Waiting for I-800

The I-800 is the U.S. government approval to bring Caleb into this country. When we touch down in the U.S. he will be a citizen. I got the paperwork in quickly, but it seemed to get held up in the office for awhile. Hopefully it went out on Thursday!
It is frustrating to work so hard to get things done quickly then have to wait for others. I know its all part of the process...
So this could take several weeks for the approval, hopefully no longer than 5-6. then we wait for travel approval. It does feel like it is getting a little closer. We also got an update on Caleb. We were allowed to ask 20 questions and we got the answers back in a week. So it is feeling more real! We will be sending him a package next week.
God continues to humble me with the ways He is providing, a little at a time, in His time.

FINALLY, LOA!!!

Got the call yesterday morning just before 8am. Hadn't even had time to really start pondering it for the day. It was almost anti-climatic, since I had wanted it so bad so many other times. But of course we were still very excited.
Then today about 10:15 UPS truck came. I thought I would run out and tackle or hug, the UPS man, but he was too quick! We looked it over, carefully signed it, then I was off to overnight it. An interesting tidbit is that china stamped it on Nov. 22nd, which is just after I spoke at our church. Amazing! God had me in the place where He wanted me and He wanted me to obey Him first, before we got the letter.
We were going to meet with our SW Mon., then I asked if we could meet this Thurs. instead, I couldn't wait til Mon.! Then now we are going to meet with her tomorrow, YAY! So maybe I can have the immigration paperwork done by tomorrow.
So that is the next step, it is called I-800. It is approval from our government to adopt and bring Caleb into this country. It can take anywhere from 3 weeks to 3 months. Please pray with us for only 3 weeks. All I want for Christmas is I-800 approval! Then once we get that its another 6-8 weeks until we travel. So we are hoping to travel no later than mid Feb.
I had fun getting him a couple of things at Target today. It is feeling more like it is really going to happen! Thank you for all your prayers and support, they mean a lot to us!
Isaiah 25:1 "O Lord You are my God; I will exalt You and praise Your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done marvelous things, things planned long ago."

Still Waiting...

We "met" Caleb 2 mos. ago today. What an exciting day that was! The time has seemed to drag since then, as we are still waiting for our LOA. But I think I have become a little more accepting of this is where God has us and we just have to wait...
But it would be wonderful to get it by Thanksgiving!
Spoke at our church's women's brunch today. Glad to have it behind me. But it was a faith walk to prepare that and go through with it when I didn't really want to these last couple of weeks when I have been struggling. But I hope I spoke clearly about the cause of the orphan and how everyone can do something.
Still busy working on getting jar mixes ready to sell and have a couple orders to fill. I havn't really worried about money during this whole process, that is one area I have trusted God, not so well in the timing part! But I feel like I need to do more fundraisers or think of something else to bring in money. Well, we put our property up for sale, it would be awesome if we sold that quickly! And doing these fundraisers takes time. And I feel like I'm asking the same people over and over for money! I so do not want to do that. I'm sure God will provide in ways I have never imagined!

Humbled and blessed

Well, I have not done so well with trusting God's timing the last couple of weeks. It has been REALLY HARD! Our LOA still has not come. It is still within a "normal" time frame, but come on God, our little guy is waiting! Don't you know its NOV.? Don't you know I've been praying to travel by Dec. or Jan.? It was also hard as Caleb turned 18 mos., I wanted the letter that day. Then I prayed and prayed for it to come by the time of our silent auction on Friday, even expecting a miracle on Friday, but didn't happen. I cried, was irritated, and slowly the last couple of days God is helping me to accept, to rest in Him, to be still, to focus on what I need to focus on right now.
Our silent auction was last night. I am humbled and blessed by the donations and how God is providing! Words cannot express how thankful we are. Austin prayed for a certain amount and we received beyond that. This is so great for my kids to see first hand how God provides.
As God has been working on my heart, mind and emotions this song, along with several hymns, really began to put me in my place.
"God is it True ( Trust Me)" by Steven Curtis Chapman
God is it true that You're thinking of me at this moment,
God is it true that You hear every prayer that I pray?
God is it true every time my heart beats You know it?
Well if it's all true then that must be You I hear saying " Trust Me"
God is it true out of all things You're doing on this planet
Could it really be true that You've counted the hairs on my head?
God is it true every day of my life You have planned it?
Well if it's all true then that must be You I hear saying "Trust Me", "Trust Me, "Trust Me", "I'll never leave you", I'll never forsake you", "Just Trust Me"
God is it true that Your love for us is never ending?
Could it really be true that You'd die before letting us go
God is it true that not even death can separate us?
Well if it's all true then what can I do
but put all my hope and all my trust in You
Well I know it's true
And I know it's You I hear saying "Trust Me"
I hear You saying "Trust Me"

