TA is on the way!!!

We heard today that our Travel Approval (TA) was issued last Friday and is in the mail on its way to our agency now!  They expect to have it tomorrow sometime.  The next step will be to confirm our US Consulate appointment and then book our tickets!

Our sweet girl is turning 2 very soon and so our prayer is to be with her by then!  We're praying that we will have a consulate appointment on Dec. 22nd or 23rd.  If we get one of those dates, we will meet our sweet girl on December 15th!  Please help us pray that all works out for those dates!

We should know our final dates sometime in the next couple of days!

We can hardly wait to hold Emsley in our arms and shower her in hugs and kisses!

Good News!!!

Yesterday morning, we had a conference call with our social worker to discuss the last few steps before we eventually meet Emsley.  She started the conversation by telling us the last information she had received was that our Article 5 documents were still waiting on one piece of information.  Then the conversation went something like this:

Us: "OK, thanks, we'll keep praying it comes in soon."

Her: "Oh, wait, I'm looking at my email right now.  I was in a meeting this morning and haven't had a chance to check email but I have one here from the consulate.  Oh.....oh, good!  The consulate received the necessary document and has processed your Article 5.  It is ready for pick up now!"

Us: unintelligible squeals mixed with relieved sighs....

We are officially back on track to receive Travel Approval sometime in the next couple of weeks!  Thank you for praying with us that this would be resolved quickly.  We continue to pray for two couples we know who are still facing this same delay with their process.  

We look forward to hearing news of our Travel Approval so we can book flights and finally have Emsley in our arms!!

A PRAISE AND A PRAYER REQUEST...

In one of our first blog posts, I talked about a little picture frame I had found with the scripture Philippians 4:6-7 in it.  That verse has been my verse for the adoption process.   And what does it tell us to do?  "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your heats and your minds in Christ Jesus."

So I want to start by offering thanks to our Lord for what he has done:

Did you notice anything different on our blog today????

Yep, WE ARE FULLY FUNDED!!!!!!

Yesterday, Jace came in with our mail and announced, "I think someone sent us some money for our adoption!".  I asked why he thought that and he handed me an envelope from an organization which had a nickel and a penny attached to the letter as part of the message they were sharing.  :)  I explained what the letter was about and then Jace handed me the rest of the mail.  As I turned over another envelope, my heart skipped a beat as I saw the name of Show Hope, one of the organizations we had applied to for a grant!   My eyes filled with tears as I read the letter that told us we had been awarded a grant to complete our adoption expenses!!!!  PRAISE GOD!!!  He is ever faithful and has provided all we needed at every step along this adoption journey.  

Show Hope is an organization founded by Steven Curtis Chapman and his wife, Mary Beth.  When they first adopted a daughter from China in 2000 they were inspired to do something to help other orphaned children find families and other families afford adoption!  Many families and orphans have been united as a result of this organization and the generous donors who make these adoption grants possible.  You can learn more about this wonderful organization here: http://showhope.org.  

I can't stress enough how overwhelming the financial side of this adoption seemed when we first started out.  We really didn't have anything saved up for an adoption and we had no idea of how God would provide.  But we knew he was calling us to step out in faith and follow him.  Every time we turned to him and asked "How, God?  How will we ever have enough to bring this little girl home?", he always answered with the assurance that he would provide all we needed when we needed it.  We heard his answer through testimonies of countless other adoptive families, through sermons from our pastoral staff, and through scripture he would put before us.  It wasn't always easy to trust that the money would come, but it was always there right when we needed it.  

God works in amazing ways.  Here are just a few of the ways he provided financially of us:

• fundraisers
• yard sales
• financial gifts from friends and family
• unexpected bonuses and overtime
• opportunities for side jobs
• generous friends who held fundraisers for us
• an unexpected job transfer for John

I have been in a Bible study group that is studying I & II Thessalonians and this verse has stuck with me as a reminder of God's promise: "The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it." (I Thess. 5:24)  Boy is He ever!!!

Now for the prayer request....

