"Things planned long ago..."

O LORD, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done marvelous things, things planned long ago.

Isa. 25:1

The time has come to let the world know... we have been matched with 2 children from Liberia!! Yup. It's true... no more wondering who they will be, and where they will come from, and what they may look like. We KNOW!! Incredible.

We have actually known from the beginning, when we chose to pursue adoption from Liberia. Sorry... it had to be kept a secret (which the kids did AMAZINGLY well at...) b/c we were matched "out of order". Normally, we would have done all the paperwork to apply to the international agency, and then would have been matched after it was all reviewed and approved. Well, b/c we had a practically finished home-study, and they had worked with our home-study agency before... they allowed us to look at the pix of some of the kids from the orphanage that were available. We expressed interest in 2 sibling groups, and they pretty much asked us to choose one to be saved for us!! And... so we did. Obviously, that was a huge part of us choosing to go international... one that we couldn't share until now.

For when you did awesome things that we did not expect, you came down, and the mountains trembled before you. Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.

Isa 64:3 & 4

So, without further ado, please allow me the ultimate pleasure of introducing you to our next adventures... our Liberian beauties... our new children...

Kelvin and Hawa! They are both 5 years old at the moment. Kelvin turns 6 in December, and Hawa just had her birthday, and turned 5 in mid-November. We really don't have a ton of info about them. We know they are orphans, in the most basic sense of the word... they do not have living birth parents. They were brought to the orphanage this past August by a birth relative who could no longer care for them. They are of the Kru tribe. Their health is generalized as "good". That's about all we know. But NEVER has so little information excited us like this before!! :)



We cannot wait to hold them! Anika and Asher are so excited to be with them! Anika has already asked if she can go with Hawa to her Sunday School class so she won't feel scared. :) Too cute. (I think it will be a long time before we do anything without them right by our sides... but she was already thinkin' ahead!)



Kelvin and Hawa (I just really like writing their names...) do not yet know they have a family trying to bring them home. They will not know until our paperwork goes to Liberia. At that time, we can send some flat albums with our pictures to them so that they know what we look like. Most likely that could be the only "contact" we have with them before we meet them. There is just no real mail system there... no UPS truck driving down the dirt road... we've heard the potholes could eat it alive! It's possible to send a few letters to them with another family who travels to Liberia to pick up their kids, if we find that another family will be going there before we do.



Our ETF (Estimated Time Frame... ya... I made that up... cheesy, I realize) has not changed. We really cannot guess at when we will be able to pick them up. Things here in the US are almost complete... but then our dossier gets sent to Liberia, and it's in their hands. Well... let me re-phrase that... it's in GOD'S HANDS, right?? :) But, the process there can be a bit slow b/c, for the most part, they are dealing with no electricity or phones, or computers... at least at the orphanage. Their court system seems to be running smoothly at the time, so we'll see what that means for us in the months to come. Please pray, pray , pray!



We just see that the Lord has brought us through so many possible situations in the past year, but here we are... and he has given us the desires of our hearts. He has done it all...

Trust in the LORD and do good; Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness. Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, and He will do it. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light And your judgment as the noonday.

Psalm 37:3-7

And if you give yourself to the hungry And satisfy the desire of the afflicted, Then your light will rise in darkness And your gloom will become like midday. "And the LORD will continually guide you, And satisfy your desire in scorched places, And give strength to your bones; And you will be like a watered garden, And like a spring of water whose waters do not fail. "Those from among you will rebuild the ancient ruins; You will raise up the age-old foundations; And you will be called the repairer of the breach, The restorer of the streets in which to dwell.

Isa. 58:10-12

Our soul waits for the LORD; He is our help and our shield. For our heart rejoices in Him, because we trust in His holy name. Let Your lovingkindness, O LORD, be upon us, according as we have hoped in You.

Psalm 33:20-22