Re: Benton Adoption Travel - Blog Update Email

Aack – forgot to say, we do hope to keep our blog www.cantwaitbentons.blogspot.com (if we can get through the firewall in China), but if not (and also) we plan to post to our ancient yahoo group, as I won't have this list of emails in China. If you're not already a member and would like to be, you can subscribe by sending an email to: BENTON_CHINA-subscribe@yahoogroups.com (it'll ask you to put a comment in – just give me your name, I'll know who you are).

Thanks again for praying for us – we leave tomorrow morning – better get PACKING!!

Love,

Toni for the Benton bunch

Sent: Monday, January 30, 2012 12:14 AM
Subject: Benton Adoption Travel

We got our travel approval!!!!!!!!!!! Thank You Lord, David and Andrew will be in our arms on Sunday, 2/5!!!!!! We're so excited, we can hardly stand it!!! PLEASE pray for them on Sunday morning when you wake up, as we'll be putting them down to sleep for the first time (7am here is 8pm there) and I know they'll be emotionally exhausted and wondering what in the world is going on.

Flights are arranged, US Embassy appointment made, hotels and in-country stuff done, at home logistics making good progress, aack!… gotta get packing!!!

Also praising God that since our last update, dear ol' Uncle Sam finally came through with our tax refund!! And of course, as always, it was just in time… God has a funny way of doing that, doesn't He? So, our remaining agency fees are paid, our flights are paid, in-country costs (hotel, transportation) are paid, the orphanage "donation" is… well… with Uncle Sam and your wonderfully generous contributions, and other back-up measures… is about covered too.

Yayyyyy God – David and Andrew are coming HOME!!!!!!!!

Regarding the Samaritan cards – I wanted to tell you that I'd looked online for something in particular a few weeks ago, and was starting to have slight doubts – that maybe I'd been too exuberant in describing them to you. But just last weekend, I bought two $25 gift certificates for the perfect restaurant… for how much? … $20! Yep, we paid $20 and saved $30 - using a card that only cost $20 in the first place!! No hassle, no fuss, no muss… just keyed in the zip code for the person the gift was for and viola, it gave me all the participating restaurants nearby and I found the perfect one. And yes, we do still have a few left that we'd really like to… well, you know… get rid of… wait, that doesn't sound right… how about… unload?… no, that's not it either… um… a few left that we'd really like to … um… help you out with… yeah, that's it… help you out with. Just kidding – if you already bought one, no need to buy another (they're good for 1 year after activation), and you really don't need more than one per household, but if you're interested, let me know.

Oh, and we found out who the 3 online contributions from people we didn't know were. It's the sweetest story ever – I've just gotta tell it. The 9-year-old daughter of some dear friends we traveled with to get Abby in 2004 had a birthday party. She (with Mom's help, I'm sure) put on her birthday party invitations that in lieu of gifts, she'd like friends to give a gift towards bringing 2 orphans home to their new family. How sweet is that?!?!?! The friends did, and now David and Andrew are that much closer to changing from orphans to beloved sons!!! John 14:18 says, "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you" and oh the amazing ways He's done so for our kiddos, and for all of us! Please know that our agency is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization (and belongs to the ECFA), which means any adoption contributions 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. Thanks so very, very much for considering it.

Many of our original prayer needs are ongoing, some have obviously changed/transitioned:

Please, please pray for us and 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… soon! Please pray for our family - that we'll make wise decisions about finances, about travel, about parenting and life in general. Please pray that God will indeed provide the funds to get these boys home. Please pray we'll be able to properly care for all our kids and their needs. Please pray for all the orphans in the world, over 143,000,000. We can't adopt them all- obviously - 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

Please also pray for us as we prepare to travel and get all the home logistics worked out. Please pray for safe traveling, no sickness, on-time flights. Please pray for our Gotcha Day!!... that God will comfort David and Andrew's tender hearts, that we won't be scary to them, and that we'll soon bond together and be as madly in love with each other as we are with all our awesome kiddos. Please pray for Theresa, Abby and Alex on the home front (emotional needs, homework, fears and worries, and all the logistics of it all), and all the wonderfully awesome ladies who are caring for them while we're gone. Thank You God for Family!!!!!!!!

And speaking of family - you may know I teach K-5 Sunday School at church. This week's lesson was on Abraham and Sarah having their son Isaac at the age of 100 and 90 (no comments from the peanut gallery). Before the kid part of the lesson, each week opens with a short Bible study for the teacher. This week, it starts off with, "What does family mean to you?" In Genesis 17-18, God promises Abraham specifically that he'd be the father of many nations, and both Abraham and Sarah laughed at this (yes, because they were old, but I said no comments from the peanut gallery). Later it asks, "Have you felt God leading your family to do something that seems incredible or unbelievable? God's plan for families is a plan that He can accomplish when those families willingly give themselves to Him." Psalm 127:3 says, " Behold, children are a gift of the LORD..." - take a moment to thank God for the blessing that each child brings to you (your kids, kids you teach, kids in your extended family - they're all a gift from the Lord!). God is definitely leading us on this incredible, unbelievable journey and who knows the nations He'll reach through them!!?!?!

Thank you for the many ways you've helped us bring our gifts of the Lord home!!!!!! WE CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! See attached all of us at a local Chinese New Year celebration - we SO planned to be holding photos of David and Andrew in the picture, but it took so long to get the lady to understand that we wanted her to take our picture, that we just plain forgot. That's alright - by this time next week, they'll be in our arms and we'll have a whole new set of pictures!! Also attached, see that thanks to Rona and Pat, sweet little Andrew is packed and ready to go!! David's got plenty of clothes, but Andrew's still tiny and needed 12 month clothes... and since we were so DUN, we'd given them all away!!

God bless you all - and please don't forget to pray!!

Love,

Bill and Toni and the Benton Bunch