Fingerprint Appointment Coming...

I received an email from Milwaukee. They need me to send our homestudy. I told him I would have it there tomorrow. I cannot drive it there because they don't allow such a thing. Because I told him I would have it there tomorrow, he is scheduling a fingerprinting appointment now! He requested one and will email me with the date and time. I really appreciate Bill's shipping department....Josh does such a great job of getting my paperwork out and into hands the next day!

We got to talk to Pochie yesterday. Pochi is the director of the Ophanage our 11 year old is at. So exciting! She is currently in the United States and was staying at the house that has our 11 yr old's siblings. They also came from her ophanage. What a sweet lady! I was able to ask her all about T. He is a happy boy. He loves to play with the kids at her "house" (Covenant Orphanage). He loves soccer. He likes all kinds of foods. She gives all the kids vitamins. He has a beautiful smile. Is very responsible. Misses his mom but she is very sick(AIDS). He is not in school because he came to the house in the middle of the school year. I thought he had very little schooling but he has, in fact, had 4 solid years of school. He missed much of the 5th year because he had to take care of his mom.

He knows he has a family! Yes, he was told and he is excited! She wants us to send a photo album of us - to him. She asked about our family and each boy, including our grandson Ether, introduced themselves. She laughed that we had all boys...until I told her about Nicky, but she still thought all the boys are funny.

I asked her what her orphanage needs. She said they need clothing for the 10 & 11 yr olds. She had a hard time finding clothes for T when he came. She also would like vitamins for her children. I will work at rounding up those items and so we can bring them to her when we travel there.

USCIS sent this reply to my emailwondering why we don't have a biometrics appointment yet:

Good Morning,
Yes, we do have your SIM file. We do not scheduled fingerprinting until our office receives the home study. Kindly send the home study to our office at:

USCIS Milwaukee Field Office
310 East Knapp Street
Milwaukee, WI 53202

After we receive the home study, you will be scheduled for fingerprints.
Milwaukee Adoptions

The thing is: I did send it! I waited until it was done before I sent the package off. Looks like I will be driving to Milwaukee on Monday.

He is Faithful!

1 Corinthians 1:1-9
Greetings from Paul

1 This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from our brother Sosthenes.

2 I am writing to God’s church in Corinth,[a] to you who have been called by God to be his own holy people. He made you holy by means of Christ Jesus,[b] just as he did for all people everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours.

3 May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.

Paul Gives Thanks to God

4 I always thank my God for you and for the gracious gifts he has given you, now that you belong to Christ Jesus. 5 Through him, God has enriched your church in every way—with all of your eloquent words and all of your knowledge. 6 This confirms that what I told you about Christ is true. 7 Now you have every spiritual gift you need as you eagerly wait for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. 8 He will keep you strong to the end so that you will be free from all blame on the day when our Lord Jesus Christ returns. 9 God will do this, for he is faithful to do what he says, and he has invited you into partnership with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

1:1-9 All Christians are by baptism dedicated and devoted to Christ, and are under strict obligations to be holy. But in the true church of God are all who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, and who call upon him as God manifest in the flesh, for all the blessings of salvation; who acknowledge and obey him as their Lord, and as Lord of all; it includes no other persons. Christians are distinguished from the profane and atheists, that they dare not live without prayer; and they are distinguished from Jews and pagans, that they call on the name of Christ. Observe how often in these verses the apostle repeats the words, Our Lord Jesus Christ. He feared not to make too frequent or too honourable mention of him. To all who called upon Christ, the apostle gave his usual salutation, desiring, in their behalf, the pardoning mercy, sanctifying grace, and comforting peace of God, through Jesus Christ. Sinners can have no peace with God, nor any from him, but through Christ. He gives thanks for their conversion to the faith of Christ; that grace was given them by Jesus Christ. They had been enriched by him with all spiritual gifts. He speaks of utterance and knowledge. And where God has given these two gifts, he has given great power for usefulness. These were gifts of the Holy Ghost, by which God bore witness to the apostles. Those that wait for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, will be kept by him to the end; and those that are so, will be blameless in the day of Christ, made so by rich and free grace. How glorious are the hopes of such a privilege; to be kept by the power of Christ, from the power of our corruptions and Satan's temptations.

In this adoption process, I "dare not live without prayer". I must "call on the name of Christ".
All Christians are by baptism dedicated and devoted to Christ, and are under strict obligations to be holy. But in the true church of God are all who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints..." I am sanctified in Him and called to be a saint! I am "kept by the power of Christ" so therefore, have the power to lead a holy life. He is faithful! I have the power to obey His call in my life. I must remember that this adoption is not about me. He called our family to provide a home, a home He blessed us with, for these two orphan boys. He will sustain us and provide what we need, because, He is faithful! If only I, in my feeble mind, could remember to thank Him and turn to Him. It is Him that gets the glory! He us just using me to take care of His precious children. They aren't really mine. They belong to Him. He will give me everything I need. He is faithful!

I have a dear friend who has gone before me and is sharing the challenges ahead. Bless her heart for doing that! It makes me see just how inept I am and how in my weakness I need to rely on my Lord.

Our Dossier is in FL

Angela received our Dossier yesterday. She will review it and then FedEx it off to Ethiopia.

I was able to purchase a brand new box spring and mattress along with a bed frame yesterday. We had been shopping all over for beds. I happened to be in my car when our local radio station had their "air exchange" on and the first person to call in had all the things I needed. I called immediately, stopped to look at it within 10 minutes, and it was mine! Brand new, still in the plastic. It was a quality set! Just amazing. Bill brought it home. We had to load the set onto a sled and pull it down our hill (The Towsley van doesn't do so well with icy, snow covered hills).

While I was at this person's house looking at it and writing out a check, they offered me another free mattress if I wanted it. It was used but in good shape. We have a box spring for it sitting in our basement! Just like that, we have two beds for our two boys.

JC Penney has their sheets and mattress pads on sale at 50% off. I ran and found exactly what I needed at a great price. They only had one kind of mattress pad in their store but they are waterproof, so it was perfect. (plus I signed up for their credit card and got another 10% off)

I would definitely say the Lord provided for us! God is sure good!!!!! We had really been stressing over what we are going to do about beds. In fact, Bill helped me figure out how we are going to fit two more boys in Seth and Alex's bedroom. We figured it out and all it good!

Bring on the boys!!

My Dossier was complete and in order, has the "Great Seal" and is on its way to Florida. CCI will look it over and then FedEx it to Ethiopia. We are getting closer!

That was really fast! I sent it out Tuesday!!!

I got my Dossier off to the Assistant Stork in D.C. They will go over it with a fine-tooth comb and then walk it into the office that puts the Great Seal on it. It will also get bound together with a grommet. Asst. Stork will ship it to our agency in Florida. They will look it over and then FedEx it to Ethiopia. So glad it went before this snow storm!