Travel Dates!

The day we have prayed for for a year now has finally come! 

We have travel dates!

We will meet our daughter for the first time on December 15th. This will be a day visiting the orphanage where she has lived all her life, meeting all the wonderful people there who saved our baby girl's life, and getting to know our precious girl.

On December 16th our Giving and Receiving Ceremony is scheduled. This is when Rori will officially become a Ford forever!

Another prayer was answered all in HIS perfect timing as well…We have prayed that we might be able to bring Rori HOME for Christmas, and we will be doing just that! Our process is being expedited while in Vietnam because the embassy will be closed for renovations from December 23rd-30th! All parties involved have agreed to push us through BEFORE this happens which means we will leave Vietnam on the 23rd and arrive HOME CHRISTMAS EVE!

What an awesome God we serve!

Thank you for all your prayers and support during this process. Please cover our family in prayer while we travel, and most importantly PLEASE lift up sweet Rori. We have waited for this day for a long time but she does not know us, and she will not understand. Please pray she will feel our love and know she is safe and home in our arms. This trip will be hard. Rori will be leaving the only home and family she has ever known. Pray for her little heart to be comforted in this time. She will no doubt be grieving hard during this transition. Please, please keep her in your prayers.

A day of incredible provision. ONLY GOD.

When we started out on this journey to adopt our daughter the cost was a bit daunting. We are a lower income family and $30,000 is quite a lot of money for us. However we knew our daughter was waiting and we knew our God was bigger than that number. God is not checking your bank account when he calls you to do something. He knows YOUR limitations. He has no limitations.

Today I have some truly incredible news. (For me its incredible and I'm awestruck by His provision and power, however I imagine my Heavenly Father is shaking His head a bit at my happy tears and saying "I told you so.") We stepped out in faith, believing that we would try our hardest to find a way and He would provide in our time of need.

We are FULLY FUNDED!

Yesterday our Pastor presented us with a check for $3500 that our church family gave to bring our baby home. I am in awe of the love they have shown for our sweet girl.

Our auction wrapped up last night and once everything is paid for will have raised just over $500!

Last week we were just over $5,700 away from having the funds we need to travel to Vietnam and adopt our daughter.

after this weekend we were just over $1700 short of our funds needed by December!

I was contacted by a wonderful family that has been an enormous blessing to us in this journey and they have donated the remaining funds for us to travel!

There is now no obstacle standing between us and our precious little one! As soon as we get the call we can buy plane tickets! We are READY TO GO!

PRAISE GOD! HE is ABLE to do ALL things! Stay tuned for travel dates! I cannot wait to hold my little girl and show her how much she is loved by her Heavenly Father and by so many who have helped so much to bring her home!

A whole different kind of Christmas shopping for us this year!

That "Its about to get real." feeling is starting to hit me, the same way it did in the last month or so before I met my first two children. That "nesting" feeling is definitely present and the current state of unfinished projects in the house, pending fundraisers, pending expenses, my daughter's unfinished room, and the holidays is honestly giving me a bit of a sense of being overwhelmed.

But despite that whirlwind feeling, I welcome what will surely be the most beautiful and chaotic Christmas celebration of our lives! Yesterday we received news that our Article 5 letter had been issued and we were given the green light to apply for our travel visas! It looks like early/mid December travel! 

Ford family of FIVE for Christmas!

So now I get to add a host of "To Do" items to my holiday prep list! Items like, packing suitcases, booking plane tickets, arranging everything for our absence, scheduling doctors appointments for after we get home, doing my best to have EVERYTHING in order at home so we can focus on bonding as a family when we get home, maybe even get a couple dozen freezer meals stocked up for after we get home, and shopping for gifts!

Yes shopping for gifts, but not for family or friends. This year we have put a major budget on Christmas shopping and I managed to get all three of the kids gifts second hand and very inexpensive! This year we will be gift shopping for our trip to Vietnam! It is considered customary  to bring a small gift to official meetings and ceremonies such as our Giving and Receiving Ceremony where we will officially become Rori's family forever.  We have been given a list of officials that will be present at our ceremonies and meetings and a list of the number of children and nannies at Rori's orphanage. So I will be busy finding gifts to take with us! I love shopping for gifts so I am excited to have a good excuse! (These don't need to be extravagant, just small gifts. They won't even be opened until after we leave, this is an observance of the customs of our daughters country.) I am most excited to look for gifts for the children and caretakers at Rori's orphanage! 

My excitement simply cannot be contained! I can't wait to hold my baby girl! Please continue to pray for our family and especially for our daughter. This day is one we have prayed for, for a year now, but she has little understanding of what is happening. Please pray for her little heart to be protected and that she will know she is safe and loved.