Christmas came early in the Smith household this year!


Today, we got the e-mail we have been waiting for since last Christmas.

WE HAVE OFFICIALLY BEEN APPROVED!!!

(For those of you who may not know, this is the point of the international adoption process where the country you're adopting from says, "yes, you may adopt from our country" or "no, you may not adopt from our country." So...it's a pretty big deal.)

To say we are in shock would be a severe understatement. We've grown rather accustomed to either getting news of further delay or no news at all. With recent developments, we were trying desperately to accept the fact that there is NO timeline and that it would be many months at best before we heard anything.

This is the first time we've felt that we can be truly excited. We can relax. We can breathe. We can paint, and think of names, and dream of holding our kids. Finally we know that we get to be parents! Something our hearts have desperately longed for will now be a reality.

I wish we could clearly articulate have evident God has been in all of this. There are no words to describe His faithfulness. If only you knew all that He's done throughout the process!!! He is truly amazing and has provided exactly what we have needed every step of the way.

So what's next? Well, now we're waiting on a referral. Then they'll send us an e-mail with lab results and a picture of each of our kids!!! And once we accept the referral, we'll start making travel arrangements! The timing of all of this is anyone's guess...and frankly, we're quite okay with that now that we've been approved.

There are still many in our Rwanda adoption family ahead of us in number that have not yet received their approval. To all of you, please know how much we long for you to get your letter soon. We're not sure why we found out first, but we sincerely hope and pray that they will stick to the numbers in the end and that you'll get your kids in God's perfect timing. God is more than able.

It's so exciting to know that this news is just one more step in this amazing adventure that God has led us on. We are so thankful for all of you! This process has been so difficult at times and your prayers and encouragement have meant so much to us. We can't wait until the day when all of you get to meet our kids!

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