I spent a better part of tonight window shopping for Jonathan. It was fun. Once we get our LOA we will be encouraged to send him a care package. There is an Internet company called Red Thread run by a woman name Ann. Ann lives in China and has a partner (who happens to be a mom who adopted from China) here in the USA who helps her run things. Ann is known in the world of China adoptions for sending great care packages and getting you updated photos and measurements.
Because I like to be prepared, I started window shopping on Ann's sight. (and I needed to feel a connection to Jonathan) I have our first care package all planned out, we began writing a letter to Jonathan's foster family, and pulled together 8 photos of our family and home. Ann will put these photos in an album for us and include it in our package. Ann will even translate our letter for us. I am praying we get to send this package soon! I already have our second package planned which will be a birthday cake package to send in July for Jonathan's 3rd birthday.
I am hoping Ann will be able to get us updated measurements as the ones we have are a year old. Once I get the measurements, I can start shopping for clothes to take to China for Jonathan to wear.
Window shopping is fun, but I am eagerly anticipating the day when I can click "add to cart" and send a package filled with love to my boy in China!
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
The feeling of the day is overwhelmed
We just got back from a wonderful weekend spent with friends at Ricketts Glenn State Park. We enjoyed hiking, campfires, archery and the lake/beach area. The best part for me was being cut off from all technology. Our cell phones didn't work and we had no computer to check email. It was wonderful. I was able to completely focus on my children and have fun!
I never realized how much stress is connected to being connected. When I am home, like now, I am tempted to check email, I am tempted to check the china adoption forum to see if any families have gotten their LOA's. There is this constant tug in my mind that today could be the day we get our LOA. That tug can be tiring. It is the not knowing "when" that is wearing me down. We are on day 38 of our wait for our LOA. I am praying we do not have to wait much longer. The other part to this that is hard is I am trying to plan our school year for the fall, but I don't even know when I will be in the country. I can try and imagine how adding Jonathan to our family will change the dynamic, change our schedule, but I really will have no idea until he arrives.
If you know me well, you know I am not a fly by the seat of your pants kinda girl. I like plans, I like schedules, I like knowing...maybe God is trying to teach me something here. Yes, God is trying to teach me to rest in Him, to trust Him, to depend on Him. I like to think I am in control, but I can only find true rest when I give control back to Him.
I never realized how much stress is connected to being connected. When I am home, like now, I am tempted to check email, I am tempted to check the china adoption forum to see if any families have gotten their LOA's. There is this constant tug in my mind that today could be the day we get our LOA. That tug can be tiring. It is the not knowing "when" that is wearing me down. We are on day 38 of our wait for our LOA. I am praying we do not have to wait much longer. The other part to this that is hard is I am trying to plan our school year for the fall, but I don't even know when I will be in the country. I can try and imagine how adding Jonathan to our family will change the dynamic, change our schedule, but I really will have no idea until he arrives.
If you know me well, you know I am not a fly by the seat of your pants kinda girl. I like plans, I like schedules, I like knowing...maybe God is trying to teach me something here. Yes, God is trying to teach me to rest in Him, to trust Him, to depend on Him. I like to think I am in control, but I can only find true rest when I give control back to Him.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
One ordinary day
One ordinary day
Every call has a beginning. A quiet moment when God whispers a promise to a mother's heart. A holy place where a father bows and faithfully accepts the journey set before him. A miraculous morning that unexpectedly dawns.......Casting its first light on a chosen threshold. A gentle knock...a closed door opens. A sacred invitation sent by the Father...Leads to the other side of the world. Where lonely hearts stare out orphanage windows. Praying for someone to care....And then one morning, On an ordinary day. An orphan's life changes......God sends them a second chance........Through YOU.....---author unknown
It is quiet on the China front. A little too quiet. No one appears to be getting their LOA's or travel invitations. China had one case of the swine flu. It might be coincidence, but since the swine flu there appears to be a slow down on paperwork coming out of China. I pray this does not affect us, that we will keep moving through the process. I pray that we might see our LOA soon! My boy needs to come home, NOW!