The same day I learned of the grant we received, we also learned of a delay in our adoption process.  Some of our paperwork has been held up because it is missing an important document.  It is a long and complicated story but it boils down to this: we are on "pause" until this important document can be tracked down in our daughter's province and provided to the appropriate officials.  We had been mistakenly informed that we were waiting for Travel Approval (TA) back on October 30th.  As it turns out, we won't begin the wait for TA until this bit of documentation is provided.  

Can we ask that you would pray with us?  Please pray that the needed documentation would be provided in God's will and timing and that any attempts by the Enemy to slow things down and cause problems would be removed!  Satan hates adoption and the redemption story that it tells.

We are fully trusting in God's timing.  We can't see beyond our limited understanding and perspective but God sees all and, PRAISE GOD, HE IS BIGGER!!!!!!  

TA any day...

We have finally reached the last step in the adoption paperwork/approval process!  Any day now, we should be receiving a phone call to tell us that we have travel approval and are free to book our flights to China!  It has already been one whole year since we submitted our first application to Lifeline Children's Services to begin the adoption.  It's been ten months since we first saw Emsley's picture and knew she would eventually be our daughter.  

We are so close (in various ways) to meeting our daughter and bringing her home to be a family all under one roof!  The government agency in China that will issue our Travel Approval is closed for an energy conference occurring in Beijing right now.  They will open again on the 12th and we expect that we will hear about our approval very soon after that.  Then it will be time to schedule and purchase our flights and pack our bags!  We are praying right now that we will receive approval in time to be in China before Emsley turns 2 in mid-December.  It is our prayer that she will not have another birthday without her family there to celebrate her.

We are still just a bit shy of the full amount needed to purchase our tickets.  Less than $2,000 is still needed to complete the final bit of this adoption process. We are so thankful for the friends, family, and church family who have given so generously to help us fund this adoption!  It is truly something amazing to see people pull together and do all they can to help a little girl across the world come to know the love of a family!

We still have our puzzle fundraiser going and there are still quite a few pieces left if anyone would like to help us raise the final amount we need for purchasing our plane tickets.  We have 387 pieces left.  Every $5 donated will "purchase" a piece.  Once the puzzle is complete, we'll put it all together and frame it to hang in Emsley's room and remind us of all the wonderful people who helped bring her home!  To purchase a piece of Emsley's puzzle, just click on the PayPal "donate" button on the right-hand side of this blog and it will go directly to our adoption account.  (note: you have to be on a PC to see the button.  Or, you can scroll to the bottom of the page on a mobile device and click on "view web version".)

We believe what God has promised from the beginning, that He will provide all we need when we need it.  He has been faithful and done just that all along the way!  We know we will have all we need before time to get on that plane.

We recently received our final update from the orphanage.  They sent us Emsley's measurements and some sweet pictures!

We are looking forward to sharing our Travel Approval update soon!!!

New pictures!

A couple of weeks ago we received our LOA (Letter of Approval) from China and at that time we were able to request an update on Emsley.  The first time we were able to request an update, we waited about two months to receive it.  This time we were trying to prepare ourselves for another long wait but just six days later we were looking at pictures of our beautiful little girl!

Here she is outside her orphanage.  She is wearing the pink shoes we sent her back in May!

When we asked her caregivers what her favorite toys were, they said she loves toys that make music! I can already see her and Khilyn dancing and singing together.  They both love music!

The boys were excited to see her choice of toy for this picture!  She's about to enter a world of superheroes, legos, and ninjas.  I hope she is ready!

It is so good seeing her sweet face and noticing all the tiny little changes since May.  Her hair has grown a little bit longer and fuller.  She seems taller already too.  We asked for more information about Emsley's personality and were told that she is "extremely obedient and quiet".  We wondered how much of that is due to the circumstances of her life so far and how much is really her "personality".  This a very rare description of an almost two-year-old!  We pray that once she is part of our family, she will feel more free to explore, make noise, and express her desires. 

