If Home Is Where Your Heart Is. . . .

Well, it is just over eight thousand miles from the Braners to Lionel. We're going to start a new fund raiser to help us get our boy. The Braner family is going to run/bike/walk/hop/skip "to" Lionel. We're going to log our miles over the next few months and anyone can sponsor us on our trip!!! Please help! This will be a fun thing that we can do as a family and as a "community." You can help by logging miles for us or by "sponsoring" our miles. Maybe you want to sponsor Andy's biking miles or Dax's jumping miles or whatever. . .or maybe you want to walk some of our 8,000 plus miles for us! Any way you help is wonderful! Let's "go" get our boy!!!

Well, our Home Study is finished (again) and I am mailing it to Kansas City today (if I can find a check book)!!! It is finished! I'm so glad! Once we get it back, I'll ship everything to the Rwandan Embassy in DC and then get it to Kigali!!! Meanwhile we'll have to get our USCIS Immigration fingerprints and papers, but I'm going to do that while everything is in Rwanda! Our big step is done! We're on our way. . .we're coming to get you, Lionel!!!

I got a few new pics of Lionel from Torree McDowell--she spent the summer in Rwanda getting to know Lionel and the rest of the kids at New Hope Homes! So fun! I just wanted to share one of my new pictures! Please pray that we can bring him home SOON!!!

Andy is out of town, so it's just me and the kids. I got to tuck them in tonight and it was so precious to hear all three of my kids (unprompted) ask God to bring "Leo" home before Christmas. The cynical party of me cringed because I don't want them to be disappointed if he doesn't come before Christmas or if it doesn't happen at all, but then (by their sweet voices) I was reminded of childlike faith. I need to have their faith. I need to pray and God will give me the desires of my heart. I need to pray with faith and believe. God can bring Lionel home before Christmas if that is His plan. So, with all my heart: God, please bring Lionel home to us before Christmas!

I just want to whisper in Lionel's ear, "we're coming, baby, just hang on." I don't know why I'm feeling that right now. Part of me wants him to know that we're coming (the VERY selfish part), but I know that isn't a good idea at this point. We have such a long way to go and I would hate for him to be expecting us and it either take to long or not turn out the way we would like. But I just want him to feel hugged and I want him to know that he has parents somewhere loving him right now. Oh well. The day will come and he will finally know that! Until then, I'm whispering in the wind!!!

Okay, so this has to do with Lionel in a very round about way!!! We are painting his room (all the boys are going to share a room---Hays and Dax's decision). . .well, if you are wondering what color the closet will be, just take a look!!!! YIKES!!!

I'm not really sure how to do this blogging thing...I don't think I'm going to use this as my public journal as so many do, I just want to use it for adoption updates for those who want to know. At this time, I don't have many updates. We are just working on our dossier. We get to do everything over again. It is coming together quickly and my prayer is that the things out of our hands (fingerprints and immigration papers and our home study) will go as quickly. I really want to bring Lionel home for Christmas!!! As you follow our journey, please pray for Lionel. He will have a HUGE bitter-sweet transition time ahead of him. He has a dear friend in the home, Isaac, who he will miss so much and poor Isaac will be so lonely without Lionel. Please pray for both of their big hearts! I have some pictures of Lionel from last summer. He is Maggie's age (I think), so in these pictures he is probably six. Hopefully I'll be getting some from this summer, but for n...