I'M SOOOO EXCITED TO TELL YOU ALL SOME GOOD NEWS. China has made it through 2006 for reviews. (Before you start jumping up and down- not referrals but review) Let me explain. The first step is to get your dossier logged in. Which we did on April 15, 2007. The second step is to go through the review room. They look over your dossier with a fine tooth comb so to speak. Only when you are through review are you approved by China to adopt. Our agency has a great track record for getting dossiers through review. I sure hope that holds true for us as well. There have been some rumors that the review room is starting to review some dossiers using the new guidelines which we do not qualify for. So we are praying that there are no hold ups or questions about our dossier because that could cause us to get a later LID which could possibly disqualify us. We know God has brought us down this road and we are trusting him to get us through review. SO as of today China is now reviewing January 2007. OUR YEAR. Finally they are in our year for something. SO once we get through review we are good to go. We are then also able to request COP (special needs) children in the first round and we don't have to wait for a re-release of the list. This is a great step in the right direction. We are trusting God to get us through review (hopefully before summer is over) and then bring us our precious Anna very soon. Please pray with us in that way. We love you all.
PS. If you haven't read our last entry (The one year LID anniversary entry) please scroll down and read.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
ONE YEAR!!!
I'm a member of Bethany forums. That is the agency we use and this is what I posted on the forums today. Scott said to put that on our blog because he said that is truly where are heart is right now on this our 1 year LID anniversary:
Well today marks our one year LID anniversary. China says we have been officially waiting for one year today. And I'm not sure how to feel. Part of me is thrilled that we made it through the year and in some ways it really has gone fast. Other parts of me are very sad today. Scott and I have tried for four years to have children. We went through countless infertility treatments with no success and then God turned our hearts toward adoption. When we went to the first meeting with Bethany we were so excited and couldn't get enough information about China. We were told the wait was ten months from beginning to end. We were so thrilled to think that in a year we would finally be parents. Well we all know what has happened with China's IA program.
Scott and I took off work today so we could be with each other today to celebrate and to comfort. We are going to have a date all day and try to think about the good things and daydream about the day we finally get to hold our precious child in our arms. My heart literally hurts to think it might be another four years before I become a mommy. God has turned our hearts toward Special Needs kiddos and we are excited about that possibility. I'm just ready to hold my child NOW. To give her kisses and take her to the park and rock her to sleep and to comfort her when she cries and to see her smile and to hear her giggle and to tell her about Jesus and what He has done for us and to promise her that I will always be here for her and will never leave her
..so many things I want to experience with my child and so we wait and wait and wait for China to allow us to adopt one of their precious children and finally I will be able to say I'm a MOMMY!
With much love,
Shelley
The song from Casting Crowns "Praise You in the Storm" is so relevant in our lives right now:
I was sure by now that You would have reached down and wiped our tears away stepped in and saved the day but once again, I say "Amen," and its still raining.
As the thunder rolls I barely hear you whisper through the rain "I'm with you" And as Your mercy falls, I raise my hands and praise the God that gives and takes away.
I'll Praise you in this storm and I will lift my hands for You are who You are no matter where I am. Every tear I've cried you hold in your hand. You never left my side and though my heart is torn I will Praise You in this storm .
I remember when I stumbled in the wind. You herd my cry, You raised me up again. My strength is almost gone. How can i carry on if I can't find you?
As the thunder rolls, I barely hear you whisper through the rain "I'm with you". And as Your mercy falls, I raise my hands and praise the God that gives and takes away.
I'll Praise you in this storm and I will lift my hands. For You are who You are no matter where I am. Every tear I've cried, you hold in your hand. You never left my side and though my heart is torn, I will Praise You in this storm .
Well today marks our one year LID anniversary. China says we have been officially waiting for one year today. And I'm not sure how to feel. Part of me is thrilled that we made it through the year and in some ways it really has gone fast. Other parts of me are very sad today. Scott and I have tried for four years to have children. We went through countless infertility treatments with no success and then God turned our hearts toward adoption. When we went to the first meeting with Bethany we were so excited and couldn't get enough information about China. We were told the wait was ten months from beginning to end. We were so thrilled to think that in a year we would finally be parents. Well we all know what has happened with China's IA program.
