Our Journey - Fundraising and Travel Update

I can't believe I'm writing this but it's official, WE ARE GOING TO CHINA!!!  

On Thursday we got our Travel Approval AND our Consulate appointment.  After spending 4 hours on the phone with Delta, our flights were booked.  We leave the day after Thanksgiving and will officially hold our son for the first time on Monday, November 27th!!!  I can't even put into words the nerves, excitement and butterflies that go along with that statement.  

We will be in China until December 8th and the idea of being away from John David and Madison for 2 weeks is terrifying.  Anybody who knows me, knows that I have a super hard time leaving my kids and we almost never travel without them. (We have only gone on two weekend getaways since John David was born over 8 years ago!)  We know they will be in great hands with family and friends but please pray for all of us while we are apart during this time.

Your support during this journey has been amazing!   We've cherished all the words of encouragement you've sent us and have saved the notes for Thatcher to read when he is older. 

You guys have raised $4495 to support our family!!!  We are shocked and humbled by your generosity and will be forever grateful for all of your prayers and financial support. 

That being said, we are only about $500 away from reaching our fundraising goal!

SO if you have been praying and God has laid it on your heart to financial contribute to help us bring Thatcher home...NOW is the time to donate.

There are two ways to donate.  One is through the Paypal link located on the right side of our blog (kristen7@gmail.com).  You can also mail your donation to us at 12525 Silver Fox Court, Roswell, Georgia 30075.  

No donation is too small!  Whether 50 people donate $10 or 1 person donates $500, it all gets us closer to achieving our goal.

We are truly blessed to call all of you our friends!  Please continue to pray for us over the next 2 weeks while we finalize all our plans to travel and finally bring Thatcher home!  We will continue to update you guys and plan to share pictures of our journey while in China.  We cannot wait to share pictures of Thatcher in our arms in just a couple of weeks! 

Our Journey - Traveling to Bring Thatcher Home

WOW, the last 2 months have been a whirlwind of excitement, nerves and no surprise...LOTS of paperwork.  I pride myself on being an organized person but ALL of this paperwork is definitely testing my abilities.  A lot of people have asked where we are in the process and when we will actually be traveling to China so we thought we should post an update on the steps we have completed and what we have left to do.  Here it goes...

This is the last update picture they will send us.
The next picture will be of him in our arms!!!

September 7 - Received Thatcher's File (spent the weekend reviewing all of the information)

September 11 - Officially said "YES" to becoming a Family of 5!!!

September 12 - Submitted our LOI (Letter of Intent) to China

September 13 - China granted us PA (Pre-Approval) for our adoption of Thatcher

September 19 - China granted our official LOA (Letter of Acceptance)

September 22 - Submitted our I800A application to USCIS

October 5th -  Dave and I applied for our visas (needed for us to travel to China)

October 6th - I800A was approved and sent to NVC (National Visa Center)

October 16th - Submitted our DS260 to US Dept of State

October 17th -  NVC letter sent to US Consulate in China

October 18th -  Dave and I received our visas from Houston Consulate

October 19th - Article 5 dropped off at US Consulate

November 2 - Article 5 picked up and will be sent overnight to CCCWA


NOW....we are waiting on the CCCWA (China Center for Children's Welfare and Adoption) to grant us TA (travel approval).  We expect this to take 1-2 weeks but we are praying for a quick turnaround!

Once we get TA we will apply for the earliest possible Consulate Appointment and will travel about 2 weeks later!!!  We are guessing we will leave the week after Thanksgiving but unfortunately we can't book any of our travel (flights, hotels, etc) until we receive our official Travel Approval.

PLEASE continue to pray for quick turnaround times for our last few steps...we desperately want to be in China with Thatcher for his birthday at the beginning of December!  Also pray for Madison and John David's little hearts (and ours)...we have never been away from them for more than a couple of nights so being separated for 14 days is going to be HARD on all of us.


Also, I will do a FULL fundraising update this weekend but you guys have been AMAZING!!!  We are seriously blown away by your generosity to our family!  I posted a thermometer on the side of our blog so you can see the progress...we are already half way to our goal!

Our Journey - Adoption Fundraising

Many of you received fundraising letters from us recently and we feel so blessed by the support you have already shown us.  We also understand that fundraising brings lots of questions.  We want to answer some of the ones we've been asked because we realize many of you may also have these same questions.

