Answered Prayers

Ephesians 5: 16-18 Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks;

for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

As we get ready to travel next Sunday to Thailand to bring Amarin home (we leave on Mother's Day!!), I wanted to share our testimony about how this adoption process has fallen into place. Some of you may have an active prayer life, and if you do, you will agree that God truly does answer prayers. Maybe the prayers are not always answered with what we think we need or want, and maybe not in the timeframe that we wish, but God sees the big picture and actually does know what we need.

So, here are some prayers (P) and the answers (A)...

P: I asked God over several months early in 2008 to work in our hearts and lead us to another adoption.

A: Jamie and I both agreed that it was time to pursue another adoption.

P: I asked God to lead us to a country and agency.

A: He led us to Thailand and AAI.

P: ...to lead us to a daughter.

A: He led us to our son, Amarin, and we couldn't be more excited to add another boy to our family.

P: ...for medical reports to come back to us with clear results. Sometimes they are vague and hard to understand.

A: The report came back with one word: NEGATIVE. That was clear enough!

P: ...for international criminal checks from Belgium and Germany to be done quickly.

A: US immigration determined that we had tried numerous times to obtain them, and that was sufficient.

P: ...that Jamie's change in employment would not delay our paperwork.

A: No delay.

P: ...for childcare for Laura & Charlie.

A: My parents will keep them for the 2 weeks with help from other family members.

P: The Board Approval letter to arrive quickly.

A: This took one LONG month...but with that delay, Laura was able to finish her physical therapy program and begin walking!

P: May 6th Board date.

A: Our Board date is May 20th...good thing...the paperwork wouldn't have been ready in time for May 6th.

P: The most recent prayer request was for Amarin's photos to be at the visa office in Bangkok by Tues., April 28th, or we would have to reschedule our trip. We had already waited over two weeks for these photos and we had no idea if they were even taken.

A: The photos arrived on Tues., April 28th! Did you notice our prayer request date????

So, if you ever have any doubts that God does answer prayers...just reread this post! And watch for another post shortly with more prayer requests for our upcoming trip.