Adoption is NOT God's "plan B"

That thought has been rolling around in my head the last couple of days. God cannot have a "plan B"! Us Gentiles were not His plan B. He was going to adopt us all along. The law wasn't plan A and Jesus being crucified plan B, it was what God knew would happen and had planned from the beginning of time. Just like He knew Caleb would be in our family from the beginning of time.
Anxiously awaiting our LOA (letter from China). Hopefully by next week. The waiting is getting harder. But plenty to keep us busy. Can't believe our silent auction is in 2 weeks!
God is still letting us know that He is in control even when there is so much craziness around me. Extended family issues, issues with kids, car issues. He is wanting to know where my faith lies...
God has also called me to do something I didn't really want to do. One Sunday after church someone asked me to pray about speaking at our women's brunch. HUH?! Me?! I really wanted to say no right away, too much already on my plate, things going on. Then the next night at BSF of course we are going over the passage in Isaiah where he says " Here am I, send me." And the fact that only God can make our words worthy. Ok God, I hear you! Another lady and I will be talking about adoption. I'm happy to have the opportunity to talk about something I'm becoming very passionate about and hope to inspire others to care for orphans in whatever way God is calling them to. But very nervous too!
I'm a huge fan of Steven Curtis Chapman. His family is certainly part of my inspiration to adopt. Here is the chorus to a song "I Will Trust You":
"And I will trust You, I'll trust You, trust You God, I will, even when I don't understand, even then I will say again, You are my God and I will trust you."
May I continue to trust is His perfect timing!

Big News!

We are finally able to share some news a little more publically, but can't share everything yet.
We were matched with a sweet little boy on Sep. 20th. We had 24 hours to give an initial yes or no. I did a lot of processing during those 24 hours! Then we said yes. I'm growing more attached to him each day. He is about 17 mos. old. Beautiful dark hair and dark eyes. Its becoming more real each day. We sure have a lot to do!
After saying yes we had to do some paperwork which did not get off until today because our social worker was out of town. I had been kind of frustrated with that as time is very important now, so we can go get him! I'm studying Isaiah this year in Bible study and this week's lesson was about pride. Well I was humbled today as we found out that we are got our pre-approval (PA) from China on the 25th! Our paperwork hadn't even been sent yet! So God is teaching me AGAIN that He is in control of all of this. He certainly doesn't need me or any paperwork to accomplish His will. It gave us joy and peace knowing that this little boy is supposed to be part of our family. "Oh how marvelous, oh how wonderful and my song shall ever be..."
So next is our Letter of Acceptance (LOA). That is the OFFICIAL letter that says China is accepting us and that he will be our son. When we get that we can post pictures. Pray that it happens quickly, but it can take several weeks.

Prayer: We have a silent auction coming up on Nov. 5th. Pray for preparations for that.
Finances: We have paid about half of what our total costs will be. Praise God! This has been done with about $3,000 from people giving and our garage sales/bake sales, and the rest we had saved. But now we need to pay for the other half. We know God will provide.
Time: Pray that I will use my time wisely. I need to start applying for grants, lots of paperwork. Many other preparations and things to do. I have two children to teach.
Travel: Pray that we will get to travel end of Dec./beginning of Jan. Chinese New Year is Feb.3rd and the country shuts down for awhile. Pray for our many travel preparations.
Thank you for your support!!!

With the trees , again...

In the mountains again, looking at the trees again, thinking of and praying for Caleb. Last time we were in the mountains, we got logged in. Now hoping and praying to meet Caleb very soon.
Pray that I can concentrate on school with the kids and everything else I need to do. But we are anxious to "meet" him and get going on our next phase. I have to keep reminding myself that God is in control and His timing is perfect. I'm looking forward to studying Isaiah this year to be reminded how powerful my God is!

Its official

Our LID was Aug. 28th, so cool, because of the day it happened, the story about being in the mountains. So yesterday or today our "waiting child" paperwork was supposed to get submitted to Grand Rapids ( our agency's headquarters). Our social worker said they were "anxiously awaiting our paperwork". So I'm hoping and praying that we get matched next week, and that it doesn't drag on for weeks!
Started working on some online adoption classes the other night that we have to get done before we travel. Trying to "get ahead" with things knowing that it will get busier.
Please pray that we get to "meet" Caleb soon and that our paperwork will continue to move quickly and smoothly.

