This Week...

The kids take turns pretending like they are asleep, and one of the others comes up quietly and scares them. Then, they proceed to chase each other around the yard laughing incessantly!

In order for us to come home this week, many things have to happen at just the right time. Here's the breakdown:

1. Receive passports today.
2. Send passport numbers to our travel agent (I HIGHLY recommend Eldo Miller at Golden Rule Travel for adoption airfares!).
3. Take the passports to the US Embassy.
4. Receive our court ruling and order on Wednesday at 10:00 am.
5. Get copies of the ruling quickly.
6. Submit the original ruling to the Embassy by noon (traffic here can be a nightmare, and you can really only legitimately plan to accomplish one thing a day).
7. Send the ruling to our social worker, Claire, at Lifeline.
8. Interview at the Embassy at 2:00 on Wednesday afternoon with former guardians of the children.
9. Receive a favorable reply from the Embassy that day.
10. Get our visa from the Embassy on Thursday.
11. Catch our midnight flight on Thursday (well technically Friday).

So, this is a God-sized tasks (everything is...), and we trust in Him. We know that ALL things are possible with our God, and He never fails. If He chooses to allow all of these things to happen in this way, we will praise Him. If He does not, we will still praise Him!

And for an update on the kids (we KNOW that's what you are all here for!).... They are both learning a lot (as we are too). There are daily struggles and daily victories. It is not easy, but we never thought it would be.... There are times I think I can't breathe and moments that are absolutely amazing. And sometimes,t these moments coincide. But, our God sustains us!

Zeke has never been taken care of in a way that demonstrates love and concern. So, as JT said, "It's like softening the heart of a man to find the soul of a little boy." He adores his Poppa and loves to play with balloons and balls. He likes to drink Chai and eat bread. He loves meat and carbs.... He still has gray spots in his head from lack of nutrition and food when he was younger. He will eat anything in sight at any time......including leaves off trees and crumbs on the floor. He has a survival instinct where he eats all he can when he can because he doesn't know when his next meal will come. We experienced the same issue with Jett but it subsided fairly quickly. We continue to reassure him that we will have another meal. Pray that God will soften his heart to appropriate boundaries, receiving genuine love and being certain of our care for him.

Elly likes to be called Elly Faith or Elly Boo when we get a chance. She is full of life and loves to run and laugh. She has ventured out to eat many things but will pick every bit of "green" out of a dish whether it is a spice or a vegetable. She has moments when she just cries for 30 minutes at a time (sometimes with tears and others without). Just last night, she sat in my lap and cried and cried. I held her and reassured her that we love her and will be here for her. She told one of the workers at our guesthouse today that she was ready to go to our home (and if we left her, she would cry). To think that she even imagines we would leave her breaks my heart. Pray that God would heal the sadness and memories in her heart and that she would be open to receiving love from our family.

We love you all and covet your prayers!!!!