We Are Off

It's so surreal.  We are heading to the airport in an hour, off to Chicago, and then off to Beijing.  It has been the biggest whirlwind of emotions and planning and packing in the last two weeks.  Are we ready?  Well, we have the paperwork, we have clothes, we have snacks, we have plane tickets and we have hotel reservations.  We have been wanting him for a year now since we accepted his file and saw his face.  I don't know about ready, though.  However, we don't have to be.  God will give us what we need at the time.  We don't have to be ready for his teen years today.  We don't have to have the house ready for everything that makes him comfortable today.  We don't have to know his favorite foods, or what he likes to play or have him signed up for swimming lessons.  We have to be open and trust that God will give us what we need today.  Then tomorrow God will give us what we need then.  Adoption is such a scary and exciting and emotional experience.  Adoption was not God's first plan, but our world is broken and so He helps us make it another plan.

Please pray for our sweet boy.  We have been praying that they are preparing him often and that his heart is as ready as it can be for the biggest event of his life.  He is going to be losing so much and he doesn't really yet know what he will be gaining.  Of course we would so appreciate you praying for our safe travels too.  This is a BIG trip!  We will do our best to blog and post pictures, but we are not sure how the internet will be there.  Just know that God goes before us wherever we go.  So it's all good.  <><

 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?  Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?  Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin.  Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.  If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?  So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’  For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.  But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.  Matthew 6:25-34

We Are Going To China!!!

Well, we've had a busy week!  So, we got our Article 5 Pick Up on January 8.  Our agency said it would be about 2-3 weeks before we got Travel Approval and then we would travel about 2 weeks later.  However, I started seeing on our LID Facebook page that people were getting Travel Approval last week and Consulate Appointments for the first week of February, so of course I got excited!

Lots of people got their TA last Friday, so I kindly and patiently (ha ha) emailed our agency just to see if they got ours.  Well, they had gotten five TA's but now ours and all of those people got Gotcha Days of February 2.  So, I reluctantly asked if we would find out Monday.  Guess what?  Monday was a holiday, so Tuesday would be the earliest we could hear.  You know how when you ask God to help you practice patience and in His ironic wisdom, He gives you opportunities to practice patience?  :)

So, Tuesday we calmly and totally undistractedly start doing school work.  I may have possibly been watching the clock until it became 8 am on the west coast.  Then 8:30.  Then 9.  Then a little after 11 am our time the phone rings....FROM OREGON!!!  We got our TA and they were going to request at Gotcha day for us for Feburary 2!! I didn't know if that was still even a possibility, so that was so exciting!!  So, we had some forms to fill out and send in, so we got on that.  We did go back to schoolwork, but M was so excited she couldn't concentrate on math, so we illustrated Greek myths and journaled about China.  So I again, totally calmly and patiently asked if we would find out that evening if we got our days.

OH, I totally forgot to mention that we found out one little other bit of information.  China doesn't do any Consulate Appointments the middle two weeks of February, so if we didn't get the February 2 Gotcha Day, we would have to wait three more weeks until February 23.  Now, I know that three weeks doesn't seem like much of a deal, especially after waiting a year after seeing his face, and almost four years since we started the adoption process, BUT when you're this close, three weeks is a lot.  So, yesterday we found out about our TA and we knew that we would find out about our for sure appointment this morning.  OH, did I mention that since they were trying to fit us in before Chinese New Year, if we get this appointment (which would be awesome) we have to fly out NEXT WEEK!!  So, we spent yesterday kind of getting ready since we could leave in a week, but kind of not wanting to get too excited in case we weren't leaving for a month.

SO....to end the suspense, we had an email waiting for us this morning (three emails actually) and WE HAVE A GOTCHA DAY OF FEBRUARY 2 and WE LEAVE NEXT WEEK!!!  AAAAAHHHHH!  We are beyond excited, and trying to plan everything and decide where to even start with preparing everything.  Please pray for our new son, our travel, our planning and everything else that will happen in the next three weeks.  We will keep this posted and then start turning it into a travel blog!!!!    Thank you for everyone's continued support, donations and prayers!!

But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.  Psalm 33:11

And now it's January!

I seriously do not know where the time goes.  Every time I think about blogging it seems like it haven't been that long since I blogged, but then it really has!  We had a very fun Christmas although again it felt like part of our family was missing.  We really thought we would have him here by Christmas, so that was disappointing, but we have to trust in God's perfect timing.  We got to have my sister and niece here, as well as my grandma, so that was so much fun!  Last New Year's Eve we started writing down our predictions for the next year, and looking at what we wrote down last year.  Last year we predicted that we would adopt a little boy.  Last January, we didn't even know his name and now he is woven into our hearts.

