Okay, so maybe not a cow...lol! I just found out that their are only 15 let me say that again 15 families ahead of us asking for the same age and sex! Oh My God, yes I said OMG because that's all I can say! There have not been any referrals for the last two weeks, but last month they referred out 12 children. Again, the courts will be closed until October, so we would not be able to travel until after a court date, which looks closer to November, if we get a referral before October. OMG! I'm just in shock because we are actually going to have a daughter and it's becoming so real that I just can't believe it. Yeah, we knew it would happen some day, but wow, only 15 families ahead of us!
As for the move, we are in Houston and will be going to Sea World this weekend and then to Dallas for 2 days, Oklahoma for a day and then...............HOME SWEET HOME!!! I'll be sure to update everyone once we get there. I don't have my wire to upload pictures, so you'll have to wait until we get home to Missouri.
July 22, 2008
July 17, 2008
WE ARE PAPER PREGNANT!!!
Our dossier is in Ethiopia and we are officially waiting for a referral of a girl under 18 months. We have been gathering paperwork, having visits with the social worker and going a bit crazy for the last 7 months, but it's finally here. We've done our part and now we just wait! I've attached the prayer list again and have highlighted the answered prayers.
PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR US...IT'S WORKING!
- CIS San Antonio will process our application in the next 5 weeks
- God will provide us with the money we will need to pay for the remainder of our adoption expenses (WE ARE GETTING CLOSER!)
- For our baby girl. For her health. That she feels the love of God and that He is her Father always and she always finds love, peace and faith in Him. And wherever she is right now, that He is creating her to be our daughter and she is loved and held and fed and cared for
- For our baby's birth parents. For the toughest decision they may ever make. Or for their health. I truly feel the pain that this family may be going through and please pray that this is their only and last option
- For our agency. That they continue to understand the anxiousness that adoptive parents feel and process our paperwork accordingly and ethically
- PLEASE pray that our dossier will be out of our hands and in Ethiopia before we move on August 15, 2008!
- For a referral of a girl under 18 months, court date and travel before December 31, 2008
- For us to become the parents that God has called us to be to this baby girl. To give us the knowledge and wisdom we will need to be her parents
- For Miles, that he bonds and loves his baby sister
- That we will continue to stay focused and not to want this adoption more than we want our God
Please share in our joy this day! We should have our little one in about 6 months!
Her name will be Marley!
July 7, 2008
Life as a Nomad
Nomad : 1. a member of a people who have no fixed residence but move from place to place usually seasonally and within a well-defined territory
We are living as nomads! I had been previously referring to our lives as homeless, in my sarcastic, trying to be funny, kind of way. A friend of mine approached me at church asking about our nomadness (is that a word English teacher)? Then I realized that while we technically are homeless right now, we are a member of a people who have no fixed residence, but move from place to place usually seasonally, and the people that are housing us have homes and have been very generous in offering their home to us, therefore we aren't homeless. We are just nomads! LOL!
We have a few more weeks of this and then Miles and I are off to Missouri to set up our new home. I will be driving myself, so we are breaking the trip into 4 different stops....I'm the one who sleeps in cars, not drives. But along the way, continuing our lives as nomads, we'll get to visit with family and dear friends.
While living out of a suitcase may not seem glamourous to most, I think we are enjoying it. The way God has provided for us so far has been amazing and has shown us that wherever we are, even if we are nomads, He's still with us and still uses us, and blesses us. We are trying to live a life of anticipation. Anticipating God's will on our lives. We have seen many many times what obedience does, and how He uses it to teach us and reach us. So whatever He has for us, we are ready! Bring it on!
ADOPTION UPDATE
Our Dossier is in DC getting authenticated by Ms. Condaleeza Rice and should be in Ethiopia next week, after that we are official, and believe me, you all will know when that happens! Our wait will probably be about 6 months and our daughter will probably be about a year old. We sold the mustang and are just a few thousand short of funding our adoption....!!!!!
We are living as nomads! I had been previously referring to our lives as homeless, in my sarcastic, trying to be funny, kind of way. A friend of mine approached me at church asking about our nomadness (is that a word English teacher)? Then I realized that while we technically are homeless right now, we are a member of a people who have no fixed residence, but move from place to place usually seasonally, and the people that are housing us have homes and have been very generous in offering their home to us, therefore we aren't homeless. We are just nomads! LOL!
