April 15th is a BIG day and I'm not just talkin' taxes!

Hi Friends!  There's quite a bit going on in our household and with our friends on April 15th and we'd REALLY appreciate your prayers.  If you'd agree to pray with us, here's what's on our hearts for prayer for this coming Thursday, April 15th:

Our Home Study Orientation at 6pm in Virginia at our adoption agency.  Please pray with us about these specific things regarding our home study orientation:

• Tony's ability to get off of work early so that we can get through the crazy traffic in that area and make it to the orientation on time.  Being late would not be a good look for our first meeting!
• Someone that we trust to pick-up the boys and keep them until we return later that night.  
• Completion of our paperwork to bring with us to the home study.

C's Lottery Application to a New School for Next Year.  C is graduating from his current school this year and I'm not at all thrilled about the school that he is assigned to next year within our community.  We've put his name in a lottery drawing for a charter school that is about 15 minutes from our house.  The lottery will take place on April 15th but it will be days later before we receive a notice about whether or not he was selected.  Please pray with us about these specific things regarding C's education:

• My submission to whatever God wants to do with C's education next year.  Because God says that we can ask him for what we desire, my desire is that he would be selected to enter a school next year that will help him to excel academically and socially (I'm not talking about being popular.  I mean a safe atmosphere where his personality can flourish.)

The Dubois Family Adoption Court Case.  You may have heard me mention Sara and Daniel Dubois before.  They are friends of ours we've met through the adoption journey and are also adopting from Ethiopia.  Sara and Daniel are among some of the sweetest people that we've met along this journey.  This Thursday, their court case will be heard before the Ethiopian government for the FIFTH TIME.  Yes, I said their adoption case has been heard and not passed FOUR TIMES prior to this Thursday's court hearing.  During this time, I have been in awe at Sara's steady faith in God and the peace that she has shared on their blog.   Please pray with us about these specific things surrounding the Dubois Family Adoption:

• Birth mother and father.  We know that while one family/one mother rejoices over an adoption, another family/mother grieves losing a child.  Please pray for their birth son's mother, birth father, and their families.
• Little brother as he is affectionately referred to by the Dubois Family.  For each day that he waits in the orphanage, please pray for his health and well-being.  The caretakers from our agency in Ethiopia do an excellent job but their resources to medicine, health care, and individual attention to children is very limited.  Also pray for little brother's future and his adaptation into the Dubois Family if it is God's will for him to be there.
• Dubois Family.  Please pray for Sara, Daniel, and Madeline (their daughter).  For every day that has been difficult, draining, and heart-breaking, please pray with me that God restores that to them and it continues to help them lean fully on God during this process.

If you'd like to know more about the interesting circumstances surrounding not passing court, you can click the links below:
Court Appearance #1
Court Appearance #2
Court Appearance #3
Court Appearance #4

Thank you so much for praying for us.  Now, how can we be praying for you?