Our New Friends Have Their Baby!!

We met our new friends, Adam and Tracy, a few weeks ago at a Minnesota Red Thread get together. Before that, we were cyber-pals, introduced by a former customer of mine! We have been waiting with them and following their journey. They got their referral after a 21 month wait. They are currently in China and just got their baby, Charlotte! The picture right above is the moment Charlotte is being handed to her Mommy! She is 13 months old, is already walking and has 8 teeth!

Here is a link to their blog:

www.emanoff-china.blogspot.com/

Here is a link to Flickr where they have some wonderful pictures posted:

www.flickr.com/photos/grizzlyadam/sets/72157602630620883

Congratulations guys!

California Fire Update

Dawn's brother, Larry, had some great news in his last e-mail:

A worship song that went through my head repeatedly through the week, though I barely dared to claim its promise, has these words, based on Isaiah 43:2:

"Fear not, for I am with you,"
"Fear not, for I am with you,"
"Fear not, for I am with you,"
Says the Lord.

"I have redeemed you, I have called you by name.
Child, you are mine.
When you walk through the waters,
I will be there,
And through the flame --
You'll not be drowned!
You'll not be burned!
For I am with you."

Needless to say, I put it into tomorrow's worship order for our church (Faith Community Church by the Sea). Kay and I won't be the only ones there who felt the fear of great loss this week. The fires raged into many populated areas of northern San Diego County, and about 1/3 of our church attenders were evacuated. To my knowledge, none actually lost their homes, but the prospect itself was truly terrifying. It is my prayer that this song will be part of the healing we all need.

Speaking of a promise, I was about to take a nap this afternoon and was closing the blinds in our bedroom when I noticed color in the sky. No, not the glow of a fire. It was a rainbow!

The direction I was looking was the same one from which the monstrous Cedar Fire came in 2003 and destroyed our original house. I'd hardly even noticed how much the weather had changed since the Santa Ana winds raked our county these recent days. There was now actually enough moisture in the air to fall in light rain over our mountains and form this beautiful sight.

Let it speak for our sense of relief and renewed reliance on God's hand of provision and protection.

Talk about Discrimination

I ran across this sad story of a Christian couple in the U.K. who had their foster son taken away from them because they refused to teach him about homosexuality. Unfortunately, I fear it's only a matter of time before Christians will have to deal with this kind of discrimination in the U.S.:

They are devoted foster parents with an unblemished record of caring for almost 30 vulnerable children.

But Vincent and Pauline Matherick will this week have their latest foster son taken away because they have refused to sign new sexual equality regulations.

To do so, they claim, would force them to promote homosexuality and go against their Christian faith.

The 11-year-old boy, who has been in their care for two years, will be placed in a council hostel this week and the Mathericks will no longer be given children to look after.

The devastated couple, who have three grown up children of their own, became foster parents in 2001 and have since cared for 28 children at their home in Chard, Somerset.

Earlier this year, Somerset County Council's social services department asked them to sign a contract to implement Labour's new Sexual Orientation Regulations, part of the Equality Act 2006, which make discrimination on the grounds of sexuality illegal.

Officials told the couple that under the regulations they would be required to discuss same-sex relationships with children as young as 11 and tell them that gay partnerships were just as acceptable as heterosexual marriages.

They could also be required to take teenagers to gay association meetings.

When the Mathericks objected, they were told they would be taken off the register of foster parents.

The Mathericks have decided to resign rather than face the humiliation of being expelled.

Mr Matherick, a 65-year-old retired travel agent and a primary school governor, said: "I simply could not agree to do it because it is against my central beliefs.

"We have never discriminated against anybody but I cannot preach the benefits of homosexuality when I believe it is against the word of God."

Mrs Matherick, 61, said they had asked if they could continue looking after their foster son until he is found a permanent home, but officials refused and he will be placed in a council hostel on Friday.

(Full article)

I pray that day will never come.

Michael is home! (or, some good news to share for once!)

My niece Melinda got married last February and had only six weeks with her new hubby before he left for the Middle East. He just got home and they were able to move into their new home in spite of the fires. We are praying that the fires STAY away from them, as well as my brother and sister. I also have a couple of cousins on watch, too. So far, so good.

It is good to have Michael back in the states! And he got home just in time to help the family deal and cope with all of this!

Fire Update

This is an image (click to enlarge) that shows how close the fires are to my sister and brother. She is at Mount Helix, he is in El Cajon in Harbison Canyon. Last I heard, the info they had was that Harbison Canyon was under a VOLUNTARY evacuation, contrary to what this shows. We got an email from Larry and they are staying at their house tonight. Janie and Chris are ok, too, and all are on watch.

California Wildfires

Four years ago, my brother Larry and his wife Kay lost their home in the Cedar Fire of 2003 in San Diego. These pictures are all from that time. Kay is pictured here searching through what was left of their home in Harbison Canyon.

They rebuilt - a beautiful new home - and moved in last year. Unbelievably, they are facing this situation again and have evacuated. I just can't imagine that they had to pack up their cars once more...waiting, wondering and praying.

Please pray for all those facing this now in Southern California and for my family. My sister and her family live in La Mesa and are watching and waiting.

The Mom Song

This is for all you moms and moms-to-be out there...

19 Months and Counting

It has been 19 months into our 6-8 month wait! That means we are 25 months pregnant!!

Here are the answers to a few more commonly asked questions:

What is the CCAA? China Center for Adoption Affairs.

What is a referral? WHAT WE ARE WAITING FOR! A referral is when the CCAA actually matches us to a child, and then we receive information on Olivia - what province she is from, how old she is, her picture, etc.

What is an LID? Log In Date - When the CCAA logs you into their system.

What is your LID again? Our LID is 3-13-06 - the time-frame counts down from this date - so when it was 6-8 months, we could "estimate" when we might get a referral. Because of the unpredictable wait, we are no longer able to estimate that.

When do you think you will be going to China? AHHH, the million dollar question...we still have no idea, but what we are now hoping to get our referral by Spring. Then, we have a 6-8 week wait before we travel.

PLEASE PRAY that China will not shut down adoptions because of the OLYMPICS!! We also don't really want to travel around that time since it will likely be crowded and much more expensive, but at this point we will go whenever we can!!

ok, they DID get through November

I had a few emails from folks who really thought that the CCAA made it all the way through November, but I wanted to wait until they updated their website before I posted again.

The CCAA has finished the review of the adoption application documents registered with our office before August 31, 2006.
The CCAA has finished the placement of children for the families whose adoption application documents were registered with our office before November 30, 2005.

The rumors have long said that November was a heavy month, so HOPEFULLY, PRAYERFULLY the next few months have less log in dates and we can SOON get to our DAUGHTER!!

This is Getting Ridiculous

The CCAA* has finished the review of the adoption application documents registered with our office before August 31, 2006. The CCAA has finished the placement of children for the families whose adoption application documents were registered with our office before November 25, 2005.

SO from August to October, they have process FOUR DAYS of paperwork. Instead of our hope that things would speed up, there is an even greater slowdown. At this pace we will be lucky if we get Olivia home by the end of 2008! I need some good news, people!!

*ccaa - china center for adoption affairs