We went to the local detention center today and got fingerprinted.
Ha! Never thought I'd type that sentence!
The process was actually quite smooth and now we have official registered finger print cards for the FBI to run background checks with.
Guess we better be careful where we leave our prints now ;)
Saturday, December 28, 2013
Monday, December 23, 2013
Homestudy #1 - Orientation Interview
Today we had an orientation interview over the phone with our adoption agency and the social worker who will be conducting our home study. Both of these ladies were so sweet and genuine. They obviously love what they do and both had such visible faith and trust in Jesus. Our agency has been amazing. Every interaction with them, every question, every single thing has been beyond our expectations. It is incredible to talk to someone about adoption and know that they understand our heart, the gospel message, the love of Christ that propels us forward. I have been so impressed.
Our orientation interview ran an hour and 15 minutes. In it we got to answer fun questions like: "Why adoption? Why China? How did you meet?" We both talked about our faith, our support systems and families, our desire to adopt, how we felt led to China. Some of the questions were pretty personal, and I know it will only get deeper as we get farther into the home study. They also gave us an overview of all the paperwork and the overall timeline for the entire process. They anticipate that we will be able to travel in about 12 months.
The next step is to complete our autobiographies, which is a massive essay we both have to write with hundreds of questions about our entire lives. Once these are ready we will have our in house visit and individual visits. Here we go- the home study has officially begun!
Our orientation interview ran an hour and 15 minutes. In it we got to answer fun questions like: "Why adoption? Why China? How did you meet?" We both talked about our faith, our support systems and families, our desire to adopt, how we felt led to China. Some of the questions were pretty personal, and I know it will only get deeper as we get farther into the home study. They also gave us an overview of all the paperwork and the overall timeline for the entire process. They anticipate that we will be able to travel in about 12 months.
The next step is to complete our autobiographies, which is a massive essay we both have to write with hundreds of questions about our entire lives. Once these are ready we will have our in house visit and individual visits. Here we go- the home study has officially begun!
Saturday, December 21, 2013
I Am Only One
“I am only one. But still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something. I will not refuse to do the something I can do.” ~Helen Keller
I ran across this quote today and it pretty much sums up why we are doing this. Life is short. We've seen that evidenced in the losses of close friend's this past year. There is a lot of suffering and hurt in this world. We will never be able to overcome it and put an end to it...that is not our job. Christ has already done that for us. But we can shine His light and love and joy into that darkness. Even if it is only one small step at a time. We can do this, He has called us and will equip us to do this with Him. We will not be able to help every orphan. We can not stop the myriad of issues that result in the abandonment of children. But we can do something for one, and that is enough right now.
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
LOI to China!
Well, this is it! I am very excited because today we officially sent our LOI (letter of intent) to adopt a specific child from China.
Yes, that's right! We have found our little boy and we have officially asked China for permission to adopt him.
If you are not familiar with adoption and how the process works you might be quite confused. Typically, when people adopt internationally, they fill out all the paperwork, do a home study, pass immigration requirements, and then wait and wait for the referral of a child. Our situation is unique because China allows you to specifically request to adopt a waiting child if you meet the requirements and send in the necessary information.
Our agency pre-screened us and then asked us to start the process of gathering documents to send in with our LOI. Today we sent in: our actual letter requesting to adopt him, a care plan for his medical needs, financial information, medical forms proving our health, criminal background checks, passport photos, photos of our family, a referral acceptance form, liability release, and a family history information sheet.
A little over a month ago we saw the photo of a little boy on the special focus waiting child list at our agency. Through a series of providential events (which I will try to explain later) we were brought to his picture. He had already been waiting for 2 years...his file was about to be released from the agency and sent back to China. He had three things working against him: 1. He is a boy, 2. He is not an infant, 3. He has multiple special needs. All of these things make it harder for him to be adopted, and so he sat on our agency's list but was never chosen by a family.
After much prayer and waffling back and worth, we decided to request his file to review. We were overwhelmed with his medical needs. To be honest, we really just wanted to adopt a little girl with minor needs...that is how our adoption had always played out in our heads.
