Monday, February 25, 2013

We're APPROVED!!!!!!!

"Come close and listen, all you who honor God; 
I will tell you what God has done for me..."
Psalm 66:16 (CEB)


Today, we got the most wonderful phone call of our lives. We have been APPROVED to adopt our little girl from Thailand!!!!! After a year of closed doors and disappointment... a year of "no's" and "why don't you try a different country"... a year of tears and discouragement... we have a YES!

Khun Toy reviewed our Adoptive Family Profile and was (according to our adoption agent) "very impressed" with us! She agreed that we would make great parents for a Thai child, and even said she'd like to meet us next time we are in Thailand. She also looked at our website for The Sound of Hope and loved our work and our organization. (More evidence of God's hand in this process there - because our new website just went live in December! If we had applied last year, she wouldn't have been able to see it! He is in EVERY detail!)

We have laughed and cried and praised GOD over and over again since we heard the great news! We knew from the very beginning that God was leading us to adopt a little girl from Thailand, but we have had to fight every step of the way up until now. It would have been easy to doubt (and we have at times) and easy to give up. But God has renewed our strength step by step, confirmed His plan to us day by day, and surrounded us with WONDERFUL people to encourage us along the way!

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts to every person who has prayed with us (and fasted with us) over this decision! We are so humbled by your love and encouraged by your faith. We could NOT have done this without you! They say it "takes a village" to raise a child. I don't know about that - but it definitely took several "villages" worth of people praying to get this approval - which gets us one giant step closer to bringing our daughter home!


This all seems so surreal. As much peace as I have had, and faith that we have had that we would hear a YES, it is still extraordinary to know that God has done this for us!!! He has made the impossible, POSSIBLE and He gets ALL the GLORY! No more doubt or fear for us now... just lots of working and waiting! I pulled out some books we bought for Kate today, and a couple of little dresses a friend in Africa gave us for her that we've had packed away, and I have just looked at them and cried happy tears. God has made a way for our family - He has done a miracle for us! No longer will I have to say, "We're trying to adopt." We ARE adopting, and we couldn't be more thrilled! 

If you are reading this right now and struggling through your own "impossible" journey, then I hope God will use this to encourage you. We have been there and we know the heartache and doubt you're feeling - but you must TRUST and BELIEVE that God is working "all things together for your good" behind the scenes! I told Liz (our adoption agent) today that I am grateful now for all the closed doors. We are SO excited to be working with this specific adoption agency, this specific orphanage in Thailand, and adopting a child from the specific city where Rusty's cousin Sam lived. I can see now why this direction was BEST for our family - but God had to close so many doors to get us here. The song lyric "God blessed the broken road that led me straight to you" definitely applies. It has been a broken road but it was necessary to get us to this destination. Through all our heartache and disappointment the past year, He was working "all things together for our good"! (Romans 8:28) We just couldn't see it until TODAY! 

Please keep us in your prayers as we officially begin this process! Pray for wisdom as we choose an agency for our home study, for favor for all the documents we have to have approved, and for this process to move as quickly as possible. And of course, please pray for our precious little girl! There is a good chance she has already been born. Please pray for God to protect her, to keep her healthy and safe, and to let her be loved and cared for well until we can bring her home!

"Those who hope in Me, will not be disappointed." 
Isaiah 49:23

"I will sing about the Lord's faithful love forever; 
I will proclaim Your faithfulness to all generations with my mouth."
Psalm 89:1

13 comments:

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  2. So excited for you both!

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  3. Ericka I am so so so thrilled for you and Rusty!!! What an encouraging post to read! I still remember the day you told me about the Lord leading and confirming you to adopt that night at Brookhills. What a blessed journey. I will be praying for you throughout the coming process and CANNOT WAIT to meet your sweet baby girl soon!

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    1. Thank you Dorothy! We have thought back to that night at Brookhills a lot lately... what a special, sacred journey God began in our hearts that night! It has been INCREDIBLE to see His hand in each step since then! Can't wait for our sweet Kate to meet you! ;)

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  4. We are SO happy for you! May the joy of the LORD be your strength as you get through this next bit to bring your baby girl home.

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  5. ahhh!! I'm crying too!! Ericka, I am SO incredibly happy for you guys!!! What a sweet feeling to know that God has opened this door for your family. I'm just so happy I can't even type. Praise the Lord who moves in the hearts of man to bring about His good and perfect will! Love you!!

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    1. Thank you sweet friend!!! I have been a blubbering mess for days! Every day some new realization sets in and I get emotional all over again. We are just so grateful to God who has done this for us! Can't wait to see you and celebrate in person - let's do lunch soon! xoxo

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  6. I'm so excited for you. I am currently working at an orphanage in South Africa and know how special this is from the kids side. What a blessing you are to her and she will be to you. I will be praying for all three of you. YEAH JESUS.

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    1. Thank you Becca! I think we feel the weight of it differently than most couples too, after having worked with orphans around the world for so long. I wish we could adopt all our sweet kids in Thailand, Burma, Africa, and India... but I'm grateful we can be a Forever Family for at least one!

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  7. I have been following your blog for a while, and I just wanted to say congratulations on the wonderful news! My husband and I are also adopting a little girl from Thailand. Our dossier has been approved, and we are currently waiting for our referral.

    You are in my thoughts and prayers. God bless!
    Lynn

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    1. Thank you Lynn! Where are you guys located? Do you have a blog? I'd love to connect with you since there are so few Thai adoptions in the US. My email is erickabennett (at) gmail (dot) com if you ever want to shoot me a message! :)

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