Adoption Update...sort of...

I would love to post a glowing update of how the legal end of things are moving right along, but the truth is...they aren't really.  We are still waiting for a court date to gain legal guardianship.  We do know that our case has been assigned to a judge, so now we just wait.  We think things got really slowed down by elections and the political tension that we have had.  (We are still very thankful that, for the most part, things have been peaceful!)  At some point, we may have to make a difficult decision to push our furlough off for 6 months, but we aren't to that point yet.  We are still aiming to go to America this fall.

On the home front however, our adoption is coming right along.  We praise the Lord that he continues to knit our family together emotionally.  Last night I was reading through our blog from years ago when we were trying to bring Matthew and Jimmy home.  We missed so much of their lives while we were waiting for the legal stuff to happen!  What a huge gift that God has given us to be able to have fostering care of Denise while we wait for the judge's decision and a visa!

In about 5 weeks we will cross the one year mark of her being with us.  I often stand in awe of how well things have gone this past year.  It truly has been God's grace to our family.  Her English, her reading, her health and so many other little things have improved so much over this year!  While one year is certainly a milestone for our family, it will also be a difficult time for her since it is also the one year anniversary of her grandmother's passing.  She, rightfully so, misses her grandmother dearly.  We continue to trust the Lord that in the coming years, he will bring about even greater healing in her heart, an even deeper level of attachment, trust and adjustment as we move through life as one family.

We would appreciate prayer!  Pray that we get a court date soon.  Pray that God will continue to knit our family together.  Pray that God will bless Denise with strength and comfort in the upcoming days.
And pray for wisdom and that God would prepare little hearts if we do need to push off furlough a bit.

**UPDATE ON WEDNESDAY!**  And we have a court date!!!!  Praise the Lord with us!!  We are SO excited!

This is a picture of our compound (one wing of our house in the front and the Magala's house in the back).  This afternoon, Eric and I climbed the crazy building that is being "somehow" constructed next door.  Everything is a bit dry and dusty, but it's nice to see our flowers blooming! Hopefully the rains will come again soon.