This is a blog that Robert wrote that I wanted to share with all of you to give you an update on his trip over to Ghana to meet our kids and where we are at in the process.

It has been a little too long since writing an update to our adoption blog. Sorry! I have been home from Ghana for a couple weeks now and I am trying to process all that the Spirit of God showed me while I was there with my kids. There were several moments that still stand out in my mind as key moments:

• Worship with 40 orphans who sang and danced without inhibition - they were so grateful to God for sending His Son you would have thought someone scored a touch-down at Soldier Field!
• The four year old girl who fell asleep on my lap in the middle of the day simply because I made her feel safe, loved, and noticed - more to come on this later.
• The first daddy date-night with my daughter, my son and good friend & his daughter at the only "American Food" restaurant in Ghana - our kids knocked back more Cokes in one setting than Forest Gump at the White House.
• And then there was the evening I met Elizabeth - the daughter I did not expect.

"TIME OUT! WHAT? I thought you guys were adopting a little girl named Nestine and her brother Luke?" We are... and a 9 year old little girl named Elizabeth. Let me fill you in a little more...

When Monica and I started the process of asking God about adoption we held our hands open toward heaven in submission to God's will for us. We wanted to be lead by the Holy Spirit into adopting the child He was leading us to. Of course I had in mind one little girl under the age of 7 since that would fit nicely into our current family situation. As we began praying with friends and looking at names, faces, and ages of the adoptable kids it was evident to all of us that instead of one little girl God was leading us to a sibling set - Nestine and Luke. It seemed a little crazy at first but we were willing to be lead and God made it clear.

When I arrived in Ghana I was pleased with how quickly the kids felt comfortable with me. Nestine and Luke tackled me with a hug the minute I got out of the car. Literally, I fell over backward with them in my arms - it was clumsy and awesome all at the same time. All the kids knew that me and my buddy Michael (who is adopting Nestine's best friend) were coming and they immediately wanted to take us by the hand to show us the playground and room we would be staying in.

There were a few of the kids who took some time to warm up to us though. One of them was Elizabeth. She is probably 9 or 10 but she thinks she is 7. Statistically turning 10 in an orphanage is a bad thing - after all who will adopt a 10 year old when you know that they come with more emotional baggage and they aren't as cute and cuddly as the little ones. Elizabeth is a very shy and quiet little girl who does not elbow her way to the front of her peers to be noticed. One night after the other kids had gone to bed she was standing in the dining room making little snowballs of rice with her hand and eating them from bowl. She asked me to pray about something for her... "Daddy (they call every adult man daddy and every adult woman mommy) will you ask God to give me something? Will you ask Him to give me a mom and dad?" My heart nearly burst open right then and there. She did not ask for clothes, or money, she asked me to pray that God would give her a mom and dad.

This shy, quiet, 9 year old has seen so many 3, 4, and 5 year old children come into the orphanage - get bags with picture books and gifts from American parents saying "We are your new family!" - and then go home with them. She wanted a mom and dad to love her and claim her as their own. I have to tell you that in that moment I fought saying, "Oh sweetheart, God just did give you a mom and dad! And guess what - I am your dad!" I held back tears and told her I would pray for that, but I knew already in my heart that she too was a Livingston. I did not tell Monica anything, I just prayed and asked God to affirm this conviction as coming from Him. High emotions are not good times to make life long decisions and it is all too easy to go to an orphanage and want to adopt them all - so I waited and prayed.

Later that evening I was able to catch Monica on Facebook and we chatted about her crazy week and my time with the kids. As we were chatting she said that our oldest daughter Hope had been looking through some pictures of the kids at the orphanage and found a little girl who God told her was going to be her sister also. I said a prayer silently "God please let her say that it is Elizabeth!" Sure enough when I asked which one she said Elizabeth. I held back everything inside of me once again and asked Monica how she felt about that. Her response was something to effect of "I think that is right!" Once I told her about what Elizabeth asked me to pray about earlier that evening we were both done in our hearts, she is ours just like the other four.

I can imagine that someone reading this has thought, "Well that is great and I admire your heart, but have you thought of how you are going to pay for college, or how this is going to affect your two biological children?" I get that. I know that this is not going to be an easy road and it is going to be hard for all of us to adjust to this. But I also know that God loves the fatherless and He has convinced Monica, Hope, Grace, and me that Elizabeth is part of our family just like Nestine and Luke. There is room in our hearts and in our home for her and I am so grateful God is opening the doors for her to come home too. I don't know how we will afford college yet, but God will provide for that just like He has provided for Elizabeth a mom and dad.

We have met with our home study agency and walked through the process of amending the documents for three instead of two children to come home. The state of Illinois is very particular about paperwork and we have our amended home study ready to be sent off to Springfield to be approved by DCFS. So we still have some red-tape to cut through and some funds to raise to bring them home. Here are some ways you can help:

· Pray that all the documents that need signatures from the state of Illinois will get signed in a timely manner.

· We will be doing a garage sale on June 2^nd, 3^rd, & possibly 4^th to raise funds for the adoption – if you have anything we can sell we would be pleased to sell it. Or if you want to come by to see us that would be great!

· If you would like to donate directly to our adoption there is a “Chip-in” button here on the blog to make donations.