One thing that has remained constant in every picture we have received, though, is the very serious and almost worried look on her face.  Her almost two years of life have been so difficult and she has spent far too long without the love of a family!  Our hearts long for the day that her face will show a genuine smile, when she will finally know how deeply she is loved and cherished.  

We are at the end of the paperwork process and have approximately 6-8 weeks before we will meet our daughter!  We've started the packing list, freezer meal preparations, and "nesting" house cleaning!  We still have the last of our expenses to pay (i.e. - flights, last agency fees) and need to raise about $5,000 more to cover that.  We are praying continually that we will have all we need when the time comes.  God has provided for our needs so far through friends, family, fundraisers, work bonuses, overtime pay, tax refunds, Craigslist sales, side jobs and finding creative ways to save more each month!  Our God is faithful and we give him the praise!

Signed, sealed, and delivered!

I spent most of Tuesday checking and re-checking out the front window to see if there was a FedEx truck in front of our house yet.  Our LOA (letter of Approval) was sent overnight from our agency on Monday.  Each time I heard a loud engine outside, I ran for the window!  Finally, around 2:30 p.m., that beautiful white truck pulled up to the curb and I grabbed the camera and ran for the door.

I definitely scared the poor delivery man!  He was walking up the driveway when I came flying out of the house and eagerly asked if I could take his picture.  His response was guarded.  I'm pretty sure his thought was, "why is this crazy lady asking for a picture of me?"  He casually turned me down and blamed it on some "trouble" they have been having with that lately.  I thanked him anyway and watched as he started to walk back to his truck.  He suddenly turned back and asked, "what is that anyway?"  I told him (with tears building in my eyes) it was the approval letter for us to adopt our daughter.  He half smiled and said, "Oh, okay, I'll do it!"  Then he posed so sweetly for this picture!

As I came inside and shut the door, the emotions overwhelmed me!  I couldn't hold back the tears as I looked at this official document I was holding.  This one piece of paper represents months (almost 11 months) of paperwork, fingerprinting, waiting, evaluations, home study meetings, prayer, more waiting, emails, and applications.  It's a pretty important piece of paper!  It won't be long now until John and I will board a plane and fly across the Pacific Ocean to meet our new little girl!  We are told to expect to travel in as little as 8 weeks from now!

As I write this update, Emsley is probably deep asleep (it is 2 a.m. in China).  She has no idea the celebration that is taking place in our hearts right now.  She is so deeply loved and I pray that one day she will understand how precious she is and how much she is loved.

LOA is on the way!!!

We have spent the last couple of months waiting....and waiting....and waiting to hear news from China regarding our dossier that was mailed back in July.  This is the longest part of the adoption process and the hardest.  We have filled the time by watching training videos about attachment and bonding, reading books about adoption, planning how to fit one more bed in a small bedroom, and just trying to get ready to bring our daughter home.

Yesterday morning our wait was cut short by a phone call from our agency.  We were told that China has reviewed our documents and approved everything!  Our Letter of Approval (LOA) is on its way from China as I write this!

In just a few days a very unfortunate person in a FedEx truck will pull up to our house holding our LOA!  I will try my hardest not to tackle them on the front lawn but there will definitely be squeals of excitement and a few pictures taken!  Once we calm down, we will sign the LOA and send it on to our agency.  There are a few more items of paperwork and official steps to complete but we have been given the estimate of 8 to 10 weeks until we board the plane and go to meet our daughter!

This week has also been a HUGE week as far as fundraising goes.  We have been receiving donations from many friends and family for Emsley's puzzle.  We are so grateful to all the people who have "purchased" puzzle pieces to help us bring Emsley home.  We have felt such support and love from our family and friends.  It is a beautiful thing to see people coming together to help change the life of a little girl half a world away!  There are still 623 puzzle pieces waiting for names of people who would like to help bring Emsley home.  Information on Emsley's Puzzle Fundraiser is on the previous blog post.

This week we also received a few very generous donations toward our travel expenses.  We are getting close to being fully funded for this adoption!  Praise to our God who called us to this adoption knowing EXACTLY what was (or wasn't) in our bank account!  We have been reminded over and over that when God calls you to do something, he will make a way!  We have a goal of $33,000 to cover all the adoption expenses and travel and as of today, $27,024 has been raised, donated, and saved!  We are getting so close!!