Every call has a beginning. A quiet moment when God whispers a promise to a mother's heart. A holy place where a father bows and faithfully accepts the journey set before him. A miraculous morning that unexpectedly dawns.......Casting its first light on a chosen threshold. A gentle knock...a closed door opens. A sacred invitation sent by the Father...Leads to the other side of the world. Where lonely hearts stare out orphanage windows. Praying for someone to care....And then one morning, On an ordinary day. An orphan's life changes......God sends them a second chance........Through YOU.....---author unknown
It is quiet on the China front. A little too quiet. No one appears to be getting their LOA's or travel invitations. China had one case of the swine flu. It might be coincidence, but since the swine flu there appears to be a slow down on paperwork coming out of China. I pray this does not affect us, that we will keep moving through the process. I pray that we might see our LOA soon! My boy needs to come home, NOW!
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
LID- (Log in Date)
I got the call we have been waiting for ~ We were officially logged into China's system on April 20, 2009. So, without even knowing it we are already 22 days into the wait for our LOA (letter of acceptance). After you are logged in, it can take anywhere from 30 to over 100 days to get your LOA. There is no rhyme or reason (that anyone can figure out and lots of people have tried :) for why some people get their LOA as quick as 30 days and why some people wait over 100 days for their LOA. I am praying that we get ours in about 30 days or less! What a great birthday present that would be for me!
Once we have our LOA, we can send a care package to Jonathan and get updated pictures. I started planning our first care package to him. We are going to use an online service to send this package as it will be the quickest way to get updated photos.
I would ask that you would pray for our new social worker, Cindy, as she is still trying to figure everything out. Once we get our LOA, this will trigger another batch of paperwork to be completed by us with Cindy's help. I am a little nervous about this because if one little thing is not done properly it can cause a delay in our travel.
When we started this process in November, 2008, we were told we wouldn't travel till 2010. When we were almost done our dossier paperwork, our social worker said, watch the dates on your documents, some of them may expire if your dossier isn't in China by May. I told her, don't worry it will be. We were told we wouldn't be matched with a child till our dossier was logged into China's system. We were matched before our dossier was complete.
It is so exciting to be on God's time table. Only He knows when we will actually bring Jonathan home. As I reflect on how quickly we have been moving through this process it does appear that God is in a hurry to get Jonathan home. Please pray that we will continue to move quickly and that we will receive our LOA in record time.
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11
Once we have our LOA, we can send a care package to Jonathan and get updated pictures. I started planning our first care package to him. We are going to use an online service to send this package as it will be the quickest way to get updated photos.
I would ask that you would pray for our new social worker, Cindy, as she is still trying to figure everything out. Once we get our LOA, this will trigger another batch of paperwork to be completed by us with Cindy's help. I am a little nervous about this because if one little thing is not done properly it can cause a delay in our travel.
When we started this process in November, 2008, we were told we wouldn't travel till 2010. When we were almost done our dossier paperwork, our social worker said, watch the dates on your documents, some of them may expire if your dossier isn't in China by May. I told her, don't worry it will be. We were told we wouldn't be matched with a child till our dossier was logged into China's system. We were matched before our dossier was complete.
It is so exciting to be on God's time table. Only He knows when we will actually bring Jonathan home. As I reflect on how quickly we have been moving through this process it does appear that God is in a hurry to get Jonathan home. Please pray that we will continue to move quickly and that we will receive our LOA in record time.
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11
Monday, May 4, 2009
More about the white board
We forgot to mention that about 15 minutes before receiving our good news this morning, Jeremy drew a blue gift box on our whiteboard.Sadly, the doodles representing our desire for updated pictures of Jonathan and updated medical info have been there for over two weeks.
