Amazima_Final

Please check out this video.  We support Amazima through buying beads from these women as well as sponsoring a child in the Amazima program (that's what I asked for in lieu of gifts this Christmas).  Would you consider being part of this as well?  Katie is a 21 year old who left the comfort of suburban Nashville to move to Uganda and make a difference.  Visit the button on the side of my blog page to see Amazima (means truth).

Getting my hopes up!

I know I shouldn't do this to myself...but here it goes:  Things were moving soooo slowly in China I told myself that it would be almost 2 1/2 more years until we received a referral.  They were only doing about 2-5 days per month, which meant it was literally taking 6-8 months to cover an entire month.  (It took 8 months to complete the month of April.)  Well, in July they completed 14 days.  They finished April and made it to May 10th.  Are you kidding me???  They are already 10 days into May???  O.K., could that mean if they keep going this fast that we could receive a referral in 10 months?  That would be next spring, allowing us to travel during the summer when M. would be out for summer break.  Next summer!!!  I'm sooo getting my hopes up I know.  Who knows what will happen in the next few months, but I'm HOPEFUL!

July Pot-Luck

Every July our ADOPT Ministry has a family pot-luck.  Every year we have families with new additions through the blessing of adoption.  This year is no different.  At least two families will be coming who have adopted domestically since last summer.  I can remember seeing the ultrasound this time last year of a friend who was blessed to be at the birth of their son.  The birth mother allowed them to be part of Dr. visits before the birth as well.  The other family just recently adopted.  Their son was born on July 7th and they are hoping to pop-in for a visit.  We also have families who have adopted internationally and hopefully this time next year we'll at least have a referral for our daughter.  I doubt we'll have been to China and back but it will happen eventually!  Looking forward to tomorrow's picnic and seeing all those wonderful families!

July Referrals

Wow!  I was so surprised by how many days the CCAA (China Center of Adoption Affairs) covered this month.  Referrals were matched with LID's (log in dates) of April 27-May 10, 2006.  That's 14 days.... woo-hoo!!  I am pumped up!  It has taken 7 months to get through 20-something days and then this month they do 14!  We keep getting closer and closer.  I just hope things stay at this rate and don't slow down again. Please keep praying for our little one in China and her birth family.  I know this won't be an easy decision for them, but she will be coming to a family who loves her dearly already.

Problems with the wait time...

I mentioned a few posts back that I would explain a major problem we have with a wait time of 2 1/2 MORE years.  Throughout our 4 year wait, we've had to make sure all of our paperwork stays updated.  This gets very expensive since each form could be hundreds of dollars to renew.  One in particular is our paperwork from the U.S. Gov't allowing us to bring a child into the country.  This form CANNOT expire so every 18 months we're renewing it.  Thankfully, due to the extremely loooong wait from China, the U.S. allows every other renewal to be FREE.  Hallelujuah!!!  Here's the problem...our next renewal is one of the free ones but after that, there isn't a renewal available.  About two years ago, the U.S. and China entered into the Hague process which basically means a much more strict adoption process between the two countries.  Because our paperwork was already logged into China we were "grandfathered" into the Hague process which means we didn't have to do all the extra stuff.  After our next free renewal a "grandfathered" renewal isn't available so we'll be forced to enter the Hague process which means lots and lots of extra paperwork, classes, etc... all at an extra cost to us.  We're hoping to have received our referral before that happens, so please pray we'll be in China and back before the 2 1/2 year mark!

While we've been waiting...

Soon after beginning our adoption journey, we realized we needed additional support from the adoption community.  We really didn't know anyone who had adopted so we weren't sure where to turn.  Our agency has a great support system but we weren't always able to make the drive to where they held their meetings.  I think it's extremely important to surround yourself with people who support adoption and we wanted to provide that opportunity to others as well.  The church we had recently joined had a membership of about 8,000 so we KNEW there had to be lots of folks there who could be of support to those adopting.  We started the ADOPT (ADoptions Of His Perfect Timing) Ministry with the full support of our church family and the 40+ families in our church who had been blessed by adoption.  We don't facilitate adoptions, but simply provide support to families before, during and after the completion of their adoption.  We have seen about 10 children come home to their forever families so far.  We have even seen one of those children come to accept Christ since they've been home.  That's what it's all about!!!!
Our family has also grown since we began our adoption journey.  We weren't sure what to do about expanding our family during our wait time (which at the time was supposed to be 15 months) because China will not let you adopt if you become pregnant during your wait time.  We decided that God knew what He was doing so we would simply leave it up to Him.  Each month the wait time from China got longer and longer and longer and we weren't getting pregnant either.  It seemed like we would be a one child family forever!!  Well, 5 years and 2 weeks after the birth of our first daughter, our beautiful second child was born.  Thankfully, China had just changed their policy to allow for pregnancy during the wait time.  The new policy now says that your biological child must be one year old before you can accept a referral from China.  (You may also pursue another adoption during your wait as long as your child is in your home for one year before accepting a referral from China.)  It seemed like forever waiting to be pregnant again, but God knew what He was doing.  If I had become pregnant much sooner we would have been "kicked out" of the China program.  It has been so neat to watch God orchestrate so many things for His glory during all of this.  Even if our adoption NEVER happens, we have learned so much and hopefully shown others the love of Christ through our journey.