This was the first picture we saw of
Emsley back in January

This is one of the most recent
pics we received in May

It has taken 11 months to get to this point.  The wait has been LONG!  We first saw Emsley's face in January and found out she would be ours in March.  We are finally nearing the day we will meet our little girl whom we have prayed for and prepared for.  There is so much I want to know about her.  What will it feel like to finally have her in my arms and be able to whisper "ngo oi nei" (I love you) in her ear?  What will she think of this crazy family that she is joining?  What makes her laugh?  What does her voice sound like?  Does she still have the sense of humor and playfulness that was mentioned by the orphanage staff?  We look forward to the day when we will be able to start to answer some of these questions!

We have a lot to get done in the coming weeks before we leave for China.  There are numerous details to work out and a room to prepare.  Our prayer during these weeks is that God would do a great work in our hearts and in Emsley's heart.  We pray that God will prepare Emsley's heart for the dramatic change that will soon take place in her life.  We pray for protection for her as her whole world is suddenly turned upside down.  We also pray that God would continue to help us see things from Emsley's perspective so that we are able to give the care, comfort, and understanding she will desperately need.  We pray for wisdom to know what to do to best help all of our children adjust to our new family.  We ask that you would pray these things along with us.

Our God is faithful and he is good!  We are over-the-moon excited to bring Emsley home and we are trusting God to go before us and prepare the way.  "Don't be afraid, because I am with you.  I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west." - Isaiah 43:5

Putting the pieces together to bring Emsley home!

Our precious little girl is waiting for us to bring her home and make her part of our family and we are counting down the days until we will be able to get on a plane and go meet her.

We are 32 days into our wait for the Letter of Approval (LOA).  The average wait for LOA is around 70 days.  We are hoping to be able to travel to China in late November or early December.  Emsley will turn 2 in mid-December so we are praying that she will be able to celebrate her next birthday as part of a loving family.

In order to complete the adoption we will need over $30,000 and, as you can see on the thermometer to the right, we are over half-way there!  Praise God!  We have been working hard toward this goal through fundraisers, grants , and saving every extra penny we can!

We have been blessed by many people who have given to our family over the past many months.  There are so many people who have become a special part of Emsley's journey home to her family.  Because we want to always remember these special people, we have created a puzzle that will eventually hang in Emsley's room.

1,000 pieces waiting for names.  We look forward to the day when we can
show Emsley her puzzle and tell her about all the people who prayed for her
and helped bring her home!

If you would like to help us bring Emsley home, you can "purchase" a piece of her puzzle.  For every $5 donated, we will write your name on the back of a puzzle piece.  When the puzzle is complete we will frame it in a double-sided glass frame and hang it in Emsley's room as a reminder of all the wonderful people who helped bring her home.

To donate to our Paypal account, click on the "donate" button on the right side of this page.  (If you are on a mobile device, you will need to scroll to the bottom of our blog page and click on "view web version".  The donate button will then be visible on the right-hand side of the page.)  You can also see regular updates on our Facebook event called "Bringing Emsley Home".

Thank you for your support and prayer as we get closer to the day that we will be Bringing Emsley Home!

Pieces added to the puzzle: 0

Pieces left: 1,000

$5 = one piece

Vacation week

This past week the kids and I took a trip with my Mom up to Washington to visit family and my hometown.  We had a busy week and loved getting together with part of the family that we rarely get to see.  We visited the beach, went swimming multiple times, walked down memory lane in my hometown, and just enjoyed a few rare days of sunshine in western Washington!  It was a long week with a lot of traveling in the family van so it was also nice to make it home yesterday and reunite with  Daddy!!!

Cade, Jack, and cousin Haily

Boy (superhero) cousins

Girl cousins taking a break from the trampoline

The kids getting their snuggles in with their favorite furry friend, Jack!

