This made me cry today.

In hope...

a frustrating week

Well, we thought we were getting close to a referral.  It seems it's further away than we want it to be....

On Wednesday we received the disheartening news that we need to redo lots of paperwork for our dossier that we'd completed months ago.  Apparently China started enforcing policies that they haven't paid attention to in the past.  So now none of the documents in our dossier can be older than 6 months.  Most of ours had been completed in Feb-April and then notarized in May. 

So now, we're on the paper trail again.  Please pray for quick contacting and processing of everything from new certified copies of birth certificates to criminal clearances in Ohio.  There are a total of nine documents we need to redo.  Pray this doesn't delay us too much. 

We want these girls in our arms!

An Update

In trying to be creative and sharing my heart’s impressions of adoption, I’ve been realizing that I’m failing to share with you where we’re actually at in the process.

We’re getting very close to referral time!  Maybe before the end of the year, maybe before the Chinese New Year (mid January), we’ll see.  A referral means that a specific little girl’s picture and information about her medical condition will be sent to us.  We then have about 24 hours to decide if we want to accept or reject this referral.  Reasons we would reject a referral would be that we feel this little one’s medical needs are more than we can handle living over here.  We have limited ongoing resources available in our city, so we’re looking for something that would be more minor and correctable. 

Once we accept a referral, it will still take 4-7 months before we can travel to get her.  We need China’s official approval.  We need to inform the American government which child we intend to adopt.  Then, the US government’s approval gets sent back to China and then we receive permission to get our child. 

I wish it could be easier and faster, but all of this back and forth protects children from trafficking, which is extremely important.

All of this is the process for one child, and honestly we’re still not entirely sure when we might get matched with a second child.  Apparently it’s harder to find baby girls with more minor needs on the special focus list, which is what needs to happen for us to be able to adopt both at once.

So, we appreciate your prayers and we’ll keep you updated!

Acronym Answers

LOI = Letter of Intent…to adopt a specific child

PA = Pre-Approval

USCIS = United States Citizen and Immigration Services

CCAA = China Center of Adoption Affairs (am I wrong in this?  does it have a "w" in it now?)

DTC = Dossier To China… meaning it was put in the mail

LID = Log in Date… dossier registration in China

LSC = Letter of Seeking Confirmation… comes from CCAA, gets sent to our adoption agency

LOA = Letter of Acceptance…China agrees we can adopt this specific child

TA = Travel Approval

CA = Consulate Appointment

Now when I or others use these little letters, you'll know what we're talking about!

Adoption Acronyms Quiz

As we've entered the adoption world, there has been so much to learn.  We search sites and blogs to get information and they all use this acronym lingo and just assume that everyone knows what they're talking about.  I decided I needed a master list.  Below is just a portion of the acronyms we've learned. 

So, I challenge you to take the following acronyms quiz.  Grab a pen and pencil or open a blank word document and write down what you think each of the following stands for.  Then, for fun, leave me a comment and tell me how many of these you know, or think you know.  Don't post answers, or you may ruin the fun for others, just leave me a number.  Then next Saturday, I will post the answers.

What do the following letters stand for?

LOI=

PA=

USCIS=

CCAA=

DTC=

LID=

LSC=

LOA=

TA=

CA=

Geranium Musings

This is my geranium.  It’s been around a long time, pretty much since we moved here.  If you know geraniums, you know usually they’re an annual flower, meaning when it gets cold, they die.  But apparently as a house plant, in a pot, they can live for years.  As you can see, it’s getting kinda long and lanky and not so beautiful these days.  The other day I was picking brown leaves off of it and considering the following analogy:

Hope in the adoption process is a little like my geranium.

At times it’s been beautiful, flowering and green and very much alive.

At times it has a lot of brown leaves and looks rather sickly, but even then, buds are present.

Sometimes it’s looked so bad that I’ve cut off all the stems and started from scratch, but I keep the roots around, because I know it will grow again.  The roots are alive and healthy enough to sustain the plant to keep growing.

Sometimes, though not right now, this plant has large beautiful blossoms that cause the stems to bend and droop because they’re heavy.  The stems fall over but they don’t break.

Are you seeing the analogies?

There are so many ups and downs in this process, it’s crazy.  Literally it could drive a person crazy.  However, I haven’t gone crazy…well, not yet.  You see, I know there is an end to the process and when those little girls are in our arms, all the ups and downs will be worth it, for sure. 

And then I remember that my hope is not in circumstances.  It’s not in the timing of the adoption, which in my opinion is NEVER too soon.  It’s not in grants or financial help from others, though at times the cost of adoption is overwhelming.  It’s not in the small victories along the way.  “We finished our home study!”  “We turned in everything for our dossier!”  “We have our LID!”  (More on acronyms I’ve learned in my next post.) 