First, we know money is an awkward and taboo subject.  However, we do not want this to be uncomfortable for any of you.  We realize and completely understand that not everyone is going to feel called to donate and that is okay!

How much does it cost to adopt?
International adoptions on average cost between $30,000-60,000 and about half of that amount is due after you receive your child's referral.  This amount goes to lots of things but some of the biggest are agency fees, immigration, orphanage fees/donations, travel, etc.  What does this mean for us...we are spending about $25,000 over the next 2 months!

What happens if you don't raise enough money?
We recently readjusted our family's budget and cancelled upcoming home projects and family trips to save money.  Beyond that we 100% believe God is going to provide the money we need to complete our adoption.  We know that He hasn't brought us this far to forsake us now!

A couple of years ago we had a fairly large agency payment due and we weren't sure how we were going to cover it.  We prayed about it incessantly and felt God telling us to sell Dave's motorcycle.  Within days of listing it for sale, we received an offer for the exact amount we needed to pay our agency fee.  This is just one example of how God's shown us during this journey that He is truly in the business of performing miracles!

Your ways, God, are holy. What god is as great as our God? 

You are the God who performs miracles; 

you display your power among the peoples.

Psalm 77:13-14      

How can we help?

Pray!  The most important thing you can do is pray for us as we conclude our journey of "adoption" and start our journey as a "family of five."  And then pray about donating.  If God puts it on your heart to contribute toward bringing our son home, we will forever be grateful.

When do you need our donation?
We tried to make donating as easy as possible.  We set up two ways to donate. One is through Paypal and there is a link located on the right side of our blog.  You can also mail your donation to us at 12525 Silver Fox Court, Roswell, Georgia 30075.  While it is never too late to donate, we are hoping to travel in the next two months and all of our outstanding fees are due before then.  If you could have your donations to us by November 15th it would really help.

Can we share your fundraising letter/post? 
YES!!!  The more people that are a part of our journey the better.  There can never be too many people praying for us!

We are truly blessed to call so many of you our friends!  Thank you all for continuing to support us as we finalize everything to bring Thatcher home and become a family of 5.  As always, please feel free to ask us any and all questions you may have.

I thank my God every time I remember you. 

In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy. 

Philippians 1:3-4

We can't wait for you all to meet our son!

Our Journey - BIG NEWS (Finally)

WOW...it has been a LONG time since we posted on this blog. Our journey over the past 4 years was harder than we ever imagined. There were so many setbacks and slowdowns that it just became too painful to share status updates when our hearts were breaking. When we made the decision last November to leave the Ethiopia adoption program and switch to the China program, it was the hardest decision we've ever made as a family.

When we switched programs we also had to practically start the entire adoption process over from the beginning and it definitively tested our faith. I wish I could say I never doubted His plan for us but that would be a lie. I honestly can't even begin to count the number of times I read this scripture...

Trust in the Lord with all your heart 

and lean not on your own understanding; 

in all your ways submit to him, 

and he will make your paths straight.

                                                       Proverbs 3:5-6

God is good! Even when things don't go according to our plans and we are left broken and defeated, HE never leaves us. God ALWAYS has a plan even when things seem impossible and out of reach.  

SO after 4 long years, we are beyond excited to finally introduce our son, Thatcher.

We are frantically working on completing all of the paperwork required to travel and bring our boy home.  We ask for your prayers that all of these steps and processes go smoothly and quickly.  We are so grateful for your continued support these past few years and are excited to share with the you the rest of our journey.

Our Journey - Successful Summer Adoption Update

GREAT news...we received our approval from the Immigration Department this week!

John David was very excited to officially
drop off our Immigration envelope at UPS.

After receiving our official home study write up the first week of June (thank you to our awesome social worker for working so quickly), we immediately rushed to overnight all of our paperwork to Immigration. 

Once Immigration received and processed our application, they sent us appointments to have our biometric fingerprints done the first week of July.

Our sweet little helper at our fingerprint appointment at the
Immigration office (John David decided it would be more
fun to play at a friend's house...I didn't blame him). 

Initially the Immigration Department estimated it would take about 2 1/2 months to receive their decision.  So as you can imagine, it came as a huge surprise to get our approval letter in the mail this week, almost a month earlier than expected.  I was a bundle of nerves opening the letter...

