeless now, except that a truly miraculous opportunity has opened up for us!

The short story is this -  as we've pursued adopting a child from Thailand, every single door has been closed in our face for one reason: We do not have "documented infertility".  We feel very strongly that God's plan is for us to begin our family with an adopted child from Thailand, so we have not tried to have biological children. Therefore, we don't know whether or not we are infertile. But because we don't know, we have not been able to find even ONE agency to work with us. It didn't matter that we have lived in Thailand, work in Thailand, understand Thai culture, or that Rusty has a Thai driver's license. It didn't matter that we speak basic Thai. It didn't matter that we plan to return to Thailand regularly and that our daughter would have her home country as a huge part of her life. It didn't matter that we desperately wanted to adopt from Thailand! There were so many details we thought would make us great parents for a Thai child, but no one could look past the "undocumented infertility" (even though it's not an actual rule to adopt from Thailand).

UNTIL NOW!

We've finally found an agency in New York that is willing to advocate for us with an orphanage in Pattaya (a city in Thailand that is very special to us). Praise the Lord!!! The agency director agreed that ours is a special case, and that we would be an ideal placement for a Thai child. So he allowed us to fill out an application and an Adoptive Family Profile (which is like a mini dossier) to be sent to this specific orphanage. We've been working on this paperwork for the last 2 months. The agency director is also going to write a recommendation to send along with it!

If you're wondering "what does that mean"- here's the simple explanation: We get ONE SHOT to impress the Director of this Thai orphanage. She will review our paperwork, and she will say YES or NO.  And that's it. We have explored every possible option over the past year, and we are out of options. This is our only chance (that we know of) to adopt our sweet Kate. If the orphanage director says YES - then we will begin our homestudy immediately and we could have our baby girl in as soon as 2 years!

But if she says NO, then that's the end of the road for us. We don't know of any other viable options to adopt a child from Thailand. I cannot even let myself imagine this possibility because I break down in tears at the thought of it. It would be absolutely devastating.

So friends, we are BEGGING you to pray with us! We believe that everything about this opportunity has had God's hand on it. There are so many details I haven't shared here, but this orphanage and adoption agency is so incredible, that we believe that God leading us HERE could be the reason for all the closed doors up until now! But right now, we are facing something that seems to be impossible. We are asking the Director of this orphanage to make a huge allowance for us - and we believe it will be nothing short of a miracle if we get that YES!

Will you pray for a miracle with us?

We were told that our paperwork could be in Thailand as early as Monday. We will be fasting and praying for FAVOR and ACCEPTANCE from this orphanage this coming Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. We'll be doing a juice/liquids fast for these three days. If you feel led to join us in our fast - or in fasting anything (lunch, dinner, caffeine, anything!) it would mean the world to us. If you can't fast but are willing to PRAY FERVENTLY, we would also appreciate that so much! We need God to move a mountain so please - pray for us, share this request with your friends and family, put us on your church prayer list... whatever it takes to get as many people as possible petitioning God on behalf of our precious little girl!

"... I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. 

Nothing will be impossible for you."

                                                                                                                      - Matthew 17:20 

Here are some things to pray for:

• Pray for Tim at our adoption agency.  He is preparing our paperwork to go to Thailand and writing a recommendation for us.
• Pray for our paperwork - that everything arrives as it should and that it doesn't get lost or buried under other "to do's" in the Thailand office.
• Pray for the woman reading our paperwork (we believe her name may be Khun Toi). Pray that God would soften her heart to our case. Pray that she will overlook anything negative and that her eyes will be drawn to all our positives! Pray that the Holy Spirit will move in her while she is reading. Pray that God will grant us FAVOR in her eyes, and pray that she ACCEPTS us to adopt a child from her orphanage!
• Pray for anyone else who may be a part of the decision making process - that they would agree with FAVOR to our case.
• Pray for our sweet Kate. We realized tonight that if this is our path to her, there is a good chance that she is already born (and could be 6 months old or older right now). Please pray for God to protect her and keep her safe!
• Pray for us as we wait at home. I am trying hard not to be anxious but the truth is, I'm terrified. There is so much riding on this decision and while I trust God, my flesh is week. We have dealt with so much disappointment already in this journey. I am honestly an emotional mess right now... part of me doesn't want an answer because of the fear it could be a no. So please pray for PEACE and STRENGTH for us as we wait. Pray for God's presence to reassure us that He is in control!

"And blessed is she who believed that there would be a 

fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord."

                                                                                                                                             - Luke 1:45

*To read more about our Adoption Journey, click here.