Today marks an exciting day in my life and the life of our family, so I thought what better way to commemorate the day than by starting a blog!
You may be wondering what is this exciting thing? Today I finally feel like the newest phase of our life is beginning....
About 3 months ago our family began the process of adopting 2 children from Ethiopia. God has been working in our lives and in our hearts and brought us to this place by his grace and by his plan and purpose for our lives. That is the only explanation for two people who are at the tail end of "parenting" to decide to pretty much start over with two more children, and for their four daughters to also desire this and be excited as well!
For the past 3 months we have been doing paperwork and completing our home study. We received the home study in the mail today which means we can now get started on what feels like the major steps toward completing the journey God started us on 3 months ago. As of 2 hours ago our paperwork is on its way to Texas and the USICS to begin being processed by the immigration and home land security department. At the same time by the end of this week we hope to have our copies of our dossier submitted to the adoption agency for approval. Then on to the Secretary of State, The State Department and the Ethiopian Embassy. In the meantime we wait for our fingerprinting appointment for our immigration papers and for final approval from the USICS.
We have other new and exciting phases beginning in our lives as well, as a matter of fact I need to go soon and meet with the caterer we are interviewing today for my daughters WEDDING! Yes, not only is God blessing us with two little ones but also a Big One (Chris)! We are so thankful for God's blessing on Emily and for the new life adventure she and Chris will embark in on December 18th.
More to come on another day! We would so appreciate your prayers for provision for funds for the adoption, for wisdom as we proceed through the steps and make our plans, and for Emily and Chris and their up coming wedding and marriage!
Love to all
T
I love me some Hollis's...the old ones, the future ones and the ones with the last name Wood.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the wonderful example of Christ's love you exhibit to our church.
David
(and the cats.)
So exciting Teresa and I am so thankful to be able to stay up to date with all the Hollis happenings through your new blog!! (so make sure and update it with tons of photos of ALL your children!) I love you guys so much and thankful for your family always!
ReplyDeleteJance
So excited about your new adventure....adoption is such a blessing and having a blended family is so much fun! Can't wait to see how God will work out all the miracles in this process...
ReplyDeleteLove,
Denise - alone with my blended family :) (using Kami's account to post this)