what's next?

"when will you bring him home?" - that is the million dollar question we've been asked just a couple of times ;)  There are a lot of things that have to happen first. Please join us in prayer!

• First we need our home study and dossier updated to include BOY since everything was written for a girl. Our home study will have to be approved by the state again but since we have been matched, it shouldn't take as long as it did originally. We have already started over this bump in the road but please PRAY for quick turnarounds here.
• Next we have to apply for a new 797 (immigration approval, the one we just got Jan 2 won't work for our adoption). This step was approved in less than 10 days so please PRAY for speedy approval #2! Two is our magic number in this adoption anyway so it was meant to be that we'd have to apply for TWO 797s! :) 
• Once we receive the new 797 we will then move forward with more paperwork (I 800) and wait for that approval. Then the DS230 (Visa application, for those of you versed in adoption lingo). PRAY this hurdle is a short one! 
• Wait for CARA (Central Adoption Resource Authority - India) to receive the Article five letter so they can start the No Objection Certificate process.  PRAY some more and most of you won't even know what any of that is or what it means, and I don't exactly either but PRAY BIG that everything goes off without a hitch!
• THEN the orphanage can begin the court process to award us guardianship. PRAY the judges are open to hearing our case and then deciding QUICKLY!
• After his passport arrives, we can make travel plans to get our baby boy!

So when will we bring him home? No one knows for sure. India has developed a new way of processing adoptions and with all the changes there really isn't anyway to know exactly until we are awarded guardianship and he has a passport. So really, at the end we will know! Our best estimate is 4-5months and really that could change either way. I know all of this will happen in God's time but I am asking that we PRAY God wants this to happen quickly.. cause of course, that's what we want! Hahaha, ok, not really. All in God's time, I keep reminding myself... but really, knowing that sweet baby boy is turning 11 months this weekend, ONE YEAR old next month, all in an orphanage is making my heart heavy.  I'm grateful that he's been taken care of thus far but I just want him home with his family... I haven't been able to sleep in weeks. I wake up every night around 2am, thinking it's 12.5 hours ahead of us in India, and I wonder ... What he's doing....Is he happy? Is he playing? Is he eating? What's his favorite food? Is walking yet? Does he have teeth? If so, how many? The list goes on and on... Then I am reminded, Psalm 46:10, Be still and know that I am God. 

I keep asking myself how can I love someone I've never even met? The best answer I can conjure up is God made him to be my son, a part of our family. I just love him. 

Stay tuned to see how God will answer these prayers in the coming weeks! So thankful for your prayers, support, and love. 

p.s. don't forget to PRAY! thanks :)