Shopping Therapy

We got precious pictures of Cole today! Looks like he may be a thumbsucker. I've never had one of those before! I didn't expect the bittersweet feeling I felt upon seeing how much he had changed.



I had to deal with it somehow and what better way than a really great sale?
It was so fun to get some matching things for my boys at Babies R Us! Couldn't go too crazy since sizes are iffy but hopefully these things will work out for next fall!





We were also so blessed at Christmas to receive a cute outfit for him, a great stack of books (just need a bookshelf now - Pops: hint, hint), and some sweet little room decor signs. Yeah, this is really happening!

Christmas Memories

We had a wonderful time journeying to Texas to see families & friends. In 7 days we managed to see all of our immediate families & grandparents plus two great college friends & families too. So blessed! We spent so much time in the car and I am pretty sure I have "Mary Poppins" completely memorized since the kids watched it at least 5 times. Here are a few pics...

Celebrating Cole

It has finally sunk in and feels soooo great to know about Cole, to be praying for him, to think about what he is doing in this moment.

Here is the long story of when we first found out about him over a month ago...

Friday, Nov. 7th: we had been keeping a friend’s two kiddos while she & her husband were out of town. Another friend of hers was going to come get them at 2 pm. The phone rings at 1:50 pm – I don’t recognize the number but thought maybe it was this friend needing directions. I am not in the habit of answering unrecognizable numbers especially since we had been getting 5-6 phone calls a day about the election.
It was not the friend but instead, Tami, the director from Dillon. I did not think in any way she was calling about a referral. 1) we were #11 on the list and 2) we did not have our I-800A approved yet (although this came shortly after). Sure enough, we talk about a couple of other things and then she says, “There is a baby boy I’d like to talk to you about….”
Keep in mind the time. It’s now 1:55 pm or so. I have two extra kids at my house and they are supposed to leave in 5 minutes to go to the next house.

The worst thing imaginable happens as the doorbell rings while Tami is sharing this little boy’s information with me and I have to ask her to stop, if she can call back in 10 minutes. Torture! The kids get on their way and while I’m waiting for her to call back, I quickly call Mark at work and blurt out what little I know.
Now, for those of you who do not know my husband, let me fill you in on something. He is a planner, very detail oriented, a task master. So you can imagine his shock & unrest when I rapidly tell him I’m waiting for Tami to call back and give me the rest of the information on this baby.

She does call back and gives me more information. It was a very confusing time for us because of challenges he'd endured. I always thought the referral day would be joyful and happy and full of YES! But it wasn’t. We were torn between staring at his sweet face, praying for God’s will and trying to determine if his challenges were things that would fit into our family. We contacted our pediatrician & Mark’s dad (who is an oral surgeon). We had to wait to hear back for days. It was excruciating. All the while we are trying to talk about “If this happens, we need to do this…” but not trying to get ahead of ourselves either. The name issue was another area of confusion. We had talked names before but now there was this balance of “we need a name now” and “if this is not our child, we don’t need a name yet”.

We finally were advised to have one more test done and that process about ruined me. I am usually a patient person and was for the most of this wait but towards the end, I succombed to my feelings and allowed them to take over my life! It was not pretty.

In the end, I learned a lot about waiting and trusting (which I'm sure I'll learn again in the coming months) and am so, so happy it is a good ending. Now I almost panic when I think I have to be ready for another child in 6 months. There is so much to do!

One thing I am so very excited about is how close Nate & Cole are in age (12 months, 19 days) and they are also summer babies so hopefully Cole will eventually fit into all of Nate's hand me down clothes. I was very sad that Lucy and Nate were so far apart in age (3.5 years) but of course now I can see God's plan in that - Lucy is so independent and such a great helper. But she & Nate are just now starting to play and interact with each other. That won't be the case for Nate & Cole and I can't wait to watch their friendship unfold!

To celebrate, we went out to dinner on Sunday (Cole's 6 month birthday)! A long time ago, we had talked about going to the local Indian restaurant whenever we accepted a referral but no, we found ourselves at Red Robin! (It helped that we had a gift certificate for a free kid's meal.) I'm not adventurous at all with food and really have very simple taste and so it's going to be interesting for me whenever we travel. :)

Here are Nate & Lucy with their balloons from the restaurant.

FINALLY!!!!