Scott and I took off work today so we could be with each other today to celebrate and to comfort. We are going to have a date all day and try to think about the good things and daydream about the day we finally get to hold our precious child in our arms. My heart literally hurts to think it might be another four years before I become a mommy. God has turned our hearts toward Special Needs kiddos and we are excited about that possibility. I'm just ready to hold my child NOW. To give her kisses and take her to the park and rock her to sleep and to comfort her when she cries and to see her smile and to hear her giggle and to tell her about Jesus and what He has done for us and to promise her that I will always be here for her and will never leave her
..so many things I want to experience with my child and so we wait and wait and wait for China to allow us to adopt one of their precious children and finally I will be able to say I'm a MOMMY!With much love,
Shelley
The song from Casting Crowns "Praise You in the Storm" is so relevant in our lives right now:
I was sure by now that You would have reached down and wiped our tears away stepped in and saved the day but once again, I say "Amen," and its still raining.
As the thunder rolls I barely hear you whisper through the rain "I'm with you" And as Your mercy falls, I raise my hands and praise the God that gives and takes away.
| |
I'll Praise you in this storm and I will lift my hands for You are who You are no matter where I am. Every tear I've cried you hold in your hand. You never left my side and though my heart is torn I will Praise You in this storm .
I remember when I stumbled in the wind. You herd my cry, You raised me up again. My strength is almost gone. How can i carry on if I can't find you?
As the thunder rolls, I barely hear you whisper through the rain "I'm with you". And as Your mercy falls, I raise my hands and praise the God that gives and takes away.
I'll Praise you in this storm and I will lift my hands. For You are who You are no matter where I am. Every tear I've cried, you hold in your hand. You never left my side and though my heart is torn, I will Praise You in this storm .
Friday, March 28, 2008
11 months and what can I say...
Ok. I know that I haven't posted anything this month and well we are half way to our next LID month anniversary (the big 1 year) but I don't really know what to say. I guess the good news is that China is finally in 2006. That's right we are no longer talking 2005. They got to January 4, 2006. Now for the bad news. It took 31 months to refer 2005; and well if they take that long that's almost three more years to get through 2006 and then we have to get to April 2007 so you can do the math.......not great. I know anything can happen but with the Olympics coming to China, we are praying they don't stop referrals for a couple of months which is what is being said could happen.
We are beginning to look at our agencies special needs kiddos. They are called Children of Promise (COP for short). Once a quarter (every three months or so) China sends Bethany a list of special needs children. The list has boys and girls on it with varying degrees of special needs and varying ages. Some special needs are very minor and that is what we are looking at. However, how Bethany does the process, we are in the second group that can request a child. What I mean is those who are through the Review Room in China get to request children off the list first. After Bethany matches those children, they re-release the list with children who were not matched. That is when we can request (at least till we get through the review room). The Review Room is working on November 2006 dossiers. So we have to wait till they get to April 2007. The Review Room was moving pretty quickly but has really started to slow down (Surprise, Surprise). They have been working on November 2006 dossiers for three months now. Once we are through Review Room, we can request as many children as we want off of the special needs list. They only match you with one but you can request as many as possible. So that is what we are looking at right now. Truthfully I don' t know if we'll find Anna off the COP list but I do know that I don't want to wait four to five more years to hold my first child.
So I guess I had some things to say after all. I'll end with this. Please pray for us. Some of you know the situation we just went through and you know our disappointment. Our blog is public so I won't go into more details about the situation. However, we are both struggling with our disappointment and I'm struggling with why it didn't happen. I know you can say "It wasn't God's will" but I believed God was showing me that it was going to happen and I was convinced in my heart that it was going to happen and now here I am with empty arms and an ache in my heart so great. I know that the Lord is good and I know He is working but that doesn't take away the hurt and disappointment I'm feeling right now, so I really covet your prayers.
We love you all.
