Sunday Prayers vol. 12

I can't believe I have been writing under this title for three months now.  Time has in some ways flown, and others draged!  We made the difficult decision this week to cancel our dinner & silent auction fundraiser which was scheduled for October.  To make what is a very long story short, things just weren't falling into place for us to make a profit on the event.  We do still have some fun donations to the silent auction, so continue to follow the blog in order to be able to bid on these items....details to come soon.  Here are this week's prayer requests:

1. Danny: there was some minor drama in adoptions in his country this past week, please pray that our process continues to go smoothly and that we can meet him very soon.

2. Toni: our in country facilitator. Toni has some health problems, but devotes her life to helping people like us bring kids like Danny home.  In addition to her health please pray for her safety, as she has been personally under attack (via email and phone) by people who are not happy with the way she, and all of her families, advocate for adoption.

3. RAIN!!!  Today it's 111* where we live.  This is pretty extreme, even for south Texas, but later this week there is a significant chance of rain and cooler temps.  Please pray we see this rain, and it can help nourish our parched land.

4. Our Jobs: we are both entering into a time of hard work, and possibly extreme stress.   Our prayer is that we both are the best we can be at what we are doing to pay our bills, and that those around us see Christ in how we handle ourselves.

5. Fundraising/Advocating: since we have cancelled our dinner please pray another opportunity presents itself for us to tell the story of the orphan.  We can only bring one home (for now) but hope to help other families find a way to bring His children into the light.

6. USICS application: currently we are waiting for our finger-printing appointments, and hope to get the notice this week.  Please pray we receive our appointments, and our approvals as quickly as possible.

Thanks for joining us in prayer!

Sunday Prayers vol. 11

I'm learning I can't count as I write our Sunday Prayers posts! (and I checked, this is in fact volume 11)

This week has been crazy busy, and I fully expect the next few weeks to be nuts too.  We have lots of weekend events which leaves little time for rest and relaxation, much less planning a major fundraiser.  Thank you so much for keeping the items below in your prayers.

1. Danny...as always, please pray that he is safe, cared for, well fed and loved.
2. Our Jobs: I got some news on Friday about a deal we really thought was going to happen this year....as of Friday we didn't 'win' their business.  Please pray that I can find the words, as well as the reasons, why our products are better....and that I can gently change their minds.
3. USCIS approval: we got our receipt on Saturday, so next we are waiting for our fingerprinting appointment.  Please continue to pray we get our approval back as quickly as possible so we can move forward with our dossier.
4. Fundraising: we have a big dinner & silent auction planned for the end of October...but we don't have a caterer, entertainment, or enough donations to our auction!  Please join us in praying for these things to work themselves out.  Also, please pray that we can find some compelling entertainment to help tell the orphan story.
5. The Barnett Family will be meeting their children for the first time tomorrow morning.  Please continue to keep them in your prayers as they await a court date, make travel arrangements, and go through the adoption process.

Finally, thank you to the folks who have continued to support us through this crazy process!  Every time I look at our Reece's Rainbow grant and see it has grown my heart jumps with joy.  It's such a blessing to have the support we do.  Thank you!

received....

Our USCSIS application was received at their Texas office on Monday of this week (thank you FedEX tracking number for that nugget of information.)  And TODAY... a mere 5 days later we received our receipt!

For those of you not in the 'know' that means we have a number we can use to reference if necessary.  The next thing we are waiting for is our invitation to get fingerprinted for this approval.  Our prayer is that we get the invitation/appointment notification this week or next.  The appointment is normally a few weeks out, but we hear from our friends that we should walk in as soon as we can.  Luckily for us there is an office here in San Antonio, so we won't have to travel for this.

Thank you for continuing to lift this part of the process, as well as Danny, up in prayer!

waiting....

I am not a patient person.  Most of you realize this is a pretty obvious statement!  This adoption business has  tested my patience more than any other experience of my life. 

