GOTCHA DAY!

Oh how I have longed to write these words!
As of July 9, at 1pm, Ruzanna officially became a LONG!

Court was held at 11:15 and lasted until about noon.
 The judge then surprised us by declaring that his decree would be ready in just 30 minutes!
  By 1pm, we had official paperwork.
We were officially declared Rosie's mama and daddy.
After many hugs and tears, we drove to the orphanage to pick up our baby!

We were able to obtain her adoption and birth certificate the same day!
All Glory to the Lord!
He has gone before us to prepare the way!

Next steps are getting her medical evaluation, her passport, an embassy interview and finally our visa to come home!

Continue to pray, friends.  Pray for all of those steps.  For the Lord to continue to go before us,
We pray that our lives can be a witness to the love of the Lord!
Praise Him for our new baby!

Mark 9:37 -" Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me."

Court Date!

The day we have been waiting for is finally here.
We have a court date!
July 9th, 11am.
We leave July 7th.
To go get our baby girl!
Pray for us friends!  We can hardly wait.
More later...

Love in Action

Love in action.

Follow the life of Christ and you see His love, always in action.

Still in action.

We too, demonstrate the love of Christ through action.

Introducing some action…

The Samaritan's Purse shoebox project.

Near and dear to my heart.

Throughout the year I collect things.

Bouncy balls, baby dolls, and toy cars

Toothbrushes & toothpaste, Soap & washrags

Lollipops, gum and hard candy

coloring books & crayons

and everything else a child may love.

Then comes the day…

We invite neighbors and children and after school

Cookies, milk and Christmas music set the stage.

We line my living room, 

spilling into the den, 

with 50 empty shoeboxes.

We then become an assembly line

One

By

One

Slowly filling empty shoeboxes to overflowing.

Our volunteers pray over the boxes

oh the sweet prayers of our children

Praying for blessings for children they will never meet.

Praying for the needs of children they do not know.

The boxes are mailed all over the world.

To refugee camps

war-torn areas,

and now, we know, to orphanages.

For in a little orphanage

in a small country

halfway across the world

peeking out from underneath a desk

I saw it.

a shoebox

In the orphanage. 

Where

 My

 Daughter

 Lives.

A box of toys and prayers 

given for an unknown child.

An unknown child whom 

I 

NOW 

KNOW.

And love.

I have seen the faces of the children 

who receive these boxes.

Beautiful faces. Difficult lives.

In need of love.

Love in action.

You can be part of love in action RIGHT NOW!  

Click below to donate to the 21 Days of Hope page 

for children with Down syndrome!

21 DAYS OF HOPE

Our little love

Matt and I love her dearly

and see the beauty The Lord gave her....

the love of her creator.

Through His mercy we have been led here.

She is an image bearer of our Lord God

and He created her beautifully

and for His glory.

We rejoice that He led us to her.

Never could I have imagined we would be here

and I am so thankful for this opportunity

to show the love of Christ.

We are deeply humbled by this opportunity

and so thankful to all of you who have 

helped us,

encouraged us

and loved us.

Thank you.

We can't wait for you

to meet our precious daughter

(another 4-6 months away).

A daughter of the King himself.

"The King will reply,

'Truly I tell you,

whatever you did

for one of the least of these

brothers and sisters

of mine,

YOU

DID

FOR

ME.’

 Matthew 25:40

Here we go!

Our day started with an explosion of news!

We are going! 

Going to see our sweet “Janie”!

And soon.

Like in 3 days soon.

So that would be Saturday.

This Saturday.

YAY!

Wahoo.

Jumping up and down.

But, I want to cry.

And jump up and down.

Then cry.

Yup, several emotions going on right now.

And a big list of things to do BEFORE we go!

Because, we are after all, talking about a cross-country flight here.

Leaving on Saturday, arriving in country on Monday, early morning. 

Really early.

Think  2am early.

Then probably to our first meeting around 8:30am, that same Monday.

So yup, I am tired already just thinking about it!

And then there’s the scheduling of 5 little munchkins.

And the coordinating of rides, and the after school activities, 

and the homework and teacher emails, 

…and all of the other stuff!

But through it all, God provides.  

He continues to provide.

His hand of grace has been upon us.

We rejoice in His faithfulness.

We rejoice in how He delights in delighting us.

Truly, we are delighted.

And overwhelmed.

And humbled.

And completely thankful and grateful.

Amazingly the funds have come in.

Amazingly the paperwork was completed.

Amazingly the timing, (although later than I would have preferred), does seem to be perfect.

So rejoice in the Lord, again rejoice.

For He is faithful.

We covet your prayers as we travel.

 Please do pray for safety, 

for “Janie’s” reception of us, 

and for smooth transitions for our children.

 Pray also for the strength of the grandparents. 

They will need it.

The Waiting Game...

It takes much patience to wait.

Or so I am learning.

We are simply waiting to be invited to travel.

We were told that it may be early January when we would hear.

But we are still here and…January is now February.

Most likely when we do we receive an invitation to travel, it will be with short notice.  Hopefully, we will be given a full week of notice before we are supposed to be in country.

So a whirlwind of activity will take place once we get that call!

We will be…

 packing suitcases for an overseas adventure

 booking last minute flights

 arranging childcare for 5 children

 setting schedules for 5 children

equipping our Grandparents with lots of coffee, medical releases and 5 children 

 gathering papers

and then off we go…

for a week

to visit our precious baby.

I lay awake at night wondering what she will think of us.  

Will she shy away?  Cry?  Jump into our arms?  

Will she know we are there for her?  What will it be like to hold her?  

To see her sweet smile?  To stare into her innocent eyes?  

To hold her little precious hands in our own? 

To tell her that she finally has a mama and a daddy?  

I long for that.

 Yet... I am trying to be content where God has placed me right now.

Waiting.

So many of these feelings resemble those I had while pregnant.  

The good thing about pregnancy though, 

is that the due date is a little more concrete…typically only 9 months.  

Here, we are anticipating  another 4-6 month wait 

when we return home from the first trip.

So pray with us in the waiting.

I know that we are simply waiting for the Lord to move.

Waiting for Him to say Go.

Waiting for Him to clear the path.

To make the way straight.

To lead with His presence.

It is HIS timing.

It is His plan.

His mighty hands work all things together and I am confident in Him.

“Wait for the Lord.

Be strong and take heart

and wait for the Lord.”

Psalm 27:14

God's provision

I realize it's been such a long time since I have written.

I am so sorry.

The banquet was amazing.

We were overwhelmed by the kindness. 

The people...

The prizes.... 

 and the end result...

We raised over $7800!  

All praise be to the Lord.

Also, that night, God had a surprise for us.

The SHOW HOPE foundation, 

established by Steven Curtis Chapman,

called as we were leaving for the banquet.

They partnered with the Tim Tebow Foundation

and provided us with a grant of $8,000.

To learn more about Show Hope click here.

All we can say is "AMAZING".

We are deeply humbled and completely grateful.

Today, the day before we celebrate the birth of Jesus,

I want to take a moment

and remember God's provision.

He provided the Savior.

He provided restoration.

He provided the very best.

He gave His OWN son.

To be born of a virgin.

To live a sinless life.

Even to die.  On a cross.

For our sins.

So that we could have a relationship with God.

Provision.

Salvation.

Restoration.

This Christmas season, may we remember the giving of the ultimate gift.

Sacrifice.

 

The amazing part of this story is that God’s provision did not end

that night in the manger.

He continues to provide.

He richly provides.

The very best.

May you be in awe as God meets all your needs this year.

To God be the glory.

"And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches 

of his glory in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19 

Merry Christmas!

~Matt and Katie Long and family