We would like to take this time to thank everyone who has supported our journey this year. Our Usborne Book sales raised over $1,000 for Hope and we are waiting to hear from two grant applications to be processed. One was denied last month due to more applications than funds available and two more are up for review in January (please pray we are approved). We held two garage sales, one in the spring and one in the fall, which together raised over $1,200. Our online coffee store generated almost $500. And we have had many friends and family generously give "just because!" God has certainly blessed our journey and we are excited to see what 2011 brings!
For those of you who expected us to be in Wyoming by now, we thought we'd give you a little update. We traveled to Cheyenne at the end of January after successfully jumping through all of the hoops required for our move. We were certain that things were moving along only to find out at the end of February that we had not gotten the job that would have made it possible to go at this time. Then we received notice from our adoption agency that we had been assigned to a region and would travel in 2-4 months. We decided to update our Home Study in Ohio to avoid complications that could prevent our travel and interrupt the process. While we were busy doing that, controversy arose surrounding Russian adoptions when a Tennessee woman put her 7 year old adopted son on a plane back to Moscow in April, accompanied only by a note that said she no longer wanted him. While many regions allowed adoptions to continue, our region came to a full stop while a bilateral agreement was discussed between the US and Russia. Several meetings have taken place between our two countries since then (including one that had to be postponed due to the volcano in Iceland) and an agreement is expected to be signed early next year. Just in time as the Russian Duma has been arguing about whether or not to ban international adoptions altogether until an agreement is signed. We have definitely had our share of obstacles this year, but things are finally moving again!
The "good" news during all of this is that several families assigned to our region dropped out of the adoption process, bumping us up on the list to one of three remaining families in August. The first of the three remaining families was invited to travel on their first trip at the end of August. We had the privilege of meeting this family (who live in Mason, Ohio) and learning all about their travel experiences over lunch in October. What we learned only makes us all the more determined to complete this long process and bring Hope home. Please pray that she has what she needs not just to survive, but to thrive while she waits for us!
Long story short, since the incident in April, our agency has been urging all families to keep their documents up-to-date and not to make any significant life changes, we have postponed pursuing our plans to relocate until later. How much later? We don't know. We only know that we are on God's timeline. As it says in Proverbs 16:9, "In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD directs his steps."
May the LORD direct your steps in 2011 and bless your family this Christmas as we once again celebrate His birth.
Love,
Chad, Emily & Benjamin
Remembering ^Abby^ and waiting for Hope!
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