A Quick Review of the Past Month or So

We apologize to all three of our readers for taking so long to update the blog. We have a lot to catch you up on, and a lot of it is good news!

BIG Adoption Milestone
Nathan Daniel is “out of PGN,” which is adoption-speak for “yahoo! He’s officially our son”. This the most critical and final phase of a Guatemalan adoption, and everything is downhill from here. This is literally a goal we’ve been working toward for YEARS, so the most appropriate response would be “Praise God!” We expect to find out our travel date any day now.

Government Inefficiency – Oh Well, They’re Just People
Meanwhile, the US Immigration adoption office in Memphis sat on our request to extend our adoption approval (which would have expired in May) for 62 days until a staffer from our congressman’s office called them. When they finally looked at our request, they demanded several picky revisions. Grrr! Mark angry! Mark smash! But what do you expect from the government. They’re just people after all. Only God is truly reliable and faithful …”slow to anger, quick to love”.

Carlton News – The End of an Era
If you felt the earth’s foundations shake on Tuesday morning (7/1), the reason is Mark’s Dad’s retirement. Ever since the summer of 1968 – 40 years ago – Dr. Carlton has been teaching physics at MTSU, usually arriving there at 6am. So that’s why on July 1 the earth shifted off its axis a bit when he didn’t show up there like usual.

Fortunately, the Seattle Carltons—Mark’s brother & family—were passing through town for one night, the same night as Dad’s retirement party. So we got to visit with them, and our nephew Aiden got to meet our nephew Micah.
Anyway, we’re proud of the God-honoring legacy Dad created at MTSU and excited for how God will use him during his (semi) retirement. (Yeah, he wrote a proposal for his part-time dream-job, leaving out all the things he didn’t want to do, and it was approved.)

Incoming! Incoming!
Very soon a little 13-14 month-old boy will be arriving at (crashing into) our house, and we’re trying to batten down the hatches, etc. to get ready. He has a bed. His room has been painted. His closet has been cleaned out of his parents stuff. (Well, Daddy’s guitars are still stuffed in the corner, but …) Janet’s friends are hosting a shower for her this weekend, so hopefully he’ll have some clothes to wear. So, maybe it’ll work.

Seriously, please pray for us as we make practical preparations. And pray that our Heavenly Father would help us all out with the big transition that’s about to come with Nathan Daniel making the transition into our family. We’ll try to keep you posted as things develop over the next few weeks.It’s worth saying again: Praise God for his faithfulness to bring us to this point, to satisfy the deep longing we’ve had for a child. It has been a long process, but he has carried us through it “through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:19). So join us in giving Him thanks and trusting Him for His continuous supply of grace.

And we can't post without including a few pictures of Micah. . .