This is a must read!

Disclaimer:
This post will be long but hang in there, it's worth it!

So much has happened in the last several months it's hard to know where to start!
Lately, our adoption process and adoption as a whole has looked rather bleak. Not much movement. Not much good news. Over Christmas there were reports of shut downs in Ethiopia but none were confirmed. As we prayed over what to do (if anything) we realized that God was looking to stretch us (our faith) a bit further. Over much prayer and consideration we change our age parameters from 0-18 months to 0-40 months. It was a big decision but we felt God's overwhelming peace in the midst. As the days and weeks continued we heard news of the shut down rumors being confirmed true. Ugh! Many thoughts and emotions flooded over Derek and I as we continued to pray for clarity on what to do. We looked at other options. There weren't many. None seemed right for us. So we decided God was asking us to continue to.... Wait. Sit still. We wrestled a little but it still was the clear answer we received.
Many thoughts came over me during these last several weeks. One of the main was the fact that we always said we wanted God to receive ALL glory in the midst of this process. As I thought more about this it was made very clear that God may decide to bring Himself glory in an unfinished adoption for our family.  Deep breath.   Again, I swallowed hard and wrestled with that thought. I cried many tears. We cried out to God. But at the end of it we were right where we began. May God be the glory!!!!
 We started our year with the word Hope and God gave us a chance to test it out right away. We decided to put our Hope in The Lord in regards to our adoption. Give it completely to Him....the outcome. God really brought us to a place of surrender and hope. Ready to praise Him and worship Him NO. MATTER. WHAT!!  We said to many of our friends "if we get a referral and see this adoption completed, it will be an absolute miracle"!!!! We were trusting. It was difficult.

WE SERVE AN AWESOME GOD WHERE ALL THINGS ARE UNDER HIS CONTROL AND HE DOES WHAT HE SEES FIT TO DO FOR HIS PEOPLE!!!!!

We are so excited to announce to you that we have received our referral call and have been blessed with a son!!!!!!!!!
Tuesday, January 28 at 11:42 AM.
The girls were off of school due to the cold and Derek was traveling for work. The girls and I were just hanging out when the phone rang. The caller ID said unknown caller so I wasn't sure who it was. When I heard the voice of my sick caseworker she said she was home sick for the day so I didn't think it could possibly be "the call". But she was quick to get to the point and she said "this is it, this is your call!!!!!"  Lets just say screaming, tears and shouting we're oozing from our home that day! I couldn't speak to her for a few minutes. I just had to take it all in. She had very little to say to me until Derek and I could both talk with her together. So we hung up and I called Derek immediately. Adah videoed me telling Derek that he has a son! It was one of the proudest moments I've had as a wife.  Being able to say those words to my husband is forever etched in my mind.
God worked out all the details. Derek said, very matter a fact, that his boss had already cancelled all his meetings the next day so he could come home that night!!! You are amazing, God! It was also so cool that the girls were here for the entire thing. What a blessing.
Once Derek and I we're settled, our case worker conferenced called us and we started the official call. She went through all the details of our sweet boy. His medical and his history. I sobbed. Who am I Lord? To care for this child.
After she shared all the information she asked if we were ready to see his face? We both yelled yes!  So, about an hour after we got the first call we were seeing pictures of his precious face.
There are no words. OH. MY.
The last several days have been filled with calling our loved ones to share the news, working diligently at getting the necessary papers sent out and starring at his beautiful face. We have had the most fun telling our family and friends. They have all walked this road with us from day one. They have been more than supportive and so it brought such joy to my heart to see and hear their reactions! Thanks to technology, we have been able to tell so many more people "face to face". What a cherished blessing. 
As I mentioned before, God has truly worked out all the details.  In order to accept the referral "officially" we had to find an international pediatrician to review his medical records.  The doctor we chose is in Denton, Texas.  That's a very long way from where we live, however my sister in law lives 30 minutes from his office!  So, my sweet sis in law drove a check straight to his office and he called us at 10:35 that night!!!  After an hour on the phone with him he signed off on the records.  Another divine intervention and a very late night!  Thank you, Corinne for helping us out!!!!

 

This is us right after hearing the news of our referral and waiting for the second call from our case worker.  Proud Momma, Daddy and Sisters!!!!

Where are we today?  We sent off the paper package at 1 PM this afternoon, Friday, January 31. We have officially excepted the referral of this baby boy, our son!

 

 

 

We humbly introduce to you,

 

Jude.

Which means Praise God

 

He is two months old.

Our big miracle.

Thank you Jesus. You are so faithful to redeem. You redeemed the time we have spent waiting and we are so grateful.

Here is a picture of our sweet boy. (Due to strict country rules we are not allowed to post his face online until our adoption is finalized.) Even with the heart on his face you get the idea!!!! ;)

Many have asked (we did too) how long until you get him? We have only been given a time frame so far and we have learned to hold loosely to those! We are looking at around 6-8 months until he is home with his forever family!
I want to leave you with the funniest thing that Layla said. It was bedtime the day we received the call. We have been praying some of the same prayers for the last 3 1/2 years so it was just amazing to be praying new prayers. Just before we began to pray as a family Layla said, as she was lying in bed, "it's just so good to finally have inner peace"!!! I could hardly get myself back together from laughing. Our girls have waited right along with us and they have demonstrated such faith and grace and we are very proud of them!!!!

We serve an awesome God!  We are rejoicing. 
NO MORE JELLY BEANS IN OUR JARS!!!!!!