Becuase many of you have asked

how long the wait is expected to take before we have a referral I am posting the latest info from our agency.

Based on the new referrals, the wait time for infant girls is 7-9 months, for infant boys 5-7 months and the wait time for sibling group under five is 9-12 months

That is good news for us because our wait time hasn't really increased but discouraging, I'm sure, for others who are watching their timeline extend. I continue to pray that the Lord would release a flood of adoptions and that children who are waiting would quickly move into their forever homes.

I have been praying often lately about our referral. Last Thursday an overwhelming sense of peace washed over me. It was as though instantly God made me understand and more importantly accept all the pieces which needed to fall into place on our end to really truly be ready and He gave me the assurance that He was working to make those things happen but that they would happen in His time. My peace lasted on a few moments (Ah, will I ever learn!?) before my motherly instincts kicked in and I felt that familiar nesting feeling I remember so well from the arrival of the other 3 kids of ours. I suddenly found myself making a mental check list of all the things I needed to finish up before I would "feel" ready for our boy.

I prayed and asked God to grant me His favor over all the little things that needed to happen on my end. He answered in a few wonderfully gracious way. Seemingly small details that to me were weighing heavily on my heart and were at the top of the list of things which ended to be done.

Dustin and I have been discussing our need to purchase a new video camera for our trip considering the great and momentous occasion and to document ET for our son. Not to mention sharing our travels with our extended family and friends (like you!). Our old one is nearly 10 years old now and doesn't have a way for us to transfer the video from the dig 8 format to dvd. We went to work researching the camera we wanted and found a reasonably priced model on Consumer Reports which was rated their "best buy". Armed with that info we knew what to expect price-wise for the camera that fit our needs. Our only problem is we have no extra spending cash these days. So we didn't know if we would be able to get a new camera (something both of us REALLY felt we needed).

We receive rewards for using our bank's debit card. We had saved up sufficient points to send for a $300.00 gift cert to a major electronics store. This would be a nice chunk of the purchase price of our camera but we knew we'd need to come up with at least another 150 dollars or more. I wondered how long it would take to rack up more points for another gift cert. We decided to go into the store and look at the model in person and get opinions from others. When we went in we found out that they we going to stop carrying "our" model of the camera anymore and were updating the model. "Our" model was on clearance and we'd only have to pay about $100 after we used our gift cert but we still didn't feel the timing was right. When we went back this Fri the camera had been discounted even more and we ended up getting "our" Panasonic Hard Drive Camera and a case for it for under the amount of our gift cert! Now that was a blessing!One major item checked of my to do list.

I'm ready to get that camera rolling! Now I just need to learn how to use it!hehe