We got our referral call on Friday, November 7th - that's 5 weeks ago!! This part of the experience is nothing like I imagined or hoped it would be but here we are and...

WE HAVE A SON!!!

To make a long story short (and I will post the long version soon), our little guy has had some struggles and we needed an extra medical test done. That took for-ev-er. But with that done and lots of prayer and lots and lots of waiting, we can joyfully introduce you to

Cole Debjit Drinkard

born June 14, 2008

Here is our first glimpse of him:



And here he is at 4 months:



This is the day the Lord has made; let us REJOICE and be glad in it!
Psalm 118:24

Christmas pictures...not so much

It is impossible for us to get good christmas photos and this year was no exception. I decided to leave Mark & I out of it this year (everyone wants to see the kids anyways!) and thought maybe it would be easier to get a good shot of Lucy & Nate in their matching pj's. Yeah, right.
Lucy was over-posing with too much drama: tilting the head, pointing out the toe, smiling too cheesy! Nate was being a stubborn toddler boy who would only sit down 2 feet away from his sister, scream if she scooted closer to him and refuse to look at the camera directly. Thankfully, due to the handy tools on microsoft picture manager, I was able to salvage two individual shots of them looking somewhat normal. Maybe next year a sibling shot will work? Here are some of our failures. They amuse me now!

A big step done!

We just found out that our I800A is approved for our adoption! This is about 3 1/2 weeks sooner than the 90 day estimate we were given. :)

So thankful for another step crossed off!

Five

Lucy turned 5 today! Hard to believe....

Here she is last night going to bed on her special birthday pillowcase as a 4 year old:

Having lunch on the birthday plate:


New pillowcase from Nan & Pops:

New boots from Grandma & Grandpa:

Someone else likes the new boots:

Five!!!:


She spent the special day at school, the doctor's (***see below), & dinner at restaurant of her choice. She chose "Old McDonald's" but in order for Mark to meet us at a decent time we had to pick one farther from our house. It ended up being one that was split with a gas station in not the nicest area without a playground! Some birthday dinner! But it didn't bother her one bit! :)

Thanks to everyone who made her day special! Kalee - she LOVED hearing y'all sing on the answering maching and Gretch - she is sleeping with her horsie tonight (named him 'Rainbow Scout')

***We went back to the plastic surgeon today for a check up on her stitches. He cut the rest of them out and said it should start healing now. She still wants the bandaid on and I don't blame her!

Wake Up Call

Yesterday the sermon we were blessed to hear was about the benefits of knowing God. Truly knowing who He is and being blessed by His attributes and character as opposed to knowing Him in a way that fits our thinking and logic and missing out on the blessings of His true nature! It really spoke to my heart and one thing that resonated with me was God's immutability, or the fact that He never changes. It was specifically said that our lives could change at 3 o'clock that afternoon and what peace & hope there is in the fact that God is there, never changing, always knowing.

Well, for us it wasn't 3 o'clock, it was closer to 8. Lucy fell off the couch onto the corner of the coffee table. Even now, my heart is still beating faster than it should. There was blood everwhere, all over Mark, all over me, all over the bathroom hand towel I grabbed on the way out the door. Mark sped us to the ER while I held Lucy in the backseat. I was doing okay as long as I didn't look at her head (it was the deepest, widest hole right between her eyes) but when she started fading like she was going to fall asleep, I (in my ignorant medical knowledge) began to panic thinking sleep was bad after a head wound - which in some cases it is but not in this one. So I was literally shouting at her to keep her eyes open and to talk to me as Mark is running red lights here and there and 10 minutes to get to the hospital is starting to feel like 10 hours.

2 hours later and after a plastic surgeon masterfully sewed her up, we were on our way home. My beautiful girl is still beautiful but will have a new feature to her delicate face. I know it will fade in time and one day she can wear Arbonne makeup :), but I just hate the thoughts of "what if" and I "should have done this". Of course, I am so grateful that in the end it turned out to be a cosmetic issue, not a life threatening one but in the emotions of the moment, my sinful mind wandered and went down paths no parent likes to ever think about.

In the end, I am thankful for the reminders God taught me in church that morning. That He is faithful, He is here, He never changes. I can not imagine going through something like that or something worse without Him.

