The Final Numbers Are In

Today we were able to get the bottom line in what we owe and what we need....so here goes.  

We owe $2320 for the rest of our fees, and travel.  

But we were also thrown a surprise a bit ago....we were told when we first talked about Sara to the agency that held her file that her orphanage fees would be waived.  That agency then switched her file to our agency.  When our Letter of Acceptance came, we were able to officially apply for that fee to be waived.  The original agency who held her file refused to step in for us.  Now, we were offered a $500 reduction by her orphanage which we are very grateful for.  But, the remaining money due on her orphanage fee is $5,000.  

So, the remainder for us to be fully funded is $7400.

This is what we know as truth....

This was NO surprise to God...We chose to Trust HIM on this matter.

We leave on Sunday to travel to get Sara and Jacob...we are walking forward in faith!

Look at What we Received today

We have new pictures of Jacob!

This is his going away party with his friends....he has such a wonderful smile.....

And a delicious looking cake!

We get to hug this sweet boy next Tuesday....

It is getting real!

Update

Well....big news here in the last 24 hours!

We received TA (travel approval) which is an invitation from China to travel....meaning our paperwork is all in order!

This morning we woke up to CA (Consulate approval).  We now have an appointment from the US Embassy in Guangzhou to review our paperwork one last time before traveling back home!

All of this to say...we can make flight arrangements and should have our itinerary and lots of details to go with it all today!

Someone recently mentioned it seems like we have been working on this so long....actually, in the past week, we've jumped through weeks of paperwork....it has really gone very fast.

We thank God for where we are today....He HAS moved mountains!

The Adventure Continues

Things are moving rapidly in our adoption process!

This week we made it through the National Visa Center to Article 5 Pickup.  The process that usually takes weeks only took 2 days once it was logged in.

We see God moving the mountains before us....

I spoke with a friend yesterday about what had transpired in the last 24 hours....she couldn't believe it.  She said it so exciting to be a part of the journey to Sara and Jacob!  She sees such evidence of God at work in the whole process ...

It is amazing!

We agree....God is amazing and He is moving mountains right before our very eyes.

We are so grateful to the people that have been involved every step of the way....people who have amazing hearts for getting kids into families.  It is a beautiful thing and we are so glad to

be able to walk beside them in this journey or as we say here at our house....the Lowman Adventure!

Hoping to have news shortly about TA (Travel Approval) which means we book our flights and finish packing ....which we are just about done on the packing part.  Just trying to make the 70 pounds of luggage weigh 50 pounds in our suitcases...we will continue to jostle things around until we have that part down.

Meanwhile....We continue to covet your prayers on our journey!

Awards Banquet

This past weekend, our boys Alert Cadet unit joined together for an awards banquet.  It was such a sweet time of fellowship!  They celebrated hours of volunteering, Bible journaling, completing phases in the program and many Father-son work camps.

We celebrated together, shared a potluck, played together and several of the women brought their spinning wheels to spin together.

Love this glimpse into my boys excitement for Alert Cadet!

Sara Knows

Happy tears from the photos that came in yesterday!

Sara knows about us and celebrated with her friends!

Love the cake!

A quick One

We've got our LOA!

It's one of those days....Nor'easter and everyone is sick but we can still celebrate!