No, my hope is a “sure and steadfast anchor for my soul.”  My hope is in Jesus.  He holds this whole process in His hands and I can trust in Him.

Practice makes Perfect...

These are our neighbors/teammates/friends.  We love them like crazy and spend lots of time with them. 

Being with these girls is so much fun and we think it's good practice for our future.  One night when playing after dinner, she...

...did this to Mark.

It's a good look, don't you think? :)

If he can sit through that, and smile, I think he's going to be a great dad!

While We Wait

We go to places like this and ENJOY the fall!

This is where we stay.

It's likely our favorite place to visit.  We go there at least twice, if not more times, a year.  And we get amazing views on our hikes, like these:

Sometimes the locals are a little surprised that we hike where we do:

It's kinda like they're saying, "This is our territory.  What are you doing here?"
What can we say?  We love the fall, we love this place, and we will keep going back.

Grief and Joy

Tonight I am grieving and rejoicing with my friend.  Grieving because she never had the chance to bring her little boy home from the hospital.  Rejoicing because he is now with Jesus.  You can read their story here:

http://www.mandypelton.blogspot.com

Stayin' Warm

Just before moving over here my mother-in-law taught me how to crochet.  I love it!  So far I've made several blankets and a few scarves.  I can only make flat things.  One Christmas I tried making stockings and it was disastrous.

Last year I made this blanket for my friend's birthday:

I loved the design so I decided to make a similar one for our little girl's blanket:

Mark thought we needed a shot with me in the picture:

And here's a sneak preview of the second blanket for our other little girl:

Empty Bellies

It’s 11:30 pm.  Mark is due to arrive at our city’s airport at anytime and I’m lying in bed still awake, waiting for a text message that will tell me he’s arrived safely.  My stomach starts to growl.  Not because I didn’t eat…I’d had a bowl of left-over broccoli potato soup and a handful of nuts for dinner.  But that was hours ago and not enough to stick with me.

My thoughts drift to my daughters.  Not knowing where they are or how old they are, but knowing that likely they’re already born, sometimes I wonder what kind of life they’re experiencing right now.  So last night, I was wondering, “Are they too going to bed hungry?”  Are they in a poor orphanage that has to ration the amount of formula each child gets?  Or maybe it’s adequate in quantity, but not in quality and lacks the nutrients their little bodies need.  Are they crying at night when their bellies get hungry?  Or have they learned that even crying doesn’t help because they won’t get any response?  My heart shudders at these thoughts. 

 

Or maybe, just maybe, they’re in the small minority of orphans whose conditions are the best they possibly could be.  Maybe they’re warm and well-fed and living with a foster mommy and daddy who love them.  Maybe they’re in a bright and cheerful and well-funded orphanage where most all their needs are being met.  Still, they need me, they need Mark.  They need a forever family.  

God, I know that you’ve chosen them for us and us for them.  Protect and provide for them now and unite us soon.

"Being in your life is gonna change me"

Mark found this song and printed it off for me:  (You can listen to it below.)

Haven't Met You Yet lyrics
Songwriters: Michael Steven Buble, Alan Chang, Amy Foster

I'm not surprised, not everything lasts
I've broken my heart so many times, I stopped keeping track
Talk myself in, I talk myself out
I get all worked up, then I let myself down

I tried so very hard not to lose it
I came up with a million excuses
I thought, I thought of every possibility

And I know someday that it'll all turn out
You'll make me work, so we can work to work it out
And I promise you, kid, that I give so much more than I get
I just haven't met you yet

I might have to wait, I'll never give up
I guess it's half timing, and the other half's luck
Wherever you are, whenever it's right
You'll come out of nowhere and into my life

And I know that we can be so amazing
And, baby, your love is gonna change me
And now I can see every possibility

And somehow I know that it'll all turn out
You'll make me work, so we can work to work it out
And I promise you, kid, I give so much more than I get
I just haven't met you yet

They say all's fair
In love and war
But I won't need to fight it
We'll get it right and we'll be united

And I know that we can be so amazing
And being in your life is gonna change me
And now I can see every single possibility

And someday I know it'll all turn out
And I'll work to work it out
Promise you, kid, I'll give more than I get
Than I get, than I get, than I get

Oh, you know it'll all turn out
And you'll make me work so we can work to work it out
And I promise you kid to give so much more than I get
Yeah, I just haven't met you yet

I just haven't met you yet
Oh, promise you, kid
To give so much more than I get

I said love, love, love, love
Love, love, love, love
(I just haven't met you yet)
Love, love, love, love
Love, love
I just haven't met you yet

Then he asked what I thought it was about.  I said, "our girls".  But it isn't, it's a love song. :)