Come on 171 - Baby Samuel is Waiting!!

.

Ok, time to fess up...

.

WE HAVE A REFERRAL!!!

.

Whaaaahooooooooo!!!! And he's sooo CUTE!!!!

God is AWESOME!!!!

Ok, on to details that I can share. He was born in May 2008, so he's currently 13 months old. He lives in the Jiangxi Province in southeast China, which means we'll be in the capital city of Nanchang that first week (more info at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiangxi). He has a heart condition called Tetralogy of Fallot that was repaired surgically when he was 6 months old (more info at http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/tetralogy-fallot) and Tamra's Dad, Tim, was very gracious to help us review his medical information and, along with prayer, help us make a decision.

China's new rules say we can't share any of the specific documents contained in his referral in a public place (ie: blog or yahoogroup), and "specific documents contained in his referral" include pictures... BUT... I met a woman online who was at his orphanage in April!!! She fell in love with him and has several pictures and short little video snippets!!! Since they're not part of his referral documents, I CAN share them!!! :o) His referral pictures were likely taken at ~ 6 mos of age, so my new friend's pictures are more recent anyway.

.

Feast your eyes on his cuteness.

Now... PLEASE PRAY for our 171 to come soon!!! A 171 is typically that last stinkin' document you're waiting for and it is US Immigration's permission to bring the child to the US. Once we get that last document and we get them all authenticated (in process now), then we can send the 1-inch stack of papers off to China. From there, it'll take 3-4 months to get approval, then 1-2 more months before we actually travel. That puts us at late Fall, early Winter... but not until we get that 171!!!

And please pray for our finances... not to worry, God has proven Himself over and over, but He wants us to pray too. If you're interested in a tax deductible way to contribute to our adoption fund, please do email/call me. I know He'd love for you to join Him in bringing Baby Samuel home (James 1:27, Matthew 18:5, Psalm 68:5-6a, Psalm 82:3-4a, etc.).

Oh yeah, and his name. It's currently Samuel Jack(son) XinTing Benton... but the Jack(son) is still up for debate. Bill doesn't particularly like Samuel Jack because it needs 2 syllables - and I agreed until I said it enough times that it started sounding right. And I didn't particularly like Samuel Jackson, because it sounds like a US President (Andrew, not Samuel, but it sounds like it). It turns out that Samuel Jackson is an actor, and some of his movies aren't exactly what we'd go see, but I can live with that if Bill can't live with Samuel Jack.

Jack is after my Uncle Jack, who has jokingly called Johnny "Jackie" since he was born. That's it!!... maybe it should be Samuel Jackie (as in Jackie Chan!?!?!:). Ok, maybe not.

We're sure about Samuel tho... named after my brother and uncle and Bill's nephew... but more importantly after one of our adoption verses. First Samuel 1:27 says, "For this child I prayed, and the LORD has granted me my petition which I asked of Him." It's from when Hannah wanted a child and she prayed so hard one day in the Temple that the priest thought she was drunk. When she explained herself, he told her to go home and God would answer her prayer. God did answer her prayer and she named the child Samuel (gift of God) saying that she'd prayed for him and God gave her what she prayed for (1 Sam. 1:27)... and she dedicated him right back to God. Well, we're not childless (that's for sure - TYL!), but I am praying for this child and I hope you'll join me.

Big festivities at our house this weekend... Johnny's graduation party and Faith's birthday party... both on Saturday. Come on by - we'd love to have you!!

Happy Father's Day (gosh I miss you, Daddy)!!! Thank You God for all the wonderful Dad's in my life!!

Let's Roll!!