A Second Birthday

It's been a while since I updated, and thought I would share a little this evening. The past two weeks have been an emotional roller coaster ride for Randy and I especially, but in reality, our whole family as well.

We have been brought to our knees many times, pleading and begging with our Father for mercy, but this time just seemed BIGGER for some reason. A God-sized prayer that needed a God-sized answer. From our perspective, we knew we were hopeless to resolve the issue ourselves and it was a true "hands-up Lord" moment. My dad told me last week that he knew the Lord had something really big planned for us this summer since the devil has been fighting us every step. Can you say AMEN to that??

A quick recap of the past week since I last updated. Our attorney meeting on Monday of last week was awesome. We feel very blessed to have been led to Ron, and we are truly grateful for his help, patience, and perseverance with us. On Tuesday evening, he had a draft of the petition for re-adoption ready for our review. A few minor changes, and the final draft was finished by Friday. Ron called on Wednesday to tell us our court date in Sullivan County would be on Monday, April 25, 2011 at 8:15. Which, brings us to this very special day!!!

Today, April 25, 2011, will now and forevermore be known as Daniel Stephen Gardner's second birthday. Today, he became a citizen of the United States of America and our American son. We are so grateful for the signatures on the decree today that will allow us to now get his AMERICAN passport. Praise the Lord from whom ALL blessings flow. Now, I anxiously await his third birthday, when he will be adopted in to the eternal family of God and live with us forever. You are welcome to join me in that prayer as well. :)

Overwhelmed with gratitude would be an understatement. We have been so blessed by the number of people who have fervently prayed on our behalf. Please don't stop praying for us, as we don't have the passport YET. Praise the Lord for His faithful people who pray , what a blessing. We also can not express how thankful we are to each and every person who has joined with us financially in this journey as well. What a blessing to carry you with us to Romania and Croatia.

Prayer requests for this week:

• Speedy service from the passport office in Louisiana
• That we could get our focus back to planning and preparing for the trip, practicing, etc.
• We will use this experience as a witness to others
• Transportation issue is still undetermined....prayers for wisdom and discretion in finishing our reservations.

Thank you again to you all. I would love for you to leave some comments, just so I know someone is reading this! :)

Kim