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| Neil driving the lane |
Time flies
when you are having fun! The last few months
have been very busy for us as a family and in our adoption process. While we continue to wait for the adoption
process to progress we have let no grass grow under our feet! Neil had a great junior basketball season and
while it didn’t end the way he had hoped, he showed a lot of improvement! I have to admit I have missed going to his
games, but have enjoyed him not playing a spring sport! Brad’s mom has had two surgeries and is
recovering from those and is on the mend!
Neil had a big role in Calvary Academy’s Spring Musical and did great
(of course I’m his mom, but he did do very well!)! We celebrated our first Chinese New Year as a family! Madeline turned 14…where in the world did the
time go? We continue to homeschool
without a spring vacation so we can finish our year early. My goal is to have school finished before we
travel to China. If things keep going
well, then we will be done Friday, May 15.
As of today we only have 4 ½ weeks left of our school year. A highlight for me was last weekend when I
was able to attend the Empowered to Connect Simulcast Friday and Saturday here
in Springfield at a local church! It was
a great weekend. I look forward to next
year’s conference and hope Brad will be able to join me next time since he was
not feeling well and was unable to come.
Then there are just the day to day living life things that keep us busy
as well.
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| Our first Chinese New Year Family Celebration |
In my last
post I shared we had sent our paperwork to China and were settling in for a
long wait for our Letter of Acceptance (LOA); we were told average wait time
was running about 80-90 days at that time.
I’m so happy to share that on day 50 we were notified we were approved
and received our LOA! Since then we have
been completing the last steps of pre-travel paperwork which deal with citizenship
and visas, as well finish raising the funds we will need to complete Andrew’s
adoption. These next steps don’t take as
long to process thankfully, yet the closer we get the harder it is to wait. It’s like a small child waiting for Christmas
Day.
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| Happy Birthday Maddie! |
Currently we
are awaiting “Article 5” paperwork to be completed in China. We have heard this step is running a little
behind schedule right now so it may take a little longer than the “average” two
weeks. Once that is done it is forwarded
on and we wait for Travel Approval (TA).
At that time we will get to start requesting dates and purchase plane
tickets! We are so very close to
bringing home our son! It’s been 258 days since we said goodbye at
the Springfield airport July 31st. That’s a lot of
days for a mama (Chinese for mama), baba (Chinese for daddy), ge ge (Chinese
for older brother), di di (Chinese for younger brother), and his two jie jies (Chinese
for older sisters) to wait.
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| Easter Sunday |
Over this
past year God has done a work in my life.
He has allowed my eyes to be opened up to the needs of orphans and
children who come from hard places. I
have read articles and books, listened to speakers and testimonies of other
foster/adoptive parents, seen presentations and videos about foster and
adoptive families, attended a conference, attended our third In His Hands
Orphan Banquet, and had personal experiences with some of these amazing and beautiful
children last summer. David Platt in
his book Radical: Taking Back Your
Faith from the American Dream sums it up best, “We learned that orphans are
easier to ignore before you know their names. They are easier to ignore before
you see their faces. It is easier to pretend they’re not real before you hold
them in your arms. But once you do, everything changes.” Amen. Everything indeed does change, and everyone
as well. I am changed and I’m so
grateful!
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| Easter Sunday |
One of the
things I have learned is that our sweet boy has had
so much loss in his life. He has lost
his birth family and that alone is huge.
That is something no child should have to experience. However, here in the next few weeks there
will be more loss; there will be more grief in his little life as he transitions
from an orphan to a forever son. In my
effort to help with the transition I mailed a picture book filled with photos
of our home, neighborhood, his bed, his dresser, each family member,
our dog, etc.. to show and remind him of
the time he spent with us last summer, how we are ready for him, and how much
we love him. This photo book also had
pictures of snow because where he lives in China doesn’t get snow. The lowest temperatures are in the 50s
according the research I have done. A
local friend translated this photo book into Chinese for me before I mailed
it. It arrived and was signed for at the
local orphanage, but I’m not sure exactly when he’ll get the book. I included two disposable cameras as well. I have heard of other families doing this for their child. Then their child can take pictures of the people, places, and things they want to remember. It will also be interesting to see if he gets those cameras and what he takes pictures of!
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| Sarah's Snowman! |
In the
coming weeks I would also ask that you continue to pray for our family. Specifically, please pray for the paperwork
to continue to go smoothly and our approvals/visa paperwork to get approved in
a timely manner so we can begin travel approval/travel dates/travel details. Please pray for good health
for all of us! We also ask at this time
for prayers for Andrew and his foster family.
Pray he gets that photo book and someone takes time to read it to him. Also, a few weeks before we travel, Andrew will leave his foster family and
return to the orphanage in preparation for our arrival. He has been with his foster family now for
a little more than four years. So
we ask for peace and comfort during these transitions and that God would
prepare Andrew’s heart for our family/our arrival, that God would continue to prepare our hearts for Andrew and his arrival here, and that God would comfort his foster family
that he will leave behind.
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| The DHL reps that helped us mail our package. They had never mailed a package to this particular city and so they added a pin on the map to the left of the photo. Sam thought that was a HUGE deal! |
Thank you,
friends! Your support and prayers mean so much as you partner with us while we continue to wait!
