We have a baby...

Brian and I are now the new hopeful parents of a precious baby girl in India.....she is five months old and was born on December 2nd. I cannot wait to share her picture and updates with everyone!! For her sake, we need to wait until we sign some papers that make our intent official and those are received by our adoption agency. I can tell you she just a little pipsqueak but is absolutely precious! As far as we know, the expected travel time is around six months, so we have a while until we will travel to Calcutta and pick her up, however, we will receive updates and pictures which we will post here on our blog and then when we do go to get her, we plan posting while we are there so those of you who so desire can track the journey.
Something interesting that I read from scripture yesterday has really stuck out in my mind during these last few days, and that is that in Joshua, chapter three, when God is getting ready to lead the people into the promised land after 40 years of being in the desert preceded by 400 years of slavery by the Egyptians, the priests were going through the camp instructing the people to follow the ark of the covenant, which is in essence the presence of God among the people. They were told by the Lord to do this because they had never gone this way before. I totally feel like that is us. This whole journey is contingent upon us following the Lord because we have never gone this way before. I literally wake up in the morning and ask the Lord what we are going to do today to continue to make steps to bring Mia home, because without Him driving this thing, I don't know what I am doing :-) In addition to that, further on in chapter three, the priests who are leading the people into the land were instructed once they reached the Jordan River to step into it and after they did, the water would part for them and the people would cross on dry land. What struck me about this was how it was different than when they crossed the Red Sea. God told the people that day, to stand still and watch Him part the waters, this time, they had to have the faith to start into it before they would see the Lord work. I also feel like this is for us in that so much of this journey is about trusting His heart, hearing his voice and walking blindly in faith into impossible things in which He promises to show up. For those of you who don't know, we have to have a large sum of money ready next week to continue on with bringing Mia home. We are stepping into the water, fully needing and expecting God to work. I don't know what that will look like but I know He alway is faithful to bring into completion the work He has started. We are here listening for instructions, and we need your prayers. The final thing I wanted to share with you from Joshua is this, that when Joshua and Moses surveyed the land prior to entering it, they saw it was occupied by their enemies. Many strong armies were there waiting for them. The enemy was setting his traps of fear and discouragement and destruction. Please pray as we have faced this as well. Here we are with the "promised land" in site so to speak, and know that the enemy waits for us with discouragement and fear. We have faced this recently and I am sure will continue as he is ruthless and not easily deterred. But, scripture says if we resist him, he will flee. He cannot stand against the word and be successful. Thanks so much for the encouragement and prayer!!