Tomorrow is the Day!

According to our FedEx tracking device, our dossier should arrive in Taipei, Taiwan, tomorrow, September 14! And according to our adoption agency, we could have up to a 24 month wait for a referral! That was not the number we heard originally when we began this journey, but God has a plan, I'm sure. The adoption process in Taiwan is similar to domestic adoption here in the U.S. in that if there is a birth family still involved with the child, they are involved in choosing the family to whom their child is given for adoption. Therefore, as I understand it, if there is a birth family who finds a family with four sons who live in small town USA, and enjoy fishing and traveling, attractive as a family for their daughter, we could find the wait to be much shorter than 24 months. As far as we are concerned, God is in control and He will guide the orphanage people in Taiwan who are helping to make that decision, and He will guide us when we are given a referral to know if the child referred to us will fit in our family. But we would appreciate your prayers as we wait! (And as we continue to raise the orphanage fee and travel funds!)

Waiting expectantly for Sophia...

On a Wing and a Prayer!

Our dossier is on its way to Taiwan! I received the official word from our agency today. I'm so excited, yet extremely nervous. This means that our referral is the next step, and then we need the money for the orphanage fee. But, God knows all of that, so we will continue to pray and wait and do what we can to raise the funds. Cookbooks, anyone?

One step closer to Sophia!

No News...

Just a quick post to say that we have not heard anything since sending our dossier to our agency. We know our home study is being authenticated for Taiwan, and then the whole dossier will be sent to the orphanage in Taiwan. As soon as we hear it has been sent, I'll let you know!

Waiting for Sophia...

Dossier...Check!

On Saturday I took our dossier to the Post Office here in Jonestown and entrusted it into the care of our friendly neighborhood mail clerk! Talk about faith! But thankfully, it arrived in Kansas on Monday and it looks great (says our agency contact)! Thank you Lord! The next step is to have all of our documents authenticated for Taiwan, and then it will be translated and sent to Taiwan (or maybe sent to Taiwan and translated?)...you get the idea! When I hear that it has been sent to Taiwan, I'll let you know! Thanks for praying, and don't stop now! When we get and accept our referral, we need to pay the orphanage fee, which could be anywhere between $4,000 and $10,000. Most likely, it will be around $6,000. But our God is able!

Praying Sophia home...

Paperwork Update

Today Dave and I finally had the time to go to a notary together and get some paperwork notarized. We praise God for the kindness of the notary who did not charge us saying, "Adoption is expensive enough!" I also sent two copies of our home study to Harrisburg, PA, to receive the state seal of Pennsylvania which is needed to authenticate the notarization, I guess? Goodness me there's a lot of hoops to jump through! But we are getting closer! Once I receive the home studies back, everything will be sent certified mail to our agency in Kansas and it will be out of our hands...yeah! We are getting closer, baby step by baby step!

In other news, we are planning an interesting fundraiser for the next few weeks. It involves selling flower bulbs that can be planted this fall to come up in the spring. If you are interested in helping us sell these (think Girl Scout cookie-like brochure...really easy!) or would like to purchase some bulbs ($6 a packet and the number of bulbs per packet varies depending on the flower type) let me know! We get 50% profit on these!

Each step brings us closer to Sophia...guide our steps, Lord!

Road Made Clear!

I will never cease to be amazed by God's faithfulness. I know in my heart of hearts that I have no reason to question or waver in my faith, but my flesh is weak. I was REALLY discouraged this past weekend. I was REALLY questioning whether or not we were on the right road with our adoption of Sophia. Several dear people, including my dear husband and wonderful sisters, encouraged me to hold on to the dream. But I wasn't so sure...until God used a special family to CLEARLY direct us to keep on the road to Sophia.

Remember that $2000 we needed to send our dossier to our agency and then on to Taiwan? We no longer need it! Praise God! I was handed an envelope at church on Sunday that contained a check to meet that need entirely. How do you thank someone for something like that? Not only did our financial need get met, but God used that gift to clearly tell us that we were on the right road...keep moving forward...Sophia awaits!

In the next few days I hope to get all the dossier documents in order. Several items need to be notarized, so we need to find time when Dave and I can take care of that together. Then, it's on to our agency in Kansas. After some authentications and translation...it's on to Taiwan! Thank you Lord for your amazing provision and for increasing my faith!

(P.S. Don't stop praying, though! The next amount we need to raise could be anywhere from $4,000-$10,000 for the orphanage fee. But God will provide!)

God is able...to do exceedingly abundantly ABOVE what we can ask or think!

At a Crossroads

It has been over a year since I started this blog and we ventured out on this journey to our daughter Sophia. The road we have been on has had many twists and turns, but we have always felt that we were supposed to be on it. If you follow this blog, you know that we have been fundraising for quite some time now--it seems like forever--and we still have a long way to go. Just recently I ventured out in my faith walk and for the first time fasted and prayed (the fasting was the new part for me!) for three specific requests, one of them being our adoption finances. We were to hear this past week whether or not we received a grant from an organization that has given substantial adoption grants to at least two people that I personally know. I had high hopes that God was going to use that agency to supply a good chunk of our funds. Well, we found out yesterday that our request was denied. To say that I was bummed is putting it mildly. Put that on top of not getting the last $2000 we need for the agency fee after a month of praying and waiting...you see why I'm at a crossroads.

In one direction I have the choice of taking this latest turn of events and saying that God is trying to tell us that we shouldn't be on this journey...He hasn't provided in what I feel is a timely fashion, so maybe this is His way of closing the door. In the other direction I have the choice of saying that God has something bigger and better planned, just keep trusting and taking baby steps forward. He doesn't need a grant agency to make this happen. But how long do I wait until I'm back to the first choice...you see why I'm at a crossroads.

I guess all of this to say that I could use your prayers right now. I'm not sure in which direction to turn. I'm so thankful for my husband who seems to be up when I'm down (and vice versa!) He doesn't talk as much about the adoption as I do (or blog about it!) but apparently he's been thinking and praying about it a lot recently, because when I was blubbering yesterday he said he's more sure than ever that we are supposed to do this. Maybe I'm being impatient, but I know that if our dossier is not to Taiwan before our home study is six months old (which it will be the beginning of October) then we have to redo the home study which will cost us more money...which we don't have to begin with! I'm tired of fundraising and asking the same people to buy this or donate that. I'm just being real here. However, I'm so grateful for those who have given in so many ways, and it's my feeling of accountability to them that really keeps me going some days--I'm not ready to give up yet because so many people have invested in our daughter's homecoming...you see why I'm at a crossroads?

I'm not sure what else to say except...

Thanks for your prayers...