Pinch me.

Really. I must be dreaming!

Today started out like any other day. There are some days where the adoption process weighs more heavily on my heart than others, but today I was just going about my day as usual. We happened to be right in the middle of a reading lesson when my phone rang. I knew that area code. It was our family coordinator.

Friends, we have NOC (No Objection Certificate)!!!!!!

What a flood of emotions!! Honestly, I think I'm still in shock about it! I was really expecting to wait quite a while for this approval. We were told to prepare to wait AT LEAST 3-9 months. But you know what?! God crushed those time lines and moved some serious mountains!

I am amazed at God's faithfulness. I am at a loss for words to describe just how good He is to us. Even in the times when I felt weak, hopeless, or upset, I knew God was walking this journey right alongside us.

So, now that we have NOC, we finally get to make and send a photo book to the orphanage for our girl to see. Once she gets this book she will finally know that she has a family: a mommy, a daddy, and two brothers who have prayed for her daily and love her deeply!

Here's how you can continue to pray for our family:

1. Photo book: I know it seems silly to ask for prayer for a photo book, but our prayer is that her caregivers will share this book with her. That they will help prepare her for what is coming. That she would feel joy and peace and excitement when she sees our faces!

2. Court: Now our case is all up to the court. Right now we are praying that God would continue to move in mighty ways and we would receive our affidavit very quickly. We are praying for all the people that will be involved in our case: lawyers, advocates, judges, whoever. That they would be sympathetic toward adoption and they would move cases quickly.

3. Maya: As usual, pray that she is being well taken care of and loved on until we can wrap our arms around her. (Can. Not. Wait. For. That. Day!!! Eeeeeeek!)