Waiting

Praise be to God our Father for his abundant blessings! Tuesday morning came...Will and I stood in the kitchen, hands on top of the dossier and we prayed over it. I had double checked, triple checked, put everything in the correct order...everything physically was done. We had been praying and praying and praying...asking God to reveal to us if there was anything not correct, that we would be able to correct it before turning in the dossier. We had peace - so we trusted it all was there... and probably secretly hoping we weren't "out to lunch" and missed the memo from God that something needed to be fixed.

I dropped the little guy off at pre-school and then made my way over to Pensacola. What a beautiful morning - just the Lord and me - what an awesome time to just worship! After arriving, I sat down and met with our case worker and we went over the dossier page by page...checking and double checking that it was all correct. My heart was pounding as we went down the check list - I was breathing easier and easier as she checked the items off as we made our way down the list. She got to our bank statements...the cover letter was signed by the teller who printed the statements. There suddenly was a question as to if this was acceptable or if it needed to be the bank president who signed the letter. My heart sank...no check mark.

We continued on and made it through the rest of the check list - just a couple of other things we needed to re-copy, but everything was in place. Except the bank statements were in question. I was told we'd have to wait and check with the home office to see what we needed to do. My heart was still in my shoes.

But then, I heard this voice...the voice said, "check the detailed check list". I looked down, and realized at that moment, I had the rest of the dossier packet in my lap. This had all the ancillary information, instructions, etc... and a detailed check list which outlined how each document of the dossier is to be handled, how it has to be written, etc... again, I heard, "check the detailed check list." So I quickly flipped through the pages to find the detailed check list and what it said about the bank statements. I read it aloud... "A copy of your most recent bank statement needs to be obtained from your bank or credit union and signed by a bank or credit union representative and notarized."

She went back to her check list, put a check mark and said, that's all I needed to know! You guys are good to go! Thank you, Jesus for speaking to me...letting me know that we did indeed have the dossier in complete order without do-overs. How awesome is He? God IS in control of everything; He was right there, going over the check list with us and had His hand on it and giving direction and instruction. This is His plan, this is His doing and all glory, honor and praise goes to Him!

The dossier is going to the home office, then after they check it once more, it will then go to Washington DC to be authenticated. So the good news...We are OFFICIALLY waiting!

And the unofficial referral...we are celebrating! The baby has a forever family! It is not us - but we are soooo happy for the baby and his family! There is now minus 1 orphaned child in this world! God gave us a taste...God gave us the gift of the unofficial referral for His purposes to fulfill His plan in this journey. We don't know why - but we aren't to ask why, we are to simply say, here we are Lord, we will follow where you lead. And the road has been anything but straight and smooth - but we obey and trust and share the story of the great and wonderful things God is doing along the way.

Have a blessed Labor Day!