I know I said the next post would be about the nursery, and it will be coming soon, but I had something my heart I just needed to write.
I have known from the beginning that this adoption journey is not about me. We decided to adopt because we wanted to respond to God's calling to us, to bring a child into this family we are so very blessed to have been given.
But somewhere in all the paperwork and the preparation and the fingerprints and the adoption acronyms, I feel like I've gotten lost. I've become so caught up in the details of traveling and completing forms that I think the gravity of our mission has been buried.
And it just hit me again....
Charlie is our son. He needs a family. He needs a mom to kiss his boo boos when he falls down and rock him to sleep at night. He needs a dad to do tickle fights with him on the floor and tell him he's so proud to have him as a son. He could care less what types of pants I pack or international cell phone plan I have.....
This is all about our son, Charlie.
This is all about our Savior who made adoption possible to fix what the world has broken. God will give me the patience I need to become a mom of two toddlers 10 months apart, the wisdom to answer my children's tough questions when they come and the ability to complete everything we need to get done before we travel.
I just need to hand all the details and anxiety to Him and keep my focus on what this is really about...
Father, please help me to keep my eyes on you. Help me to trust you've got the important stuff covered. I want to shine your light into the life of this child and let him know how greatly he is loved. Thank you for Charlie and for adoption and help the time to pass quickly until we can bring him home. Amen.
Friday, August 22, 2014
Wednesday, August 13, 2014
We're moving along....
Things have been moving forward since our last update when we got our LOA! In
the last month, we have completed several milestones including receiving our
I-800 provisional approval, filing our DS-260, starting our Article 5 process
and submitting our Visa applications. I know these steps mean nothing to most
of you, but they are important to being able to get to our son. These steps
have definitely been the most confusing part so far!
Here's the super simple explanation of each of these documents:
- The I-800 is an immigration document filed with the U.S. government to approve our adoption. We receive provisional approval from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services and then our Case is forwarded to the National Visa Center who sends that approval to China for us. We are provisionally approved until our Visa documents are received and approved.
- We can then file the DS-260 online which is basically a visa application for Charlie
- Our Article 5 is a letter that tells China the U.S. has determined we are eligible and suited to adopt, that Charlie may enter and reside permanently in the United States, and that the U.S. Central Authority agrees that the adoption may proceed. It takes about two weeks to process this and we should receive approval on 8/26.
We also filed for our Visa documents to enter China. This step requires that we send our passports, our actual physical passports, to a courier to take to the Chinese Consulate. They will actually stamp our passports and send them back to us so we can enter China. I don't think I've been so nervous shipping anything! If anything happens to those passports...
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According to our Agency, assuming everything continues on schedule, this
means we should travel October 15 to China. If you haven’t looked at a calendar
lately, that is TWO MONTHS away. Holy moly!
October seems like forever away and so soon at the same time. Everything has been process, process, process up to this point and the "process" part is almost over. Charlie will be here and in our lives forever in no time at all. I am also realizing that so much in my life will change, too, which is overwhelming at times. I can't imagine how overwhelming this must be for him considering everything in his life is about to change. Please pray for his little heart. He will be experiencing so much loss and we will have to help him process through it all.
Next Update...Nursery pictures!!
Here's the super simple explanation of each of these documents:
- The I-800 is an immigration document filed with the U.S. government to approve our adoption. We receive provisional approval from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services and then our Case is forwarded to the National Visa Center who sends that approval to China for us. We are provisionally approved until our Visa documents are received and approved.
- We can then file the DS-260 online which is basically a visa application for Charlie
- Our Article 5 is a letter that tells China the U.S. has determined we are eligible and suited to adopt, that Charlie may enter and reside permanently in the United States, and that the U.S. Central Authority agrees that the adoption may proceed. It takes about two weeks to process this and we should receive approval on 8/26.
We also filed for our Visa documents to enter China. This step requires that we send our passports, our actual physical passports, to a courier to take to the Chinese Consulate. They will actually stamp our passports and send them back to us so we can enter China. I don't think I've been so nervous shipping anything! If anything happens to those passports...
October seems like forever away and so soon at the same time. Everything has been process, process, process up to this point and the "process" part is almost over. Charlie will be here and in our lives forever in no time at all. I am also realizing that so much in my life will change, too, which is overwhelming at times. I can't imagine how overwhelming this must be for him considering everything in his life is about to change. Please pray for his little heart. He will be experiencing so much loss and we will have to help him process through it all.
Next Update...Nursery pictures!!
Friday, July 18, 2014
LOA!!
After 78 torturous days waiting for our LOA, our agency called Tuesday to let us know it had finally arrived in their office!! They forwarded us the PDF copy so we could mail out our next document, the I-800, and the hard copy LOA was just delivered via Fed Ex.
Our I-800 is the U.S. government document that approves Charlie to become a citizen. We mailed it Wednesday morning and should hear back on approval in about two weeks. I'm a little fuzzy on the steps from there, but we are saying our prayers that we can make it in the October travel group. The man with our agency that coordinates travel said its "possible", so I'm holding onto that!!
