36 Days and counting...

It is day 36 of our LOA (Letter of Approval) wait. Others in the LOA wait are receiving theirs in about 60 - 70 days but really the numbers are dependent on many factors. Some agencies check the lists and let waiting families know when they are OOT (Out of translation) and OOR (Out of Review) before the long awaited LOA! But, apparently, our agency is not one to give us the micro steps in the process. I am not expecting to hear anything until our LOA is on its way. Sometimes I am thankful so I don't have to feel like I need to check my email every 5 minutes in case I miss the email giving me every minute detail! Part of me really wants that assurance our documents are moving along in the process and getting attention. 

While I am not sitting and waiting for micro steps in our adoption process, I am finding two weeks have gone by and I haven't anything to update! We actually have been quite busy on the home front with multiple projects that desperately needed our attention. We have been thankful this summer has not yet been too hot as our A/C unit (15 years old) has decided to not turn on. Joel is in the process of obtaining the parts we need and we are hoping for a friend to come help us replace fluid, coils and compressor to get it working again. We hope to save a lot of money by shopping around and making sure we understand everything, so we don't pay more for stuff we don't need. Our upstairs bathroom toilet was supposed to be a quick replace but we found that the previous house owners had installed it wrong and it had been leaking. 2.5 weeks later we now have a new tile floor and the new toilet finally installed. Thankfully we were able to do all the work ourselves and only had cost of supplies! God has been good to us and we are very thankful for the internet and our ability to complete our own house projects! 

We are continuing to research Chinese culture and language. We have done a lot of reading of stories of older adopted children who talk about what their adopted parents did or didn't do in raising them. We hope to continue Chinese studies and language and not let her heritage disappear from her life. We hope she will want to continue studies of her birth country once she is home. 

We are still planning some fund raisers to help with the travel costs. The grants that we applied for have not come through so far. I am still working with booster.com to sort out the T-shirt issue. If you bought one of the dark blue shirts and it shrunk, please email booster.com and let them know it was not satisfactory. Apparently the emails I have sent in complaint of the shrinking problem is not enough to get them to resend t-shirts to everyone. I am so sorry they shrunk so much! So email them today!

Please continue to keep us in prayer. Once our LOA arrives (hopefully around the end of July!) we could be traveling within 10 weeks. We will have a donation site set up with Connected Hearts Ministry where they will post our adoption story and have a link for donations. All donations will go directly to our agency to help with our travel costs and adoption fees. All donations through this site will be tax deductible. So, if you would like to make a donation, start saving your change now so you can help bring Joy home when the site is up the first two weeks of August 2014. I will post the link and instructions when our story is up. It will only run the first two weeks of August. 

Our Origami Owl ongoing fundraiser for the month of June has raised our funding totals by $200!! All moneys raised from the sale through my site is going towards our adoption costs! Thank you to those who have had parties with your friends and families! If you would like to host a party or just make an order online, contact me! Here is the link for my July online party fund raiser!

We also will have a puzzle fund raiser! We just had our family photos taken by Alexis Springer Photography and we will have one of our photos made into a puzzle! If you would like to Sponsor a puzzle piece, they are $10 each!  We will write your name and your favorite verse or proverb on the back. When the whole puzzle is complete we will hang it up in Joy's room so she can see how many people have been praying for her and have been a part of this journey! If you would like to sponsor a puzzle piece you can use the "Paypal" link in the top right corner of this blog and let us know what you would like us to write on the back of it! We are so excited about this fundraiser because it just shows the hands and feet of Jesus and how he works in each of our lives!!

A sneak peak at a couple of the wonderful photos from our family day Photo shoot!! Alexis is AMAZING!!! :) 

 Siblings waiting for their new sister!

Can't wait till we are ALL together in the same picture!

We are so thankful for all your prayers and support during this journey. We know that when Joy is home the real journey begins and we long for that day when we will be a family of 5! 

Psalm 36:5-10

Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens,
    your faithfulness to the skies. 

 Your righteousness is like the highest mountains,
    your justice like the great deep.
    You, Lord, preserve both people and animals. 

How priceless is your unfailing love, O God!
    People take refuge in the shadow of your wings.

They feast on the abundance of your house;
    you give them drink from your river of delights. 

For with you is the fountain of life;
    in your light we see light.

Continue your love to those who know you,
    your righteousness to the upright in heart.

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Joy. We are waiting for our dossier to get through translation and review before getting our Letter of Approval! Praying this is your last birthday without your forever family. We know you have your Foster family and pray that you enjoy the cake we sent! It is so hard waiting until we get our LOA before requesting to talk to you and contact you. Pictures hopefully soon to follow!! Love you so much already! Mom

Time Flies but Stands Still... Waiting

Waiting. Nobody likes waiting. Waiting is something that happens every day. Waiting for the sun to shine, waiting for the coffee maker to finish, waiting for this and that! One would think we would be used to waiting!!! 
Right now we are waiting for our documents to be translated and then reviewed. We are waiting for that moment of approval that we can proceed to the next step of our journey. We are preparing as best we can for the unknown. It is exciting and nerve wracking all at the same time. 

We are waiting to hear word of any grants we may receive. We have not heard anything from any of the multiple grants we have applied for, so if you could please be in prayer about that it would be much appreciated!