So, the "magic" whiteboard doesn't always work ... but it sure is neat when it does happen to coincide with answered prayer.
Please pray that we'll get some communication from China soon!
Starting the week off right!
God is good all the time! When I (Kim) get up in the morning after I get dressed and all of that one of the first things I do is turn on the computer and check email. Today being like any other day, that is what I did. The difference today was that there was great news waiting in our inbox. Jeremy was still at home and I yelled "come quick". Now thinking blood or death may be involved he came quick. It has been rare in this process for both of us to hear good news at the same time. (most news comes while he is working) I had noticed that we got an email from our original social worker (who we miss terribly) and her opening line was "Good News!!!" We quickly opened the attachments together to discover to our delight that we have been awarded a grant for $2, 500 from Caring Connections (which is part of Bethany). This is truly an answer to prayer!
So where are we at in this journey. We had our garage sale this weekend which was a success even in the rain. We raised about $550 between the garage sale and selling stuff on Cra*g's list. We also received 2 additional monetary donations from wonderful families. Thank you again to all who donated items to make the garage sale a success. A special thanks to Amanda and
Mom mom who provided baked goods to sell- which were a huge hit. Also, thanks to Laura who arrived early and helped with the set up and placement of items which helped to make the sale a success. Because of the amount of stuff we have left we are planning on doing the sale again this coming Saturday. Please pray for sunshine!
If you remember, we had applied for 6 grants total. We did hear from one a few weeks ago and they could not help us at this time. So far we have received 2 grants. Yea God! We are still waiting to hear official word from the 3 other grants. All 3 have requested more information from us. One of them does not seem too promising as it appears the economy is affecting them. Please continue to pray for the financial aspect of this adoption. We are doing our part and trusting God to meet the need so that money will not be an obstacle in bringing Jonathan home.
We are hoping to hear this week when our log in date was. On Friday, we will be participating in an all day seminar that is part of our required training. We are both looking forward to this as we will get to hear from experts in the fields of attachment, adoption and different medical specialities. I am sure it is going to be an eye opening day for us. We are still praying that we might get some sort of update on Jonathan soon. I'm thinking that would be a wonderful Mother's day or Birthday gift for me!
We will continue to keep you posted! One of the main reasons we started this blog was so that we could give it to Jonathan one day. I want him to see how many people loved him, loved our family, and were involved in helping to get him home, where he belongs!
So where are we at in this journey. We had our garage sale this weekend which was a success even in the rain. We raised about $550 between the garage sale and selling stuff on Cra*g's list. We also received 2 additional monetary donations from wonderful families. Thank you again to all who donated items to make the garage sale a success. A special thanks to Amanda and
Mom mom who provided baked goods to sell- which were a huge hit. Also, thanks to Laura who arrived early and helped with the set up and placement of items which helped to make the sale a success. Because of the amount of stuff we have left we are planning on doing the sale again this coming Saturday. Please pray for sunshine!
If you remember, we had applied for 6 grants total. We did hear from one a few weeks ago and they could not help us at this time. So far we have received 2 grants. Yea God! We are still waiting to hear official word from the 3 other grants. All 3 have requested more information from us. One of them does not seem too promising as it appears the economy is affecting them. Please continue to pray for the financial aspect of this adoption. We are doing our part and trusting God to meet the need so that money will not be an obstacle in bringing Jonathan home.
We are hoping to hear this week when our log in date was. On Friday, we will be participating in an all day seminar that is part of our required training. We are both looking forward to this as we will get to hear from experts in the fields of attachment, adoption and different medical specialities. I am sure it is going to be an eye opening day for us. We are still praying that we might get some sort of update on Jonathan soon. I'm thinking that would be a wonderful Mother's day or Birthday gift for me!
We will continue to keep you posted! One of the main reasons we started this blog was so that we could give it to Jonathan one day. I want him to see how many people loved him, loved our family, and were involved in helping to get him home, where he belongs!
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