It seems so surreal that in three months we could be on our way to China and meeting our son for the first time. There is SO much to do before then - deciding what to bring and how to pack it all in as few bags a possible, finishing Charlie's room and making sure he has everything he needs (clothes, diapers, car seats, etc.), figuring out how cell phones and VPNs work so we can stay in touch while we're gone, deciding on and booking travel arrangements - not to mention keeping up with the adoption process and paperwork required to get there.
I just need to focus on one step at a time, keep lots of lists to stay organized and breathe. While it is a busy time, we are also in our last few months as a family of three and I want to cherish every second of that. Things will be different with a new child in the family and I don't want to underestimate how much things will change for us.
"But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint" - Isaiah 40:31
Friday, June 20, 2014
Be Still...
We've been waiting 54 days so far for our LOA from China. This wait is tough
and I've really found it to be quite a rollercoaster of emotions. Some days I'm
perfectly content to wait for God's timing, other days I'm so anxious I can't stand it. But the past few days have mostly been spent thinking.
I've been thinking a lot about the hearts of my kiddos.
Brooklyn will be way too young to really understand this thing called adoption that is rocking her world. Although we talk about it, she will really just see that Mommy and Daddy leave for a long time and come back with a little boy who she now has to share her home with. She may adjust to this very well, but I don't want her sweet heart for one second to think she has been replaced. I'm sure this is a normal thought for any parent bringing home a new child; nonetheless, I worry about this.
I have been thinking about our little Charlie's heart. I always want him to know he is loved and wanted. I do not know the details of his birth family, nor will I try to fill in the blanks, but what I do know is that his birth mother wanted to give him life. She wanted him to be here. She will always have a hole in her heart as she thinks of him. That's what mother's do; we want the very best for our children. I believe, down to the deepest part of me, that we were in God's plan for this little boy from the beginning. I am humbled by the opportunity to love our Charlie everyday with the kind of love that tells him he is treasured, he is special and he serves an important role in this world. Most importantly, he is loved by his Heavenly Father. We want to be his parents so badly we will jump through paperwork hoops, endure personal scrutiny and step (completely) out of our comfort zones to fly to the other side of the world to bring him home. We will mess up a lot in his life and he will struggle with doubts, I'm sure, but I never want him to doubt our love.
I think about how we're going to step up to the challenge of being a voice for adoption and an advocate for our child's privacy. We realize we will be a walking ad for adoption everywhere we go. Our family won't look like every other family, and I actually love that, but this will spur questions. People will ask us intensely personal questions about our son and about how our family was formed and I want to handle this with grace and patience. I pray that God gives us the words, not only for ourselves, but for our children, too. Brooklyn and Charlie will likely get questions at the park or at school about our family. I want to empower them to respond to these questions with confidence, being proud of who they are - who we are.
Obviously, my brain will not stop thinking about these things once Charlie is home with us. I am trying to embrace God's sweet whisper in my ear to "Be Still". Be still...maybe that's what God wants me to learn in these 54 days and counting. I won't have all the answers but, God didn't ask me to. He knew my abilities, and inabilities, before He called me here. He simply asks me to put one step in front of the other in obedience as He lights the path.
I've been thinking a lot about the hearts of my kiddos.
Brooklyn will be way too young to really understand this thing called adoption that is rocking her world. Although we talk about it, she will really just see that Mommy and Daddy leave for a long time and come back with a little boy who she now has to share her home with. She may adjust to this very well, but I don't want her sweet heart for one second to think she has been replaced. I'm sure this is a normal thought for any parent bringing home a new child; nonetheless, I worry about this.
I have been thinking about our little Charlie's heart. I always want him to know he is loved and wanted. I do not know the details of his birth family, nor will I try to fill in the blanks, but what I do know is that his birth mother wanted to give him life. She wanted him to be here. She will always have a hole in her heart as she thinks of him. That's what mother's do; we want the very best for our children. I believe, down to the deepest part of me, that we were in God's plan for this little boy from the beginning. I am humbled by the opportunity to love our Charlie everyday with the kind of love that tells him he is treasured, he is special and he serves an important role in this world. Most importantly, he is loved by his Heavenly Father. We want to be his parents so badly we will jump through paperwork hoops, endure personal scrutiny and step (completely) out of our comfort zones to fly to the other side of the world to bring him home. We will mess up a lot in his life and he will struggle with doubts, I'm sure, but I never want him to doubt our love.
I think about how we're going to step up to the challenge of being a voice for adoption and an advocate for our child's privacy. We realize we will be a walking ad for adoption everywhere we go. Our family won't look like every other family, and I actually love that, but this will spur questions. People will ask us intensely personal questions about our son and about how our family was formed and I want to handle this with grace and patience. I pray that God gives us the words, not only for ourselves, but for our children, too. Brooklyn and Charlie will likely get questions at the park or at school about our family. I want to empower them to respond to these questions with confidence, being proud of who they are - who we are.
Obviously, my brain will not stop thinking about these things once Charlie is home with us. I am trying to embrace God's sweet whisper in my ear to "Be Still". Be still...maybe that's what God wants me to learn in these 54 days and counting. I won't have all the answers but, God didn't ask me to. He knew my abilities, and inabilities, before He called me here. He simply asks me to put one step in front of the other in obedience as He lights the path.
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