We have a few more weeks of this and then Miles and I are off to Missouri to set up our new home. I will be driving myself, so we are breaking the trip into 4 different stops....I'm the one who sleeps in cars, not drives. But along the way, continuing our lives as nomads, we'll get to visit with family and dear friends.
While living out of a suitcase may not seem glamourous to most, I think we are enjoying it. The way God has provided for us so far has been amazing and has shown us that wherever we are, even if we are nomads, He's still with us and still uses us, and blesses us. We are trying to live a life of anticipation. Anticipating God's will on our lives. We have seen many many times what obedience does, and how He uses it to teach us and reach us. So whatever He has for us, we are ready! Bring it on!
ADOPTION UPDATE
Our Dossier is in DC getting authenticated by Ms. Condaleeza Rice and should be in Ethiopia next week, after that we are official, and believe me, you all will know when that happens! Our wait will probably be about 6 months and our daughter will probably be about a year old. We sold the mustang and are just a few thousand short of funding our adoption....!!!!!
July 2, 2008
This is What a Dossier looks like!
Thank you Toni for taking the time to take this very important picture for us! Basically, it's all of our birth certificates, marriage licence, police records, homestudy, power of attorney, financial statements, employment letters, medical letters, references, and much much more. All notarized and then certified by our Secretary of State in the state that the document originated. So we have Secretary of State certifications from PA, IL, AR and TX!
July 1, 2008
Brandon's Entry!!!
All,
Elisa has done such a wonderful job with her blog entries, I am so thankful for her and her Godly words of wisdom and encouragement. I also believe that she is a much better, and more eloquent speaker than I am.
But today, I am putting aside my shyness because I am too far overwhelmed by God's blessings to not say anything. Pastor Bil said awhile back in one of his sermons, "If you are obedient to God in everything you do, God will bless you until you are completely overwhelmed." Of course I heard and understood what Bil was saying, but I don't honestly think I had been obedient in EVERYTHING I was doing. So I made a promise to myself to try to be obedient in all things I do everyday. And along the way, God started to pour His blessings upon me, and my family.
In a span of less than 30 days, my family and I have moved out of our home here in CC, rented out our home to another family, bought an additional home at my new duty station in Springfield, MO, helped Miles through a minor surgery, and submitted our COMPLETED dossier to our adoption agency!!!! Throughout all of this, God gave me a calmness I cannot explain. I feel stress free, and I am so thankful for what God is doing in our lives!!
And God still was not done! Today I sold my beloved 1965 Ford Mustang (yes the one I have had for over 17 years) and I didn't even blink an eye! God put it on my heart that selling it and using the money to go towards the adoption was the right thing to do. Again, it is sometimes a struggle, but I now have the mindframe to say that I must be obedient to what God is telling me, and God is blessing me for it.
I am in total awe of what God is doing in my life, and I am so excited to see what He has in store for me and my family. THANK YOU LORD!!!!
In His Glory,
Brandon Hyman
Elisa has done such a wonderful job with her blog entries, I am so thankful for her and her Godly words of wisdom and encouragement. I also believe that she is a much better, and more eloquent speaker than I am.
But today, I am putting aside my shyness because I am too far overwhelmed by God's blessings to not say anything. Pastor Bil said awhile back in one of his sermons, "If you are obedient to God in everything you do, God will bless you until you are completely overwhelmed." Of course I heard and understood what Bil was saying, but I don't honestly think I had been obedient in EVERYTHING I was doing. So I made a promise to myself to try to be obedient in all things I do everyday. And along the way, God started to pour His blessings upon me, and my family.
In a span of less than 30 days, my family and I have moved out of our home here in CC, rented out our home to another family, bought an additional home at my new duty station in Springfield, MO, helped Miles through a minor surgery, and submitted our COMPLETED dossier to our adoption agency!!!! Throughout all of this, God gave me a calmness I cannot explain. I feel stress free, and I am so thankful for what God is doing in our lives!!
And God still was not done! Today I sold my beloved 1965 Ford Mustang (yes the one I have had for over 17 years) and I didn't even blink an eye! God put it on my heart that selling it and using the money to go towards the adoption was the right thing to do. Again, it is sometimes a struggle, but I now have the mindframe to say that I must be obedient to what God is telling me, and God is blessing me for it.
I am in total awe of what God is doing in my life, and I am so excited to see what He has in store for me and my family. THANK YOU LORD!!!!
In His Glory,
Brandon Hyman
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