Officially Logged In!

Our documents are officially logged in to the Chinese system!! Our LID (Log in Date) is 5/27/14!!

Friends of ours are currently in China picking up their daughter and just seeing the pics and following their journey makes me anxious for our own journey! There are still so many unknowns and we are just going forward in faith. Our daughter still does not know her family is working towards her. We plan to send her a cake and a gift for her birthday in June, but we are unsure yet if we will let her know about us. We want to wait until we get our letter of approval from China before letting her know that, Yes!!, for sure she will be ours and that China has given their approval! I just don't want to stress her out and have to sit in nervous anticipation to see if finally she will get her forever family! 

Please pray for us as we make this decision. We know she wants to be adopted, but does she know what adoption entails? We pray for her foster family and other kids that may be in the home that she has grown up with. We pray that she will be ok in her transition and know that we want her to keep in touch with her loved ones in China even while making a home here. Pray that we would be able to make the necessary changes as we stretch to a family of 5. There is so much still to prepare for, yet so little information we have to know what it will look like!! 

Our Journey so far:

Letter of Intent (LOI)- 12/26/13
Pre Approval (PA) - 12/29/13
Home Study Approved - 3/14/14
I-800a Apprival - 4/23/14
Dossier to China (DTC) - 5/20/14
Log in Date (LID) - 5/27/14

Next we are waiting for Out of Translation (OOT), then Out of Review (OOR), and Letter of Approval (LOA) which will enable us to submit our i-800 to request immigration approval for Joy. 

Once we get our letter of Approval and Immigration and travel approvals, we can set up our consulate appointment and our travel dates! At that time the $6,000 orphanage donation will be required and travel costs will be spent! We are trusting God to provide what is needed and will go when He sends us! 

Thank you for all your prayers!! We appreciate them and know that God is continuing to open doors to bring Joy home!

Psalm 47

¹ Clap your hands, all you nations;
    shout to God with cries of joy.

² For the Lord Most High is awesome,
    the great King over all the earth.
³ He subdued nations under us,
    peoples under our feet.
⁴ He chose our inheritance for us,
    the pride of Jacob, whom he loved.

⁵ God has ascended amid shouts of joy,
    the Lord amid the sounding of trumpets.
⁶ Sing praises to God, sing praises;
    sing praises to our King, sing praises.
⁷ For God is the King of all the earth;
    sing to him a psalm of praise.

⁸ God reigns over the nations;
    God is seated on his holy throne.
⁹ The nobles of the nations assemble
    as the people of the God of Abraham,
for the kings of the earth belong to God;
    he is greatly exalted.

One Step Closer!

We are finally DTC!! (Dossier to China!) Official date of DTC is 5/20/14.

We are one step closer in our process. Now we wait for our LID (log in date) which is when our documents are officially in the hands of the CCCWA and in line for translation and review. The process from DTC to LOA (Letter of Approval) has been about 60 days for others who are a bit further along in the process. Praying that all goes through without issue! 

Timeline - 
DTC - LOA ~60 days
I-800 and visa approvals - 4 to 5 weeks
DS260 approval and NVC (national visa center) letter sent to China - 1 week
TA (Travel Approval) 5-6 weeks
Travel! 

So, if you can follow all that, it looks like we will travel in late October!! As soon as we get our visa's approved and we have Travel Approval we will need to have ready the $6,000 Orphanage Donation Fee. God has been blessing us so much and we are grateful for everyone who has been supporting us so far! 

In the works:

We are planning a fundraising event scheduled for late July or early August. We are still in the planning stage, but would greatly appreciate your prayers for this!! More info soon!!

We are just so encouraged by you! If I sit down and think of all that needs to be done between now and our travel I would start to really freak out! This is not a journey in which one should look at the mountain at the end before focusing on the foothills and path in front. I keep looking behind and seeing all the obstacles that God has helped us through and made a way. I am amazed and thankful for His provision every step of the way so far! 

I think of this song when I ponder God's work in our family and home over the last 5 months!

Jehovah Jirah, My Provider

God truly does supply all of our needs!! 

Exhausted for a good cause...

The last few days have been down right wonderful and exhausting all at the same time. Our church hosted MARKINC Ministries Annual Gala featuring Point of Grace, an Art Auction and wonderful dessert spread. It was a fabulous night and was so much fun to be a part of. Then, Saturday I helped my friends with their FUN Day featuring Miss Patty Cake live show, a silent auction and tons of play for the kids in the gym. It was another fun day and so happy to help a wonderful family raise money to help offset their travel costs as they leave to get their little girl in just 9 days!!!! 
Needless to say, this Mother's Day I am just ready to sleep! :) Thankfully, I was able to get a pretty good nap in and then spend a quiet afternoon with Joel and the kids. 

 Looking forward to our Mother's day family photo next year when Joy is home!

Update on where we are in our process:
The last three of our 13 documents are making their way through the Chinese Embassy in DC and hopefully will be done and sent to our Agency by Monday or Tuesday of next week. I am praying to be DTC by May15!!! I just want to get logged in and start that wait time to LOA! 

Now that our friends are so close to travel to bring home their daughter, it is giving me the same sense of need to go get my daughter! Why does it have to take so long? According to others I have talked to, our process is speeding through at lightning pace. To me it seems so long! 
Waiting on God's timing as His timing is perfect. There is still much to do as we wait. 

We want to thank everyone who participated in our Thirty-One fundraiser! We raised $60 towards adoption costs. Also, thank you so much for those who have given money donations and also bought t-shirts! My online Origami Owl Fundraiser is still going on now until May 30th. So far you have raised $260! So if you want to buy some beautiful custom jewelry and help us bring Joy home, click here to order from my site!  Every little bit is helping defray some of the costs that we have. God has been so good and we are continuing to walk through the doors as he opens them. 

The God who cares about the littlest details is whom we trust as we continue this journey.

Psalm 65

¹ Praise awaits^[b] you, our God, in Zion;
    to you our vows will be fulfilled.
² You who answer prayer,
    to you all people will come.
³ When we were overwhelmed by sins,
    you forgave^[c] our transgressions.
⁴ Blessed are those you choose
    and bring near to live in your courts!
We are filled with the good things of your house,
    of your holy temple.

⁵ You answer us with awesome and righteous deeds,
    God our Savior,
the hope of all the ends of the earth
    and of the farthest seas,
⁶ who formed the mountains by your power,
    having armed yourself with strength,
⁷ who stilled the roaring of the seas,
    the roaring of their waves,
    and the turmoil of the nations.
⁸ The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders;
    where morning dawns, where evening fades,
    you call forth songs of joy.

⁹ You care for the land and water it;
    you enrich it abundantly.
The streams of God are filled with water
    to provide the people with grain,
    for so you have ordained it.^[d]
10 You drench its furrows and level its ridges;
    you soften it with showers and bless its crops.
¹¹ You crown the year with your bounty,
    and your carts overflow with abundance.
¹² The grasslands of the wilderness overflow;
    the hills are clothed with gladness.
¹³ The meadows are covered with flocks
    and the valleys are mantled with grain;
    they shout for joy and sing.