One step closer...

For those of you that are interested in the exhausting details of our adoption paperchase to Mia... the last piece of the U.S. approval puzzle was placed on Thursday! Griff and I had to submit yet another set of fingerprints to get the 1800a approval. Our case officer with USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services)emailed us that afternoon with news that our application had been APPROVED! Now... we can have all of the paperwork couriered to Houston to the Consulate office to be authenticated (an official U.S. stamp of approval) and THEN we can send it all to China. China is waiting to get our paperwork and we've been waiting on the United States. So, we are one step closer to sweet Mia.

Now what? Once China receives our paperwork (called a dossier), we wait. The average wait right now is 80 days but we are seeing some families getting the nod from China in less days than that. So, that's where YOU come in... :)

Pray for the person who is responsible for processing our dossier.... that they will find favor on us and will process us quickly. We want to give God the glory for fast turnaround; because I am learning that God is everpresent in the little details of everyday life.

We are beginning to hear from so many of you that read our blog. It is such a source of encouragement to know that people care about us, and more importantly this precious orphaned baby in Shantou City, China. We covet your prayers... we definitely note the effectiveness of your prayers. We love you all so much.

"The prayer of a righteous one is powerful and effective." James 5:16