Our end of the homestudy paperwork is 99% done, and we received permission Monday to have the social worker who will write our homestudy to proceed! Yeah!! Minutes later an automated email message came in saying that our social worker is out of office until 2/2. And thus the emotional highs and lows of the adoption roller coaster continue!
Our friend’s and family’s reactions continue to be all over the place too :-}. Some are cheering for us, others bluntly tell us we are NUTS! In a down moment, when I was questioning it all myself while Phil was on a business trip out of country for 8 days, he emailed me this:
“Keep walking, we will receive revisions in the plan if and when we need them (Isaiah 30:19-21).
Love Phil”
It’s wonderful to be able to encourage one another in the down moments. We only want God’s Will for our family and for little Yan… it’s the only way this will all work out!
And so we ask continued prayers for this adoption process, and for Yan’s health and physical and emotional safety.
I think I finally understand the basic process of this international adoption. We need Immigration Approval on a piece of paper before we can finish the all important Dossier and send it to China. But we need the finished and approved Homestudy before we can send either off. It’s currently taking Immigration 90-120 days to send out the approval. It’s taking 1-5 months to get Chinese approval once the Dossier is received and logged. And none of these countdowns start until the Homestudy is completed and approved. So specific prayer right now would be a speedy finishing of the Homestudy! I’ll be working to fill out the Immigration paperwork, and gathering all the “fresh” (they even want all new copies of our birth certificates!) documentation for the thick Dossier packet. More paperwork!!
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
He's Real !!
A mom adopting her own new daughter from Yan's orphanage in southern China took this precious and GREATLY appreciated 4 second video for us, one day after Yan turned 4 ! Since the only pictures and news we had on him were all from 7/07, it was starting to feel like he wasn't real to me (Cindy). But that smile and wave.... new motivation to keep plowing throught the hoops and paperwork! :-) Thanks, Kym!
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Happy Birthday!
Little Yan turns four years old today! And I just learned that our LOI was received and accepted on 12/15/08, and that we now have permission to make and send him a photo album of our family and home. :-) It's starting to seem more real!
Here We Go!
The roller coaster has taken off shakily indeed. Because of our ages and the needs of the three children we already parent, doubts plague us at the most unexpected times. But the needs of this one little boy keep us focused on helping him. What better Purpose can God have for us than to show Jesus’ love to an orphan, and teach one more about Him? :-)
Today little Yan turns 4. We cannot yet send him photos of us, let alone a care package. That’s hard! And so we plod ever onward through unbelievable amounts of paperwork and steps.
With few other goalposts, we will be measuring progress on this adoption roller coaster mostly by papers and forms done and filed! To date, Phil or I have filled out or typed out 85 (!) papers! It’s been awhile, but I’m thinking we’ve already done more paperwork for this one international adoption than all 3 of our previous domestic adoptions combined! I have a whole new admiration for all who survive this process ;-D.
To Date for those interested in the process:
11/12/08: filled out Waiting Child Application.
11/20/08: typed out detailed answers to 10 pages of interview questions and emailed them back to the adoption agency. We then participated in a telephone interview 11/21/08. We were officially matched with our future son on 11/25/08.
11/26/08: filled out a homestudy preapplication and mailed.
12/3/08: typed up and emailed the LOI (Letter of Intent)
12/5/08: filled out a formal Adoption Application and mailed.
12/9/08: Met with our homestudy social worker and received a stack of papers and forms that we need to work on ASAP. Filling out the paperwork is complicated by the fact that I (Cindy) had surgery the very next day!
12/23/08: Received a book from the adoption agency today on China that is at least 500 pages thick! Besides reading and following the directions within it, more forms were included as well as directions to go get 12 hours of training pre-adoption. This is starting to feel like going for a PhD ! Filled out the receipt page and mailed that out.
12/24/08: Filled out 13 pages, and both of us made it to the bank before closing time to get 8 of those pages notarized. These are for criminal background checks, motor vehicle/driving violations, and abuse/neglect allegations. We’ll surely have to do more of these later since we’ve lived in multiple states.
12/26/08: Made appointments for adoption physicals for all 3 kids and both adults. Mom and Dad need HIV, Hep B, Hep C, and TB testing as well.
12/28 to 1/13/09: Gave out referral forms for 5 friends to fill out about us.
1/14/09: Proofing the 146 (!) autobiographical questions Cindy has answered for the homestudy. Phil is still finishing up his 46 questions. Whew! Hoping to turn in all our homestudy paperwork yet this week!
Today little Yan turns 4. We cannot yet send him photos of us, let alone a care package. That’s hard! And so we plod ever onward through unbelievable amounts of paperwork and steps.
With few other goalposts, we will be measuring progress on this adoption roller coaster mostly by papers and forms done and filed! To date, Phil or I have filled out or typed out 85 (!) papers! It’s been awhile, but I’m thinking we’ve already done more paperwork for this one international adoption than all 3 of our previous domestic adoptions combined! I have a whole new admiration for all who survive this process ;-D.
To Date for those interested in the process:
11/12/08: filled out Waiting Child Application.
11/20/08: typed out detailed answers to 10 pages of interview questions and emailed them back to the adoption agency. We then participated in a telephone interview 11/21/08. We were officially matched with our future son on 11/25/08.
11/26/08: filled out a homestudy preapplication and mailed.
12/3/08: typed up and emailed the LOI (Letter of Intent)
12/5/08: filled out a formal Adoption Application and mailed.
12/9/08: Met with our homestudy social worker and received a stack of papers and forms that we need to work on ASAP. Filling out the paperwork is complicated by the fact that I (Cindy) had surgery the very next day!
12/23/08: Received a book from the adoption agency today on China that is at least 500 pages thick! Besides reading and following the directions within it, more forms were included as well as directions to go get 12 hours of training pre-adoption. This is starting to feel like going for a PhD ! Filled out the receipt page and mailed that out.
12/24/08: Filled out 13 pages, and both of us made it to the bank before closing time to get 8 of those pages notarized. These are for criminal background checks, motor vehicle/driving violations, and abuse/neglect allegations. We’ll surely have to do more of these later since we’ve lived in multiple states.
12/26/08: Made appointments for adoption physicals for all 3 kids and both adults. Mom and Dad need HIV, Hep B, Hep C, and TB testing as well.
12/28 to 1/13/09: Gave out referral forms for 5 friends to fill out about us.
1/14/09: Proofing the 146 (!) autobiographical questions Cindy has answered for the homestudy. Phil is still finishing up his 46 questions. Whew! Hoping to turn in all our homestudy paperwork yet this week!
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