Hooray!!! We got our I-171H form back from the Dept. of Homeland Security! That means our fingerprints and homestudy are officially approved and our application has been sent to the American Embassy in Guangzhou, China.
What's next? We need to get all documents authenticated by the Secretary of State of Minnesota, then we send it all to the Chinese Consulate in Chicago, then they send it back to us, then we send it to our agency, and they send it to the CCAA (China Center for Adoption Affairs)!!
THEN we wait for them to tell us we have a referral (a match)!!
Yeah!! Dawn
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
Monday, January 23, 2006
Repeat - It's important!
I am repeating a blog I posted on 12-10-05 since it was posted during the crazy month of December and I don't want the prayer items to get missed.
If you would like to know of some ways to pray for us and for other families going through the adoption process, here are a few. If there are things I don't mention, please contact me so that I can add them to the list:
1. You can pray for our daughter by name. We are naming her Olivia. Her middle name will be her given Chinese name or some part of that name.
2. Pray for her birthparents: their pain, their healing, their circumstances.
3. Pray for her safety.
4. Pray for her orphanage: The facilities themselves; For the Caretakers and Nannies - that Olivia and the other babies will be held and loved often; For the caretakers' strength and courage; For their sadness when they say goodbye to a child to whom they have grown attached.
5. Pray for her health and warmth. We have heard some stories about how cold it can be in some of the orphanages.
6. Pray for us. For peace in the waiting process and patience to keep remembering that Olivia will come home in God's perfect timing, NOT OURS! Pray for us as we prepare and all the many different ways in which we need to prepare.
7. Pray for the process. While we acknowledge that all will take place in God's timing, there can still be prayer for the many bureaucratic steps that occur. We haven't finished these steps ourselves as of yet, and then our lives will be in the hands of first our government and then the Chinese government. It is an interestingly woven tapestry of details and people.
8. Pray for our finances. We have made payments for one third of the process, but need much, much, more to make this happen. Also, Lee's sister Sharla and his mom are planning to go with us to China and they need to raise funds as well.
9. Pray for our fellow America World families and others who are also in this process at various stages. Pray for emotional health as many of us didn't realize what an emotional journey this is.
10. Pray for those considering adoption. It is a wonderful way to add to your family and change YOUR life and the life of a parentless child. It can be your own personal mission field.
Lots of Love,
Dawn
If you would like to know of some ways to pray for us and for other families going through the adoption process, here are a few. If there are things I don't mention, please contact me so that I can add them to the list:
1. You can pray for our daughter by name. We are naming her Olivia. Her middle name will be her given Chinese name or some part of that name.
2. Pray for her birthparents: their pain, their healing, their circumstances.
3. Pray for her safety.
4. Pray for her orphanage: The facilities themselves; For the Caretakers and Nannies - that Olivia and the other babies will be held and loved often; For the caretakers' strength and courage; For their sadness when they say goodbye to a child to whom they have grown attached.
5. Pray for her health and warmth. We have heard some stories about how cold it can be in some of the orphanages.
6. Pray for us. For peace in the waiting process and patience to keep remembering that Olivia will come home in God's perfect timing, NOT OURS! Pray for us as we prepare and all the many different ways in which we need to prepare.
7. Pray for the process. While we acknowledge that all will take place in God's timing, there can still be prayer for the many bureaucratic steps that occur. We haven't finished these steps ourselves as of yet, and then our lives will be in the hands of first our government and then the Chinese government. It is an interestingly woven tapestry of details and people.
8. Pray for our finances. We have made payments for one third of the process, but need much, much, more to make this happen. Also, Lee's sister Sharla and his mom are planning to go with us to China and they need to raise funds as well.
9. Pray for our fellow America World families and others who are also in this process at various stages. Pray for emotional health as many of us didn't realize what an emotional journey this is.
10. Pray for those considering adoption. It is a wonderful way to add to your family and change YOUR life and the life of a parentless child. It can be your own personal mission field.
Lots of Love,
Dawn
Saturday, January 21, 2006
Remembering Two Men of Faith
January 19 was Robert E. Lee's birthday. Today is the birthday of Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson. I thought you might like to read what some of us had to say in honor of these Godly men and the principles for which they stood.From Dave Black:From Chuck Baldwin:And from yours truly:Today, we need people like Lee and Jackson more than ever.
Saturday, January 07, 2006
Happy New Year!
Last month, we hosted a Christmas party for local families who have adopted or are adopting through America World. Here are a couple of pictures:
Nothing would make this year happier than if this is the year we travel to China to bring our daughter home.
Nothing would make this year happier than if this is the year we travel to China to bring our daughter home.
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