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We also have a Facebook page that you can look at pictures of Nati that we have been DYING to post, and now we can. :)

Just look up Know Love. Show Love. community on FB. Thanks for your love and support!!

It's a Boy....FINALLY!

We have not been able to speak online much about our precious boy, but we are excited to say we FINALLY had our court date July 1, we were approved, and we are officially the proud parents of Benjamin Natinael Shaw!! Nati is 22 pounds and 2 1/2 years old now, and he is a sweet, loving, and happy little toddler. We were able to go over there and meet him when we had our court date, and we spent time with him each day in the care center.  We took him back to the Guest House with us one day, and it was hard to take him back!  We spent quality time with him there and got to learn his personality a little better, and he us.  I'll never forget the first moment we laid eyes on him: the door opened and the driver called his name, he turned around and saw us and smiled a HUGE smile and started crawling like crazy toward us.  I had been praying that he would just somehow know that we were his family, and it looks like my prayers were answered.

We have so many stories about the beautiful kids there at the care center, and our trip in general.  Like when they stopped to get the goats we brought money for (thanks to 2 generous donors).  We didn't know they were getting them right at that moment.  But sure enough, they hog-tie 2 goats and toss them in the minivan with us! That was a new experience! They don't do that at Wal-Mart Supercenter!! :)  But it was worth it when every kid at the center hugged us and said thank you, and my little boy and all the toddlers drank milk the next day! My family endured over 300 pictures and an hour of video, God bless them. ;) 

So, the next steps in the process are going to require patience on my part.  After holding Nati and hugging and kissing him, it makes my heart ache to wait to hold him forever. But I know the end is in sight, and it won't be much longer before he will be here with us.  We all can't wait!!  Please pray for miraculous speed in the next steps--issuing a birth certificate, passport, medical exam, and translation to request to be submitted to Embassy.  We're looking at 2-3 months from now, please pray for the shorter time!!

And finally, we are SO PROUD AND THANKFUL to introduce to you: our son. Thank you, God.

Generosity Abounds

It's been awhile since we've updated, but so much has happened!  We are waiting (somewhat) patiently for our court date, our first chance to go meet our beautiful little boy.  It's been a long time coming, and now we are so close, it's almost unbearable. But we still have so much more to do to prepare, so this waiting time is being utilized!

We have been blessed ten times over by the love and generosity our friends and family have shown us during this time. It's so overwhelming, I just had to share. We had an adorable baby shower last weekend, and now our son has bedding, diapers, clothes, and toys. Having a celebration like that finally made the entire adoption seem real. I can't wait to see how he reacts to the loud toys and HUGE stuffed giraffe!

And speaking of generosity, I want to say thank you to each and every person who has bought jewelry, t-shirts, wrist bands, cookie dough, bags, and who knows what else from us along this adoption journey! And to those of you who have donated your tithes and given everything from $5 to $500 to help a family you may not even know, we say God bless you. Generosity isn't only shown in monetary ways; we are blessed with friends who spent their valuable time and effort hauling catalogs around, selling items for a fundraiser they received nothing from but our undying gratitude. This entire experience has shown me what it really means to be generous, and it has opened my eyes to ways I can do a better job of giving on a daily basis, whether through money, time, or love.

God is moving in countless ways throughout this adoption, and I'm so grateful to Him for everything He's done for us. I want everyone to know that when you step out in faith to do God's will, He will not only equip you to handle whatever it might be, but He will make it a enriching experience if you let Him.

As I sat down to write this, I decided I to add a Bible verse, so I booted up my YouVersion Bible on my phone to look up a specific verse. You know what "Verse of the Day" popped up?........

"In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remember the words the Lord Jesus himself said; 'it is more blessed to give than to receive.'" Acts 20:35

May God bless each of you as you have blessed us.

~Jamie

Referral Accepted!!

Hello everyone, it's been a while since we've posted anything on here, but we've been in one of those holding patterns the last couple of months.  However, now we have BIG news...we have officially accepted the referral of an 18-month-old boy from Ethiopia.  We'll call him Baby N for now (policy dictates that we can not post the name or a picture of the child until the adoption is finalized). We can tell you that he is absolutely adorable! He is such a happy baby and loves to laugh and give hugs. Jamie and I can't wait to hold him in our arms and smother him with so much love. Please be praying for us as we enter into another time of waiting. Our paper work is being translated, compiled and then will be submitted to the Ethiopian courts. Then in a few months, we will travel to meet with the Ethiopian courts for basically an in-country adoption interview.

Also, there is now another way for you to join and help us on this incredible journey.  We are now selling adoption t-shirts online.  They are wonderfully designed t-shirts that stress the importance of taking care of orphans.  All you have to do is log onto www.adoptionbug.com/knowloveshowlove and you can order your t-shirts directly from there.  Part of the proceeds will go directly to our adoption fund.

Thank you so much for your support and prayers! It is by God's grace and strength that we are making it through this long, difficult process. We truly appreciate you all and pray God continues to bless you as you have blessed us!

