Celebrating

September 17, 2007- That is indeed the day that we begin the countdown. For those of you who are not familiar with the adoption process, the first most anticipated day of the process is the Log In Date(LID). This is the day your dossier is officially checked in at the CCAA in China. This is truly a milestone in the long and winding road of adoption, and a day worth celebrating. It's the first day you really feel like this will actually happen. Although we know the waiting period for a referral for Chinese adoption is longer than it's ever been, we know it's worth the wait.
In the meantime, our daughter Gusta is educating us on the Chinese culture. We have been on the receiving end of two authentic Chinese meals prepared by her. If Gusta is a representation of what the Chinese are like, then we can say they are very hard-working,and non-procrastinating. We have also learned that they are very disciplined in their school work and chores. We look forward to learning far more from her in the next 8 months.
Please join us as we countdown to referral day in about 20 months. We have placed the timing in God's hands, but continue to covet your prayers in the months ahead. Blessings to you all who are making this journey with us.

Now We Wait!

The Dossier paper chase is now just a memory. Although we don't have an actual login date as of yet, we expect that it will be soon. We received word last week that our Dossier paper work was handed over to the translation department at CCAI, and should soon be on its way to China. This truly is a huge victory, and an instrumental step in the process. Our next big hurdle now is patience. For reasons unknown the referral time is continuing to grow. In the first week of September, 29 families having login dates of November 2005, received referrals. If you do the math, that comes out to nearly 22 months from login to referral. Our concern is that this is a continuing trend. However, we remain optimistic that with the restrictions that the CCAA put in place in May, the times may get shorter. Again, we are leaving this one up to God.
In the meantime, we have a new addition to our family. We have welcomed Xinyi Liu from China into our home. Her American name is Gusta. She has been with us since August 22, and will be with us until the first part of June. We are taking this opportunity to learn about the Chinese culture. Gusta is a very polite, respectful, and very smart young girl. She will be attending Swan Valley High School for the school year, and they have welcomed her very graciously. For our close friends, hopefully you will have the joy of meeting her before June.
As I said earlier, we have made huge steps to our ultimate dream of having our own daughter to love. As with anything in life however, waiting with patience can be very difficult and stressful. We have felt the prayers of our family and friends all along the way, and ask that you continue to pray for patience in God's perfect timing.
Please feel free to drop us a line, by responding to this latest post.

" The paper Chase" continues

A wise person once said, " When going through the adoption process, you can expect about five delays." Well the good news for us, is that we must be close to our quota. The latest of our delays was receiving our FBI clearances. Without it, your home study cannot be completed, and if your home study is not complete, you cannot file for your immigration paperwork(also known as I600A), and of course without the I600A, you cannot complete the dossier. So you get the picture by now. Praise God though, we finally received our FBI clearances. Now the ball is in the court of the Department of Homeland Security. It's not like they're dealing with much else right now, so I am sure that process will go by quickly. All joking aside, that is where we currently stand in the infamous "paper chase." We should expect to be notified shortly with an appointment in either Detroit or Grand Rapids to be fingerprinted. Shortly after our fingerprints are complete, we can then expect to receive our I-171H(favorable determination by the USCIS). Thus ends the "paper chase," and begins the "waiting game." At times it can be very frustrating, because you are so dependant on the abilities and availability of so many other people. For most of those other people, they do not share the same sense of urgency as we do. Like everything else in life however, it is all about perspective. We have decided that the delays we experience are all part of God's perfect timing to receive the exact child he has planned for us. That is something to take comfort in for sure. God continues to put things and people in our path to remind us, we are doing the right thing. Some day, in some motel room, in some city in China, someone will hand us our new little baby girl, and all the delays and frustrations will seem like insignificant distant memories soon to be replaced by new memories of one we call daughter. Until then we trust God in the process, and lean on our wonderful friends for support and encouragement.
From here the next milestone in our process will be receiving the I-171H, and then having our dossier land safely into the hands of the CCAA. We continue to be thankful for our friends who are praying for us daily. We can sense each and every one of them. Until next time, many blessings to all who read this newest post.

Chinese New Year

On Saturday March 3, we went to the FBC in Midland for a gathering of some other families that have adopted from China. Amy, who is doing our home-study, and has adopted two girls herself, makes these gatherings happen. We were so glad she included us. We spent a few hours in the presence of many loving, Chinese little girls who are full of so much joy. It was a real encouragement to hear from so many families, and their success stories. We also met some families who are in the process as we are. I am sure we met some new friends. Check out the pictures. How can we not be excited.

Where are we in the process?

First we must say thanks to our family, church family and friends. We have been overwhelmed by your words of encouragement, prayers and financial support. You have all been a blessing to us. Just so you all know, we have been approved for a child 0-12 months.
If any of you are familiar with the adoption process, then you would be familiar with the phrase"the paper chase." We find ourselves in the middle of the paper chase. It is a daunting and at times frustrating task of gathering all kinds of paperwork( immigration paperwork, passports, fingerprinting, background checks, employment verification, family photos etc.), all of which must be notarized, certified, and authenticated. These papers then make up your Dossier. A fancy term for profile. Once these are gathered, they go through a critical review stage by the agency and are then sent to China. This is the hardest part of the entire process.
At the same time we are gathering the paperwork, we find ourselves starting the home-study. Yep, you guessed it, more paperwork. It takes about 2-3 months to complete these two things. After those are complete, you take a deep breath and celebrate. Some days it seems impossible, but we know that over 7,200 other people have successfully adopted from China through our agency alone. It can be done. This will likely be the only progress update for awhile.
Again, we appreciate your continued prayers, specifically for patience in the next couple months. Take care and many blessings to you all till the next time.

Why Adoption?

For most of our 11 years of marriage, we have been trying to expand our family naturally. After years of testing, treatments and hundreds of suggestions from doctors, family and friends, we have felt lead by God to expand our family by way of adoption.
God has made it clear in his word that he loves all the children from every race, country, and culture. We know that we too can love a child from a different race, country or culture. Throughout the course of our lives, God has brought many young people into our lives to love, mentor and disciple, but never one that we can call our own. We are very excited that he has chosen us to participate in the miracle called adoption.