Back at it!

Hi friends! We have an announcement we are super excited to share. We are in process to adopt another little one from China! 

This wasn’t a hard or unexpected decision for us. We have felt the burden for orphans in this world for many years and having walked through adoption with Noah our desire to see all children in loving families has only increased. 

David Platt has a quote that has impacted us over the years and has new and deeper meaning for us with Noah in our family. David Platt says this:

“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.”

Everything has changed for us. Our son is loved, cherished and forever a part of our family. Our hearts ache at the thought of him never having been brought into our lives. He brings all of us joy each day and has made the orphan crisis very real and personal to us. Would Noah ever have known the love of a family? would he every have heard the name of Jesus or read the words of the Bible? What would life have been like for him as he aged out of the orphanage in China? Would he have faced abuses in the orphanage or out? 

We don’t dwell on “what if’s” for our son. He is ours and home with us forever. But there are millions more who live the reality of orphan all over the world right now. Who ache for the love of a family, to belong. Millions who face abuse, neglect, and trauma all day every day. Who will age out of a governmental system or are living on the streets right now with nothing and no one. Who are or will be vulnerable to sex trafficking, hopelessness, death. 

We can no longer ignore the plight of orphans because we have seen their faces and held them in our arms. 

So we are going back. 

We still have love to give. We still have energy to spend. We still have hope to share. And we know the incredible joy that awaits us as another precious one joins our family. 

This doesn’t mean that we don’t have fears or that we underestimate the potential hardships.  We are stepping cautiously and we tremble at all of the unknowns before us. But we have sought the Lord and believe he is leading us. We remember his hand that guided us and provided before and we are trusting him to guide and provide again. 

So where are we in the process? 

Well, we are pretty much done with the biggest part of the paperwork. As you might remember from our journey to Noah that the paperwork really doesn’t end until years after you are home!! (post adoption reports!) But the biggest parts for this adoption are done. We have completed our home study and are waiting for our local Caseworker to send the final copy to us and to our agency, Lifeline. We have also completed all of the paperwork for the Dossier. (this is the large compilation of documents that are sent to China). 

Our next steps are to send an application for approval to the US Immigration. (it’s called an 800a application) I have already completed the application and sent to our agency. It will be sent to Immigration the moment our home study is in their hands. (a copy must be sent with the application).

Then we wait for Immigration to send us an 800a Approval. As soon as we get this our Dossier is sent to China and we get logged in to the Chinese system! It’s at the moment we are free to receive a referral for a child! 

So what are we waiting for at this moment? 

2 Things:

1. Homestudy final copy done. (at that time 800a application sent)
2. 800a Approval letter

This approval is taking around 2 months at this time. 

So we are thinking in about 2 months we will be logged into the Chinese system and just waiting for a referral! 

We would love for you to continue to partner with us in prayer as we anticipate and work toward the arrival of our next little one! 

Thank you!