P.S. I'll spare you the pictures for now. Maybe someday I can post before and after pictures when the scar has faded. :)

Fun pictures

Nate helping Grandpa after we ripped out carpet:




Lucy and her friend jumping in a big leaf pile:

Trying to help

If anyone out there is looking to raise money for a worthy cause, I would love to help support you through my business with Arbonne. And I truly mean that out of a way to bless others - I do not get any profit from such an event; in fact, I would be simply donating my profits to you.

My family has been blessed so far by our affiliation with Arbonne and I feel moved to bless others - that is the bottom line!

I am not trying to solicit, deceive, weasle anyone. So if you're interested in raising some bucks for your team, your family, your church, etc. please let me know and I would be delighted to serve you.

Change is coming...

As a Christian, I know that God is sovereign, that He is in control, that as my friend Heather put so eloquently, "the future is history for God." But God does not promise an easy road without suffering. We still live in a fallen, evil world so my concern now comes in full force.

I believe the country has spoken through the election and that change is coming. I don't mean change in the economy, or the wars, or the energy sources. I mean change in the sense of what is right and what is wrong, of who gets a voice and who doesn't. When you open the door for sin to enter, it doesn't politely or timidly allow itself in. No, it explodes through with full force. What we barely tolerate today in our culture will be the norm in a few years. Things we couldn't fathom tolerating will become issues of major controversy in the near future.

As a parent, I am disappointed for my children and the fact that the road ahead will be so much harder for them than it was for me. I am spurred on to make sure they are prepared with the truth of the gospel so that they will be able to handle being different from the changing American culture.

Here is an excerpt from a thoughtful article on the current situation, highlighting where my heart is & was during this election:

Yet, the issues and the politics remain. Given the scale of the Democratic victory, the political landscape will be completely reshaped. The fight for the dignity and sanctity of unborn human beings has been set back by a great loss, and by the election of a President who has announced his intention to sign the Freedom of Choice Act into law. The struggle to protect marriage against its destruction by redefinition is now complicated by the election of a President who has declared his aim to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act. On issue after issue, we face a longer, harder, and more protracted struggle than ever before.

Still, we must press on as advocates for the unborn, for the elderly, for the infirm, and for the vulnerable. We must redouble our efforts to defend marriage and the integrity of the family. We must be vigilant to protect religious liberty and the freedom of the pulpit. We face awesome battles ahead.

You can read the whole article on Albert Mohler's blog.

Halloween Fun

Here are some pictures from our week of Halloween fun! Lucy was a Texas Aggie cheerleader and Nate was an alligator! We had a fun time trick or treating with friends first at the mall and then in our neighborhood. We have LOTS of candy now!

Funny...

Well Said

This short video articulates much better than my attempt to describe my feelings on the life issue:

two weeks

i've always heard you should avoid talking about religion and politics with people so if you are one who agrees with that, then you may want to stop reading because you are likely to be offended. Sorry about that.

But in two weeks our country will face a milestone. And it truly does come down to one issue: life. Because if a person values life, then the rest of his policies, ideals, visions, and plans become more trustworthy. If a person values life - whether an unborn baby's or one who is mentally or physically challenged or even one who has lived decades and has gained more knowledge and wisdom and experience than most but may have trouble expressing himself due to the body's failings and limitations... This person will make his choices for the good of human life - ALL human life.

I don't agree with either candidate 100% but I know which one is more trustworthy.

There are some really good things to read that you may not have heard before at our friend's page: www.gloriousruin.wordpress.com

Adoption T Shirts for sale

Great News!

My friend Melissa is willing to make some more adoption t-shirts (see previous post).

She is charging $20 per shirt and you can email her at melissa.m.milliken@gmail.com to let her know what you'd like yours to say, what size shirt, etc. and she will take it from there!

I wore mine to our MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) meeting this week and had some great conversations about adoption (after everyone first tried to subtly glance down at my stomach). :)

God provides!

Yeah - we're now up to #12! Of course until our I800 (immmigration paperwork) is approved we can not be matched with a child so hopefully that will fall into place soon!

On another note, my friend Melissa blessed me in a huge way today. She brought over the sweetest gifts: a cute soft cuddly blanket for baby boy and an awesome adoption t shirt that she made for me! I love it!!! Such great timing and provision after my pity party post the other day about not being pregnant but still 'expecting' blah blah blah.



I can't wait to wear it out and count how many times I'm asked "When are you due?" :) It will be great opportunity to talk about international adoption, India, God's heart for the nations and all other sorts of fun topics!