So to sum up where we are right now....we are WAITING.  At this moment we are waiting to get a receipt for our USCIS application, as well as an appointment to get (more) finger printing done.  After we do that we will be waiting to have an officer assigned to our case.  Once that is done we will be waiting to receive our approval.  All this waiting can add up to around 90 days.  This is where you can help!  Please include us in your prayers.  Wes and I are holding onto the hope that we can have Danny home by Christmas, but if the USCIS takes the full 90 days it just won't be possible.  Specifically we are praying that our application be expedited and we have the approval back by early September.  What I do sincerely request is that you not pray for me to have more patience!  Have you ever heard that praying for patience results in more trials?  :)

Thank you for joining us in praying for our approval to come back quickly!

Sunday Prayers vol. 10 (early edition!)

I've got so much on my heart right now I felt that we needed an "early edition" of Sunday Prayers this week.  This is a pretty long list, but there is just so much going on right now!  For those of you who like very specific requests here goes:

1. The Barnett Family: will be leaving Monday morning for Eastern Europe.  Please pray for safe travels, a speedy process, good bonding time with their children, safety and protection for the two they leave at home, for Stephanie's mom (who will be staying here with their two children), for Trenton, Igor, and Leeza to immediately trust and bond with their parents.  And for anything else I'm missing right now!
2. For our USCIS application.  It will arrive at the office on Monday.  Please pray for it to be handled as soon as possible.  Wes and I are still hoping and praying to have Danny home by Christmas, and this will only be possible with God handling everything for us!
3. The Eicher Family: just got home TODAY with their son, Archie.  He is a beautiful child who came from the same country Danny is in!  Please pray for rest for the entire family, and good loving bonding time to come.
4. The Rhodes Family: have been waiting 70+ days for their USCIS approval.  Prayers they receive their "Golden Ticket" this week.
5. Danny: while he is not at the top of this list, he is always at the top of my heart!  We continuously pray that he is healthy, safe and loved.  That he is sleeping in a warm bed and has plenty of good food in his tummy every night.
6. My friend Crystal's dad will be under-going open heart surgery this week.  Please pray for him, the doctors, and Crystal and her family.

Thank you (a million times) friends for loving and praying with us!

Prayers PLEASE!!!

Tomorrow we will be shipping our USCIS application to Lewisville TX.  From there it will go on to either Kansas or Missouri...to be honest my brain is so full I can't remember!

From what we understand the state department has up to 90 days (calendar, not business) to process our application....obviously, this is THREE months.  In my mind way too long.  So please join us in praying that we have our approval, also know as the "Golden Ticket" back by mid-September.  We realize this is a long shot, but we want every chance possible to have Danny home by his December 26th birthday.

Tonight some of our friends and family are gathering to literally lay hands on our application. Please pray blessings on these people, and join us in our request for expediency.

Thank you again for following our journey, and praying with us.  BIG love!

Sunday Prayers vol. 9

Hum...did I somehow skip 6?  I may have! (edited...I had two 7's.  thanks K!) Just goes to show that I can't keep up with anything else in life right now.

Here are this week's prayer requests:

1. USCIS application: Will be ready to go on Thursday.  Please pray that we are granted favor and receive an answer back quickly.  This is a notoriously long process and the sooner we receive our "Golden Ticket" the sooner we will be traveling to meet our son!
2. Danny...as always, he is in our hearts.  We pray that he has good rest, meals, and love.
3. Travels: I am on the road most of this week and would appreciate safety and protection.
4. Our Jobs: please continue to pray that we both are in the positions God needs us in and that we can find a way to show Him to others on a daily basis.
5. USCIS application...oh, wait!  That one is #1!

Thank you again for praying on our behalf.  We can't tell you how much we appreciate you thinking of us!

a quickie

Just wanted to provide a super fast mid-week update.

Our FBI background checks have now been apostilled by the US State Department.  This means they are completely ready to go to Danny's country!

We are waiting on one final thing for our Home Study, and it will be done.  Please pray this is received today so that we can get our USCIS application in as soon as possible.

Thanks for following along and praying for us!