After the initial shock sunk in that we successfully completed another major step in this process, I realized I am now "behind" in our paperwork. Initially I hoped to have all of our paperwork ready so when we received our response from Immigration everything could immediately be mailed off to Ethiopia.  However since our approval came early, my procrastination caught up to me. 

SO this upcoming week is going to be CRAZY.  On the agenda...
1) Additional financial statements from the bank
2) More reference letters 
3) Fill out forms...LOTS of forms
4) Local Criminal Clearances (to go along with the federal, state and Immigration ones we already have)

Please pray for quick turn around times and fast responses from everyone involved this week.  As soon as we can get all of this final paperwork finished and submitted to Ethiopia, we will officially be placed on the waiting list.  Also please pray for patience from our sweet little ones (and mommy) as they tag along to all of our appointments this week.

Do not be anxious about anything, 

but in every situation, by prayer and petition, 

with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Philippians 4:6      

Quick Update

I'm sorry it's been a while since I've posted anything...the past month was crazy busy trying to finish up our education hours, getting all of our medicals and physicals done, completing last minute paperwork, etc.
 
But we have GOOD NEWS...our home study is officially DONE!!! 

Now while we wait for our social worker to write up our official home study document, we have begun our application for the Immigration Department and our Dossier for Ethiopia...which is really just a fancy way of saying we are continuing "the paper chase."
 
We ask that you please pray everything continues to go smoothly; specifically that our social worker can write up our home study quickly (because we can't officially send off our paperwork for Immigration approval until we have that document) and that we receive all of the other official documents we need and are waiting on as soon as possible.

I also ask that you please pray for my hubby...during our physicals something minor came up in one of his tests.  We have been assured that it is most likely nothing serious, but he is having some additional tests/procedures done next week to ensure that everything is okay.  Even though this does not affect our adoption process, I ask that you please pray everything goes well and the test results come back favorably.

Thank you to everyone who has prayed and continues to pray for us on this journey, we are so grateful for your love and support!

And finally be on the look out for BIG NEWS coming next week...

Our Journey - Good News and Bad News

WOW!  The past few weeks have been a whirlwind of paperwork...

Between mailing our first set of forms and documents into our agency,


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Running around (with my sweet little helper) to get fingerprinted,

Saying "cheese" while we waited our
turn for FBI fingerprinting



Thank you to the Roswell Police Department...
she was a huge hit with the police officers who kept her
entertained while mommy did her GBI fingerprints!

and getting all of these additional documents and pictures together,
  













we were finally ready for our first home visit with our social worker.

Then after HOURS of cleaning, the crazy snowstorm hit Atlanta and we were forced to reschedule.  Sigh...

Luckily we were able to reschedule fairly quickly and I am thrilled to announce that
our home visit was a HUGE success!  (By the way, shout out to our social worker...she makes talking about subjects that aren't always the most comfortable feel like a walk in the park.)

 

 
Glowing from our success, I wasn't expecting to get a call from our adoption agency the next day with bad news!

When we started our adoption process the average length of time for Ethiopia adoptions was 2-3 years.  However, due to some intercountry changes our agency informed us that the timeline is now closer to 3-5 years! 

Devastation doesn't even begin to explain what I felt in my heart...I love this child as if I already know him/her...so immediately I thought how can I possibly wait 3-5 years to hold him/her in my arms???

Understanding our shock and devastation, our agency said we could always explore other programs and look into possibly switching to another country.  In weighing our options, my husband and I wondered if God was trying to give us a sign...are we on the right path???

 Commit to the Lord whatever you do,

         and he will establish your plans.       

                                     Proverbs 16:3              

 In their hearts humans plan their course,

but the Lord establishes their steps.

  Proverbs 16:9

 

Trying to understand God's plan for your life can be challenging to say the least...I often find myself asking (really it's more like begging) God for an obvious answer for what He wants me to do.  And usually I don't get a clear answer to my questions...so as Christians what are we supposed to do?

 

Honestly, I don't have the answer (sorry)!  But I can tell you that both my husband and I decided to go with our heart...SO we are sticking with Ethiopia!  Are we praying the timeline will be shorter...of course! But without a clear sign from God all we can do is pray that the feelings in our heart are the Holy Spirit speaking to God's plan.

 

AGAIN I am going to ask you to please pray for our family...

• Pray as we prepare for our individual interviews with the social worker
• Pray that God will give us peace while adjusting to the new timeline
• Pray for our child, who we desperately long to hold in our arms