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How Precious is His Lovingkindness

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"Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us; and confirm for us the work of our hands; Yes, confirm the work of our hands." Psalm 90:17

Things have been anything but calm and quiet on the home front.  We moved into our new house at the beginning of June and are finally feeling settled.  Summer has been flying by as our days are filled with fun; LOTS of playing, swimming, camps, therapies, and time with friends.

But the adoption side has been quiet.

Everything happened so quickly with finding out Steven was still in Ch*na, getting his file, and moving.  But suddenly everything has come to a screeching halt as we wait for our home study to be wrapped up and approved.  Part of that is because of the move.  But overall, this part of the process seems to be taking longer than what we have experienced in the past.

Frustration and doubt can mount in the wait.  The enemy has tried repeatedly to fill me with his lies.  And when things are quiet, it is easier to question.  But I have been digging deep into His word, where in the TRUTH He gently reminds me that He is still working, even in the absence of motion.  And He has been so gracious to give us glimpses of His love for us, and for Steven, as He works on the details that are far beyond my comprehension, to finish the good work He began.

Thank you, Lord, for these unexpected gifts, and forgive me for my moments of doubt...

~Countless Prayers~
So many friends have reached out to ask where we are in the process and to let us know they are praying.  Prayer for one another unleashes the power of God for the Glory of God (I was reminded of this last Sunday, thank you David!).

~A medical expedite letter~
The pediatrician who reviewed Steven's file for us also happens to be well versed on international adoption and an adoptive mama herself.  She wrote a letter requesting our adoption be expedited.  This is not easy and generally not granted from the US side of things unless it is life-threatening.  Our agency has agreed to support us in the expedite request.  They only do so under special circumstances because they want to respect the urgency of these requests and only make them when absolutely necessary.  While Steven is currently stable, his condition can be (and has been) life-threatening for him.  We are praying that God will stir the hearts of those who review our information and grant us the expedite.  We can't begin this request until we have our home study approved. 

~A love note with prayers~
A precious friend's little girl wrote us the sweetest note saying she was praying for us and that Steven could come home soon.  The prayers of a child are especially precious.

~A carwash donation~
There are two other families from our church who are also adopting and they have become some of our best friends.  Another family, who is beyond thoughtful and radiates the love of Christ, held a carwash at their home.  It was their children's idea.  They washed cars, collected money, and then split the money raised between us and the other two families.  Oh my heart.  We had no idea they were doing this. What a beautiful gift of love and sacrifice.

~A timely connection~
Michael and I have been having a lot of discussions about what kind of treatment Steven will need when he gets home.  We know it is going to be intense and we know that he is going to require specialized care.  Because of his special need and the life-threatening complications he has already suffered in his short little life, we have been looking into children's hospitals outside of our state that are "extra specialized" in his condition.  We were really focusing on one hospital and I had contacted them to begin setting up conversations to help us decide. Then just yesterday, a conversation with an adoption friend turned into her introducing me to another adoptive mama.  Both of these adoptive mamas are a wealth of information and encouragement, as both of their sons share Steven's special need.  As it turns out, this new friend has developed a deep level of trust and friendship with her son's surgeon (from the same hospital we were researching...although she recently transferred to another amazing children's hospital).  This new friend gave me the doctor's email address so I emailed her to introduce myself and asked if she would be willing to review Steven's file.  Within a few hours she and I emailed back and forth a couple of times.  This is HUGE.  She is now reviewing his file and instead of talking through hospital administrators and nurses, I am speaking directly to a specialty doctor who could potentially be Steven's surgeon.  Huge.

His hand is in every detail.  

And for those of you who are detail-oriented like me, here's a little more information about what will come next, in His good and perfect timing:

-Home study reviewed and approved by agency
-Home study reviewed and approved by SC Department of Social Services
-Apply to USCIS (US Citizenship and Immigration Services - Application for Determination for Suitability to Adopt a Child from a Convention Country); this the first part where we can submit the expedite letter.  We have been told it is "unlikely" to get approved, but we are praying big prayers!
-Receive fingerprint appointment notice
-Get fingerprints and wait for approval from USCIS
-Once we have the approval, we can gather all of the documents we have collected and get everything notarized, and then authenticated through South Carolina as well as the US State Dept and the Chinese Embassy
-Then we can FINALLY send all of our paperwork to Ch*na! At this stage, if USCIS did not approve our expedite request, we can try again here to see if Ch*na would be willing to move a little quicker for us in translating and approving everything.

Thank you all for your prayers.  We appreciate them!

"How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! And the children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings. They drink their fill of the abundance of Your house; And you give them to drink of the river of Your delights. For with You is the fountain of life; In your light we see light. O continue Your lovingkindness to those who know you. And your righteousness to the upright in heart. Let not the foot of pride come upon me, And let not the hand of the wicked drive me away." Psalm 36:7-11

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