Coming in through the FRONT DOOR

Joel has been approved by Immigration!  Wahoo!  Now we don't have to hide him in the suitcase!!  Just kidding.  BUT, this is a wonderful next step in the process.  In the eyes of the US gov't, we have been provisionally approved to classify this beautiful little boy as our IMMEDIATE RELATIVE.  Yep.  Pretty cool to see that on another official document.

What next?  This is the part I referred to in my last post where the 2 governments get cozy, exchange pleansantries and work together sending love notes back and forth until they agree on when we can travel.  Sooooo, about 3 more steps until we get our invitation to the BALL...um, well...airport.  Each step = about 2 weeks, so sometime early June, we should be staring our angel in the face!  Big Daddy G & I can't wait!

[ok, so I should've probably warned you already, that my posts could get progressively more and more mushy and filled with crazy CAPITAL LETTERS and Exclamation Points!!!]

We are truly in awe of all that God has done, is doing and will do in our family through all of this - fostering, advocacy and now adoption.  We're amazed and freaked out that we will have a 3 year old in a couple of months, but we cannot stop grinning from ear to ear.  Life is full, crazy, sometimes very hard, and beautiful.  God is doing exactly what he has promised:

To all who mourn in Israel, he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair.  Isaiah 61:3a

No, I will not abandon you as orphans—I will come to you.  John 14:18

Hallelujah.