Yesterday, October 8th at 4:21 pm, we got word that Chaney Beth's court hearing went well and she passed. This basically means that she was cleared to be officially adopted by us! This also means that we get to travel to meet her and get our clearing to bring her home with us. We will not officially get to bring her home until the next trip but we are getting closer and closer with each court hearing. Thank you for your prayers and your continued support. We have seen and felt the Lord move and remind us that He is the only one that can do the impossible! We are thankful that He has brought us on this journey and we can't wait to hold our precious daughter. We cant wait to show you her! She is adorable!!!

Jackson 5 and Frazier 1 Today October 9th Chaney Beth will turn 5 months!!

Tomorrow our sweet baby girl will be 4 months old. It feels so crazy that we have known about her for a month now and we still haven't held her, touched her, heard her cry... nothing! This part of the process has, by far, been the hardest! At the beginning of this process I dreamed about the day I would finally lay eyes on my child, the one God had hand picked for our family. I thought that when I finally saw her the wait would be over. Little did I know that we would once again be waiting! I think about our precious baby girl a lot! I wonder what she is doing and how she is developing. I recently started thinking about her birth mom and dad. I am curious how they are. Do they long for her? Are they sad she is gone? Are they even alive? I long for them to know I am thankful for the sacrifice they are making. I will love this baby with all my heart. I will teach her and train her up the way she should go. I will encourage her and be there. I will provide for her the best that I can. I will give her 2 amazing brothers that will protect her. I will fix her hair the best I can :/. I will, most of all, seek the Lord and obey Him. But, what I long for most, is that they will love the Lord and serve Him too! I ask that you join us as we pray! Pray for our baby girl, her birth family, and this process.

On a lighter note, we have officially given our baby girl a name. Both of our boys have family names and we only see fit that we give our girl a family name as well. Her name is going to be:

Chaney - My middle name and my late grandmother's maiden name

Elizabeth - Jonathan's late grandmother's first name

Nitsuh - Her African name

us waiting=)

Newest News from August 20, 2012

As of today, Monday, August 20, 2012, we are still in Louisiana while our un-met daughter is in Ethiopia. We didn't get a court date pre-rainy season, which is all good, because we will trust the Lord.

Here is what we do know...assuming courts continue to proceed as planned, we will be in Ethiopia with a court date of October 22, travelling a few days prior, staying a few days, and then headed home emptyhanded. We will then wait 1-4 months to traval again and bring her home!

If you ordered one of the Africa pendants, we anticipate them arriving to us early this week and then mailed out to you later this week. The response to those was incredibly overwhelming and we are humbled and grateful for your support of this adoption!

In unrelated news, this past Saturday night, we had two families over for dinner, both of which also live in Ponchatoula, LA...both of which are also adopting from Ethiopia. It was a sweet time of encouragement and stories of the Lord's leading and faithfulness! We look forward to having playmates!

My heart longs...

So we were hoping to be able to travel this past weekend and we didn't get the court date we were hoping for! Looks like it is going to be sometime in October or November. It was a let down because my heart longs to hold our sweet baby girl who is adorable in every ways. I long to kiss her sweet cheeks and speak truth into her precious ears. I long to hold her tight and let her know that I love her dearly! I long to hear her cry and wipe her tears. I long to introduce her to all the people in our life that have prayed for her and love her as well! I long for her to meet her amazing brothers! I long to learn life with 3 kiddos and I long to do girly things with her! Most of all I long to see her, bond with her, and bring her to her forever home! I trust the Lord and His timing even when it doesn't make sense to me!

This Friday, August 10th, Frazier will turn 1 year old. 6 days later we will celebrate our one year anniversary of having our "log in date," which basically means that all of our documents have passed the US government and the Ethiopian government and we were officially on the "list" to be placed with a child. Well, the months progressed and we would catch wind here and there that we were fifth on the list, then third on the list. Then we got word that in the month of July two families received their "referrals," which means officially being placed with a child. That made us a just a wee bit anxious to be "next" on the list. Now, as of August 6th, 2012, someone else is now next on the list as we received and confirmed OUR referral on Thursday, August 2nd! We are SUPER excited about our...wait for it...DAUGHTER! She is just under three months old and is in good health (as good as can be evaluated based on the resources).

Here is where it gets a bit stressful for us. Ethiopia has what is called "rainy season." It's just that, however, the courts close during rainy season for a couple months. Our agency is bending over backwards to get us our first court date before the courts close (predictably August 17th). What this means for us is that we could be travelling to Ethiopia in the next few DAYS. That is pretty insane to us considering Frazier still nurses, Jackson will be starting Kindergarten that week, and that the first few days of the Fall Semester are pivotal for a college minister. In the event we get to travel in the next few days will mean bringing home OUR baby two months sooner than later.

We are very excited, overwhelmed, nervous, scared, humbled, etc. Ever since we have started this process, we have had only one option: "Trust the Lord." That is plan A...there is no plan B. We will trust the Lord with our new baby. We will trust the Lord with our children. We will trust the Lord with logistics. We will trust the Lord with finances. We will trust the Lord, period. There is no other option.

This season of the adoption is where ALLLL that money we raised over the last two years and 5 months starts to be spent quickly. $1200 here. $8000 there. Plane tickets here. Guest Housing expenses there. It will be depleted quickly. Fortunately, we have a significant bit of this money raised and in the bank. We WILL be doing some more fund-raising as we come down the stretch. We are selling these Africa Charm necklaces for $25 (pictured below). Let Erin know if you are interested in purchasing one: erinbclark00@gmail.com. Or, let me, Jonathan know: jonathanclark00@gmail.com. We will be glad to get one to you! We might even be re-visiting making t-shirts for selling as well.

Most importantly, be praying for us. The Lord has sustained our potential anxiety with His perfect peace. Pray for our little girl. Pray for the transition, for the travel, for the funds, for our boys, and for all the little details that make adoption possible.

Thanks so much for journeying with us!

Nervous!

A few weeks ago we heard from our agency that the current wait was 6 months. If this is the case we could be hearing something within the next month. Although this is what we have waited for for 20 months now, the reality makes us nervous. We ask that you partner with us as we pray that the Lord will provide and that we will trust Him completely!

More money yet totally worth it!!

We got an email from our agency today that gave us an incredible opportunity. We have the option to pay only $400.00 to receive a video of our child's story. What will happen is an investigator will go to Ethiopia and video the facts of our child's life history. They will interview any birth relatives that our child may have. If our child was abandoned they will interview any witnesses, the person who found our child and the police officer who prepared the report.
When we read this email we were overjoyed to think that one day we would be able to share with our child on video his/her life story from the beginning. Praise the LORD!!!