MIA?!?!

I know!! Where in the world have I been and what is going on with the adoption?!?! Things have been super crazy around here lately!! In a good way though :) I am loving my new job, but am still getting used to working 5 days a week and having zero time to get anything done!! Coming from a job where I worked 12hr shifts 3 days a week it has been very different trying to get errands ran on my lunch break and on the weekends. It is getting a lot better though and I wouldn't trade any of it. My job is such a blessing and I can't tell you how wonderful it is to get up in the morning and not dread going to work. I work with great people, some who I have great conversation with almost daily about how great our God is and the different ways he works in our lives!! I love it!! Noah is doing great! Still anxiously awaiting his little brother's arrival. He will periodically ask me if this is the day Silas will come home?!?! Oh how I long for the day that he will be home forever. I can't wait to watch how God will mold both my boy's hearts and their relationship as brothers. A couple of weeks ago I got a little taste on what it is going to be like to have 2 boys and it was so much fun!! A friend of mine who also adopted two little boys from Ethiopia needed a babysitter for her youngest little boy who is almost 1 so that she and her hubby could take their oldest to the circus. The funniest part was his name is Noah also :) let me just say it made for a very interesting night whenever I said their names. My Noah did great with little Noah. He wanted to hold him, help feed him and play with him the entire time he was here. When little Noah went down for bed my Noah would insist on going in the room every 10-15 minutes to check on him and make sure he was okay. It was the sweetest thing!! Makes me even more anxious to see how Noah and his little brother will interact!! The adoption process is still going strong. I think in almost every adoption post I have mentioned how adoption is definitely a journey of faith and patience and seriously ya'll it is!! As much as I have tried not to, the last 4-6 weeks I have gotten into a couple of my adoption funks as I like to call them. I have a couple of different friends who have brought their kiddos home forever, some friends who have gotten referrals and some who have gotten court dates. As happy as I am for them and as much as my heart swells with pure joy for them as I watch how God brings their families together with their sweet children, it has been a little bittersweet for me because it seems like every time I have gotten close to getting my dossier sent off something has happened that has slowed it up!! So imagine the pure EXCITEMENT when a few weeks ago I received my appointment for my fingerprinting for April 1st!!! No it was not a joke :) I received my appointment in March and it was then that I really started praying that God would allow me to get my dossier sent off in April!! It was also this time that I started having conversations about prayer with one of the doctors I work for at work. She and I talked a lot about how we sometimes pray for things but do we REALLY believe that God is going to answer our prayers or do we sometimes think what we are asking is too much for him? I don't know about ya'll but I can honestly say I have had those moments. Where I pray for something, but in the back of my mind I am questioning can God really do this? I began to pray and really believe God was going to allow me to get my dossier sent off in April. Let me just tell ya God never stops amazing me at how he continues to show me that HIS hand is IN this adoption and that he IS working out all the details and YES I will get my dossier sent off THIS month!! Let me just tell you how awesome our God is!! I signed up to be a consultant for Premier Jewelry back in January to help raise money for my adoption!! My plan was to have home shows on the nights I was off work, since I only worked 3 days a week. Well shortly after I signed my contract I found out I had gotten the job as a full time nurse at a pediatrician's office. A answered prayer for sure!! I had to make the hard decision that I needed to focus 110% on my new job and get to a point where I was very comfortable in my job and the new schedule that came with it before trying to do the jewelry thing. My new job not only brought a new schedule for me but also for Noah. So it was very important to me that we were both in a good place before I started adding jewelry shows to the mix. As much as I did not like being able to make extra money for my dossier expense I knew it was the right thing. So again insert "patience" and "faith" that God's timing was perfect and when the time was right the funds would be provided. Fast forward to April. I have been at my job for almost 2 months and I feel great! Noah and I have gotten into a GREAT routine and I couldn't be happier. So I begin to pray that God would provide shows and bless my jewelry business so I could and would be able to send my dossier off this month!! Within 5 days I had 7 jewelry shows scheduled!! To think I once questioned if God could really do what I was asking him. Open mouth, insert foot :) I was amazed at how God was providing shows for me and then a couple of days later I received an unexpected $200 that I was due to get a couple of months ago but never got and had honestly forgotten about. Then comes to greatest God moment ever. Yesterday I received a card in the mail from friends who are missionaries in Indonesia. Inside the card was a check for $300 and a note explaining how they were praying for me and for my adoption and my sweet little boy I am trying to bring home. I of course broke down in tears and honestly my eyes are tearing up now as I type this. To see how God has been working in this adoption this month seriously overwhelms me. I believe with all my heart that by the end of this month my dossier will either be en route to Ethiopia or will already be there!! Do we not serve an amazing God or what?!?! He seriously knows how to bring me to his feet!! I pray that his name continues to be glorified through this journey and I continue to pray that he watches over my little guy and keeps him safe and healthy as he waits on this anxious momma to bring him home!! If he only knew how loved he already is and how myself and his big brother can't wait to bring him home forever!! I would love it if you would join me in praying for my adoption and my sweet boy!! More specifically I would love if you would join me in praying for my travel time once I get a court date. I know I am skipping ahead because I don't even have a referral yet, but I feel it important to start praying now. Being a single mom I obviously don't have a spouse to travel with so I am praying that God will provide someone(s) to travel with me when I go to Ethiopia for court. I don't have any idea on who that could be but I do know nothing is too big for our God!! I look forward to seeing who he will place in my path to share this journey with and who knows whoever it is God might just place adoption on their hearts once we get over there!! How awesome would that be!! Okay so for those of you who are still reading this super long post, God love ya!! :) Hope you have enjoyed catching up on this crazy journey and check back later this week for some other post about my fingerprint appointment and the God moment it involved as well as some post about my little man who is growing up way too fast for this momma!! Have a wonderful weekend!!