Speechless

Wow. The CCAA only processed TWO DAYS of paperwork. I don't even know what to say.

The CCAA has finished the review of the adoption application documents registered with our office before March 31, 2006.
The CCAA has finished the placement of children for the families whose adoption application documents were registered with our office before October 26, 2005.

CCAA Update

From the China Center of Adoption Affairs:

The CCAA has finished the review of the adoption application documents registered with our office before March 31, 2006.

The CCAA has finished the placement of children for the families whose adoption application documents were registered with our office before October 24, 2005.

Our documents were registered on March 13, 2006. It is nice to see some progress, but it is still slowing down rather than speeding up. The delay is not only stressful emotionally, but financially as well. The longer things are delayed, the more we have to re-do. We got our appointment to get re-fingerprinted (a U.S. government requirement - our fingerprints "expire" after 15 months!) More money for this, of course.

It is a blessing that we moved when we did, though, because we had to pay $350 to update our home study (it is good for one year), and if we had moved two weeks later it would have been another $350 to amend the update. Next up is our petition to adopt an orphan application and that is another $600 or so (another U.S. requirement, and the fee is scheduled to increase in June, much to the chagrin of the adoption community).

Please continue to pray for us and for Olivia and join us in praying for China to move faster in this process.

Prayer Request

Our niece, my sister's little girl, Audrey, has been having health problems. Please remember her and the rest of the Washburn family in your prayers.

LIDiversary - March 13, 2007

I am officially overdue. I am over 18 months pregnant! So here we are…one year from our log in. Our LIDiversary. I wouldn’t be truthful if I didn’t say that this event is not as exciting as we had thought it would be. The reason, I think, is that with the wait increasing again, what are we counting down to? Rather than having the nursery done by our LID (like we said it would be), we feel like, “What is the rush?"

Now, before I hear from you all that God has the right girl picked for us, we realize that. Before you tell me that this is part of the journey of our adoption and of our walk with God, so that we can learn faith, patience and perseverance, we are aware of that. We do have faith that our daughter, the daughter chosen for us, will come home, but no one can fault us for wishing that it was at least a measurable time-frame.

People want to know why it is taking so long. We don't know! Based on the trends, it is a possibility that we will not travel to China until 2008. I tell you this to help manage your expectations. Here is the info from our adoption agency today: The current wait time for a referral is roughly 17 months from a family’s LID. This time frame is subject to increase, as this has been the trend since the fall of 2005.

SO, please continue to pray for the waiting babies and families. Please pray specifically that the process will speed up! Pray for the Chinese government employees. Pray for us. All three of us.
Psalm 34:7 says, "Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart." It is the desire of our hearts to have our baby home. She will be home, and as an adoptive mom from our church told me, when they placed her son in her arms in Africa, she thought as she gazed at him, "I would have waited a lifetime for you". I am sure when we finally meet our daughter, an event which will undoubtedly be sweeter due to these delays, we will say the same.

AWAA Referrals

From our adoption agency:

America World is pleased to announce the receipt of 19 healthy female referrals today! Families receiving referrals were logged into the China Center of Adoption Affairs on October 19th and 24th of 2005 (groups 233 and 234). These families waited roughly 16 months from log in date to referral. We also received referrals for 2 families who were expedited due to Chinese heritage who were logged in on April 14th, 2006. The little girls are currently located in the Jiangxi and Guangdong Provinces and range in age from 6 to 15 months. Please join us in congratulating these families, and in praying for them as they prepare to travel.

We are group 252.

11 Months Down, ?? to Go

We were officially 11 months from our log-in date (LID) on Feb. 13, so this post is a little late. The official time frame right now is about 15 months from LID to referral--quite a change from the six-to-eight month wait we were anticipating when we began the paperwork process in Sept. of 2005. (Wow! Has it really been that long?)

If anything, this entire process has taught us--or, rather, IS teaching us--patience. I know that sounds a bit clichéd, but we are on God's timetable, not ours. Things will happen precisely when they're supposed to happen.

A Not-So-Shameless Plug

I am blessed to have married into a very musical family, and my lovely wife, Dawn, happens to be a wonderful singer. With that, I would like to invite you to check out her debut CD, Because I Love You.

This collection features her interpretations of such all-time favorites as "Pennies from Heaven" and Gershwin's "Our Love Is Here to Stay" (where she is joined by yours truly), in addition to refreshing renditions of Norah Jones' hit "Come Away with Me" and Al Green's "Let's Stay Together." Dawn also demonstrates her song-writing talent on the album's title track.

Here is a track listing along with a few audio samples:

1. My Love Song to You
   
2. 'Deed I Do
   
3. Come Away with Me
   
4. Pennies from Heaven
   
5. But Beautiful
   
6. I'm Confessin' (That I Love You)
   
7. Embraceable You
   
8. Let's Stay Together
   
9. Our Love Is Here to Stay
   
10. Because I Love You
    
11. Let's Fall in Love
    
12. Someone to Watch over Me
    
13. Everything Happens to Me
    
14. They All Laughed

One of the reasons I mention this is that everyone appreciates great music, so I know you will enjoy this CD immensely. The other reason is that all proceeds from CD sales will go to fund our adoption.

So, if you'd like to help out a good cause, if you're looking for a perfect Valentine's Day gift, or if you just like good music, check out Because I Love You. Click here for ordering information.

Our Paperwork Has Been Reviewed!

Another update from the China Center of Adoption Affairs:

The CCAA has finished the review of the adoption application documents registered with our office before March 22, 2006.

The CCAA has finished the placement of children for the families whose adoption application documents were registered with our office before October 13, 2005.

Finally! One step closer!

The Need for Adoption

In case you weren't aware, last week was pro-life week. It has been 34 years since the Roe v. Wade decision that marked the beginning of the greatest holocaust this country has ever known.

Abortion has become an unholy sacrament in our society. No one questions it. We take for granted the "right" a mother has to kill her own children for the sake of convenience. Most of our churches don't seem to be doing anything other than encouraging their members to support so-called "pro-life" politicians - a strategy which has resulted in over three decades of bloodshed and nearly 49 million deaths. And that's just here in America.

So, you can see why those of us who adopt are so passionate about it. We know that there is no such thing as an "unwanted child."

Our hope and prayer is that we can, in some small way, serve as an example and inspiration to others. The world in which we live has never needed adoption more than it does now. It quite literally is a matter of life and death.

U.S. families puzzled by tighter China adoptions

From Reuters:

... The restrictions, to be implemented later this year, have led U.S. parents of Chinese children to question whether it is a bid by China, which has experienced rapid economic growth in recent years, to shrug off a perception that it is a poor country that cannot look after its own children. ...

... When it announced the new rules in December, the Chinese government said it was a bid to shorten the wait -- now up to 16 months -- for prospective parents.

Gongzhan Wu, China program manager at the Gladney Center for Adoption in New York, said the waiting period had lengthened because less Chinese children were being put up for foreign adoption. He said around 600 to 800 children a month were currently available, down from around 1,000 a month 18 months ago.

He said China received around 2,000 applications a month, about 1,200 of which were from the United States. ...

... Wu, of the Gladney Center, said fewer children were available for international adoption because of an increase in domestic adoptions in China and a crackdown on baby trafficking.

"In the past (Chinese orphanages) tried to spread the word, telling people if they see a baby in a public place or by the side of the road send the baby to us. Now they don't do that anymore," Wu said. "They don't actively look for babies."

(Full article)