OUR DOSSIER IS FINISHED!

Can you tell we're just a little excited (and a little loopy from all the adoption paperwork)?!

To our surprise, we dropped our completed dossier in the mail yesterday afternoon!  Why were we surprised?  Because we weren't expecting to have many of the documents needed for the dossier until the end of October.  That's almost three months earlier than we thought!

Brad and I had finished requesting all the documents we needed for the dossier at the beginning of July.  At that point, we were just in a waiting game.  There was nothing more we could do to move the adoption process forward.  Some documents were scheduled to arrive 8-10 weeks after we requested them.  In our waiting, we prayed.  In our prayers, we acknowledged that God's timing is perfect and that we would wait patiently for His timing, but we also asked that, if it were His will, that He would allow the documents to come as quickly as possible.

God's will is a funny thing.  For one, it's God's, not ours.  For two, it is beyond our understanding and we can't know it apart from Him revealing it to us.

God asks us in faith to ask, and God asks us in faith to trust.

Matthew 7:7-12 paints a picture of God as a loving Father (which of course He is), desiring to give us what we ask for but also having the wisdom to know what's best for us (which of course He does).  With this in mind, the Bible tells us if we have something in mind to go ahead and ask!  God is a good Father who will either grant our request or, in His wisdom and love, not grant it in favor of what's really best for us.

Philippians 4:6-7 tells us not to worry or be anxious about anything, but to present our requests to God by prayer with thanksgiving.  And then we are promised that after doing so, God's peace will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

It's the not worrying that indicates a heart that trusts God.  It's the praying with thanksgiving that also indicates a heart that trusts God.  And a heart that trusts God experiences the peace that God's will is good and His timing is perfect - regardless of how He answers our requests.

In our case, we were allowed to have our request that the paperwork come earlier than expected be granted.  But would God have not been good had He asked us to wait until October (or later)?  No.  God is good regardless.  And He is trustworthy regardless.

Our birth certificates were scheduled to come mid-September and our physicals were scheduled for the end of October.  When our birth certificates miraculously showed up in the mail two weeks ago, I contacted our physician to see if there were any cancellations we could scoop up AND SHE SAW US THAT DAY!  Guys, I still cannot believe it.

It is estimated that travel to China could happen anywhere from 4-5 months after the dossier is mailed in.  What?!  I know that anything could happen and that more than likely the adoption process will take longer than expected but that could mean that we may be headed to China by Christmas.

And you can bet that we'll continue praying for things to move quickly while also trusting that God is good and that His timing is perfect.  Would you please join us in praying the same thing?  We'd also love to return the favor - is there anything going on in your life right now that we could join you in praying for?  Let us know!  You can leave a comment below or you can email us directly under the 'Contact Us' section on the left side of this page (just scroll up a little bit) 💛

Thanks for being in this with us.