Joy in the Journey: It's a New Year! So, What's New?

Not much really! ;) Adoption wise, we are still waiting, and will be for a while. Our agency says we are on track for a referral in the fall and travel in the winter. We are expecting that, but hoping for something sooner. ;) The newest thing is that we are now considering special needs children. Our Korean agency is giving us the option to reconsider these children in order to get a quicker referral. These needs range from very minor specials needs to more severe. Bry and I are taking our time praying and considering these options. Right now, we have only considered healthy children, but are willing to look into minor/correctable special needs. We aren't against adopting children with more special needs, we just fear we don't have the financial resources to meet the needs they might require. But, we are allowing God to lead us to however He wills regarding this decision. We have also sent out most of our grant applications last week! We are so happy to have that finished. It was quite the job. I really felt like I was back in college, writing papers over and over again!! We have one more to send out, but then that should be it, until we hear back from them. We will have applied to 7 grants total, and have only heard back from one (Help Us Adopt.org) saying that we did not receive it. We are really hoping and praying one or two will see our need and ease our financial burden of this adoption, but we know it's all in God's hands. We have a little less than $15,000 left to raise, which sounds like a lot, but seeing how much we needed when we starting this adoption ($33,000), we have come a LONG way! God has certainly met our need and we know He will continue to do so! Well, I just wanted to give y'all an update, because I know that so many people were wondering. We appreciate everyone's prayers and support we have received. We are feeling excited that this could be the year we become parents and going to try to enjoy our last year as a childless couple! ;) Happy New Year! We were also so blessed to have spent a great Christmas and New Years with our family and friends! We had so much fun! Here are a few pics of our special time together...