But God had already begun to work in our hearts, from the time he whispered the desire to adopt into our lives years ago. We wanted to adopt a child who desperately needed a family. A child who no one else was waiting in line for. And as we prayed and weighed our options and prayed some more it became clear..we wanted to adopt HIM. I can't describe what it feels like...but suddenly the fear and worries were replaced with peace and a clear assurance that this was the center of God's will.
The next two weeks or so will be nerve wracking as we wait for China to review our information and either accept or deny our request. If they accept we will receive PA (pre approval) and can begin the paper chase of documents and home study visits needed to finalize the adoption- which will take anywhere from 9 to 12 months.
So, pray and wait with us! Pray that our LOI is submitted smoothly, that we will receive PA, and that this little boy will become a part of our family. Once he does we can share his photo and information :)
Yes, that's right! We have found our little boy and we have officially asked China for permission to adopt him.
If you are not familiar with adoption and how the process works you might be quite confused. Typically, when people adopt internationally, they fill out all the paperwork, do a home study, pass immigration requirements, and then wait and wait for the referral of a child. Our situation is unique because China allows you to specifically request to adopt a waiting child if you meet the requirements and send in the necessary information.
Our agency pre-screened us and then asked us to start the process of gathering documents to send in with our LOI. Today we sent in: our actual letter requesting to adopt him, a care plan for his medical needs, financial information, medical forms proving our health, criminal background checks, passport photos, photos of our family, a referral acceptance form, liability release, and a family history information sheet.
A little over a month ago we saw the photo of a little boy on the special focus waiting child list at our agency. Through a series of providential events (which I will try to explain later) we were brought to his picture. He had already been waiting for 2 years...his file was about to be released from the agency and sent back to China. He had three things working against him: 1. He is a boy, 2. He is not an infant, 3. He has multiple special needs. All of these things make it harder for him to be adopted, and so he sat on our agency's list but was never chosen by a family.
After much prayer and waffling back and worth, we decided to request his file to review. We were overwhelmed with his medical needs. To be honest, we really just wanted to adopt a little girl with minor needs...that is how our adoption had always played out in our heads.
But God had already begun to work in our hearts, from the time he whispered the desire to adopt into our lives years ago. We wanted to adopt a child who desperately needed a family. A child who no one else was waiting in line for. And as we prayed and weighed our options and prayed some more it became clear..we wanted to adopt HIM. I can't describe what it feels like...but suddenly the fear and worries were replaced with peace and a clear assurance that this was the center of God's will.
The next two weeks or so will be nerve wracking as we wait for China to review our information and either accept or deny our request. If they accept we will receive PA (pre approval) and can begin the paper chase of documents and home study visits needed to finalize the adoption- which will take anywhere from 9 to 12 months.
So, pray and wait with us! Pray that our LOI is submitted smoothly, that we will receive PA, and that this little boy will become a part of our family. Once he does we can share his photo and information :)
Friday, December 13, 2013
Love is Sacrifice
Let my life be the proof, the proof of your love.
Let my love look like you and what you're made of.
How you lived, how you died,
love is sacrifice.
So let my life be the proof, the proof of your love.
Months ago when we first felt led to begin this adoption journey a popular song came out by For King and Country called "Proof of Your Love". It really resonated with me and I took it up as a mantra to encourage us along this journey. I would sing it while jogging and pushing that ridiculous double stroller up the hills through our neighborhood. I would literally say "love is sacrifice" over and over again to keep cadence as my feet pounded the pavement.
In the middle of the song they speak 1 Corinthians 13. I know that verse. I had that verse read at my wedding. It's the love verse...but it has never resonated with me so much as now.
I'm still slowly learning about what sacrifice is.
I thought I had a small glimpse when I set aside a career and the things that go along with that for the privilege of staying home with our children.
I felt fairly sacrificial when we sold a brand new mini van to help finance this adoption.
But today, God is asking us to sacrifice something bigger. Our own dreams and plans for our family.
We've found out that the little boy we are hoping to adopt has a condition that is much more severe than we anticipated. He will require extra attention and care. He might never walk or talk normally or develop in the way we hoped. He will have to fight harder for everything.
All of our dreams and plans and hopes for the future came to a screeching halt. This was not the normal life we were expecting. This is not how we planned our adoption to go.
We decided it was too much and we couldn't do it. We would move on to another child. We would pursue something that was easier to handle.
But then God.
