We got an update!!

AH!!!! Answer to prayers!!! We received an update today WITH PICTURES!!! We are so excited! Joy is beautiful as always and is looking much older and mature! :) We are so happy to get new measurements and details of her likes and dislikes. She answered our questions, so she knows we are working hard to go to her! She is looking forward to meeting us!! Oh, My heart is filled with joy and I long even more to go NOW!! 

But, we must wait for our travel approval and must wait a few more weeks.... I know they will pass seemingly slowly, but at the same time very quickly! Wow. To think this whole process began 9 months ago. I feel like this has been a pregnancy of the heart! We are in labor now of this long process. I was talking to my cousin about how I had water births for my two bio children and now I get to cross the ocean for my third child!! I think I could count that as a "Water birth" of the heart?? :)

So after many months of waiting for an update and giving in to the thought that we would just get all the info when we arrived. Oh the JOY and surprise to get it today!

God is good. Every time I let go and let His timing take over, He blesses us! Even the blessing of not stressing about something is a blessing!! :)

Also, THANK YOU to everyone who has donated to the Connected Hearts Ministry Page!!! We have raised over $900! All donations are tax deductible and anyone can donate on the site until we get our Travel Approval!! So keep on sharing the blog and the link http://www.connectedheartsministry.org/#!family-listings/c126c to our funding page!! Every bit helps and we are so thankful for God's provisions through each stage of our journey. 

We had a Yard sale last month and were able to raise about $150. Jessica has been selling her art prints and we thank everyone who has ordered one! We have been cutting back on any extra spending and making use of every available job opportunity to help with adoption costs. This whole process has really been stretching and pulling and making us grow both spiritually and mentally! We just keep moving forward and trusting God through each day. 

So, as we wait on Travel Approval (TA), please pray that we can get done the items we have on our list of "things to do before travel" and prepare for our new daughter!! The kids have a lot of school to get through before we leave, and we have a very busy sports schedule with soccer and volleyball this fall. Pray that we all remain healthy. This time of year with the weather change always brings on allergies and colds. Pray we can stay healthy and active to get done what we need to! 

Thank you for your prayers and thoughts for our family! We are getting so close!

Timeline in Review!

This constant hurry up and wait is pretty old by now. We received our LOA (Letter of Approval) 2 weeks ago now and our I-800 approval last week and are waiting for our GUZ # so we can apply for the DS-260 or something so we can get our Article 5 and Travel approval. There are so many steps and acronyms to go along with it that it is no wonder most people are confused and have no idea what we are doing!! So, for non-adoptive or just starting out adoptive families here is our timeline (with explanations!) from the beginning:

12/26/13 LOI (Letter of Intent) Requesting permission to adopt from China
12/29/13 PA (Pre Approval) We met the criteria to adopt from China
3/3/14 Home Study completed
4/11/14 Fingerprinting for I-800a (immigrations application for approval from USA to adopt)
4/23/14 I-800a Approval
5/20/14 DTC (Dossier of all important documents - signed and sealed - sent to China)
5/ 27/14 LID (Log In Date) when our documents are officially logged in in China
8/14/14 LOA (Letter of Approval) China giving us approval to Adopt Joy! 
8/14/14 I-800 application sent to Immigrations to request approval to adopt Joy.
8/27/14 I-800 approval - we can adopt Joy!

Waiting now for:
Visas
Article 5 - China picks up our application request for travel.
Travel Approval - getting the OK to travel!
Consulate Appointment - adoptions are finalized in country
Travel Dates - Gotcha Day!!!

If all things run smoothly on timing for approvals, we could be traveling by mid October! 

I am a list person... I have no clue where to start!! What to pack, what to leave, what will we need? I'm sure it will all come together. :)

I am  so far outside of my comfort zone, but I am finding comfort trusting in God's timing for all things and for all the details to come together!! 

So excited and nervous and amazed all at once! So much to do in just a few short weeks!! When we are weak, God is strong. When I want to fear, He proves He is right there with me all the way! God has been opening doors and providing for us each step of the way! God is Good!

 Psalm 62:1-8

¹ Truly my soul finds rest in God;
    my salvation comes from him.
² Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
    he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.

³ How long will you assault me?
    Would all of you throw me down—
    this leaning wall, this tottering fence?
⁴ Surely they intend to topple me
    from my lofty place;
    they take delight in lies.
With their mouths they bless,
    but in their hearts they curse.

⁵ Yes, my soul, find rest in God;
    my hope comes from him.
⁶ Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
    he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.
⁷ My salvation and my honor depend on God;
    he is my mighty rock, my refuge.
⁸ Trust in him at all times, you people;
    pour out your hearts to him,
    for God is our refuge.

 

Home stretch!!

We are weeks away from becoming a family of 5!! We are so excited, nervous, overwhelmed, scared, overjoyed and so much more!! 
We are finishing up our commitments here and hope to travel the first week of November! We are currently waiting on our I-800 (immigrations) approval. We will be applying for our Travel Visas next month and then we wait on our Travel approval from China and schedule our Consulate date!