We are beginning to look at our agencies special needs kiddos. They are called Children of Promise (COP for short). Once a quarter (every three months or so) China sends Bethany a list of special needs children. The list has boys and girls on it with varying degrees of special needs and varying ages. Some special needs are very minor and that is what we are looking at. However, how Bethany does the process, we are in the second group that can request a child. What I mean is those who are through the Review Room in China get to request children off the list first. After Bethany matches those children, they re-release the list with children who were not matched. That is when we can request (at least till we get through the review room). The Review Room is working on November 2006 dossiers. So we have to wait till they get to April 2007. The Review Room was moving pretty quickly but has really started to slow down (Surprise, Surprise). They have been working on November 2006 dossiers for three months now. Once we are through Review Room, we can request as many children as we want off of the special needs list. They only match you with one but you can request as many as possible. So that is what we are looking at right now. Truthfully I don' t know if we'll find Anna off the COP list but I do know that I don't want to wait four to five more years to hold my first child.
So I guess I had some things to say after all. I'll end with this. Please pray for us. Some of you know the situation we just went through and you know our disappointment. Our blog is public so I won't go into more details about the situation. However, we are both struggling with our disappointment and I'm struggling with why it didn't happen. I know you can say "It wasn't God's will" but I believed God was showing me that it was going to happen and I was convinced in my heart that it was going to happen and now here I am with empty arms and an ache in my heart so great. I know that the Lord is good and I know He is working but that doesn't take away the hurt and disappointment I'm feeling right now, so I really covet your prayers.
We love you all.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
10 months and 4 days to go
I know I'm a little late on this post but I really don't have a whole lot to update. We celebrated our ten month LID anniversary with some delicious Chinese. We then went to Florida for the weekend to see the family. We got to see Alexis and Rae so we were happy about that but we missed Elijah and Tyler, which was a bummer. The title is a clue to how far China got. They made referrals to December 27th, 2005. Only four days and finally we will be in 2006!!!!! I won't know what to do with myself when we are finally in 2007 (probably be celebrating my retirement :)!). We had some excitement last Tuesday. A tornado came through our neighborhood. I have attached some pictures. God protected our home and we had just a few branches down. We continue to pray that God will move and do what He wants in our adoption and that He will receive all the glory and praise. We don't know what that is but we are excited about the possibilities.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
9 months and a New Year
Ok. I'm a little late with this post. Tuesday we celebrated our nine month LID anniversary. We got our Chinese but we didn't get Anna an outfit this month. My sis, Christy, gave me a ton of clothes from her girls and Anna's closet is full. So for right now I'm not getting any new outfits. China made referrals to December 19th 2005. They didn't get very far down the road but we are praying that God does a miracle in our adoption. Whatever He wants, we are going to be obedient. We are praying that God will clearly show us His will for our adoption and we are going to be obedient .... whatever that means. So It snowed in Mississippi today. I thought I would share some pictures. I kind of went crazy with the pictures but what do you expect with a Florida native?? Enjoy.
(Well the blog will only let me show five pictures so here they are. I know there are some people reading who don't know us personally, so I thought I'd share a picture of us, as well)
Saturday, December 15, 2007
8 Months and Christmas is here again
Merry Christmas
We wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Today we celebrated our 8 month LID anniversary. We had a very busy day which was good because it kept our mind off the fact that we have waited 8 months and we are not very much further down the road than we were when we started. China made referrals for the month of December. They got to December 14, 2005. We were hoping they would go further than six days but they didn't. Our hope for the new year is that China will begin to refer more babies and maybe a miracle will happen and next Christmas we'll be celebrating Christmas with our precious Anna. Here is Anna's Christmas outfit for this year. We think it is adorable. We look forward to seeing everyone at Christmas. We love you all.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
7 Months today
Happy Thanksgiving to you allWell another month under our belts. We enjoyed our Chinese tonight but the mood was quiet. We didn't get Anna an outfit tonight but we got a really "fitting" Halloween costume for her to use once she is home. This month went pretty quickly. We figure the next two months will go quickly as well. We are happy to report that China finally made it out of November 05. They made it to December 8 05. One day they will actually make it to 2006. We continue to hope and wait and wait and wait and wait and wait...............well you get the picture.
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