Six months ago we were just meeting you, wondering if you were our daughter. Today we celebrate your 2nd birthday. We love you, Charis!

On July 31st, Kim and I celebrated our 7th anniversary. Here is the video I made for her as a gift. I love you, Kim!

We’ll post pictures and more soon, but we wanted to let everyone know that Kim and Charis did arrive home safely on Sunday evening. Thank you to all for your support. Again, more coming soon.

For all the ups and downs of this process, there is one thing we knew: God has a child for us. It’s hard to believe, but it’s now been two full months since we met Charis and were quickly convinced this beautiful little girl was God’s gift to our family. While the process has been long and twisty, we have had Charis with us and have had the wonderful opportunity to start to get to knew our daughter. A week ago, we really didn’t know how long this process was going to take. Even though it looked like there were steps forward, they were slow and it often felt like one step forward and two steps back.

God, in his graciousness and mercy, saw fit to move the process quickly this week. On Tuesday Kim picked up the new birth certificate listing her adopted name of Charis and showing us as the parents. She immediately turned around and applied for the passport. We thought she would receive the passport Wednesday morning… then Wednesday afternoon… then Thursday morning at 8:00. At 11:45 on Thursday, she finally received the passport and raced out to the medical clinic so Charis could get the physical required of all US immigrants. A doctor amazingly volunteered to work through his lunch break to get them in. From there, they raced over to the US embassy, which has offered to move their appointment from 2:00 to 3:00, but said that was absolutely the latest they could do. Kim made is to the embassy and was interviewed for almost two hours, with every piece of paperwork being meticulously reviewed. Finally, Kim heard that wonderful words: they would approve the visa!

When Kim finally told her, I fell to my knees in tears. They were coming home. Yesterday (Friday), Kim picked up the completed visa while I locked in their plane tickets. And now? Kim and Charis are in the air on their way to London. And tomorrow they arrive in Tampa at 4:45pm! I left a full month ago today. Tomorrow, our family will be together again! Praise God!

Thank you to all who have read this blog, prayed for us, supported us, blessed us with gifts, cared for Jeremiah so I could work, prepared (or bought) meals for us and so much more. We are so grateful. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. If you are able, we would love to have you join Jeremiah and I at the airport at 5:00pm tomorrow (Sunday) to welcome them home and celebrate.

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PS> For all our excitement, our hearts are heavy for our dear friends, the Larkins, who travelled with us to Zambia but are still separated. Just when it seemed they were finished, some paperwork sent them back to the drawing board and it may be another couple of weeks. Please be praying that God would move quickly to reunite their family and bring Isaiah home with his family. Thanks.

When we met Charis, she could really do nothing. Couldn’t sit up. Couldn’t crawl. Couldn’t walk. In our loving care (okay, mostly Kim’s loving care), she is growing stronger and eager to walk. Here is a video of her learning to walk…