I had an inbox full of email when I got back and in the middle of the all the messages, there was a  super exciting bit of news from Lifeline...we are out of translation!

Our dossier documents have been translated into Chinese and are now in the process of being reviewed for final approval!  These last few steps have moved very quickly.  Translation only took 10 days!  I've recently heard of people waiting more than 40 days for translation.  We are praising God that things are moving right along.

We also have a great fundraiser planned!  We are calling it "Chinese Dinner for our China Adoption".  We are working with Panda Express here in our town to hold a fundraiser on August 1st!  This one is pretty simple for those wanting to support us.  Just get a support flyer by clicking on the picture here:

Show this flyer (either on paper or on your phone) at the register when you place your order for drive-through, dine-in or catering on August 1st.  20% of the proceeds from those orders will go toward our adoption fees at Lifeline Children's Services.

Logged In!!!

I took the kids swimming yesterday so we could cool off a little from the HOT weather we have been having.  Amidst the splashing and laughing, I heard my phone ring and saw that it was our agency calling!  Great news!  We are "logged in" in China (LID)!

Our dossier paperwork made it safely to the central authority in China and they have entered our information into the system.  This begins our wait for a Letter of Approval (LOA) that grants us permission from China to adopt Emsley.  The LOA is the last major step before we can book flights and go get our girl!

The very first part of this process will include translation of our documents from English to Chinese and then the review of every little detail will begin!  This is both a nerve-racking and exciting time.  The wait for LOA can be up to 90 days or more.  This wait will be a great time for John and I to do some more training with our agency about attachment issues.  We'll be able to get through more of our reading list and prepare our family and home for Emsley's arrival.

We have also sent more questions to Emsley's orphanage to ask about her daily life there.  We hope to have some of those questions answered in the near future.

That's all for now.  Get out and enjoy the sunshine!

DTC!!!

Wednesdasy we received the exciting news that we are DTC (Dossier to China)!  This simply means that our official paperwork for the adoption (our dossier) has made it through all the official signing, stamping, approving, authenticating, notarizing, etc. on "this end" and has been sent to China for approval on "that end".

The kids put this together while we were camping last weekend in
 hopes that we would receive the good news this week!

I can remember when we first started on this journey back in November and I began learning the "language" of international adoption.  I felt like it would be ages before we would get to celebrate this milestone of DTC.  It has been a long time getting to this point, but we have learned so much along the way and have had opportunity to learn more about Emsley and how best to prepare for her homecoming.  This waiting is really difficult, especially since we have known Emsley's face since early on.  Things were very manageable before we saw that sweet face but ever since laying eyes on her, things just can't move fast enough.

We have been told by our agency to plan for travel in November.  This is not set in stone as the timeline from this point forward can vary significantly for no real understandable reason.  Some couples wait longer than others for approval and some couples seem to be approved very quickly.  There isn't any real explanation for the difference but we are continuing to pray for God's timing.  

The next milestone we will reach is our LID (Log-In Date).  This is the date that the central authority in China puts our information into their system and begins processing our request to adopt Emsley.  LID usually comes within about 2 weeks of DTC so we hope to share the good news soon!

Also, when we receive our LID we will be able to request another update on our girl.  We should be able to ask 8 questions of the orphanage staff and request pictures and video too.  When we requested our first update it took over a month to receive it.  We are praying that the orphanage staff will look favorably upon our request and send it back quickly!  We love seeing new pictures of our girl and learning more about her personality and likes/dislikes.  

We have been working hard on grant applications and now have about 4 of them almost ready to mail.  Please pray with us that we will receive some grant funding.  As you can see from the fundraising thermometer on the right-hand side of this page, we are just a little less than half way to our goal.  God has been faithful to provide what we have needed at each step along the way and we know he will provide the rest of what we need to travel to China.  

Birthday Surprise!

