Sweet Independence!

I should be waiting until tomorrow to write this but I just can't!! One year ago today, my husband was travelling from Maine to Nicaragua to start the "in country" process of adopting of sweet 4! 

What a year!! 

From this:

To this: 

To this: 

To this: 

We started our paperwork and contacted a Nicaraguan Lawyer in late April 2012. We were matched with our sweet 4 in early May and sent our letter of intent to adopt them on May 14th. In the middle of June, the orphanage they were living in was closed and our lawyer called and told us that social services wanted us in Nicaragua immediately! We scrambled and my husband left for Nicaragua on July 3rd, meeting the kids as their "Papa" on July 4th! 

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!! On July 4th, 2012 our sweet 4 were NO LONGER ORPHANS!

I stayed home to finish our paperwork and joined him with 2 of our 3 teenagers (1 is in college) in the middle of August. We came home as a family to the United States in the middle of January! It was 9 months from deciding to adopt to stepping into our home as a family. It was basically a pregnancy term!! There were so many "delays" along the way which is crazy when you think of how painstaking they felt but how short the process actually was!! 

So, tomorrow is our "Independence Day" celebration in more ways than one!! What an exciting year it has been!!

We are so THANKFUL to GOD for ALL HE HAS DONE!!

“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?
Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you,
and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.

~Isaiah 58:6-9

God is faithful and His words are true!! He has met every need, He has brought us through each trial, He has taught us many lessons! 

I have learned in a deeper way that God is in control and I wait for Him alone. I wait for no human be it lawyer or judge or government. I wait for God alone. When He moves, what He wills takes place! We have learned more securely that He alone is the Healer, the Provider, the mover of Hearts. 

God is good!! I can't wait to see what the future holds!! Happy Independence!!