A Quick Update

Hi, all!  Thought we'd share a quick update of where we are along this journey.  We haven't really had any real news to share since we mailed our I-600A form to USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services).  The I-600A is the Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition.  I know, what?  In a nutshell, it's a process by which the U.S. government determines whether we, as prospective adoptive parents, are qualified to continue with the international adoption process.  Our application was delivered on March 19 and we received our Biometrics appointments about two weeks ago.  So, on Monday, April 23, Star and I will travel to the Homeland Security Office in Memphis to do our Biometrics, a fancy way to say that we'll do another round of fingerprints.  Once that's complete, we'll await our USCIS approval.  Then it'll be time to put our dossier together and send it to a land far away.  So there you have it, our journey continues.


We continue to covet your prayers.  Some specific ways that you can pray for us are:
1. Pray for our precious little girl wherever she is in Uganda.  Pray for her safety and good health.  Also, pray that she'll be loved unconditionally by her caretakers.
2. Pray for our upcoming biometrics and USCIS approval.
3. Pray for us as we prepare our dossier.
4. Pray for our fundraising.  We are close but not there yet.  Airfare is very expensive so pray that we'll raise the additional funds to cover that cost as well.
5. Finally, pray for our friends at Good Shepherd's Fold, the children, missionaries, and staff. 


Finally, we'd like to take this time to give a big shout out to some of our special friends who have given unselfishly to our adoption.  You know who you are.  We are humbled by your graciousness.  Know that you are an incredible blessing.  More importantly know that this little girl will forever be a part of your family also.  And to the ladies of the Angels group at Cherry Ridge Baptist Church in Bastrop, LA, your willingness to sell "lots" of paper bead necklaces was unexpected.  We cannot thank you enough.  You too are a blessing and we can't wait to share our little girl with you.  Please know that you have also helped the women of the Kyangwali Refugee Settlement to provide a sustainable income for their families.


In closing, I wanted to share a picture with you.  A simple picture but one that has such great significance to our family because...this is where our heart is.