Adoption Update - THE BEST NEWS EVER! :)

Tuesdays are supposed to be Jake’s Thought for the Week days, but you are going to have to wait to read it until tomorrow because I COULD NOT POSSIBLY WAIT ONE MORE DAY TO TELL YOU THAT….

OUR ADOPTION HAS BEEN APPROVED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

FINAL APPROVAL THAT IS. ON BOTH THE I-600 AND I-604 FORM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You may not know what this means. IT MEANS THAT WE ARE CURRENTLY SCHEDULING OUR VISA EXIT INTERVIEW WITH THE EMBASSY IN GHANA TO BRING HOME OUR SON!!!!!!!!!!!!! WAAHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Please excuse all of my shouting but I have so much excitement inside of me right now that I can hardly stand it!!!!

We have requested the week of May 24th through the 30th or the first week in June for our exit interview. No, that is not a typo. Kofi our adoption rep in Ghana is working on getting Samuel’s visa medical completed with the Embassy now, and he is also scheduling our appointment with the Embassy for the exit process. I feel like I need to say that again to make sure I am not dreaming. HE IS SCHEDULING OUR APPOINTMENT WITH THE EMBASSY FOR THE EXIT PROCESS!!!!!!!!!!!!! YIPPPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are hoping to know our dates of travel within the next week!!!! :)

Good night. I don’t even know what to do with myself right now. Two Fridays ago we had gotten word from our case worker that she had talked with the officer working on our I-600 and I-604 approvals. She said that the officer just needed one more document from us to give us approval (a document which wasn’t listed to send but that we already had). Our case worker faxed the officer the document that day and the officer said she was going to approve our case and would be mailing it out. But, I kept waiting and waiting and waiting until I got the official approval in the mail because I have learned that it’s not official until it’s written down and given the stamp of approval. And yesterday on a cold, rainy, windy, dreary Monday, a ray of sunshine was sitting there in our mailbox, just waiting for us.

God is so faithful. God is SO faithful. God is SO FAITHFUL! GOD YOU ARE SO FAITHFUL!!!!!! To read in my Bible that God is faithful is one completely wonderful thing. BUT, to experience His faithfulness first-hand the way we have in this adoption journey is an immeasurable feeling. What can I say? I don’t know. I have lots to say today but I can’t quite yet formulate anything other than shouts of joy. There is no better way to ‘find words’ that adequately describe even a glimpse of God’s character than in the Psalms. This one jumped out at me today.

Psalm 146

Praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord, O my soul.
I will praise the Lord all my life;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.

Do not put your trust in princes,
in mortal men, who cannot save.
When their spirit departs, they return to the ground;
on that very day their plans come to nothing.

Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord his God,
the Maker of heaven and earth,
the sea, and everything in them—
the Lord, who remains faithful forever.

He upholds the cause of the oppressed
and gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets prisoners free,
the Lord gives sight to the blind,
the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down,
the Lord loves the righteous.
The Lord watches over the alien
and sustains the fatherless and the widow,
but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.

The Lord reigns forever,
your God, O Zion, for all generations.
Praise the Lord.

Those words describe what I am feeling perfectly today. And, as if that weren’t enough, I have to share this picture with you too…
I had snapped this one in my picture-taking spot on the night before we heard from our case worker that we were going to be approved. When I showed my photographer friend this picture the next day she said, “I almost called you last night to tell you to look out your window. I saw the silver lining in the clouds and I wondered if you could see it.”

Oh, I see it alright. :) Thank you Jesus!