A productive day...

Today our family made a day trip to Cotonou to accomplish MANY things. Thankfully, it was a productive day! We did what we needed to do, actually had a pleasant lunch at our favorite restaurant with all 4 kids without any help and even made it safely home before dark! Thank you Lord! The pictures above were taken for the most part in the car! Much of the time in Cotonou was spent in the car with Randy or myself running in to some office or store while the other waited in the car with the kids. They were good and they were LOUD! On the second row there is a picture of Tori and Timo standing by a cage. There are 2 sad monkeys in this cage. I say sad because they have been in this cage for as long as we have lived in Benin and Laurance says they have been there for as long as she can remember before that! Monkeys are not supposed to live in cages like this in the city. Our kids always enjoy looking at them every time we turn down this road. Today we decided to get out and take a picture so we will remember them. Timo was a little unsure about being that close! His fear was appropriate!

Our life is intensifying as the days pass and we come closer to our date of departure. We have purchased tickets and plan to leave mid-June. There is still SO much to do! Even so, we are stepping out and believing that God is bringing all these things together and to a completion!

We are READY! We covet your prayers for our each member of our family, for our health and safety, our emotional state of mind, and that we will be alert and aware of our enemy's schemes to discourage us in our final days in Benin. The Lord has generously blessed our time in Benin. His grace has been sufficient and we have SO many stories of His victories, His rescues and His saving grace! To God be the glory! We pray that in this last month our lives will continue to glorify Him and others will be encouraged to put their trust and hope in Jesus Christ!

Please continue to pray for the details of obtaining Lael's paperwork for immigration into the United States. She is legally Kadi Lael Vaughn. There is no question about that! What we are waiting on presently is her Benin passport and the paperwork clearing us to apply for her visa to the States! Every week and most days there is something that we are doing to speed this process along. She will also complete a medical exam next week that is required for her visa. Progress is being made daily.

Tori and I will finish second grade this week! Stay tuned for pictures of how we celebrate !