October Fun

We went to a great Pumpkin Patch this morning and picked out 3 pumpkins (one for Lucy, one for Nate, one for kiddo #3). It was a lot of fun!

Lucy



Nate



My favorite people ever:



He was explaining something very seriously here in jibberish, of course!



In the corn maze: Lucy led us right through with no wrong turns!

Moving along

Yeah! We're up another notch on our waiting list! Every move makes it more real and more exciting! It's been great to see babes matched with their families recently - what a blessing to witness God's divine intervention, working on both sides of the world to intertwine lives that otherwise would never have crossed paths.

I also have been told that the majority of the families in front of us are waiting to be blessed with the addition of a little girl so maybe that will mean a shorter wait for us since we are hoping to add another boy to our family! All in His timing, of course, but Nate is getting "big" fast and my hands & arms are itching for a new little one to snuggle!

Many of my friends are newly pregnant -- I will never understand how pregnancy seems to sweep across like an epidemic :) -- and it has been interesting and humbling for me to watch as they are showered daily with questions of "How are you feeling? Will you find out what you're having?" and all the other fun & exciting thoughts that go along with a pregnancy. I feel blessed that I experienced the joy of that attention & time period two times for myself.

But now being "paper pregnant", I catch myself feeling sorry for myself because I don't have the baby bump or the excuse to buy new maternity clothes or to radiate that pregnancy glow. My dearest friends who are joining us on this journey through prayer & support encourage me in a similar way "How is the waiting? Have you thought any more about names?" for which I am so grateful. And the Lord has reminded me gently and is using my current state of mind to teach me a familiar lesson - it is not about me! We are not adopting for us; we are adopting in obedience to His Word and in hopes of glorifying Him through that obedience. Of course the blessings that will abound from this one act will be plentiful someday (both here and in heaven) and I look forward to those. In the meantime, I will wake up each day and ask again for God to put me aside and to honor Him and others first.

Are you kidding me?

Cubs Postseason Skid Reaches Nine

Tell me why do I even allow myself to hope at all?

This is killin' me, smalls.

Funnies

Lucy came home from school the other day telling me all about her science class.

She said, "I know what these bones are called!" pointing to her ribs.

I asked her "What are they called?"

Her answer: "Strips!"

Also, Mark was hitting a ball off his wrist and she said, "You're really good at hitting that ball off your nickel!"

So maybe she won't be pre-med someday...:)

California fun

Mark & I really enjoyed ourselves in beautiful California last weekend. The picture from my last post was just a random google pic but turns out to be exactly where we were! Here is a picture of our hotel:



I traveled all day Thursday and even had a two hour lay over in Vegas. They have slot machines right in the airport! Needless to say, there were some interesting sights & people to see while I waited for my plane.

Friday morning Mark went to his conference and I attempted to sleep in. Of course they are two hours behind so I was up at 7 am! Who knew California would make me a morning person? :) I enjoyed taking my time getting ready and watching Fox News on cable (something I have sorely missed especially during the election) and then went for a walk around town and on the beach.

Mark was done at lunch and we decided to drive to Anaheim to spend the rest of the day at Disneyland! Ever since we went to Disneyworld in 2005, it has become my favorite place ever. This was almost as fun but it will be much better with the kids along when we go next year. It was all decked out for Halloween:



The kids did so great with Mark's mom which makes me feel better about whenever we go to India...someday. Now I feel rested and ready to get back to a full and busy schedule!

See you later!

I'm going to join my husband tomorrow on his business trip in Santa Barbara! Yeah for almost 48 hours alone. Thankfully my mother-in-law is here to keep our kiddos so no worries as I fly across the country to paradise!

Here we go!

Chicago Cubs: NL Central Champs! Off to the playoffs!

Will this be our year?

Provision

We got our fingerprints done today by Homeland Security. We were in and out in 15 minutes although it took us 30 minutes to get there and back. :)

When we first got our appointment, I worried about what to do with our kids. Would we have to wake them up super early, haul them downtown, contain & entertain them in the federal building and then adjust to their grumpiness for the rest of the day? Well if so, then we'd deal with it. But God had other plans and He provided for us yet again.

A dear friend from my Bible study offered on her own to come over and stay at our house so the kids could sleep in and have their normal morning routine. I was so touched and appreciative especially since I had already worked up the courage to ask someone else and was told no.

