God's Got This!

We were a bit frustrated and sad last week, when we heard that our CBI (Colorado Bureau of Investigation) and FBI clearances had not come through yet, as we'd thought.  We were told that CBI had just finished July, and that our finger prints had been logged in on August 8, so it would take at least a week longer to be processed; possibly two.  Added to that was the fact that we hadn't realized that Taylor also needed this done until four weeks after Jim and I had done ours, and so his wasn't logged in until four weeks later!  So this was holding up the whole adoption process, and although we know that God is in control and we have to trust in His timing, it was frustrating.

Over the weekend I started thinking that perhaps I would call CBI to ask if they would consider pulling Taylor's prints from the later log-ins, and processing it with ours.  I've never done any of this before and have no idea about their policies, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to try.  Yesterday I got an email from another adoptive mom, suggesting the same thing!

So today I called to ask, got transferred to a supervisor who was extremely kind and supportive, and guess what?  He said that not only will they pull Taylor's prints and process them with ours, but he also put things into motion TODAY, instead of waiting another week!  Wooooot!!  God is good, my friends.  :)

Agency Visit Today

We have finally gotten every document together for the dossier!  Jim and I drove up to Berthoud this morning to give this big ol' stack of papers/photos/documents directly to our agency rep.  I was not about to trust it to the mail or delivery service!  We are still waiting to receive our background clearances from our previous states (please pray that these do not sit under a pile of papers on anyone's desk!) and our home study is being written up by our social worker.  After all this is finally completed, we can apply for permission   to adopt from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration.  And then after thaaaat . . . we can FINALLY send the dossier to China!   And then comes the reeeeally long wait.

 Yes . . . it is a very long process.  While it appears that we will not be able to travel to bring our sweet girl home until late spring, I keep going back to the fact that God > Impossible, and how awesome it would be if we could get her before she turns 4 in February!  I know He could do that  - and WILL do that - if that is His good plan for her and for us.  We will wait to see what He has in mind, while continuing to pray that time would not be wasted unnecessarily in any of the steps, and that all involved would do the very best job they can.

And now for the great awesome God news!  We found out today that we've been given a $3000 grant for our adoption!  This was a great surprise, as we have several large payments due over the next months.  We know that He who calls us is faithful (1 Thess. 5:24) and He will make a way for us to follow his call.  From the time we first knew God was calling us to international adoption, we have known it would be very expensive, and we knew we did not have to worry about it.  Even (and especially!) on the day I lost my teaching job.  We knew.  He who calls us is faithful!

Another fun thing from our agency visit . . . we saw our little Caylie Jiu Chang's visa photo!  We only have a few photos of our sweet girl, so finding another was a treasure.

Baby Steps!

We have a l-o-n-g way to go in this process, but keep working toward the goal!  We had our third and final home study visit last night and are gathering the last of the documents for the dossier.  (Pennsylvania finally deemed us worthy of  Jim's birth certificate after three weeks!)  I just ordered a bunch of prints from Walgreens (need to remember to pick those up this afternoon), as they need pictures of our family doing fun things together, and several pictures of our home.  Jim and I have physicals this afternoon, which need to be signed by the doctor and notarized.  There are actually many items that need to be notarized, so we're keeping one of Jim's co-workers, who happens to be a notary - very busy!

Please continue to pray with us:
     1.  That documents would be sent to us and to our agency without delay, and that this entire process would go smoothly, without any unnecessary hold-ups.

     2.  That God would prepare our family for the changes that will take place when our little one joins our us.  Pray that God would ready our boys for being big brothers to a new little sister who will already be four years old and does not speak their language.  Pray that God would give Jim and I wisdom as we prepare to love, parent, and teach our new daughter, who has never known the dynamics of family life.  While it is difficult to wait these many months to have her with us, we know that God's timing is always right, and that He will use this time to prepare and grow us for the task ahead.

     3.  Pray for our little Caylie Jiu Chang, that God would prepare her heart for the love that we want to give her, and that He would hold her in His arms while we cannot.  Pray that her mind, heart, and spirit would be prepared for the day that she will leave all she knows and come to a place that is so very different.

     4.  Please also continue to pray for the on-going adoption reform in Vietnam and for a new adoption relationship between Vietnam and the United States.

Thank you, friends.  We so appreciate your support and prayers.

We are in our fourth week of homeschooling and it's going well.  Jim is starting a new season of high school football officiating.  And Justin turned ten years old!  Happy Birthday to my "baby" boy.  :)