Our kids are into their 3rd week of school and are feeling the pressure once again to get assignments completed and handed in on time! Jared is playing soccer this season and Jessica is playing volleyball with our local Christian school. I coach the High school JV volleyball team, so that has been taking up a few hours every day. The season runs to the end of October, so we hope to travel asap in November as long as all the approvals come thru and paperwork is done. God's timing has been a blessing! 

As we look forward to travel we are so blessed by everyone praying for us and keeping up with our journey. We truly do appreciate the prayers and support. We are amazed at seeing the blessings that happen almost every day. We pray that you also are being blessed!

Psalm 146

¹ Praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord, my soul.

² I will praise the Lord all my life;
    I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
³ Do not put your trust in princes,
    in human beings, who cannot save.
⁴ When their spirit departs, they return to the ground;
    on that very day their plans come to nothing.
⁵ Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
    whose hope is in the Lord their God.

⁶ He is the Maker of heaven and earth,
    the sea, and everything in them—
    he remains faithful forever.
⁷ He upholds the cause of the oppressed
    and gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets prisoners free,
⁸     the Lord gives sight to the blind,
the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down,
    the Lord loves the righteous.
⁹ The Lord watches over the foreigner
    and sustains the fatherless and the widow,
    but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.

¹⁰ The Lord reigns forever,
    your God, O Zion, for all generations.

Praise the Lord.

Getting there... still a bit to go.

We are so excited for our LOA (letter of approval). Without the LOA from China the adoption process would be over! So, we are very thankful that we are now approved to adopt Joy! Now we apply to get approval from USCIS (immigrations) and visas so we can then get Travel approval (TA) from China so we can get into the country. So many little steps will be happening in the next 2 months to get all the documents needed to go get our daughter. It is finally feeling real. I don't have to hold my breath anymore! 

I have had a bit of a panic attack about the timing of all this. I know it is all in God's timing and we have been doing our best to prepare for being gone for 2.5 weeks, but when there are no solid dates yet and we may only get 2 weeks notice, there is a lot to plan for!! Plus our kids are playing soccer and volleyball this fall, I am coaching JV volleyball and Joel has multiple travel dates for work!! When are we going to find time to pack, plan, gather info, etc.! AAAAAHHHHHHHH!!! Sometimes I just want to scream! :) Then I remember, God is Good. God is Great. God has all things in His plan. I may not understand, but I know I can trust Him. I will find time to pack. I will have time to plan things. God will provide. I just need to think of today and do what I need to and let tomorrow worry about itself!! There is only so much I can do in one day! 

Along with our LOA came our next set of costs due... Ouch! Check out our Expense tracker to the right! $9000 dollars!! Well, don't you know it. I did a little double take at the bottom line, but then, I thanked God for the funds he has already graciously allowed us to raise and give ALL PRAISE and Honor to Him who provides. Thank you to our friends and family who have been helping us along the way with our fund raisers and gifts! I kinda wish there was Insurance we could use on adoption costs like we could use when we birthed our Biological children in the hospital!! But, I understand that would be difficult to divvy up to the different government agencies and offices we have had to process documents through!! 

Please continue to pray for us. Pray that Joel and I and the kids would prepare emotionally for a new child that may have more issues than we planned for. Pray that we would continue to trust that God has every day planned out for us and that all will be accomplished in His will and timing. Praise God with us for helping us so much already financially through this long process. Pray for the kids as they start school and have a busy Fall. Praise God for Family who have donated flyer miles to help with our flights and donations to help with our costs! We love you!!! Praise God for countless blessings and prayers from His saints who are lifting us up in prayer!!! 

There is so much more, but I need to get to bed. Soon, we will be a family of 5!! How amazing to think of it! 

Palm 150

Praise the Lord.

Praise God in his sanctuary;
    praise him in his mighty heavens.
² Praise him for his acts of power;
    praise him for his surpassing greatness.
³ Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,
    praise him with the harp and lyre,
⁴ praise him with timbrel and dancing,
    praise him with the strings and pipe,
⁵ praise him with the clash of cymbals,
    praise him with resounding cymbals.

⁶ Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord.

We are Approved!!!

We signed the scanned copy and sent to our agency so she could send in our I-800 application to USCIS for approval from the US Immigrations Office. So our next steps are to get our immigrations approval and visas and then Travel approval from China! We should get our hard copy LOA from the agency tomorrow to sign and send back for the next step in the process. We are looking at about 6-8 weeks to travel if all things go smoothly!!

Praising God! This approval means that we can go ahead with the adoption and bring Joy home! Please pray as we have a very busy Fall ahead of us and it will be even busier trying to figure out travel plans, packing and house needs while we are gone!!! 

This is really real. We are just so amazed! We will be a family of 5 by Thanksgiving!!!! 