It appears we have our LID

I went on our agency's site tonight just for fun, logged into our account and saw that we have a log-in date of Aug. 28th! Not sure why we didn't get a call or anything... Unbelievable!!! Our social worker said it would probably take 3 weeks, but that was only 8 days. Its also kind of cool because that was when we were in the mountains. That night I was lying in bed, looking out the windows at the big beautiful trees, thinking about and praying for Caleb for a long time. It was so cool!
So we should be getting to meet him very soon, maybe even next week! That makes my head spin! But also very excited!

Hurry up and wait...

On Friday our dossier (paperwork) went to China! Yay! It was a little anti-climatic though as we had waited 3 weeks to hear that. But still very happy. Pray now that nothing gets lost or anything. What a nightmare that would be, though I'm sure it has happened to others.
So what next? The nest thing is our log-in date, when China logs in our paperwork. That could take about 3 weeks, hopefully not longer than that. Then once we are logged-in our agency will match us with a little boy 0-18 mos., with some minor medical need that we have indicated. We have 24 hours to initially accept him, so that will be a crazy 24 hours. Then we have up to two weeks to formally accept him. Then more paperwork goes back and forth, so it will take a few more months until we can go get him. I'm still hoping and praying it will be before Christmas, but may more likely be after.
Our BIG yard sale is coming up Sep. 4th. So many have donated, thank you! I have a lot to go through and organize. We are also beginning to plan a dinner and silent auction for possibly the first weekend in Nov.
Please continue to pray for God's provision and His perfect timing.
I am not always very patient and I like getting things done. Yesterday I heard the Lincoln Brewster song from Is. 40 and it really spoke to me about waiting on God through this process. Is. 40:27-31, read it!

Adoption roller coaster

Again I "knew" this would be a roller coaster, but things are so different once you experience them yourself. We went to our agency again today thinking we just needed to have one document notarized, ended up needing three done. Don't care at this point, just want to write the check to get us closer to Caleb. We also made the decision to take our documents up to Sacramento, "buying" us about a week of time and the peace of mind of delivering it and bringing it back yourself. Even if you overnight them they could sit on a desk below others for several days. So Rod and Austin will go and have a nice father/son day in the car. Naomi and I will continue to bake for our bake sale.
It was good to talk to our social worker some more. We should be logged in to China within 6-8 weeks and will get matched as soon as that happens. The person in charge of the China program with our agency is very anxious to match us as we are the only family requesting a boy right now.
Here is a poem that really spoke to me the other day. I certainly don't want to/can't compare myself to those who have gone through infertility, but this is a new journey for us. The poem is from the book "Toddler Adoption: The Weaver's Craft". The poem is called "Song of the Waiting Mother" by Christine Futia
I'm pregnant, but my tummy isn't growing,
And no one ever calls me "Little Mom."
The public simply isn't overflowing
With questions that I'd handle with aplomb.

There are no special clothes to mark my waiting.
Nobody stops and smiles as I pass by.
The absence of a due-date is frustrating
And looking at the nursery makes me cry.

When I'm overdue no one will worry.
The phone won't ring and ring as friends check in.
I can't induce my labor in a hurry,
My new life as a parent to begin.

Adoption is a worrisome endeavor,
And waiting all alone is not much fun.
To be "with child" a year seems like forever.
Dear God, we're ready! Please send us our son!

Delays and Disappointments

I "knew" delays and disappoints were all just part of this adoption process. But it is hard when you actually have to go through it. It was so exciting to get our fingerprints done "early". WE thought for sure we would have our immigration approval letter before we went on our trip to Sacramento, but then July 5th was a holiday. The letter came (of course) 2 hours after we left. Come to find out our social worker had gotten sick for a couple days and was delayed in sending out the info. that they had forgotten in the first place. I guess I need to pray for her health!
Its hard when I work so hard to do everything right and get everything done, and then to have delays. But I know that God is constantly trying to remind me that He is in control and His time is perfect.
I took our paperwork in today thinking it could be Fedexed today but then one more thing has to be notarized, so now we have to go back in on Wed., another delay. It was feeling like we were so close and now it feels a little far again. I was also thinking/hoping we would get matched by Aug., but the social worker said today before Thanksgiving and not to expect to travel until after the new year. :( Disappointment. But again God is the author of all this, He is above paperwork and time and everything in between.
I finished the book "Silent Tears" last week. Eye-opening and heart-wrenching, but glad I read it. I am praying Ps. 71 for Caleb today.