Last week, on January 8 we had our Article 5 pick up.  Now we are just waiting on TA (Travel Approval).  It seems like we are SO CLOSE, but kind of crazy that we still don't have a date.  We are at the point where we keep looking at the calendar and gauging everything by our possible trip.  Will we go to another co-op?  How many AWANA's will we miss?  Can I teach my next Sunday school rotation?  Should we start packing now?  I am definitely a planner by nature, so this is blowing all of that out of the water.  If you want to practice a little more "Let Go and Let God", just pursue adoption.  :)

So, in the meantime, I have been working on an ultimate packing list, setting up his room, buying remedies for anything we have heard might be a problem eating and drinking in China, making sure everyone has gloves and coats, learning some more Chinese phrases and praying, praying, praying.  We have felt like he has been a part of our family for almost a year now and we are so ready for him to physically be here.  It's so very exciting and I can't believe that in a month we could be sitting in China as a family of five!!!

 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.  John 14:18-19

It's December!

So, we are into December and we have lots going on!  We have received our visas, Provisional Approval, NVC Approval and submitted our DS-260.  We are not waiting on Article 5 Pick Up and then Travel Approval.  We were also approved for ten year visas which will make it easier to adopt again. We also had our trivia night, which was SO MUCH FUN!  If anyone in adoption world ever needs help doing a trivia night, I would be happy to help because it was so much fun!  So, now we are just enjoying the season, scouring the internet for China packing advice and waiting for the next piece of paper. 

We did decide to do an orphanage call through Ladybugs N Love, which is the person we had used to send him two packages.  I will include the questions I asked, because I also scoured the internet to find out what questions people ask.  You got ten questions with the phone call. We asked:

1. What are his favorite foods?
2. What does he like to play?
3. Does he have any favorite songs?
4. Does he walk independently with his walker?
5. What does he dislike?
6. How does he feel about being adopted and moving?
7. What is his usual daily schedule?
8. What makes him happy?
9. What makes him sad?
10. What is he afraid of?

We also asked if the orphanage had any specific needs we could bring as donations when we come.

We were so incredibly excited to find out his latest sizes and especially to find out lots more about his personality.  Unfortunately a few days later, we received an email that his orphanage only answers questions from a particular group in China so they would not complete an orphanage call.  Remember my last blog post about things not working out the way we had planned them?  Our agency contact has contacted China to see if we can get any of the information before we travel, but we know that there is a good chance that we will not here back.  It's hard, but there is nothing we can do about it except to continue to pray for him. 

It has been so long that we have been pursuing adoption and it has been 10 months since we first accepted his file.  We have been so ready to bring him into our family and we are so thrilled that the time is getting closer!  Please keep praying for his heart and his protection and for people to be sharing information with him about his upcoming adoption and move. 

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. James 1:2-5

LOA, Visas and Trivia Night

Well, it finally happened!  On day 80 of our wait, we received LOA!!  We got the call from our agency literally as we were walking out the door to church.  The girls looked at the phone and said, "It's from Oregon.  We don't know anyone from Oregon," to which I yelled, "Yes we do!!" and grabbed the phone.  Our agency had just received our LOA and was sending it out that night!  It was so great to be able to move onto the next step, and to have something to do again to help the process along.  So, we were supposed to have our package on Friday and then we could send off our I-800 application.  The package came on Friday, but I was watching my nephews and didn't open it.  Then our agency called that evening, which I thought was weird.  She asked if I had received my package and if I had opened it.  It turns out she had switched the package with another family who received their LOA on the same day.

Now, our poor adoption coordinator felt terrible.  She has never done this in 11 years of working, so we overnighted it to the other family and received it on Monday instead.  Was it hard to wait the weekend?  Yes.  Is everyone human and makes mistakes?  Of course.  Is God trying to teach me something through this?  Let's find out.

When we moved here, M needed two teeth pulled in order to start her orthodontia work.  We found a dentist and I dreaded the day we would go in and have her teeth pulled.  I sat in the waiting room for well over an hour and waited until they would come tell me she was fine and at least this would all be behind us.  They came and got me and told me that they had tried and tried and they couldn't get the teeth out.  What?!  So, we had to research and find an oral surgeon and then she had a successful oral surgery and her teeth were pulled.  You want to know how God helps you to stop worrying and trust Him?  He gives you things to worry about so that you can replace it with trust for Him.

Then this summer A had a minor fall which led to her in a neck brace for a month.  When we went back, they took x-rays and released her no problem.  Then they called us in the car as we were driving away to tell us to put the brace back on.  The specialist did not like what he saw in the x-rays and could we come back the next day for more x-rays and schedule an MRI.  What?!  Fast forward, and she needed surgery.  Spinal fusion surgery.  They set the day in August and I struggled.  My baby having major surgery on her neck, by her skull, and drilling into her spine.  I prayed, God gave me a peace even though I still hated it, but we were ready to have it behind us.  The day came, I let her go-her crying for me and asking to go home.  We sat in the waiting room with family for 3 hours and then the surgeon came out. WHAT?!  He's supposed to be in surgery!  They had been prepping her this whole time and her nerve impulses were not responding the way they should.  They tried everything they could and they were afraid if they continued it could cause permanent damage, so they were aborting the surgery and they would do more tests and reschedule it.  Huh??  So, we waited for her to wake up and we took her home.  Long story short, she had her surgery completely successfully a month ago (the nerve problem didn't show up at all this time-I fully feel due to the huge number of people praying for healing for her) and she is doing awesome and now that part is behind us.