We are grateful to have one more step behind us and look forward to crossing off many more in the future. And we are reminded yet again of God's hand in all of this, His divine plan for growing our family and how He deserves to receive the glory for all He has done!

Wonderful Idea

My friend, Jessica, recently began her business selling Uppercase Living products, vinyl decorative lettering you can add to walls, appliances, dishes and more. This stuff is so neat!

Here is a picture of one that I added to Nate's room. It says "Play Ball" and was so easy to apply:


You can see the whole catalog online at www.uppercaseliving.com. Great for Christmas gifts, too! If you're interested in learning more, let me know and I will get you in contact with her.

News

We moved up a notch today on the adoption waiting list since a family accepted a referral of the most beautiful baby boy! It feels great to take this first step of movement, tiny though it may be.

We are so disappointed in Hurricane Ike's plans since Grandma & Grandpa were scheduled to come visit this weekend and now need to stay closer to home to keep animals safe and fix any damage he causes.

We are enjoying being back in a routine with preschool, mops & bible study. It makes me so much more productive to have to get up and get moving in the morning! Lucy enjoys school and is coming home with all kinds of information from "Did you know the dinosaurs are extinct?" to "We are learning about skeletons in science."

Natey is on a sleeping kick lately (no, i am not complaining about this) - must be having a growth spurt. It seems I am always having to wake him so we can go one place or another. Besides his bout of separation anxiety a.k.a permanently attached to my hip, he is happy & healthy & keeping us laughing!

Blessings abound....

First Day

Lucy had her first day of Pre-K today. She was very excited to go, singing a little "I'm excited about school" song the whole way there. Walked right in and didn't look back! No surprises there. Here she is on the back deck and also on the front porch (with her school bag that she decorated) for the traditional first day pics:



And here is the after picture, still smiles but with a bloody cheek! (She fell on the playground!)

Article

My brother sent me this article today regarding adoption and politics. I think it's great that adoption has become so popular even if done by less than ideal candidates (some Hollywood names come to mind) but like being 'green' it is "in" to adopt. Whatever. In the end, awareness is up, finanical help is becoming more & more available and most importantly, kids are finding families.

Here is an excerpt:

"If John McCain is looking for a way to shore up his support among evangelical voters, he might start talking about adoption. In 1993, the McCains adopted a daughter from Mother Teresa's orphanage in Bangladesh, and the senator has co-sponsored legislation to aid adoption, including measures that would provide tax credits for expenses and would remove barriers to interracial and interethnic adoption. But his efforts are rarely mentioned on the campaign trail at a time when adoption is a hot topic in the evangelical community."

You can read the whole thing by clicking here.

DONE!!!!!!

We got our last document in the mail today and then rushed everything off to UPS this afternoon. It should reach our agency by Tuesday and IF all looks good, we will go on the waiting list at that point! There will be a few tasks here and there but the next major news will be a picture of our son! (This could be months and months down the road...)

I was overwhelmed with emotion on the way to UPS (so much so that I drove entirely the wrong way and had to turn around). But I was so humbled and grateful to have this opportunity to adopt. I have seen and heard of some real sad things happening in other people's families lately and I just am truly thankful for God's faithfulness through good times and bad as well as His provision, timing and sovereignty.

Completing this dossier was definitely the most challenging phase yet but I can look at it now as a way for God to grow me and to experience perspective as well.

So for now (praying all goes well on Tuesday), our official answer to all adoption questions will be "We are waiting!"

Growing Boy

"I'm hungry!"

Going to the zoo, zoo, zoo...

To celebrate our high temperature of 82 degrees today we went with friends to the St. Louis Zoo. It was a great day, we only spent $2 (so Lucy could ride the carousel), and everyone came home and took really great naps in the afternoon.

A Lesson in Humility & Patience

It's been an eventful day around here and it's only just after 2 pm. I got a phone call this morning from the Missouri Sec of State's office saying all but one of our documents is able to be apostilled. Can you guess which one was invalid? Yep. The bank letter. The notary left off some detail and so it's going to be sent back to us incomplete. Which means another trip to the bank sometime next week to try again. A lesson in patience.

So if it's not enough to have a reputation at the bank for being troublesome, we can now add our local trash service. Last week when I went to get the mail I noticed everyone's trash had been collected but ours. I came in and tried to find the contact information for the company, was unsuccessful and then quickly distracted by other tasks. Fast forward another week later, to today. We now have 2 weeks of trash out on our curb and I am waiting by the window for the truck. Sure enough, they get to our house, pause, the man hanging off the back shakes his head no and they start to drive on.

