Let the paperchase begin!

We are officially "paper chasing!" We're compiling all the documents China needs to approve us to adopt a child. Just in case you're wondering, here they are:

Birth Certificates
Marriage Certificate
Police/FBI fingerprints and clearance
Physical Exams (done by our Dr's)
Department of Homeland Security Clearance
Petition to bring a foreign orphan into the country
Passports
Employment Verification
Letter to Chinese officials requesting an orphan and promising to teach her Chinese culture
Family Photos of our home, children and family life

In addition, we need these for our Homestudy:
Clearance from health department about our septic tank (?)
Additional fingerprints
3 reference letters
Employment Letters


I'm sure I left something out......once we get all these things and get them notarized, they are sent to the Secretary of State for authentication. Once approved they are sent to the Chinese consulate in Houston, TX...then after translation are sent to CHINA!!!!

Please keep us in your prayers....especially me (emily) as I am the "adoption secretary" around here! Jay just says, "tell me where to sign!" Also specifically pray for the funds for our fingerprints/clearance from Homeland Security...while the other documents are very cheap, these cost 860.00!!! (Someone in the government is getting very rich!!)

Humbled

This morning at church, some good friends of ours came over to me...she said, "come in this room, we want to pray for Ashley..."
I was thinking "WHAT?"
She prayed for her, (and said Ashley Flynt which really hit me for some reason) and then handed me a check.
It was for $1,000.00......
These people are not wealthy BY ANY MEANS. They were just being obedient to what God had told them to do and we are overwhelmed. They are such an example of listening to the Lord and obeying, and I left the church in tears. Thank you Lord for people who listen you and bless others! Their gift will be another piece of the miracle of God that brings Ashley home and completes our family. It makes me long to hold her in my arms and tell her the story of the individuals who loved her enough to help get her here. Thank you so much for the others that have sent gifts....large or small, they are all a testament to us about His faithfulness and promise. What a journey we are on!

The Flip Side

In our attempt to show all the sides of International Adoption, I think I need to be honest and post about all the aspects of it. Right now we are in a holding pattern of sorts with the process. Financially, we can;t go any further until the Lord provides. This is the most frustrating aspect, (along with the wait.) Jay and I thought we had something in place that was going to help out HUGE with the expenses and it fell through yesterday. The person in charge said no. It had already been a long frustrating week money wise but this was the thing that broke us emotionally. We are clinging to the things we know for sure. 1.) God clearly told both of us, in His own way, back in April, that this was His plan for our family. 2.) God promised to provide. 3.) God has never left us or let us down. 4.) God keeps His promises.
I don;t want anybody to think I am "Super Spiritual" and haven;t doubted every one of these points, I'd be lying if I said I hadn;t. But sometimes it's profitable to lay out what you know so you can cling to it.
When we were trying to get pregnant with Avery we went through the same exact emotions. Only God could make it happen and we were relying totally on Him. We simply couldn;t do it ourselves. Jay reminded me that this is the same thing. It's just a "stretching" of our faith, intended to refine us of all the junk that clouds our faith and dependency on ourselves. We know that at the end of all of this is a precious face that needs a mommy and a daddy...and a family that isn;t complete without her.
Sometime ago I made the statement that "This will be the greatest faith journey that our family has ever taken." Little did I know how true that would be.

August Update

OK so many of you have emailed me about an update so here it is! About two weeks ago, we got a call from Melissa B from AWAA. She will be our Family Coordinator and assist us throughout this entire process, start to finish. She will, I am sure, be tired of all our phone calls and questions, but such is her job! We have begun our home study with Open Door Adoptions, in thomassville, GA. We are sending in intital paperwork this week and should start our meetings with her soon. China requires 4 face -to- face meetings. Also, we'll begin the paper chase! That means we'll be compiling all the (dozens) of documents that we need...and being fingerprinted by the local police and the Department of Homeland Security. We're hoping to be (Lord willing) done with this phase by late October.

Please be in prayer for the following things:
1. Ashley: That she is being well taken care of and safe. That she is healthy and strong and happy.
2. Our home study: That we'll be diligent in compiling all the documents, that our Home Study will go off without a hitch and that everything will go smoothly.
3. Finances. We are so dependant on the Lord to provide the money we need to move forward. Please pray that we would be patient in waiting for Him to provide. Pray for people to give as the Lord leads.
4. We have applied for a grant through the National Adoption Foundation. Please pray they find favor and that we will receive some assistance through the NAF.
5. For us that we will be advocates for God's plan of adoption with fellow believers. Since we started this process, TWO families we know have called to tell us that after reading about Ashley and this process, they have felt the call to adopt internationally!!!!!!!!! PRAISE JESUS!!

Thanks so much for your prayers!! We are anxious and excited about what the future holds but we know Who holds the future!
We love you all!!

Special Needs Approval!

We recieved an email today that our application for a Special Needs child has been approved! This means that we are on a list of about 80-100 families that are willing to review files of SN kids that our agency recieves. They receive about 20-40 children every two months. We were able to go down a list of needs and indicate wether or not we would review a child with each particular need. Once the agency recieves the lists, they compare it with our lists, and then we are matched with a child. We have a few days to review the file, take it to our doctor, and let the agency know if we are interested in adopting the child.
One step closer!!!!!!!!!!!

Mei'd with love does it again!!

Emily, from Mei'd with Love, re-did the blog! Isn;t it too cute!? She also did our other blog and she really does awesome work! I'm sending her a little happy in the mail for all her time! Thanks Em!!!!

Thanks SOOOOO much for all of you who prayed! We got several phone calls and emails that you were praying! The grand total was....

896.00!!!!!!!!!!

God really answered your prayers...we had great weather, good turn out and were able to talk with a few families about adoption!!! Several people gave to our donation box and were interested in the process we are going through. We still need about 600.00 to complete our home study process so please be in prayer for those funds. Each dollar gets us that much closer to bringing Ashley home so we are truly very grateful for every penny.

God is GOOD!