Samuel's Adoption Update

During the adoption process, there are several times that we are waiting expectantly for envelopes that look like this to appear in our mailbox!  This one is my appointment for biometrics (electronic fingerprinting).  USCIS received our initial application (I800a) on December 31.  After our fingerprinting - done on Tuesday of this week - we anticipate that our approval will come in another couple of weeks.  Please pray that there are no problems with our application or with our fingerprints.  Sometimes there are additional questions that they have or the fingerprints are not quite to their liking, and these things slow down the process.  None of that for us this time, please!  As soon as we have this approval, there are only a couple more steps before our dossier can be sent to China.  We are anxiously waiting - some of us more patiently than others - for that day!

But while we are waiting through this tedious process, we so SO VERY THANKFUL that we have the opportunity to Skype with Samuel and his foster parents every Friday evening!  This is a blessing that we never even dreamed of when we were in process for Caylie.  Samuel's foster parents are Christians and they speak English and we love them already!  They are making the task of getting to know our new son and understanding his needs so much more easy than it would have been otherwise.  We feel God's hand all over these events and see Him working so much in our boy's life.  He is shy with us, but we still have several more months for him to get to know us and to feel comfortable talking and even trying out his English!  Our boys here at home help him to feel at ease by being silly in front of the camera with goofy hats and funny faces.  I always know when Keelan or Justin is behind me doing some crazy thing, because Samuel will be laughing on the screen in front of me!  It's a lot of fun, and we love to see Samuel's beautiful smile!  (I can't wait until I can post his pictures here!)

Please continue to pray that God would prepare Jim and me to be the parents that Samuel needs, with much wisdom and grace.  Please pray that our children here at home would be prepared for the changes in our family, and that they would have compassion and grace for their new brother.  And please pray for Samuel's heart, that he would be learning to know and trust us, so that love will blossom and grow.  And also that he would be learning more and more of who God is and how much he is loved by Him.

Thank you, friends, for taking this journey with us.