If I'm honest it took me awhile to be willing to come to God with this. Because I think I knew what He was going to say. And I didn't want to hear it because it is not what I wanted. I wanted easy, not hard. I wanted to move on from this with some semblance of a normal family life.
But when we finally brought it to God, it became overwhelmingly clear. This is our son. We loved him and chose him and pursued him. God brought him into our life for a reason.
Are we afraid or do we trust?
Honestly, we are scared that we may fail. This is not at all what we anticipated when we started this process. This is not at all in my plans. But God knew.
God knew and God will carry us through this.
"Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."
Love never fails.
Monday, December 9, 2013
Adoption Physicals - DONE!
China requires a complete medical work up in order to be approved to adopt from their international program. There is a medical form that must be filled out and signed by a MD, notarized, and then sent along with all of our adoption paperwork.
So, Josh and I have spent this past week getting all of this stuff done on our end, as we heard it can take awhile. Luckily, both of our doctors were able to get us in for an appointment within the week- which is great! We had to have a complete physical (vision, hearing, basic exam). As well as lots of bloodwork (liver, CBC, metabolic panel, Hep B, HIV, Syphilis) and a TB test.
Today I got my TB test read- definitely negative- and also got the results from my blood work back. Everything looked good so the doctor signed and notarized my form. We are officially healthy enough to adopt :)
I was stressed about this because I do not like going to the doctor. My blood pressure always goes wonky and I just do not enjoy getting tests done. But, thankfully, all went well and the Lord gave me peace during the visit. He also allowed us to get this done quite speedily, as we are in a time crunch and we need to get these forms in as soon as possible. So it is a blessing to have this behind us so quickly.
Next Up: Criminal Records History here we come!
Monday, December 2, 2013
Application Accepted to China Special Focus Program
APPROVED!!
Today we received confirmation from our wonderful agency that we are approved to adopt from the China waiting child program! We sent in our application last week and have been approved to adopt 1 child from the special focus program. The special focus program is a list of children who have either been waiting longer to be adopted, are older, or have more significant special needs. These children desperately need families and we are so grateful to be given the opportunity to jump through all the paperwork and financial hoops ahead in order to show them the love of our family.
Major paperwork ahead.
Up next we are getting physicals and lots of blood work done to make sure we are healthy and don't have any communicable diseases. I'm just going to be so glad when this part is over...I do not like going to the doctor. The form also has to be notarized and getting a doctor to fill out a form and then finding someone to notarize it is more difficult than it should be. Even getting into an appointment to see a doctor at this short notice is hard.
Did I mention we have 2 weeks to get that done?
I'm praying God will continue to open doors for us and that he will carry us through the mountains of paperwork, interviews, and autobiographical essays (100 questions ya'll!) that we have to write.
But we're doing this. We have officially started- let the crazy journey begin! I already can't wait to bring our little one home.
**Special note to remember the little things: the traveling notary that Josh brought to the doctor's office was a Christian and had a sister with special needs. She was so sweet and encouraging- a wonderful surprise in the midst of a stressful process!
Today we received confirmation from our wonderful agency that we are approved to adopt from the China waiting child program! We sent in our application last week and have been approved to adopt 1 child from the special focus program. The special focus program is a list of children who have either been waiting longer to be adopted, are older, or have more significant special needs. These children desperately need families and we are so grateful to be given the opportunity to jump through all the paperwork and financial hoops ahead in order to show them the love of our family.
Major paperwork ahead.
Up next we are getting physicals and lots of blood work done to make sure we are healthy and don't have any communicable diseases. I'm just going to be so glad when this part is over...I do not like going to the doctor. The form also has to be notarized and getting a doctor to fill out a form and then finding someone to notarize it is more difficult than it should be. Even getting into an appointment to see a doctor at this short notice is hard.
Did I mention we have 2 weeks to get that done?
I'm praying God will continue to open doors for us and that he will carry us through the mountains of paperwork, interviews, and autobiographical essays (100 questions ya'll!) that we have to write.
But we're doing this. We have officially started- let the crazy journey begin! I already can't wait to bring our little one home.
**Special note to remember the little things: the traveling notary that Josh brought to the doctor's office was a Christian and had a sister with special needs. She was so sweet and encouraging- a wonderful surprise in the midst of a stressful process!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)