Alright, here's the scoop! This is the e-mail we received from Ted this morning:

Dear Michael & Kimberly,
“Like cold water to a weary soul is good news from a distant land.” Proverbs 25:25

Praise the Lord! Everything went very smoothly today. The court docket was about an hour behind schedule, so it was almost 6:00 P.M. before we got out of court. (It’s now 7:00 P.M. as I write.) The new judge turned out to be a judge that we had had a few years back and he was just transferred back to Luo-Dong. He knew us and we him and it was a very amiable time in court. You can praise the Lord together with us.

The judge did have some difficult cases today, so I’m not sure how long it will be before
we get the first court paper but we will just keep trusting and praying, as God’s timing is always best.

What a blessing to have a good and known judge! What a relief! So we still don't know how long the rest of the process will take but at least we know that things went smoothly and that God has returned a good judge to this court (so smile, Dwayne, Melanie, Matt & Janie! God is handling all of this.)

I know several of you were up in the dark of night praying as we were. Thank you so much. Michael and I sat in Kaley's nursery and prayed and I promise, I could feel you all there petitioning at God's throne with us. I'm still tearing up at the incredible sense of peace and love we feel. Thank you.

Please keep praying. We're moving forward! Go, God!!

Court is tomorrow!

As some of you have noticed and already commented about, our court date for Kaley is tomorrow, Wednesday! Ted (our agent there) will be before the judge at what equates to 4:45 AM in Columbia, SC.

We will be praying and waiting to hear. I certainly don't expect you all to wake that early and pray but please remember Kaley, Ted & Bev, the judge and us in your prayers today and tonight.

I'll post any news as soon as possible; hopefully Ted will be able to find out how this new judge will handle things and we'll be able to guess at a time frame. Right now we are all in the dark as to what to expect. Michael and I just continue to make preparations and pray.

We know this is all in God's timing but honestly, my stomach is a bit tight right now as we wait to hear how the court appointment goes and find out how this new judge acts. In Kaley's room there is a decoration that simply reads "Trust"...that is what we are doing now. Thank you all for trusting along with us.

More soon! Here we go, God...

Our first court date is set!!!

This morning we received word that our court date is set for March 25th at 4:45 p.m.! This is the initial court date; we do not have to be there for it. We will be there for the finalization later.

The thing is that this is a new judge and it will be the first time the Skiles have taken a case before him. In the past, the paperwork wait has only been 2-3 weeks after the court date but then a new judge was placed who apparently wasn't as favorable toward international adoptions and paperwork took longer to arrive afterward (more like 2 months). Now that judge has been moved and yet another new judge is in place, so we don't know what to expect.

PLEASE join us all in praying that the new judge will understand that the goal is to place these children (Kaley and the others waiting) in loving families and the country in which those families live should not be an issue. The love and care of the children is the utmost matter here. Please also pray that everything follows God's timing and that we will be patient in the waiting. With all you prayer warriors covering this process with us, we truly feel blessed and humbled.

Now for more fun stuff...PICTURES!

Isn't she precious?!?

These are the babies at The Home of God's Love right now. Our Kaley is third from the left. The two in the middle are our friends' daughter Kaylee and our other friends' son, Chase.

You can see why we are passionate about praying for the judge and these beautiful children. Thanks for praying with us!