Reason to rejoice!!

During our lunch hour Saturday, August 19, Kellie and I had the privilege of meeting with two wonderful ladies. They are sisters and one of them works with an adoption grant foundation. They came to our house and we rode together to the Ethiopian restaurant here in Memphis. We talked about adoption, family, and ministry. It was a blessing to meet these ladies. We shared our situation with trying to bring Leuleseged home and how we were at a standstill. We received a letter in the mail today stating that they are donating the funds needed to move our dossier onto Ethiopia so we can receive a court date!! WOW!! God was totally at work! Kellie and I had been so discouraged with the adoption and questioning if we should give up on the whole process - God introduced us to the right people at the right time and worked it out for the adoption to be paid for. We will still need to raise air fare and fees for visas along with money for room and board. Those fees will be upon us quick and that is the exciting part. We still have a block party planned to raise funds and hopefully we will come up with the needed finances to travel, but we are now so close. Our dossier will be sent to Washington D.C. and then onto Ethiopia. The Ethiopian government will set up a court date where they will review our dossier and decide if we are able to adopt. If (or should I say when?) we have a successful court date, Leuleseged will officially be our son. We will then travel to Ethiopia and go to the embassy for some more "red tape" work and then back to the states!!! Once we are back in Memphis we will go through a re-adoption process that will make him a legal citizen of the United States. God answers prayers. We know there is still a ways to go and many obstacles stand in the way, but one major hurdle has been jumped and we are on our way toward the finish line. Thank you all for your continued prayers.