Today is our oldest son's 9th birthday but we woke up to a special present for the whole family!  Here is what we found in our email inbox this morning:

Our adoption agency works with a sweet woman in China named Helen who puts together care packages for adoptive families to send to their children during the long adoption wait.  We were able to send Emsley a new pair of shoes, a xylophone toy, and a photo album with pictures of our family complete with captions written in Chinese characters.  We ordered the package a week ago and it arrived yesterday.  The orphanage staff took these pictures and sent them back to Helen that same day!  Thank you, Lord, for this special gift.

I can't express the feeling of joy I have at seeing our little girl looking at pictures of her new family.  I pray that she has an understanding of what it means to have a family.  I pray her nannies will explain things to her in such a way that she will understand that we are coming for her soon and that we love her deeply.

Cade agreed with us that this was a very special birthday present!  When I woke him up this morning and told him he had a present from China waiting for him, he jumped out of bed and ran for the computer.  We are all just a bit crazy about this little girl!

I-800a Approval!

We received our I-800a approval in the mail today!  This means that we have been approved by the US government to adopt from China!  We are now able to start the authentication process for our dossier (usually a 3 week process).  After that, we send our paperwork off and wait for approval from China.

We were originally told that approvals for I-800a were taking between 42-46 days but ours came in 38 days!  Praise the Lord!  We are trusting in His timing.

Update!

Today we received an exciting phone call from our agency telling us that they had received an update on Emsley and would be emailing it to us in the next few minutes!  I opened the email to find this adorable face looking back at me:

I was so excited to see a near smile on her face as the first few pictures we had received with her referral showed no signs of a smile at all.  Emsley has grown a lot since the first photos we saw of her.  She has so much more hair too!  How I wish I could reach into this picture and scoop her up into my arms!  We're coming soon, sweet girl!

We also received a couple more pictures:

and

I love this one because I can see the same expression on her face as when she was younger:

The final part of the update included some information from the orphanage staff about Emsley.  They reported that she is gentle and quiet.  Oh my heart!  She also likes to play with other children and is not a picky eater!  Let's pray she can teach her older siblings a thing or two about that!

Receiving this update has been like a refreshing spring to my spirit.  This adoption process can be so very hard at times and can feel so very slow but receiving these pictures and tidbits of information is just......wow!  Thank you, Lord, for this encouragement today.  Thank you that Emsley is growing well and playing with toys and (almost) smiling for her picture!  This Mama and Daddy are ready to have their girl home!

I-800a Fingerprinting!

This morning John and I made a trip to the Dept. of Homeland Security to have our fingerprints taken for our I-800a approval.  This is the last step before we can prepare and send our dossier off to China!  

We actually tried last week to go in a week early for our fingerprinting but were told that they no longer allow people to walk in early.  We were thankful that our actual appointment was only a week away rather than a month or more!

We are still waiting to receive an update on Emsley.  We've been told there is one coming soon!  We can hardly wait to see her sweet face again and to hear more about her personality.

What a weekend!

Our first fundraiser was a huge success!  We had so much to sell that it filled 18 long tables, 20 boxes of books, a driveway full of furniture and appliances, and the front yard covered with bikes, tools, artwork, baby gear, etc.  Traffic was steady both days and the weather was perfectly warm and sunny.  God answered our prayers and held off the rain and thunderstorms until Sunday morning.

This was only part of it....

More items were in the garage, on the side driveway,
and on the front yard!

We had a great time meeting new people from the community and sharing our story with them.  We were also blessed by all our friends and family who came by to support us and for those who stuck around and helped keep the MANY boxes, racks, and tables of clothing organized!  

On Saturday morning a wonderful friend from church baked two huge trays of her famous cinnamon rolls and caramel-nut rolls and they were gone in the first couple of hours!  So delicious!

John setting things up
(and being a little cheesy)

Despite the sunburns, sore muscles and tired feet, we had a wonderful weekend working toward our little girl.  The yard sale raised enough for us to pay our next agency fee and to authenticate and submit our dossier in the next few weeks!

The signs that were printed and donated by Thorne Printing!

