Counting Down!!!

We are 10 days away from leaving for China!!! It is a shopping, packing frenzy over here!  We are trying to soak up the remaining days of being a family of 4, but are so excited to be a family of five in time for Christmas.  Oh, to see 5 stockings hanging this year!!!
I've got a to do list a mile long, so just a short blog.  I do plan to blog while in China, so follow along as we go get our boy!  Please join us in prayer for...

• health for all 5 of us
• safe travels (driving in China is CRAZY)
• Sam will attach/bond easily with our family
• us to be HIS light in China

Blessings to you all!!!

Blogging...oops!

Well, it's only been about 4 months since my last post...and so much has happened.  Quick recap on the past months...I went to China, we got LID (log in date), we received referral for our son!  Yes, we have a son waiting for us in Gansu province!  Here is Sam...

How cute is he!  We are so excited to go get him!  We are at the stage in the adoption where we are awaiting LOA (letter of acceptance).  People keep asking when we will get to travel to get him and my response is "hopefully by Christmas".  It is my selfish desire to have Sam home by then, but I really want to wait for God's perfect timing.  He has proven faithful and so I trust Him to make us a family of 5 at just the right time.  Some days it's harder to trust, but I need to remember that He is never early and never late!

In the meantime, we pray for God to be at work preparing us for Sam and him for us.  We are having fun buying Batman jammies and basketball shorts.  This boy is going to be a playa!  Brooks wants to teach him all the sports ;-) and Emily wants to snuggle him...get in line!  We cherish the pictures and videos that we have of him.  It's crazy to be in love with someone you've never met and feel such a longing for them.  We continue to be filled with God's peace and are so thankful to be on this journey with Him.

Hopefully, the next blog won't take 4 months!  Oops!

DTC!!!

We got the email from our agency today stating that we are officially DTC, dossier to China.  This is such a blessing!  Our dossier is basically our life summed up in 13 documents.  It has taken us 7 months to reach this point from submitting our adoption application.  I am so thankful and feel a weight has been lifted!  The next step is that we wait for a LID, Log in Date.  Once we are logged in, we are eligible to receive referrals.  While this is what I so can't wait for, I'm also nervous. 

Please join us in prayer for us to have wisdom and discernment.  We pray that God will stir our hearts and confirm the child He has for us.  We ask for His peace while we wait upon Him.  We ask that our plans would be in alignment with His.   

Song stuck in my head..."strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord, we will wait upon the Lord".



Romans 8:26 And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don't know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.

The Winner is...

We did the drawing last night for our fundraiser and the winner is...Kendal S.  She works with my mom in Oklahoma!  So excited for her and her family.  We had a special prayer time before the drawing and thanked God for each of you that donated and prayed for His blessings on you and your family!  Emily drew the name and Brooks read off the ticket number.  They loved being a part of the drawing.  YOU all donated close to $3,000!!!  What a blessing!

Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.  Ephesians 3:20

Hope to post again very soon about being DTC...

LAST CHANCE!!!

Last chance for you to enter the raffle for a week at the beach!  We will draw the lucky winner Sunday evening.  Just click the donate button to enter.  We are so thankful for each of you that have already supported us.  We are blessed to have so many friends be a part of our adoption story!  Scroll down to earlier post to see photos of the condo!

We are expecting to be DTC (dossier to China) next week!  I'll update then!

Don't be afraid...

We got our immigration approval in record time!  That was an answered prayer.  Now, we are in the authentication process.  Our paperwork is en route to Alabama's Secretary of State and then off to Houston to the Chinese Consulate.  After that, we will be DTC (Dossier to China).  Praying for a smooth process and continued peace while we wait.  I'm so excited to make progress and feel like we are getting closer to our child.

We've begun listening to a CD to try and learn some Chinese.  The kids have picked up on it faster than we have.  The phrase that I've picked up on and has stuck in my head is "Bu yao hai pa" sounds like boo yaow hi pah = Don't be afraid.  I feel peace that God is comforting me with this phrase.  We pray that our child will feel the same peace when we speak it over them.

i800A...adoption lingo!

I remember first looking at an adoption timeline and having NO CLUE what all the lingo meant.  CANS, i800A, 797C, i800, DTC, LID, LOI, LOA, NVC, TA...  I'm so excited to at least know what some of those terms mean now!  We submitted our i800A March 1st and we are awaiting biometric fingerprint appointment and hopefully a quick approval notice!  Some people have waited as little as a month, others up to 90 days for their approval!   So, the i800A approval is a requirement for us on the USA side before we can submit paperwork to China.  I am so thankful that God has allowed us to be a part of HIS great plan.  Go, God, Go!