How does God help us to stop worrying and trusting Him?  We have to have those opportunities to do so.  It doesn't count if we say we trust Him, but we don't have challenges to prove it.  The journey of life teaches us this, but wow, so does adoption.  The amount of money going out, the concerns about what he will think of us, concerns about if he is safe and comfortable in an orphanage I can't even find information about on google, planning a trip for five in China for weeks, and just trying to prepare for anything.  He wants us to TRUST HIM.  We don't know what's around the corner.  Even when we think we do, often we don't.  We have to have faith in God's plan and look towards eternity as our goal.  This world will pass and the things that matter to us so much really won't.

We sent off for our visas today and we are waiting to hear back now about our I-800.  It's getting real now and we are so crazy excited to think that we could be just a couple of months away from being a family of five and it is just awesome.  When we let go and let God, He can do amazing things with our surrendered lives.

I've used it before, but this is the verse God has given to me over and over again:

Have I not commanded you.  Be strong and courageous.  Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.  Joshua 1:9

Trivia Night Fundraiser!!

Well, bad news is that we do not have LOA yet, although on our Facebook group people right around us on LID dates have received their LOA's this week, so prayerfully very soon!  So far, the waiting has definitely been the hardest part of this thing.  To have seen his sweet face and then just wait to have him join our family.  I'm sure in hindsight it won't seem that long and it will seem like we've always had him, but for now each day is hard.

SO, onto the good news!  We are having what will probably be our last big fundraiser to help us pay for our trip to China!  We are going to have a Christmas themed Trivia Night!!  If you are from St. Louis, you probably already know about trivia nights and how awesome they are, but since we live in Fort Worth now, this might need some explanation.

So, here's how it works.  You pay for your seat and then sit in tables of 8.  There are 10 rounds of categories, in this case all relating to Christmas, and each table competes with the other tables for a prize at the end.  It is very fast paced, lots of multimedia and so much fun!  We are including kids in this trivia night too, so all of the categories will be things that the kids can participate in .  We are also doing a silent auction in conjunction and we already have some fun items for the auction!!  We think this is a totally fun way to raise money for our trip.  With four people going to China, five coming back, all of the fees for the paperwork over there and the $5,000 donation that we make to the orphanage, every little big helps right now.

So, to sign up for the trivia night, our wonderful friend, Kristin, make us a beautiful flyer which is on our website along with a link to sign up:  forever home.us   or you can sign up at this link:

http://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0f4aaba92aa4fa7-christmas

We also found an article talking about trivia nights in St. Louis to give you an idea of what one is like:   http://www.npr.org/2013/02/08/171279214/in-st-louis-trivia-is-no-trivial-pursuit

Prayerfully we will be posting very soon about getting our LOA.  We are at 77 days waiting since LID right now, but who's counting?  :)

Even youths grow tired and weary,
    and young men stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in the Lord
    will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
    they will run and not grow weary,
    they will walk and not be faint.  Isaiah 40:30-31

Updates

We have had such a busy month-a birthday, a surgery, a pumpkin patch, some cooler weather (so all three kids got new coats for China and of course for here in chilly Texas!) and we are one month closer to getting our LOA!  I always thought that the hardest part of the waiting process would be once we had seen his sweet face and then we wait.  Well, so far, I was right.  I hate the increasing number of days he is in an orphanage of 300 instead of a family of 5.  Everything we do I feel like he's missing out on.  I pray every day that he is safe and well taken care of and someone is preparing his heart for this move and that he hears the voice of God.  Adoption is amazing, but it is certainly like nothing else I've ever been though.  So, we just wait for good news and pray that God will quicken the process and help those lovely people in China finish record numbers of files.  :)

So, I realized that I never did an update for our Give 1 Save 1 week.  It. Was. Amazing.  We loved our video, we had lots of people watch it and prayerfully we inspired a heart for adoption in people who saw it.  We raised (are you ready for this?  Seriously?) $2,366!!!  That is two round trip plane tickets people!  We also did two giveaways, so you can see the videos announcing the winners on our website: foreverhome.us.  Chris did an awesome job with all three videos!

So, we're at the two month mark waiting for LOA.  Praying for some awesome news soon.  We are SO ready to be waiting for Travel Approval!!  Please join us in praying for our sweet boy and for our pieces of paper in China.  God is so faithful, as we have seen so much in the last month, and we know that He is with our sweet boy.  You can also pray for those kids in China who are aging out of the system.  I am on a Facebook group which advocates for orphans and they often list children who are about to age out (which happens at 14 in China, by the way).  They featured this beautiful little boy named Jonathan who was begging someone to adopt him and take him to the United States.  He was saying that he can help around the house and that he was a good student and that the younger children can wait to be adopted, but he can't.  It was seriously heartbreaking.  So far no one has stepped forward to adopt him and he ages out in February.  You can see his profile on www.twentyless.com.  What an amazing guy.  I can't even imagine dreading your 14th birthday because you age out of the adoption system then.  He could definitely use prayers!

Hopefully I can post soon that we are moving forward!  Until then we keep preparing our hearts and our home for our sweet M.

But I will sing of your strength, in the morning I will sing of your love, for you are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble.  Psalm 59:16