The good news, and the bad news...

We received wonderful news yesterday!!! All of the required medical paperwork came back for our oldest son. Both boys are very healthy and free of communicable diseases! Praise the Lord! Now that we have that information, we are just waiting to hear when the court date is, and the following travel dates. We are still praying for January. Our bad news is that we also found out that our agency will close its doors this coming Friday and not reopen until January 2nd!!! That means, even if we have a court date, we will not hear about it until after the holidays. That was difficult news for us, since we are waiting every day with baited breath to hear any news. Praise God that He is still in control! Thank you Lord for two healthy boys!
Believing Him,
Jeff and Mer

Blessings Showered Down

This last weekend was full of so many blessings! Jeff's parents came to NC for a weekend visit. Just before they left they said, "We don't feel like we need to worry half as much about you two down here in NC by yourselves. We can see now how loved you are by those around you!" That is the truth!!! God has been so good to richly bless us with friends and church family that have just taken us in with one big Southern hospitality hug! On Saturday a few of Meredith's coworkers threw a shower for her. We were overwhelmed by how generous and thoughtful these coworkers were, only having known Meredith for four months! Sunday the showers of blessing continued to fall, as our Sunday School Class at church also threw us a shower! We continue to stand in awe of how God chooses to use others in our lives to provide and wrap us up in His love!!
Believing Him,
Jeff and Mer

Some Even BETTER News....

Just wanted to send a quick update- While we were waiting to hear news about if the boys were moved to the foster home or not, we instead received the updated medical records and physical paperwork on our youngest son!!! That means he has been in the foster home since before Thanksgiving! Most likely our older son is also there as well, but we have not received the paperwork on him as of yet. We were not expecting the medical results back until after Christmas, so once again....we are one step closer to bringing the boys home. All of the paperwork looks great, he is a healthy little boy, PRAISE GOD!! Once we have the medical paperwork back on our oldest son, the agency can apply for the official court date! What an amazing Christmas present to us! Please keep praying with us that the rest of the paperwork will be completed quickly, and that God would continue to comfort us while we are a part from our sons!

Some good news

Thank you for continuing to keep our growing family in your prayers! It has been a long month with hardly any news! The next step that we have been waiting for is the boys to be moved to the transition/foster home in the capital of Ethiopia,which is run by the adoption agency. There has been a waiting list, but we did hear news from our case manager that the boys were scheduled to be moved on Tuesday, November 27th. We are still waiting on confirmation that the move occurred. Please pray that they would be comforted in the midst of the move away from the only surroundings they have known at the orphanage. A huge praise is that once they have moved to the foster home, they will be getting complete physicals and better medical care. Of course it also means they are one step closer to coming home with us!!! Once they have completed their medical physicals, the agency can apply for a court date to complete the adoption in Ethiopia. We will then be able to travel anywhere from 3-8 weeks after that. Yes, it is difficult to not know the exact timing, but God is still so wonderful and in control!
Believing Him,
Jeff and Mer