A little begging never hurt

We got our fingerprints at USCIS today! It was a miracle! The date they gave us did not work. Rod was off today so this afternoon we went down to see if they would by chance do our prints. Lots of prayer and a little persistance and they allowed us to do it. We are excited and thankful! So now we have to wait for our approval letter. Then our dossier will be complete and ready to be state sealed. We are hoping and praying that we will have it by July 5th as we are planning a trip to Sacramento anyway.
Getting closer to meeting Caleb!

Good mail day

Got our notices today from immigration to go get fingerprinted. But of course the actual appt. day doesn't work because Rod is scheduled to work. We are giong to walk in tomorrow afternoon and see if someone is in a good mood. So please pray. It would be wonderful to get it done tomorrow.
YES, I'm getting anxious!
Also did not know that it takes another 2-3 weeks after you get fingerprinted to get your approval letter. So that is a little disappointing. We are wanting to go to Sacramento anyway, and just thought that we would also be taking our dossier to get state sealed.
So feel a little like my hopes of traveling before Christmas are getting dashed. But I know God is in control and His timing is perfect.

Provision

We had a good yard sale and bake sale yesterday. Thank you to all who helped and donated things! We felt so blessed! God has provided in so many ways the last few weeks. He has always provided and always been faithful.
Finally got my birthcertificate last week and got our last document notarized. YAY! So now we just wait for immigration, get fingerprinted again, have to get all documents state sealed, THEN the dossier can go to China (DTC). Can't wait for that!
We also hope to actually meet Caleb soon, as in get matched with a little boy.

OK...its China

So we got home form a 2 week vacation late last Sunday night and our social worker calls us Monday afternoon. She had not finished up our home study for Korea yet because she was waiting until we got back so we could approve it and had just talked with the coordinator for Korea and China. It turns out that for the China program for our agency right now there are hundreds of boys waiting and no one else wants a boy right now, with lots age 0-2. We couldn't believe it. So if anyone wants to adopt a boy, go with China! So it seemed like a no-brainer to us, that this is what God has for us.
We have tried to figure God out and really want to follow His lead. He has continually reminded us that He is in control and only His timing is right. So even though I have been frustrated that it has taken so long to get our home study approved, I know there will be some reason.
Our home study will go to our agency headquarters next week and off to immigration. Since there are so many waiting boys, our agency will actually match us, and that could happen real soon. So that is very exciting! Pray that we will get to go before the new year, just because we are anxious to bring Caleb home, but also because China basically shuts down the month of January for their new year.
Thanks for praying for and supporting us.

Decisions

Our home study being approved kept being held up. But one day I "just happened" to be looking at the waiting children through our organization and found a couple of new babies so I e-mailed our social worker about them. They got matched quickly but she said there are a couple more, would you like to see them, we said sure. They are from South Korea. Hmmm, we got really attached to one of them and put our names in for the matching, he had been in the last group and wasn't matched so we thought we had a good chance. It seemed to take forever for the day of the matching to get here, it came and went. The next morning I got the call that we did not get him. We were very, very sad and disappointed, almost feeling as though we had lost someone. But I certainly don't want to compare myself to someone who has had a miscarriage, infertility, or lost a child through death. But it was very hard for us.
So now we have spent the last week trying to figure out what God wants us to do. Is He leading us to Korea now? Is He leading us to a baby? What about China? What about our "original plans"? God continues to show me that He is in control and in charge of everything, including this "operation" and these plans. He has amazed us the last couple of days with some unexpected funds and we will get a nice tax return. So we do know for sure He still wants us to adopt!
We are getting ready to go out of town for 2 weeks, leaving in the morning. We have not made a final decision, but kind of leaning towards Korea, because we want a baby. So we may take a couple of days with the long hours we have in the car to pray and think some more, then call or e-mail our social worker. We have to decide now because our stuff is ready to go to immigration and we have to pick a country. We appreciate your prayers!

Still going...

For awhile there wasn't really much to "report". We had to wait for several weeks to get our clearances from KS so our home study could be finished. The last several weeks have been busy with working on our dossier, everything is done except waiting on my birth certificate, and then waiting on USCIS to let us know when we can go get fingerprinted.( This will be the 2nd time) We are hoping it will be before our vacation at the end of April.
The other big thing that has been keeping me busy is trying to find and figure out some services and things for one of our children with special needs. Please keep us in your prayers with that. Even in dealing with all of this it has not detoured us from adopting, God still says "Go!"
Hopefully everything will get to China in the next couple of months, then we wait for our referral.

