Unexpected EP!

As you know our journey to be united with Noel has had several unexpected turns - some good, some painful. On March 12th, we received an email from our agency stating that the quota for Emigration Permits (EP's) had been filled for 2012 and that we were not included in that quota. Our "referral" was finalized in January of this year and the cut off date for the EP quota was November 30, 2011. In summary, we weren't going to be able to travel and get our daughter until sometime in 2013.

Rusty was in North Carolina, while Candace and the kids were home upon learning this news. Needless to say, we were devastated thinking that we would not be able to get Noel for several more months, maybe even more than a year. We asked several of you to pray and we prayed and went to bed that Monday night - hearts broken.

The next day we received an email saying that Noel's EP would be included in 2012!!!

So, we praised God and thanked God and figured that we would get to bring her home before Christmas or at the earliest this fall- and all was well. Fast forward to this past Thursday, April 5th. We received an email notifying us that Noel's EP was being submitted on the next day, April 6th! All of a sudden, our little plans of having her home before Christmas were accelerated to having her home before Memorial Day!

As we write this update our minds still haven't wrapped around this news. It makes no sense (humanly) that we should be able to get her this soon. There are other families who have waited longer who still haven't had their EP's submitted and our hearts break for them (pray for these families and their children).

So, instead of having the summer to get things "in order" for Noel's arrival, we are now "nesting" at full throttle as we expect to travel in about 5 weeks. We so appreciate your prayers. Please rejoice with us and continue to pray for these next few weeks that all of our paperwork is finalized without interruptions. Oh, and stay tuned - who knows what our God will do next?!