Dossier Submitted! Signed...Sealed...Delivered!

Woo hoo!!!!  We submitted our dossier!  Many times, I've felt like we were the 'turtle' in this journey in comparison to other families.  As other families who started this journey 'after' us turned in their dossiers 'before' us, sometimes it was discouraging but I'd quit my little pity party after remembering that God's timing for us was perfect.  This is why it's so important to NOT compare yourselves to others.  You can miss smelling the roses in your own journey because you're so busy sniffin' your neighbors.  Okay...sorry...I digressed.  The point being that the joy I experienced from submitting our dossier today made me put on the backburner those feelings of discouragement.  Yesterday was amazing!  Take the journey with us as we traveled up to America World's suite to turn in our documents!




So what's next...as I shared in the video, our agency will take it to the State Department and then it will be translated into Amharic and THEN it will be sent via FedEx to Ethiopia!  Once it's received, we will begin the wait for our daughter!  More to come so be sure to continue in the journey with us!

Lots of love!

Monday is Dossier Day!!!!

Monday, I'll be heading to our adoption agency to drop off our dossier.  We first began the journey Can somebody say SWEET!  Life is definitely getting a bit sweeter!  Can't wait to announce the day that our dossier is sent to Ethiopia...in the adoption world that's known as your DTE date. 

These documents and the payments have been in the works for a full year and finally we're at this point....ahhhhhhhh....crazy!  I think we'll celebrate when we have a DTE date with dinner at one of our favorite Ethiopian restaurants.  It would be cool if I could get some family and friends to join us....now that would be a big step so we'll see!

You Won't Believe This!!!!!

Check out Selah's Christmas Tree and how crazy the decorating party has been!  We have already reached 64% of our adoption fees/travel...our dossier is headed out the door as soon as LifeSong for Orphans clears the recent checks!  I can hardly stand it!  Take a look...

 

To donate towards Selah's adoption, click here:  www.firstgiving.com/michellemckinney

Remember, every donation through this site is tax-deductible. 

Forever grateful for your love towards Selah!

Much love,

Please Don't Turn Away.....again.

I used to despise the words 'rescue' in talking and thinking about our daughter but the more and more I consider how beautiful God's rescue of me was/is, I embrace it more and more.  No, I don't have a 'God complex' but I do want my heart to look more and more like His.  After watching this video that appeared on Jenn Verme and then Meg Miller's blog, I was done.  I saw it on Jenn's blog but didn't get a chance, okay I didn't watch it.  Then this morning before an amazing phone call I had with Meg, I saw it on her blog.  God challenged me, stretched me and continues to make me say Empty me of this selfishness inside....  This is a rescue mission.  Like the man in this video, I'm running full force after my daughter and anything else that God puts my hands to.  There's no pity on her just absolute love like what God has for me.

Take a look....I bet it will challenge you.....or will you 'choose' to not click the link because of depraved indifference?

129 Ornaments on the Tree!

This is so sad that I'm letting technology spank my butt!  I've been bummed that for whatever reason my Flip camera software has decided to stop working and my little camera well, let's just say it's had it's day, I think!  I'm all ready to share another video and flicks of Selah's tree but no deal.  The stinky technology doesn't want to work.  But............that won't stop me from sharing the good news about our ornament progress.

We are up to 129 ornaments on Selah's tree and I can't wait to share the photos.   Thank you so much for your donations. This is just so cool!

Much love!

Selah's Christmas Tree of Hope

Check out how we're celebrating Christmas (with/without) Selah this year.....it's really cool and you can join in on the party!

Don't forget.....Hop on over to www.lifeabitsweeter.com so that we can get an ornament on Selah's tree from you and your family.

Merry Christmas and happy holidays!

Extreme Home Makeover

Remember the awesome Both Hands project we worked on last month?  Well, here is a very small sampling of what our amazing crew did. After 2 dumpsters, 15 volunteers, and some big bowls of chili (courtesy of my mother-in-law), the end result was awesome!  Tony and I ended up pulling out about $500 that we had personally set aside for our adoption to take care of a lot of supplies.  (Generally, donations are provided for the materials but we were at the last hour and wanted Mrs. Holt to have an amazing end result.) But you know what?  It was totally worth it.  God calls us to take care of the widow and the orphan (James 1:27) and so we're banking on Him to help make-up what we invested and beyond.  Trust me when I say the pictures I took don't do justice to the unbelievable work by our team of volunteers and contractors.  Thanks so much everybody!  It was everything I hoped it would be.  (Oh yeah....forgive my drowsy eyes in the pic!  One day I'll learn to take a photo without blinking!!!)