More Waiting.

Yes, we are still waiting on many things!  People ask me all the time how long it will be until we have Caylie home.  Although there are still steps to be taken (and waited through!) it just depends upon how long each thing takes.  At this point we are praying for spring travel.

 Right now we are waiting for approval from USCIS.  Our application was sent a couple of weeks ago, and they have cashed our check and sent the receipt, so we know things are moving along!  We will wait for an appointment to get digital fingerprinting done sometime in December and hopefully be approved shortly after that.  We are also praying that our dossier can be sent to China in December!

In the meantime, we are preparing for Thanksgiving this Thursday.  The boys are happy to have a short home-schooling schedule this week!  It has been different not teaching at our school this year, and having the boys at home.  We've gotten in a groove, and it's going well, although we miss our school and friends there.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

Caylie VIDEO is here!!

Oh my goodness.  You all have to see this!  Our sweet Caylie JiuChang is so, so cute!!  Check out these videos, taken by our agency rep during their visit to the orphanage, and MAKE SURE you have the sound on!  (The little song with be in your head for the rest of the day!  Haha.)  The children are dancing and exercising to a show or recording on the tv.  SO ADORABLE!!  

I tell you, having this video - seeing her "live" and not just in a photo - is a serious game changer.  She is a real, live little girl with a personality!  I mean, I knew that before, but here it is!  

Video 1

Video 2

NEW PHOTOS!!

So happy and excited today!  I opened my email to find a wonderful surprise - eight new pictures of our sweet Caylie JiuChang!  These were taken by our agency rep just a few days ago.  She says the children were doing exercises at the SWI (Social Welfare Institute or orphanage.)  Looks like she was having fun!

She's holding the package that we sent her.  I hope they let her have the little tiger.  There's also a photo album that they will show her when it gets closer to our travel time.
*EDIT*  I just found out that Caylie is in foster care, and this is her foster mother!  So excited to learn this!  So I'm sure that she does get to keep the little tiger.  :)

This man is Larry Bebo, founder of AAC Adoption, our agency.

Waiting . . .

There is nothing much to report on our adoption right now.  Jim and I did our 12-hour training at our agency over the last two Saturdays.  Had a lot of fun with that and met some great people.  Our agency has family events every couple of months, so we look forward to seeing the other adoptive families with their children when they are all home!

Our home study has been sent to the state of Colorado for approval.  Hopefully we will get that back in a day or two, and then our documents can be sent to United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for their approval!  That will take 4-6 weeks, and is the final piece of our dossier.  After that, our dossier can finally be sent to China!  So please pray with us that these things do not take any longer than necessary.  We so want our little Caylie to be with us!

Another reminder about our fundraisers:  The Wild Olive Tees sale will run for only three more weeks!  Please have a look at these awesome Scripture t-shirts if you haven't already.  Christmas is coming!  :)

Please continue to pray for our little Caylie, that God would prepare her heart, mind, and spirit for all the changes that will soon occur in her life, and that He would ready her for receiving our love and being a part of our family.  Pray also for us, as we prepare to have our lives change in big ways.  While we know that only our Jesus can heal broken hearts, we want to be used of Him to the fullest.  And for that we must be well-prepared in every way.  Thank you, friends!

All our clearances are finally in!  The home study is complete!!

  Next step:  home study will be sent for state approval.  Jim and I will also be doing 12 hours of adoption training at our agency over the next two Saturdays.  I'm excited to learn more and to meet some other waiting parents!

On another note, a rep from our agency is going to China next week, and we are allowed to send along a gift for our sweet girl!  So today I'm printing out a few pictures of our family for a little photo album.  Since we are still far from travel and meeting Caylie, the agency rep assured me that the orphanage director will keep it for her until it's closer to the time.  (If she saw it now and got familiar with our faces, I'm afraid she would think we were never coming, as it will still be several months yet.)  We're also going to send a little lovey animal for her, and maybe some treats for her group.  Yay!  I'm excited.  :)

Just a reminder:  our fundraisers are still going!  See links at top right.  Thank you!

Beautiful Colorado

Our family moved to Colorado in 1996 when Jim started working for Promise Keepers.  The first time I was ever in this beautiful state, I was in total awe of the mountains and blue sky.  I remember thinking, "Why do the people who live here not even seem to notice the scenery?  How can they not stop and look every single time they go outside?"  I asked God to not ever let me take the majesty of His creation for granted.  I never wanted to stop "seeing" it!  We've lived here 16 years, and so far I'm still entranced by those mountains every single day!

Yesterday our family took a "Fall Break" from school and went to Mt. Evans, west of Denver. This time of year the road is closed to the top (Mt. Evans Road is the highest auto road in the US), but we got as far as Echo Lake.  Here are some pics of our day!

Operation Christmas Child!

On Sunday I had the privilege of speaking to our church about Operation Christmas Child.  This is a ministry that has been close to my heart, although it looks a bit different to me this year.  This year, when I see the OCC promotional video, I'm thinking of my little girl in China - an orphan who has lived her whole life in an institution without the hope of Jesus or the happiness of opening a present.  There are millions like her in the world right now, who have never known the joy of Christmas or the love of a family or even one single gift.  And yet there are so many of US who have SO MUCH.  We can be the hands and feet of Jesus, bringing light and hope to an otherwise dark existence.

This year is also different for me in that I'm not talking to a classroom of elementary children about Christmas boxes.  I have loved seeing my students' faces the last several years, as they learn about children much less fortunate than they are, and go to great lengths to figure out ways to help.  We would talk about all the things that they have that other children don't . . . warm homes, plenty of food, clean clothes, lots of toys, parents who care for them.  And then I would ask them how many presents they thought they would receive for Christmas.  They usually had an idea, since they'd started their Christmas lists long before! I would ask them to think about a child who had NONE of that.  Not just no presents, but NONE of the above things, either.  Then we would talk about the MOST important thing that they had, that others did not . . . the hope of Jesus!  We talked about how important it was to tell others about Jesus, when they otherwise may not ever hear.  

 We thought about ways that they could afford to put together a Christmas box.  Some would tell mom and dad that they would give up one present so that the money could be spent on a Christmas box.  Some would ask mom and dad (or grandma and grandpa, or neighbor) to suggest chores that they could do to earn money.  We talked about other things we could give up, even temporarily, to save money for this project.  One little boy told me that he was willing to give up soda for the next couple of months and just drink water so that there would be money to bless another child.  I encouraged them in all kinds of ways to give of themselves to help another less fortunate.  A couple of the parents weren't happy about this.  They didn't get it.  But the children did get it, and I'm so glad for that.  It was always my heart to see my students learn to follow Jesus, and to live their lives as an offering to Him.

Jesus doesn't call us to give out of our abundance.  He calls us to give sacrificially.  (Luke 21:1-4)  He says that if we have two coats, we should give one to the person who has none.  (Luke 3:11).  He says that because He has freely given to us, we also must freely give.  (Matthew 10:8).  He says that whatever we do (or don't do) to the least of these, we do (or don't do) to Him. (Matthew 25:31-46)  I've decided that I don't ever want to meet one of the "least of these" little children in Heaven one day, and have to say "I'm sorry you never got a Christmas present, but I just couldn't give up my Starbucks for a couple of days."  What a heartbreaking thought.

Please pray about what God would have you do for children this Christmas season.  If He asks you to do something that seems hard, He WILL make a way for you to do it!  And what joy you will feel in that obedience and blessing of others.

 If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?  ~ I John 3:17