A Brief Update

Hey guys!! We are still some what in the waiting game...but we did have a little movement this morning.  We received the info that our TA (travel approval) is on it's way from the CCCWA to our agency. This is great news!! Once we get it...it is only a couple of days until we get our CA (Consulate Appointment) solidified.

Our social worker told us today that she anticipates us needing to be in Shepard's province the weekend of May 11th.(Mother's Day Weekend) This is of course as long as everything goes as expected with no delays.  Since we'd LIKE to take a couple of days in Beijing before we go to Shepard's provincial city...this would have us leave around May 8.  HOPING this stays solid.  We can't book flights though until it is solidified.

TICKET PRICES:
We were however able to begin checking on airline prices having this info.  With this in mind...we need prayer.  The ticket prices are MUCH MORE than we were anticipating. (see the fundraising progress to the right side of post) God knows and He provides. But we would appreciate prayers for God to work out all the details and provide the rest of the money.

WHY NO MORE FUNDRAISERS?
It is VERY HARD for me, Buffi, to refrain from doing more fundraisers.  When we finished the family photo fundraiser...the Lord placed it on our hearts to not do any more fundraisers after that. We did 1 or 2 and they failed miserably.  He wanted us to trust HIM to take care of the rest of it.  As a Type A..."control" type of person...this has been SO HARD for me. I want to take care of everything myself.  We have had a long list of fundraisers that would have been a great to do.  But yet we never felt the Lord release us to do any of them.  Struggling to obey....we have though...and have done all we could to not do any other type of fundraisers.

I wanted to share this with you all to let you know WHY we have not been doing more to raise additional money. To us...it is just an issue of obeying what God has placed on our hearts.  Obeying in this way has placed us totally at HIS mercy to provide where He guides.  And we trust Him that He is going to take care of it.

We SO appreciate the prayers for provision for these airline tickets.  God knows exactly the way things should work out.  Pray that we would be led to the right travel agent to book the flights and we go When and How He has planned for us!!

JOURNEY OF OBEDIENCE:
Didn't mean for this to get long...but just knowing you know where our hearts are helps us feel better!! This whole adoption journey is a journey of obedience for us...from beginning to end.  More than anything...we want to please the Heart of our Lord. Sometimes obedience places us in situations where we feel the pressure....but God is strengthening us to learn more deeply that HE is our provider and to trust HIM in crunch time and not to sweat the details ourselves!!!

Thank you all SO MUCH for your friendship and your prayers.  It will be less than a month that we will be able to give Shepard a big hug and welcome him into our family.  We daily pray for him and talk to our three kiddos about praying for him.  God is preparing us all. We have ALL been experiencing personal stretching in this preparation.  We anticipate daily the new things that God is going to do.  We will keep you posted.  We love and appreciate you all so much!!!
Blessings,
Mark & Buffi