Immediately, I rush down the stairs and out the door and down the street. Wet hair from the shower, no makeup. "Excuse me, why won't yall pick up our trash?" I yell as I get closer. The man who hangs off the back shakes his head again and walks slowly toward me as I am running in his direction. "You don't have service." He even gets on his walkie talkie and confirms that indeed, our address is "no good". "What? Surely we pay for service. We pay a million other bills for water, electricity, phone, mortgage. We don't have extra money lying around and you have been picking up our trash for the 10 months we've lived here." "Sorry, lady."

So I head back to the house, haul our two weeks of trash back to the garage and go inside to sign up for service. Next Thursday they will have their hands full with three weeks of waste from our family. A lesson in humility.

I've been convicted since this incident in the manner in which I conducted myself with the trash guy and with the bank lady. In one case I was in the right and the other case I was in the wrong. But regardless, I should have presented myself and my case with the light of Christ, with humility and love for others above myself, my circumstances and my needs. It looks like I will have a chance to rectify my dealings with the bank lady when I return next week and I just may have to chase down my trash guy next week with an apology. Thank you, Lord, for teaching me humility and patience.

Adoption Update

Yesterday, after two treks to the bank (thankfully, it's not far but it was one of the hottest days of the year) and a leeeennnnggggttthhhyyy phone call to customor service we were able to get our reference letter from our bank! And we got an apology, too. :)

So we sent off the last of our documents to the Sec of State to be apostilled. Once we receive everything back (coming from 4 different locations: CA, TX, GA, MO) we will send it off to our agency and go on the waiting list for our little boy!

Thanks for the prayers!

Almost Done!

We got the very last document we needed for our dossier in the mail today only to have it arrive without being notarized! It's a statement from our bank showing our average balance, etc. They charged us $10 to even get this form and assured me it could be notarized. So Mark went to them this morning to see about getting it notarized and they refused! Something about not being able to notarize their own signatures.

So on Monday, Lucy, Nate & I will have to seek the higher ups and see about getting this done. Look out Bank President Person! We have a baby waiting for us!

What a story of perseverance we will be able to tell our son one day about getting him home to our family!

On that note, I want to publicly thank and acknowledge Amy R., the Williams and Amanda N. for going above and beyond the call of friendship to help us out with the adoption. We were extremely humbled and moved by your words of encouragement and acceptance. Thank you so much for contributing to our family in such a way!

Winner

Congrats to Cristina of zigzags and tangents on winning the 5 x 7 frame!

Thanks to everyone for participating!

15% off all dream maker orders until Sept 1, 2008.

Giveaway - Free Frame with Custom Embroidery

It's time for another Bloggy Carnival's giveaway!







I am giving away a free 5 x 7 black frame with your choice of embroidery design inside. Visit my website to see an example of a frame. (Click on Around the house to see frames.) Possiblities include
birth statistics, wedding date, Scripture, quotes and more.



Leave a comment with your name by midnight on Friday, August 1st. I will post the winner sometime on Saturday! Be sure to leave a way for me to contact you or just check back on Saturday to see who won!

Thanks!

Big Savings

One of my favorite blogs is having a big sale on helpful ebooks for saving money, living on one income, household management, grocery shopping and more! She only spends $35 a week to buy groceries & household items for her family of four!

Over $100 in course materials for $5.97 today only. Tomorrow it will be up $3.

Click Here!

For more information visit these blogs: Money Saving Mom and Biblical Womanhood.

One step forward...two steps back!!

I got my passport today! FYI, if you're in the market for a passport, don't pay the extra $90 for expedited guaranteed two week service. Mine came in 10 days when it was supposed to take 4 weeks! We are just waiting on a few more documents and we can send off our dossier and officially join the waiting list.

The Indian government has licensed our orphanage so things are moving along after months of inactivity. Quite a few families received referrals last week so the list is getting shorter.

On the other hand, the US Dept of Homeland Security called today and said I forgot to include our money with one of our immigration forms. Oops. Trying to return a call to that office is difficult as you could imagine - they're pretty busy protecting our country and all - so now things in that area are stalled! I am definitely kicking myself over this.

God's timing, God's timing, God's timing. I repeat this again and again and again!