Who would've thought... Updates!!

Lots of good news to tell - God is awesome! - thought we'd update you, since it's been over a month.

Best news first:
Friday, 7/15, we got a call from our agency with news of who Andrew is!!! He is 14 mos old, his name is Fu Fan (pronounced Foo Fahn), and has a somewhat similar special need as David. He lives in the same orphanage as David too, so that'll make the trip much easier/less expensive!! He's way cute - but tiny (14 lbs) - can't wait to get him home. Email us for a picture (can't post it publicly yet). We're so blessed!! Thanks for praying about this.

Second best news:
Friday, 7/22, we got our last document in the mail (immigration approval) and could finally send that inch-thick stack of paperwork to China and finally get the [real] ball rolling!!!
Friday, 7/29, the agency shipped it all off to China. We should get China's approval in 2-3 months, and then travel approval 1-2 mos after that!! The boyz should be home by late fall!! Thanks for praying for our paperwork.

Fund raising news:
The yardsale went well - the weather was wonderful, the girls were pretty helpful (esp. Faith afterwards), some awesome friends from church took the boyz for a few hours in the heat of it, we had a pretty good stream of customers, and some awesome church friends also just handed us straight-up cash.... all to the tune of just about enough to pay for the last round of paperwork authentications!! We ended up with a lot of stuff leftover, so we're planning another yardsale on Labor Day weekend (customers and contributions of "stuff" most welcome!!). Haha - still got a tanning bed for sale - are ya interested?? ;o)

A friend (or 2?) contributed a LOT of books to our yardsale and many sold, but we still have a ton. I found out that you can sell your books on Amazon, so we've got about half of them listed online, and hope to finish entering them this weekend. We already had our first sale - someone in Indiana. Check us out at our Storefront Link: www.amazon.com/shops/AdoptionMomma. If you're local to us, it'll save you some shipping to have a look and then just email and let me know what you want.

Three other awesome friends contributed to our Eternal Families fund online (see below) and another by check... that went towards translating our dossier into Chinese. AND... I got a nice atta-girl check from work for something I apparently did well. :o) God is good... allllllllllllll the time!! That finished paying for translation and our second set of agency fees.

Also got a grant notice from Show Hope (Steven and MaryBeth Chapman's orphan care foundation) for wayyyyy more than we were even hoping for!! Ephesians 3:20-21 all the way, baby (beyond all we can ask or imagine)!! We're not sure when we can start using the grant monies (it was just the notice that came), but we've got some fees due this coming week (filing fees for Andrew, translating his info into English, etc), so hopefully...

So again, here we humbly are. If you'd like to help financially, our agency is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization (and belongs to the ECFA), which means it would be tax deductible for you. You can do so by clicking here, https://www.awaa.org/forms/payment.aspx, using the dropdown to choose "Eternal Family Program," and putting "Benton family" in the Notes box. Doesn't have to be a lot - any amount is very much appreciated!! Thanks so very, very much for considering it.

Prayer news:

And again, please, please pray for us (pasted from below with updates). Please pray for Davey, and Andrew too. Please pray that they're both warm and well fed, loved on daily, and that they'll know their Momma and Daddy are coming... just as soon as we can (we're getting closer). Please pray for our family - that our kiddos won't think we've absolutely lost our minds (and that God will keep us from doing so). Please pray that God will indeed provide the funds to get these boys home (He's certainly proving Himself faithful). Please pray we'll be able to properly care for our kids and their needs (again and again, He's proven Himself faithful). Please pray that our paperwork will get done in a timelier manner than it's been so far (thank You Lord!). Please pray that we'll find out who Andrew is soon (thank You Lord!), and that he'll live in the same city/province as David (thank You Lord!). Please pray for all the orphans in the world, over 143,000,000. We can't adopt them all (we're done [again;]), but we can pray for them all. They each have a very special place in God's heart - He says to "Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed." in Psalm 82:3 NIV.

That's all for now - we'll update again soon. Thanks again for caring.

Let's Roll,

Bill and Toni, etc, etc, etc

http://www.cantwaitbentons.blogspot.com/ - got this thing cranked up again

Storefront Link: www.amazon.com/shops/AdoptionMomma (Buy books/Help fundraise)