Also, we were just listed on Connected Hearts Ministry Site!! Check it out!
http://www.connectedheartsministry.org/#!family-listings/c126c

Thank you for praying! Please continue to pray! All things are possible when God is in it. We are continuing to trust in Him and walking through the doors as they open. 
 

Waiting on God's timing...

Some days are really easy to wait. Other days I am impatient with how long this process is taking. But through it all I have to remind myself, it is all in God's timing. It is equally hard when we are wanting new information and a detailed update on our daughter we still have yet to meet and there is only silence. We have not gotten pictures we requested when we sent her a cake for her birthday back in June! It is totally up to the Foster family on whether or not they will supply an update and/or pictures. All the information we have on Joy is from over a year ago. So many unknowns and I just sit here and have no way to change things. All I can do is pray. 

Our Fall is jam packed with school, volleyball (I coach at a local private school), youth group, choir, and retreats. Travel will greatly depend on when we get our Letter of Approval (LOA) and when all the visa and travel documents get approved. China moves at their own pace and there is nothing we can do about it. When we get our travel approval we travel within 2 weeks! So, having an idea of when we might travel is very sudden. We need to "drop everything" and go. So plan need to be made without solid dates and we just pray it will all work out. How hard this is for me who is a planner and likes to have everything thought out ahead!! (driving me a little crazy I will admit!)

I try not to compare our journey to other waiting adoptive families as it just causes me to wonder why some get their approvals earlier while others of us wait so long. There is no rhyme or reason to the approval process and we just have to wait.

So as we wait, we finish up much needed cleaning, we evaluate what doctors may be needed and health concerns checked.... so many unknowns, we go on with our daily routine and pray! I have a list made (and continuing to grow!) of things we will need to transition from a family of 4 to a family of 5. Joy comes from a part of China that is sub tropical. She will be coming home to a place that gets much colder than her coldest days! Kind of like someone moving from southern Florida to the north east! So, we need extra warm blankets and layers for her to wear to keep warm this winter, flannel sheets and other things we can't really know until we meet her. I have no idea what size clothing she wears either!

In the mean time, we have a huge yard sale coming up on August 23rd. We have cleaned out a lot of unnecessary things to make room for our new daughter. God has been good in allowing us to get a great deal on twin beds for the girl's room and a friend giving us a bed for our son's room. We realize just how much stuff we have and don't need. So, all of it goes into the yard sale! All money from the sale goes towards our travel costs!

One of the ministries we applied to for a "grant" or funding help is Connected Hearts ministry. If you have been thinking of making any donations to help us with travel costs and medical costs to add to our family through adoption, now is your chance! Connected Hearts Ministry has listed our family on their non profit site for the next two weeks! ALL donations are tax deductible and go directly to our adoption agency to be used for our travel and over seas expenses for finalizing our adoption. Go here to see our story!  http://www.connectedheartsministry.org/#!family-listings/c126c

We continue to be grateful for your prayers during our journey! God is listening and we are being blessed beyond measure! He provides just when we need it! Thank you and please continue to pray that we will lean on Jesus and be content to wait on His timing through all of the paperwork being reviewed and approved!

Psalm 5:11-12
"But let all who take refuge in you rejoice;
let them ever sing for joy,
and spread your protection over them, 
that those who love your name may exult in you. 
For you bless the righteous, O Lord, 
you cover him with favor as with a shield."

Day 68 and still waiting for LOA!

Now the Day count is at 68 days. It is already Saturday in China so the offices are closed for the weekend and we have to wait till Monday to find out if our Letter of Approval (LOA) is processed! Once we get that letter we will apply for I-800 visa approval to adopt Joy and then wait for Travel Approvals and all the other steps in between that will be 6-8 weeks more of waiting! We are starting a very busy season in our house this coming month and the long summer is almost over! We are praying we can travel in late October to bring Joy home! 

Joel's birthday and our Anniversary is this coming week. It will be nice to get our LOA! What a gift it will be! School begins for our two teens (9th and 10th graders this year!) on August 11th, so our summer is pretty much over in just a week.

The week of the 11th our story will be featured on the connected hearts ministry web site. I'll post the link when our story is up!! If you can share the web site with your friends and family we are hoping to make the last push towards raising funds for our travel, orphanage donation and medical costs. Every little bit helps and it will all be tax deductible! 

Our Puzzle Fundraiser is getting off to a slow start, but we haven't advertised it as much as we could. We have sold 16 puzzle pieces ($10 each) so far and have 16 different verses already to write on the back of them! What a blessing!!!!! Thank you to those of you who have sponsored a puzzle piece so far! We are hoping to have ALL 500 pieces sponsored by the time we travel in October! Let us know if you would like to sponsor a puzzle piece!! 

We are praying we will continue to trust in God's timing. He is faithful and we can trust Him. 

I'll leave you with one of my favorite songs that helps me keep my fears and anxiety at bay. 

"Doing your best and praying its blessed, He'll take care of the rest." Keith Green

He'll Take Care of the Rest