Saturday afternoon, as we were packing up the last of the items that hadn't sold yet, we still had one bike and a bed frame with canopy left.  As I was standing in the driveway looking at those items and praying that they would sell before we had to pack them up, a minivan came around the corner with a young family who were looking specifically for......a bed frame and a kid's bike!  Wow!  This family told us that they weren't even out looking for yard sales, they were just out looking at house plans and came across our sale at that moment.  Just another reminder that God has the whole story worked out and He will provide for our needs.

We want to thank so many people who helped in a variety of ways to make this yard sale successful.  We actually wouldn't have been able to pull it off without the friends and family who gave of their time, possessions and talents to help us out!  There are too many to name here but if you helped in some way and are reading this now, please know that we thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

Feeling blessed....and overwhelmed!

We are in the midst of getting together our first major fundraiser!  This Friday and Saturday we are having a GIGANTIC yard sale.  We have been hugely blessed by our church, family, and friends who have generously donated items for our sale.

We've been collecting these items for a number of weeks now and have filled up my parents' four-car garage!!!  When I think about how many people have given us things or offered to help or done behind-the-scenes work on this project, my heart is overwhelmed with gratitude.  We have had people offer to help organize and price items.  We have had people offer tables, baked goods, craft items, etc.  A local printing company made up some wonderful signs with our sweet baby's picture on them to help advertise the sale and a local rental company offered clothes racks to organize all the great clothing we had donated.  The outpouring of support and love from everyone has been amazing.  We can hardly wait for the day when we can sit with our daughter and tell her of all the special people who helped bring her home to her family.

We are looking forward to a weekend of beautiful weather and are praying for lots of traffic at the sale.  Please help us pray for lots of people to come find something they just can't live without.

On the paperwork side of things, we have finalized our home study and submitted our I-800a application to the USCIS.  Now we are waiting for approval from the USCIS before we can get our dossier authenticated and submitted to China!  We are making progress and although the waiting is so very hard, the Lord is reminding us to "not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, submit our requests to God and the peace of God, which surpasses understanding will guard our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus." (Phil. 4:6-7)

We have also submitted a request to Emsley's orphanage for an update on her development, growth, and overall health.  It's been a number of weeks since we made the request and we are really looking forward to seeing some new pictures and knowing a little more about our little girl.  We will share new pictures as soon as we get them!

Decisions

When making the decision to adopt, we were faced with many choices.  What agency to apply to, where to adopt from, what age and gender did we want our child to be?  Once we determined that the Lord was leading us to adopt a little girl from China, another question was posed to us: did we want to adopt a healthy child or a child with special needs?

BIG NEWS!!!!

It's been a while since we have posted any updates.  This is not because there hasn't been anything going on.  There has been quite A LOT going on in recent weeks and we were simply waiting in hopes that we would be able to share BIG NEWS with all of you!

We'll start by summarizing what has been happening over the past two months and then we will reveal the SUPER EXCITING NEWS at the end!  Be patient....you'll be glad you read to the end! :)

This is crazy!!!

Not long after we began the adoption process, I had a freak-out moment.  It was one of those moments when all of your worries, fears, and stress factors collide and you begin to question your sanity regarding recent decisions you have made.

Daddy's Gone!

My little girl, Khilyn, is not a good sleeper.   She gets out of bed and comes to our room at least once nearly every night.  Usually she just wants a drink or a hug but one night recently she woke up from a nightmare and came running through the house, crying.  She was calling for her Daddy and kept repeating "Daddy's gone".  As I scooped her up in my arms and carried her into our bedroom to show her that Daddy was there, a powerful truth struck me.  It was so easy for me to take away my little girl's fears by just showing her that Daddy was right there in the bed and that she was only having a bad dream.  But how many precious children around the world wake up to the reality that Daddy or Mommy or both really are gone.....and aren't coming back?  My heart broke yet again for the fatherless.

Aren't we thankful that our Father won't ever leave or be too busy or be distracted or forget about us.  Our God is here with us all the time, in every situation, at every moment, through every bad dream.  I am so thankful for a God who cares deeply about every detail of every moment of every day I face.  He always stands ready to sweep me up into his arms and remind me that he's got me.  He isn't going anywhere!