June 26

Friends and family,

Here's the latest with adopting Rex. Thank you for your support!

1. Filing of forms. We filed the I600, which is the petition to classify Rex as our immediate relative. This has to be approved by the US Customs and Immigration Services. There is one person who approves and files customs forms in our region and he lives in Philadelphia. You can imagine how much paperwork he has. Anyway, he got to our form the other day, which is pretty amazing, we're told. Not all of the required documentation was there, so our agency overnighted the documents to him. So now we have his attention. We're told that once that form is approved, it takes about 6-8 weeks for it to be filed and get into the system. That's what we need to be able to make travel plans. Please pray for Mr. Michael Copestick, who is the USCIS worker with our form. Please also pray for Mrs. Kelli Gottemoller, our domestic adoption worker from Philadelphia and Mrs. Carol Hakala, our foreign adoption worker from Wisconsin. They are all working hard to get this little guy into our family.

2. This is what I am currently praying for Rex and would love if you would to. It's 1 Kings 2.2-3. When he's about to die, King David charges his son Solomon with three things. David has already passed the throne onto Solomon, so Solomon is now the king. Note that the items in the charge will not make Solomon king because at this point, he already is the king. David charges Solomon to:

1. Be strong
2. Show himself as a man
3. Obey God

Solomon does not have to earn the throne or prove he's worthy to be king. He already is. Rather, these three items are how he ought to operate as king, now that he has been given the position.

The meaning of the name Rex is king. Rex doesn't have to do anything to earn who he is; he already is Rex. The question is how will he walk it out? I would love for Rex to be strong, to show himself a man (and know what that means) and to obey God. Will you pray that for him?

Thank you again for your love and support!