Answered Prayer

Psalm 140:12-13 "I know that the LORD will maintain the cause of the afflicted and justice for the poor. Surely the righteous will give thanks to Your name; The upright will dwell in Your presence."

Today we are thanking God for answering a specific prayer from yesterday. It had to do with our home study being amended to approve us for 3 children rather than 2. Initially we were told it would be no problem to change the number, however, a few days ago we received an email that explained how our home needed to be inspected again so our case worker could make the determination that we were fit to handle one more child. She had already determined 2 were fine, but one more apparently made a big difference. This questioning caused a bit of stress as we wondered if we would actually be denied this opportunity to adopt Chernet, Mulunesh and Woubet.

In obedience to Scripture, we "casted our burden upon the LORD who never allows the righteous to be shaken" Psalm 55:22, and asked Him to remove this whole scenario of another home visit. He did just that (and more!) After speaking with our adoption agency yesterday afternoon, the president of our home study agency wrote us a letter of apology. It seemed they had us confused with another family with a different home. Once the head of our agency read to them the description of our home from our home study document, they agreed to amend our approval for 3 children rather than 2 without needing a home visit.

Psalm 71:14-16 "But as for me, I will hope continually, and will praise You yet more and more. My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness and of Your salvation all day long; For I do not know the sum of them. I will come with the mighty deeds of the LORD God; I will make mention of Your righteousness, Yours alone."

The two big questions we are being asked now are: "When do you get to bring them home?" and "Is it costing more with three?" The short answers are we're not sure and yes. Once our approval for 3 is final and birth certificates are secured in Ethiopia for our new children, we will apply for a court date. We are guessing that would take a minimum of 6 weeks. That means it could be as early as 6 weeks I (Alicia) travel to Ethiopia for the court date (1st trip). Eight weeks later both Tim and I would return for the Embassy date and then bring our children home. Yes, it is costing more money, but God has provided what we've needed up to this point and we are continuing to trust that He will work that out as well.

Thank you all for your prayers and encouraging words of support! It's what motivates us to continue on this path.