Pinch Us!

Well folks, it's been quite a day here!  We woke up to an email from the US Embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia confirming our appointment there on Thursday, May 31st.  This is what we have been waiting for!  We fly out from Columbus early Monday morning and arrive in Addis on Tuesday morning.  We will arrive back in Columbus on June 2nd.  We are so excited we can barely think straight.....but we need to, because there is MUCH to be done before we leave.  :-)

Thanks for your prayers - we'd appreciate them as we prepare to travel, for our kids here in Columbus, for traveling mercies and for Martha to enjoy flying - a lot!

A Quick Update

We have heard from the U.S. Embassy since our last post and so far, all of our paperwork continues to be approved and they move on to the next item on the list for their review.  The biggest part of that will happen this coming Tuesday morning at 7:30 Addis time, while most of us in the U.S. will be sleeping....and the work day in Addis Ababa will be up and running.   Would you please say some prayers Monday night and keep knockin' on Heaven's doors that this last step will go well and that we would get word very Quickly on Tuesday about the outcome? Once we get word about this, we should be able to very soon make our travel arrangements!  :-)  And, we are so very eager to do so!!  We are not sure we can even put into words how ready we are to jump on that plane and bring our little girl back home to her brothers and sisters and the many other people in her life who already love her!

And, while you pray for the Jansen Expansion, would you please pray for the other families who await news also?  We have met quite a few other adoptive families during this process and they are all just amazing people.  They too, have been living "in the wait" for a very long time and are eagerly awaiting the union of their families.  Pray too for all the orphans waiting to go home to these families and the many orphans who don't yet have families to go to.

Again, Thank you for everything!  We are blessed!

We are submitted!

This morning started in its usual way....except that I hurried downstairs a bit more than usual, so that I could check the computer and see if we were submitted to Embassy yet - after all, it was 1:30 p.m. in Addis Ababa already when I came downstairs.  :-)  No email.  A bit after that, Dave seemed to get downstairs  sooner than usual and quickly checked his email.  Nothing.  So, we got on with the day, hoping, but preparing that it may not happen again today.  After I got to work, I checked my email ONE MORE TIME before I went to get the kids off the bus - and there it was!  We have been submitted to the U.S. Embassy in Ethiopia!!!  One more step closer to bringing her home....

What does this mean from here?  Well, more waiting on another email from the Embassy.  They will be doing some people and paperwork checking, and once they have found everything to be satisfactory, they will contact us.  Then we can set up our time to come to the Embassy and get Martha's travel visa, so that she can come HOME!

Please continue to pray that this process continues in a very timely (okay, I mean  really quick like, super fast and as soon as possible!) manner.  The closer we get to the end of the school year, the more complicated this trip planning may get.  We are trusting in God's timing once again.....and at the same time, we are really eager to know what that timing is!

Rejoicing!

"Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn"  Romans 12:15

So many of our wonderful blog readers have mourned with us through the ups and downs of this adoption journey, and last night many of you came to rejoice with us - Thanks for coming!  It was great fun to share stories and pictures of Martha and Ethiopia with you and we just felt blessed to spend time with you!  We have been giving Thanks to God all day for the wonderful turnout and joy you shared with us.  Special Thanks to Ollie from "ChrisCakes" for a great job with the Pancake Dinner last night too!

For those of you not able to attend, we'd love to share some pictures!  Anna and Ellie did a fantastic job and we are proud of both of them and their hard work.  Martha has some beautiful role models in her big sisters!

Cupcakes in the design of the Ethiopian Flag

The CenterPoint Church Cafe all decked out!

Tables ready for Pancakes 

Table Decorations designed by Anna & Ellie

Not Today

We found out that our Paperwork was not able to get to Embassy today - we are bummed, but take heart in knowing that Martha is ours and WILL be home with us - hopefully soon!

We still need a specific piece of paperwork to be filled out by a physician - but there are only 3 physicians in Addis Ababa who are approved to do this for Embassy.  Please pray specifically that this can be done in the next few days.  Our agency can only submit papers to Embassy on Thursdays - so please pray specifically for Thursday, May 10 to be the day!!!!!!

Thanks for praying~

The Jansen Expansion Team

Quick Request and Reminder.....

We have a quick request for Prayer.....would you please start praying on Wednesday, that ALL of our necessary paperwork will be submitted to Embassy on THURSDAY, MAY 3rd?  (And, since Ethiopia is 7 hours head of Ohio, those prayers on Wednesday are really important)  :-)  Having it all submitted on May 3rd would be nothing short of a miracle - but we are a people of Hope, serving a God who still does Miracles!

Also -Don't forget - we're looking forward to seeing many of you at our Pancake Dinner & Shower on Thursday evening - the more the merrier!