GREAT things.

Our mouths were filled with laughter,

our tongues with songs of joy.

Then it was said among the nations,   

 “The Lord has done great things for them.”

The Lord has done great things for us,   

and we are filled with joy. 

Psalm 126-2-3 

HE HAS DONE GREAT THINGS. 

Sometimes I forget this. Sometimes I allow my lack of faith (aka my worrying and doubting) to control my mood. Sometimes my attitude reflects the fact that I don't trust. Sometimes I forget that JOY is a CHOICE. Sometimes I forget to praise and thank our God who is so good and loves us so much. 

He has surely done great things. And I am filled with JOY. Let me just have a little show-n-tell with you so that you can see all the great things He has done. I'll end it with some great things about our Eric. 

We got to hang out with these AWESOME students this week for multiple Christmas parties! I absolutely LOVE them. So honored with the privilege we've had to love on them, invest in them, and disciple them!  Would not change time with them for ANYTHING in the world! 

First thing... me and my hubby have successfully completed 4 years of marriage! WOO HOO! He took me on an ALL DAY date!!! That says something right there peeps - I know 4 years isn't too long, but my hubs still wants to spend ALL day with me! That just makes me giggle. We went to Waffle House. Shopping. He bought me scarfs because I love them... I would literally wear one everyday if I could. Movies. Smooches. And laughter. It was a great day. He has done GREAT things in our marriage. It's fun. 

One of my favorite people, Kelli (and her fam) gave me this AWESOME gift for Christmas!! Birthdays. Anniversaries. Awesomeness!!! I absolutely LOVE it. I cannot wait until I can get it hung up! He has done GREAT things with this friendship. So thankful for the Knicks. 

Today Jacob had an itch to do a puzzle... so we put Eric's puzzle together. It's complete with the names of YOU... the people who have loved and supported our boy since you heard about it! We can't wait until we can show him and tell him about each name on the back of the pieces!!! We still have a few blank ones if you are interested! $10 each. Just got to the DONATE button on the right side of the screen and fill out the info. 

The completed puzzle. 

Can't wait to hang it up in Eric's room... or wherever we decide to hang it!  

God has done great things - 

Our medical form was accepted, all of our pre - adoption paperwork has been approved, the final letter from the US/Alabama has been sent to immigration, and Eric has applied for his passport!!!!!!! PRAISE THE LORD!!!! 
Our social worker said it is a Christmas miracle that everything was processed so quickly!  Love that! Our God is a God of miracles. Whether or not it was in MY timing, this story that God is writing continues to show His awesome power and His perfect-ness.
So now we just sit back and wait on the Article 5 Letter from the US Embassy... and then travel dates!!! Please pray for that letter (I really don't know what it is exactly... just know we need it).  Pray that the travel dates are set up QUICKLY so we can go get Eric!!! 

We certainly know the power of prayer - it moves paper work. It brings our case to people's minds. It speeds up approvals. It comforts our son. It keeps us sane. It is essential. 

Some GREAT Eric things: 

We sent Eric a package with a blanket, a shirt, and 3 lb bag of Jolly Ranchers about 2 and 1/2 weeks ago.  I thought it was lost. But... finally on Tuesday, he got it!! He was so excited about the Jolly Ranchers.  The next day, we asked him if he'd eaten all the candy. He said he and a few friends ate ALL of it!!! Holy moly. 3 POUNDS!!! Wowzers. He really likes Jolly Ranchers. 

Last night we were talking to Eric. We were explaining what we know of the process when we come get him and what we have to do once he gets here.  We told him he would be able to change his name.  I asked him what he wanted his name to be (thinking he would answer "Eric Emmanuel Morgan") and he said... "Umm... Mikey Morgan."  Haha! He said he didn't really want to be called Eric... but liked Mikey.  He said it sounds like his favorite skateboarder dude. Nice.  What do ya say??? We just told him we could talk about it 

later... maybe Mikey could be a nickname??? I just giggled. Love it! 

We've been excited to hear about what all the orphanage does/allows for the kiddos around Christmas.  Several groups of people have gone and given gifts out there. They've had several Christmas parties and were even taken out to eat at a restaurant one night. Eric has REALLY been wanting some Nike Jordan sandals (the old school kind with Micheal Jordan on the one-strap flip-flops). We didn't want to send them down there in case something happened to them, so we said we would get them for him for when he got here. He was okay with that but still really wanted them. So... one night we talked to him and he was SO excited because one of the groups that came brought him the very sandals he had been wanting!!!! Yay!! I was so excited that someone blessed my boy in that way! He was thrilled. He said Ms. Natalie from Florida brought them. So... I don't know who you are - Ms. Natalie from Florida... but I THANK YOU! You made my boy's day! 

We love finding out more bits about our Eric each night. We look forward to talking with him all day. Although we don't always know what to say, we run out of questions some nights, have super long and excellent conversations some nights, don't know how to explain how much we love him, and we are new to this whole parents of a teenager thing... I love our family. I'm beyond excited to live life with my fellas. To pray over them and with them. To play video games, basketball, arts & crafts, board games, and everything else. To cook dinner together. Whatever happens... I'm just excited that we get to be Eric's parents.  I just love him.