Off to AFRICA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I promised juicy posts. . well, here you go! We are RIGHT NOW on our way to Africa! As you read this, we'll be winging our way to Ghana where we'll spend the night before heading into Liberia on Wednesday. We are SO excited to meet our little man! Ok, while you're probably excited with us. . .I may need to back up a bit, huh? About a month ago, we got the call (actually email) from Acres of Hope that told us that Henry Davis' adoption was finalized. This means that according to Liberian law, he was officially our son. From there on, the work that stood between us and our little man was the exiting process. This includes gathering some still needed paperwork and the visa interviews required by the US Embassy before he could come home. Originally, this whole process took 1-2 months. Well, right now we are expecting his passport any day (most likely before we even get there as it is in the "next bunch" to come out according to AoH) and the next step would be visa interviews. A couple of weeks ago, this whole timeframe changed. The US Consular changed her appointment process so that each adoption agency could only process one family per week. With 150 families in process with Acres of Hope, you can do the math to see just how long some might wait. So, while we would only be waiting for one step of the process, it could be a very long wait. We had not been waiting long (according to international adoption standards) and Henry is a healthy child. With this in mind, it could have been a 3-4 months wait at best. We soon found out, however, that while the Consular could only take one family per agency each week, she would take personal appts. for families on their own. So, after much prayer and consideration, we have decided to travel to Liberia to finish his case on our own. Our major hold up in making this decision was that we did NOT want to step in front of anyone else. We don't want to push our case to the front or take anyone else's spot in line. This actually made us want to travel more. If we make our own appt. with the Consular, that will open up another agency appt. for another family. With so many special needs kids at AoH, I felt sick about Henry having to take one of the few precious appts when we could arrange one on our own. This being said, we felt a few more considerations were necessary. We not only didn't want to take an agency appt., we also didn't want to add work to the AoH staff by showing up in Liberia. Their staff time, guest house space and more are limited and are apportioned based on need and priority of kids. So, we decided to make ALL of our own arrangements. We have booked our own hotel (check out thecapehotel.com), have hired a car/driver for the week and are hiring people to assist us in the process. Our thought was why wait another 3-4 months and have our child live in an orphanage for any longer than was absolutely necessary if we can do this on our own and if we have resources and connections to try? All of that brings us to right now! We are getting ready to board a plane from JFK to Ghana soon. From there off to Liberia. I can't tell you how excited I am to touchdown on African soil. Not only am I going to pick up MY SON, but I am GOING TO AFRICA!!!!! For those of you who don't know me well, this has been a dream of mine as long as I can remember. I am so thankful to my Lord for giving me this opportunity. So much has happened to get us to this point. I plan on writing the whole process of the last 2 weeks on the plane in a bit. I will publish it when I get to Ghana (if there is internet there!) Constantly, I have wondered if we were doing the right thing, only to have it be confirmed absolutely supernaturally as God showed up in amazing ways!!! Please celebrate with us and follow our journey halfway across the world to a little country that I have grown to love without ever stepping foot on their soil to a little boy who has absolutely stolen our hearts. . . Brandi. . .and Greg