Grace & Peace! 

      

Moving right along...

We have been so busy doing paperwork since we last wrote!  We completed our home study in February and compiled our dossier.  This last month has been waiting on USCIS (immigration) to approve our application so that we can send in our dossier.  We FINALLY got the letter of approval, and we are free to mail our dossier to the agency.  They will forward it on to the U.S. Embassy in Ethiopia, where it will get translated and (hopefully) approved.  Then we wait for a referral on a child or children.  The estimated time from this point to our first trip overseas is about 6-8 months.  The referral should come fairly quickly, but it's a 2-3 month wait time to get scheduled for our trip to Ethiopian court after that.

We continue to pray for financial blessings during the process.  God has been so good to us this far, always providing just what we need each step of the way.  We have filled out numerous applications for grants and loans, and we need your prayers that some of those will come through so that we will have the money to travel, as well as the $10,000-$15,000 adoption fee when we get our referral.  As you all know, it is a true test of faith when it comes to matters of money, but we are just praying and putting our trust in the Lord that He will provide for us as He's always done. We have wonderful family who have helped out any way they can, including putting on a garage sale this past weekend and then donating the money to our fund! We have also come across some wonderful people who have generously given to help us reach our goal. Every dime counts, and even more so, every PRAYER counts, so keep it up!

If you would like to make a tax-free donation that will go directly to International Adoption Guides, earmarked especially for the Shaws adoption expenses, just send us a message at the3shaws@sbcglobal.net and we will let you know how to do it.  And thanks in advance for your help in this mission work! God bless!

People are Showing Love!

We have been fortunate enough to tell our adoption story at two churches so far, and we are amazed and humbled by the generosity of people.  Through verbal support, monetary donations, and a lot of prayers, we have been able to continue through the home study phase of our journey.  We completed the home visit and will have the personal interviews next week, so pray that everything goes smoothly.  We are hoping to have the home study completed at the end of December, and we are already collecting documents for our dossier (the collection of official paperwork that goes to the embassy and courts).  I'm so excited to be taking action, doing something that brings us closer to our new baby!

We have met some special people that I will never forget, people that are basically strangers but have shown the love of Christ through their actions.  The woman, for instance, who I had not met before, but who handed her beautiful baby boy to me just so I could spend a moment holding an infant in anticipation of my new child.  She, as a mother herself, understood the love between a mother and child and wanted to share a little of it with me right there, in the middle of the church foyer.  That touched my heart!  Or the college student who had been to Addis Ababa in Ethiopia and offered to help us with any questions we had about the city and its culture.  And the anonymous donor who sent his daughter over with a check for a sizable amount, yet never identified himself to receive thanks or accolades.  These are the people that are living out the phrase "Know love, show love."  They are showing loving grace to strangers, as Paul instructs us to do in Ephesians 5:1-2: "Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."

Thank you, everyone, for your support and prayers.  Please keep praying, as we still have a million miles to go yet!  We have completed fundraising for the $2000 that provides for the first leg of our journey (home study), and we are starting over for the $5000 installment that is currently due and the $1000 dossier fee that will be due in the spring.  If you would like to help in any way, please contact us by e-mail, we would love to talk to you.  And most importantly, give God the glory for everything, because He continues to show us what He can accomplish when you live by faith!

Heb 11:1 (KJV) "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

Excitement in the air...

We received our 3-ring binder from the agency!  It is both daunting and exciting at once.  We read through the first section, which tells general information about the trips to Ethiopia we will be taking.  The first trip will be to meet our new baby and go to court.  The second trip, about 2 months later, will be to pick up our child and finalize the adoption.  We will get to see museums and go on sight-seeing tours, which Billy is super excited about.  I read the part about taking your child to a celebration lunch after court and cried happy tears at the thought! 

We are taking it one step at a time, though, as the agency recommends.  We have started raising money through t-shirt and wristband sales.  It amazed and delighted me when our daughter sold the very first wristband to the Culligan repair man this morning!  She has no fear and believes in our cause, which makes her a great salesperson!  She stepped up and explained the entire thing to him before I could even open my mouth.  :)

I have a wristband that I got from the fertility clinic we went to for years.  It says "Have faith...Never lose hope", and we were told that a patient of the clinic had them made and donated them.  I never take it off, and I look at if often and think about those words.  It's amazing to me how God has always been in control of our journey to have children and how He has completely re-directed our path in a way we would never have considered ten years ago.  Yet now, He is still providing for us while using us for an even bigger plan.  I NEVER thought I would be involved in overseas mission work, and yet here I am, preparing to go across the ocean to bring home my next child.  I am thankful and humbled that God chose us for this!

Trust me, you never know when God will use you, and in what capacity, so never close your mind to the possibilities, and never say never with God.  He knows what you are capable of better than you do, and if you give Him the chance, He will give your life more purpose than you ever thought possible.

~Jamie