It's official- we're a basketball team now

Well, you know that last post where I said that my prayer would be like that song- that I don't want to sit around and wait for someone else to do what God has called me to do myself?? Well, we've been praying for a few weeks about a sweet boy in Ethiopia who has been waiting for over a year for his family to step forward. To be honest, we've been praying for the waiting kids ever since we came home from Ethiopia. I started to feel like we were being called to do something more than pray for him. Lots of prayer and a HUGE open door from God today and now we know- we will be adding to the Fanning family! Until we pass court, we can only call him "T" online. He is 8-9 years old so he will be right in between Landon and Jonah. The boys are crazy excited about adding a brother and we can't wait to be able to bring him out of the orphanage and HOME! I am a mom of boys, so adding a 5th one just seems natural:). This is a huge step of faith as the money is questionable, the circumstances are different, the 2 trips to Ethiopia while someone watches our 4 at home- so many unknowns! But we do know that God has called us to this. His heart is for the orphan- He wants "T" home as much as we do.
So here are the next steps:
Work like crazy to get our homestudy updated and our dossier done as quickly as possible! I did it in 3 weeks last time and I'm hoping to get it done more quickly this time. The biggest wait times will be for the fingerprints and clearances that we need. You have to redo everything even though it hasn't even been 2 years since we did it last.
Wait and PRAY! It's a whole different atmosphere this time in ET- slowdowns, extra issues that we have absolutely no control of. We will eventually be submitted for court and then travel to meet our son and hopefully pass court.
Then we will have to come home without him (makes me sad thinking about it) and then wait to be submitted to the embassy where we will travel back to him again and bring him HOME!
This will take a few months at least- it could take much longer than we anticipate.
Please join me in praying for him and for the whole process. Landon was praying tonight when we put Kalid and Abuzaid to bed- he prayed, "Please encourage "T" while he's waiting for us." Yes, Lord- that is our prayer! Protect him and keep him healthy, safe and loved while he's there. And bring him home to us as soon as You can! We love you, "T"!!!