Waiting for USCIS Approval....

Just a quick update...we are still waiting to receive our USCIS approval. Hopefully we will receive it by December 21st. It is hard to be patient and anyone who knows me knows I struggle with this a lot! The adoption process seems cruel at times and I know this is only the beginning. Lord help me to rely on your perfect  timing and to remember that YOU are captain of this ship. I can't help but think that next Christmas Meili will be here! I can't help but wonder where she is now...but God knows...

USCIS FINGERPRINTING APPOINTMENT

Hello everyone it has been a little while since the last update because processing documents takes a LONG time. Since I last wrote I have sent everything off to be notarized, state certified and authenticated well everything except for the I 797. That is the last piece we need to add to our dossier. We have a fingerprinting appointment on November 23rd and we will be traveling up to St. Louis to get it done at 9am. After that it takes another 4 to 6 weeks for them to give us approval. As soon as we get our approval we will send it off to be notarized,  state certified and authenticated and then we will mail our completed dossier to Holt!!! Then  we will be waiting to receive the picture of the precious little girl that God has for us. And you all can be sure I will be shouting from the rooftops from excitement and delight knowing who she is!! Out family has been in prayer for little Meili for 6 months now. I can't believe that in just a couple of months we will know who she is. We already love her more than she knows and can't wait to bring her home to our arms. Please continue to pray for Meili and that we have safe travels to St. Louis and back home. We thank you and we love all of you....

Immigration Paperwork Mailed off Today!!

Today I mailed off our USCIS paperwork!!! We are hoping that they process it quickly, and that we are approved quickly. It usually takes about 8 weeks for it to process. In the meantime we will be notarizing documents. We also found out that we have been put on the waiting list for a child!!! We won't be top priority though until our Dossier has been logged into Holt, but still just to know we are on the waiting list is VERY exciting!! We also completed our parent training last weekend and got to meet other adopting families and a family that just got back 6 months ago with their little girl. We will continue to keep you all updated...

Also please pray that we would be approved by homeland security quickly because all of our documents are time sensitive and we really need to get our approval quickly. Thanks again for your prayers :)

The Latest

Hello everyone seems like it has been a while since I last updated the blog. Our family has been VERY busy! The garage sale was a huge success! The grand total was 2,238.00!!! God has continued to provide for this adoption and blessed us beyond imagination. We again want to thank everyone for their donations, support, and love. We are now able to pay for our Dossier and immigration paperwork! Speaking of paperwork we have been very busy getting that finished up as well. We are on the home stretch for finishing up our Dossier and Immigration paperwork. We just need to send all of our documents for notarization, certification with the state, and finally authentication at the Chinese consulate. Then we will be ready to send our completed paperwork to Holt International! From there it gets translated into Chinese and sent to China. Once China receives it Holt will be looking for our child match. They said we should be matched quickly! We could use your prayers that the Lord would send us the little girl he wants us to have. We will continue to keep you updated and let you all know when we have officially completed the Dossier and Immigration paperwork.

Love to you all...

Adoption Fundraising Sale This Saturday!

Well its been almost a month of planning and preparation and we are so excited for our fundraising garage sale this Saturday!! Please tell everyone you know! The amount of stuff that has been donated is unbelievable!! I just have to give the Lord all the praise!! We just want to thank everyone who poured out the love of Jesus on our family and gave to us generously. Thanks to our loving friends and family we have a packed garage of wonderful exciting treasures!

Here is the information for the sale again...

We live in the Spring Meadows subdivision. Our address is  2815 Sandpiper Dr. Branson MO. The sale will be this Saturday from 7am to 4pm. We will have furniture, appliances, tools, firearms, clothes, shoes, bags, crafting items, bedding, home decor, Christmas decor, books,.movies, games, tons of baby and children items, kitchen items, and much much more!
 We also plan to sale donuts in the morning and hot dogs and drinks in the afternoon. Don't forget to stop by our baked goods donation table for some yummy home baked treats! We are praying for a great turnout!

Hope to see you this Saturday!

What a crazy amazing week!

Let me just start off by saying how wonderful the Lord is! He has been so present in our lives and so real I can't even describe it. As you all know we are having a garage sale fundraiser and God has already had his hand all over it. We have been hugely blessed by so many loving friends and families in the community with donating things for the sale. At the beginning of this whole thing I was concerned about advertising and getting enough donations etc. But I knew in my heart that the Lord just wanted me to trust him and I knew if I put forth the effort he would be faithful. Wow has he ever! I have tons of stuff for the sale, the advertising is going great, and I think we are going to have a lot of shoppers for our sale. I am very excited for the 24th!

Also earlier this week a good friend of mine gave her life to Jesus! Just amazing! Oh and this is such a praise.. someone anonymously paid my ticket to Beth More! And the Lord has just been at work in the lives of my friends...so amazing just to see him at work all around me.

Other news..
We cancelled cable to help save money for the adoption. Carters children s clothing called me back a few days ago and decided that they wanted to hire me. Wow I guess the Lord does want me there. funny :) Also the Lord has provided an organizing job for me to do on the side to make extra money too! Awesome! Ian starts soccer this week.

On the paperwork front...
Still working on the Dossier forms and USCIS (immigration paperwork). We are going to be attending a parent training course on October 8th and 9th looking forward to that. Karl and I attended a webinar on adopting from China last night which was very informative. I am reading a lot of information to prepare us for the challenges that go with parenting a child who has been in an institution and has special needs. All of that information has been great as well.

Currently...
I have been working really hard to get everything organized, cleaned up, and priced for the sale. It's been a big job! I am thankful the Lord has given me some time to work on it. If you want to know where I am you can find me in our garage..lol I'm not sure when I will start work at Carters yet. I am looking for a few ladies to bake some yummy things for my fundraising baked goods table at the garage sale. So if you or anyone out there loves to bake feel free to bake away and drop it off around the 22nd or 23rd. I am also looking for a few volunteers to help out on the day of the sale. Let me know if your interested :) I guess that's all for now. I love you all and thanks for all your support and encouragement!

Exciting News and Updates

We have received our completed home study in the mail!!!

Also just wanted to let everyone know that I have added a donate button on our blog so you can easily donate  through paypal!

Update on the garage sale...

 Things are going great and I'm getting a lot of great donations, but I still need more in order for the sale to be a HUGE success. Please check your closets and storage areas for anything you would like to donate to our fundraising sale. Your unwanted stuff is going to help change a life!!! Hope to see you all at the garage sale on Saturday, September the 24th.  OH did I mention we will have food, drinks, and baked goods! It's going to be a fun time :)