One more step

We had our home visit today. So glad I didn't totally stress out about it and clean every inch of things that nobody can see. It really was pretty relaxed. I was a little nervous I guess. Probably about what my kids would say or do. But they were really pretty good.
So now we need to finish up our physicals and get that paperwork in and start on the immigration paperwork. We will also have to get fingerprinted again, which I didn't realize or remember from earlier conversations. Then we start on the dossier, which is all the paperwork for China. Now is the time we will be very financially committed also. Once our homestudy is done, in the next couple weeks, we can start applying for grants. We have also been doing some little fundraisers and God is providing!
Thank you for praying with us and for us in this journey.

Sunday

Rod and I made it through our individual interviews on Thursday. Our home visit is scheduled for the 10th, hopefully it won't have to get changed again! This is such another great journey for God to show me that HE is in CHARGE and on His throne, I just need to obey and wait upon Him. Had such a great message at church today about obedience. Its not about us giving , its about us surrendering, to Him. I can never do enough for God. This journey is so much more about obedience, which brings freedom. We are not on this adoption journey to "do something great for God". We feel He has called us to this and we are walking in obedience. Is obedience easy? A lot of times, no. But it is the only way to have complete joy and freedom.
We put our names on a list for 3 boys and one girl that we would be interested in looking more closely at. Yes, there is one girl in there. We can still only get one at a time. The agency will make their decisions by Tuesday. We are at the bottom of the list since our home visit is not even done. But if God wants us to have one of these kids then we will. So we are not getting our hopes up on any of them, just waiting and praying. If not any in this group, then we wait for God to show us the child He has for us.

Set back

Our interviews for today had to be postponed. I was very disappointed because it pushes everything back and we worked so hard to get our paperwork done so quickly.
But we have so much to be thankful for, God still sits on His throne and is in control. I know on this journey there will be so much that is out of my control and another avenue for me to totally depend on God.
There are also some new listings of children so pray for us as we pray about if we want to put our names in for any of them. And we would be at the bottom because we don't even have our homestudy done yet. God's timing is always perfect!

Oh my goodness!

Got our paperwork turned in Tuesday, but our social worker was out this week. But we knew she would be in today because they had CPR class. So in the back of my mind I thought there was a slight possibility that she would call, but didn't have my hopes up or think about it. But then she called at 5:30 this evening. She was so shocked that we had gotten our paperwork done so quickly! So we have our individual interviews next Thursday afternoon then our home visit the next Thursday! That is the "Oh My Goodness" part. We are very excited but maybe a little overwhelmed,but I know it will be fine. Those that know me know I keep my house clean, but I wanted to do some "Spring cleaning" before our home visit. But its all right, God knows, and we may have a day off of school for cleaning day! So our home study will be done in just 3 weeks!
The other thing is that she also sent us a profile and a picture of a 2 1/2 year old boy. I was so anxious for this part to start, but now my head is spinning. Thank you for your prayers!

Paperwork in!

Took all our home study paperwork to Bethany today, YAY! Can't believe we got it done in a week, whew...Got our fingerprints done yesterday, reading the books we are supposed to read, need to start the on-line class we have to do. Next will be our individual interviews and then the home visit.
I have to keep reminding myself that everything is in God's time, not mine. But it is hard when you know your child is out there waiting!

Paperwork begins

We had our intake interviews yesterday and came home with a pile of paperwork. Our social worker told us the fastest she has seen anyone get it all done was 2 1/2 weeks. Well that certainly challenged us! Not that we are just trying to rush through everything, there are a few large packets with lots of personal and thought-provoking questions. But we are anxious to get moving and excited. I do not feel overwhelmed yet, although I know that will happen. But for now I am enjoying the ride...

Let it begin!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Year's celebration! We shared our news
of adding to our family with family and friends. Rod bought some fortune cookies and inserted our own made up fortune to give to our parents. It said " May you be filled with joy knowing that you will be grandparents of a little boy from China." They were all surprised. We have chosen the name Caleb, which means "like the heart".
This journey has been years of waiting and prayer and we are so excited to begin. We have our intake interviews this Tuesday afternoon at Bethany and that will begin our home study process and lots of paperwork. Please pray for everything to go smoothly and quickly. Need to go for now!