Happy Happy, Joy Joy

The US Embassy in Manila has received the cable letting them know it's time to schedule Ezequiel's visa and passport appointments!!!! What a wonderful Christmas gift!
We are also officially finished paying for our adoption AND related travel!! God has lavished us with gifts from friends and family, amazing fund raisers from Friends of Ezequiel, an interest-free loan from The Abba Fund and grants from both Show Hope AND Brittany's Hope. The grand total of all those efforts is well over $22,000!!! It simply blows me away to think we went from a family with a small savings account to a family with a fully funded adoption in just over five months! God is truly able and does SO much more than we ask or imagine! I realize the cost of adoption is HUGE. I understand if everyone working on behalf of the child and family donated their services, adoption could be much less expensive but, let's face it, these people all have families to care for and need to support themselves. If any of them are capitalizing on a family's desire to have a child, that is between them and their creator.
The truth of the matter is, life is valuable and precious. There is no cost too high to walk in obedience to Christ and if my Heavenly Father saw fit to give His very life blood for my soul, how much more should we be willing to give of our finances to save a child? Ezequiel is a beloved son of the King. He is a treasure in an earthen vessel.
I still feel complete amazement that God is giving us THIS child! This special boy with the extra chromosome and the beautiful face . . . this tiny two year old who just learned to walk is entrusted to MY FAMILY! We could not be more grateful!