There's Always Hope...

Last Thursday night I made a discovery 

that would have a HUGE impact on our family 

over the next few weeks.

I was working on our visa applications, and noticed that Jacques'

Canadian passport expires on 8/9/2012.

We leave for China on May 3rd and return May 18th.

No problem, right?

We will be home WAY before his passport expires.

Not so.

International travel requires that you have 6 months 

until expiration on your passport.

UGGHHH!

Throughout this adoption process, 

I have dotted every "i" and crossed every "t".

I have checked and rechecked 

every...single...document.

Multiple times!

What I failed to realize,

 is that Canadian passports expire

every 5 years.

I quickly emailed our adoption courier explaining my oversight.

The next morning I received a message

stating that she would not be able

to help us get our visas.

WHAT?

She said that there was "no way" we could get a new passport

and visa in time to travel.

I called our adoption agency, and they referred me to a courier 

out of Chicago...great place :-)

Denise was hesitant at first, 

but I must have sounded pathetic enough,

and she agreed to help us.

The name of her courier business is,

"There's Always Hope".

My hope is not found in Karma,

nor happenstance

or coincidence.

It is found in the promises of our Lord and Savior

Jesus Christ.

Jesus loves Mackenzie and Lily more than I could ever fathom.

He fashioned them together with the utmost care and love.

He orchestrated things in my life and Jacques' life

that would lead us to each other.

He created our family in a way that the 

sixteen-year-old me never 

would have guessed.

Today Jacques went into the Canadian Embassy to request 

a temporary 6 month passport to travel.

His application was rejected due to the wrong passport photos

and the lack of a Canadian guarantor.

Please join us in prayer as Jacques returns to the embassy tomorrow

with new photos, a new application

and renewed HOPE!