While we wait, we are enjoying some down time from home school. Jared is enjoying hours of Game play on his computer and Jess is enjoying practicing her guitar and doing art projects. I have been able to get a lot of things done that have sat by for a "rainy" day or projects with more than one hour put together to get it done! :) The house projects list is thankfully getting a little smaller, but we are putting big things off to save as much as we can to put towards our next big adoption cost of the orphanage donation and the travel costs!

One other item you could be praying for as well: Our AC is broken and we are looking into fixing it ourselves, Joel is excellent at researching "How to" and getting things done, but this project will require a professional once we order the necessary pieces. Just the labor fees are ranging from $1300 - $1800!! That doesn't even include the parts. So, please pray that we will be able to fund this on top of all the other costs that are piling up. God provides and we can trust Him! 

If you would like to support our journey, you can donate through Paypal. The link is in the right hand corner of this blog. 

I also have an Origami Owl Fundraising party going on right now during the month of June. 40% of all purchases go toward our Adoption fund. So share the shopping link with your friends and family and help us raise our goal while getting some beautiful custom jewelry! http://www.JHarrison.origamiowl.com/parties/JoleneHarrison366483/collections.ashx

In August we will have a donation site set up with a Non profit organization and your donation of any amount will be tax deductible and 100% of your donation will go directly to our adoption costs through our agency! We will post the link to our story and donation link in August!

Hopefully this month will be the last Birthday Joy will have without her forever family. She has waited so long and we pray for her and her foster family. I just long to hold her and get to know her. I hope she is looking forward to meeting us and being with us as well. So much to think about!

Some words that encourage me. I am so thankful I know of God. Without Him, I don't know how I would handle life! 

Psalm 65

¹ Praise awaits 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 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.
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.

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.

God's doing, not ours!!

Wow, what a week!! Last Friday we finally got our documents back from NJ and the receipt said they were apostilled and the certification wasn't all that clear. After talking to three different people who could not tell us if NJ has generic certifications or if we needed to have them redone, we decided to mail them back with specific instruction to Authenticate them so they will be accepted! 
I got a call on Tuesday from NJ and the nice lady was a bit confused as to why we sent the documents back because they were the generic NJ certification!! I nicely told her that three different people we talked to didn't know if NJ Authentication and Apostille were the same paper!! She understands China requirements and the papers we had had some staple holes and that is not acceptable. So for no charge she re printed the certifications for us to be neat and clean copies!! We just received them back in the mail today and they look wonderful! On top of that, we didn't have to pay the extra charge for having them "done right" because they already were what we needed.
Praising God that this all happened the way it did, because the nice lady was pretty sure the certifications might be rejected on the grounds of the extra staple holes! In thinking it was done wrong, it just saved us having to get it redone anyhow and taking more time on account of a few holes in the paper! God is so good!! 

Another wonderful thing that happened this week was the completion of our T-shirt fund raiser!! Thank you to everyone who bought a shirt!! They will be arriving soon and you can wear them and continue to pray for those children who do not have a family and those families who are desiring to have children and their journeys to find each other.

I know there are some people who are uncomfortable with the idea of raising funds for an adoption and asking people to donate towards it. I have been doing some research on it and found that the average birth of a child in a hospital without complications of any kind can easily run to $22,000 and if you have insurance coverage you thankfully only have to pay $8,000 of that cost. If the birth is complicated or a c-section it is easily an additional $10,000! I wish there was some type of insurance to help us out with adoption costs. As you can see from our spending chart to the right, most of our costs are in three parts. The first part is to our Agency who guides us through this complicated process, the second part is all the government fees to make sure we are who we say we are and that we are meeting the requirements set by the Country we want to adopt from, and lastly our travel costs. We are not "buying a child" as some people think of Adoption. We are compiling our portfolio and assuring the Country that we are able to care for one of their orphans and traveling to go get her! The costs of birthing a child in a hospital and adopting a child domestically or from another country are pretty similar! In our case, we want a child who is already born and in need of parents. Why should that be any different or looked down upon?

There are also 3 types of support: Prayer warriors, Financial helpers, and People of action. Not everyone can adopt, but everyone can pray, some can help financially and others can do things that help the adopting family (meals when the child first comes home, help with fix-it jobs, run errands, be a helping hand in any way needed). Every part of the body of Christ has significance and meaning. We appreciate ALL of you!

We have been continuing to do a lot of research on adopting the older child. These older children are often overlooked because they are older and many people just don't want to have to deal with the trauma and issues that come from dealing with their past. We have been praying that Joy will look forward to having a family and will understand that we want to be her family. We are praying that we will be prepared to meet her needs as she heals from any trauma she may have. There are so many unknowns, yet there are some things that we are learning are common for all children who are adopted. We are trusting that God will equip us for every need and if we can't handle something, he will show us those who can!

Please, continue to pray for us. God has truly been with us these past 4 months as we journey through the process. We still have a long way to go, but our part of paper collecting is almost done. Hopefully by mid May all of our documents will be on their way to China. Then the long waiting begins! 

Psalm 134

¹ Praise the Lord, all you servants of the Lord
    who minister by night in the house of the Lord.
² Lift up your hands in the sanctuary
    and praise the Lord.

³ May the Lord bless you from Zion,
    he who is the Maker of heaven and earth.