Hope is Fading...

...not for our daughter waiting in Taiwan, but for the millions of other boys and girls around the world who are waiting for their forever families.  View this post on my sister's blog to see a powerful video created by a young man who gets it!

Whew!

Things have really been busy on the adoption front this week as we scramble to renew this and that!  So far I have managed to get Dave's passport renewal and our child abuse and criminal clearnace requests mailed out.  We have also managed to receive a re-fingerprinting date with Immigrations for June 30.  Thankfully, we don't have to return to Philly for that!  Yesterday we had a phone meeting with the adoption coordinator from our agency to discuss our service plan, and from that meeting, we have an on-line international adoption training to complete this summer.  It sounds pretty interesting, but it might be tricky to find a time that Dave and I can sit down and complete it together!  I'm working on getting paperwork together for a grant request, so that is a matter of prayer.  We have requested updated growth information and photos from the orphanage so we can include an outfit in the care package we are putting together to send to Sophia.  We are also setting up a date to meet with our social worker in person at our home for our home study update.  Whew!  I told you it has been busy around here, but it's all good, and I'm officially on summer vacation, so I have time to do it!  God is good--the timing couldn't have been better!

Things to pray about:
         - A quick turn around for all of our paper work and home study updates.  Many items are out of our hands and we must rely on the offices from which we are requesting information, and the USPS!
         - Sophia's continued therapy and development.  Pray that she might be prepared for meeting us and the adoption process as much as possible for her age and developmental level.
         - That God will prepare our entire family for meeting and loving our new addition.  This will affect each of us in a different way, and we are praying that we will all grow closer to each other and God as a result!
         - We still need approximately $3000 for this phase of the adoption process.  God will provide!

Thanks for continuing to journey with us!

Here's the deal...

Now that I have had time to process what the next steps are in our adoption of Sophia since being officially matched yesterday (yeah!), I will attempt to share them here in order to get them down in some semblance of fashion for myself and anyone else who is interested!

Today we started checking some items off of our suddenly very long to-do list.  Dave's passport needed to be renewed, so that was sent off today after filling out the form on-line, writing the $75 check and getting the passport photos ($10).  We also mailed the hard copy original of our adoption agreement to our agency.  They should receive it early next week and it will probably be mailed to Taiwan on Friday, the day they usually send out mail to Taiwan.  Once the orphanage in Taiwan receives the agreement, they will work on getting the legal papers together that we must sign, notarize, state seal, and TECO seal before returning them to Taiwan.  A friend who is a step ahead of us on this journey said it took about 3 weeks from the time the original adoption agreement was sent to Taiwan to receive their legal documents.  Meanwhile, we also must do some paperwork on our end to send back with the legal documents as part of what is called our "referral dossier".  This is our second such packet of paperwork.  Since we are nearing the renewal dates on some of our old paperwork, we actually need to update our home study (to the tune of $300) which includes updating medical paperwork (fees involved) and our financial statement.  We also need to be re-fingerprinted by the FBI (hopefully free) and renew our child abuse and criminal clearances in state (fees involved).  So, as you can see, we have probably close to $600-700 of fees just in order to get the documents ready to go back to Taiwan in order to move to the next step...the court process.  Additionally, we have an agency fee for our future post-placement reports that is due right now which is $900.  Thankfully, by God's grace, we have the money in hand to cover all of this, but it is eating into what we have saved for our orphanage fee which must be paid when our referral dossier is returned to Taiwan.  We did find out that what we owe the orphanage is $6200, which is on the low end of orphanage fees, for which we are grateful.  All told, we need to raise about $3000 more dollars right now to cover all of these fees, then we can work on travel expenses.  (Note:  We have updated our ticker and our Chip-in to reflect that we are still in need of $3000 for this phase...the Chip-in had to be adjusted in a weird way, but you can tell that we are still in need of $3000 to reach our goal.  I also changed our 100 Wishes page to reflect our goal better as well.  Donations can be made either through 100 Wishes or the Chip-in...it goes to the same account.)

Which takes me to the inevitable question...when do we travel?  Well, once our referral dossier is returned to Taiwan, we await a court date.  There may be more then one court hearing before we get a first decree.  When we get that, we will find out our travel dates.  The final court hearing is held while we are in Taiwan, but we do not attend.  It is at that hearing that we get our final decree, and then we file our paperwork in person in Taiwan at the American Institute in Taiwan-US Embassy in Taiwan (or AIT for short).  We will be able to pick up Sophia's IR3 Visa before returning home which, if I understand correctly, makes Sophia a U.S. citizen upon arrival in the U.S.  The timeline for all of that to happen is typically 6-8 months, including the referral time.  This means that, if all would proceed in a timely fashion, we might be traveling in early 2011.  But, as anyone familiar with international adoption knows, there are many roadblocks that may arise.  We will continue to pray for favor and expediency and that God would continue to provide for our needs as they arise.  We are beyond excited, but know that the road ahead is still an arduous and bumpy one.  However, at the end of our journey lies a beautiful little girl who is waiting for her forever family to come and take her home so she can start her own journey of growing and healing and learning.  Please continue to pray for us--we covet your prayers and thoughts so much!  Blessings!

Inching closer to our daughter every day... 

We've Been Approved!

I was jumping up and down when I read the title to our agency contact's e-mail...GOOD NEWS!! Yes, we've been approved to proceed with our daughter's adoption...and in record time, praise God! It has been three weeks since we sent off the last of the answers to the questions we were asked by the orphanage, and I was getting ready to type my weekly "we continue to wait" post, but instead, I get to write this post! Now we must paper chase the second round of documents, update everything (ugh!), and get our funds totally raised. But God is good and He has a plan and it is proceeding in His time frame.  Will write more soon!

Sophia, Mommy and Daddy and brothers love you, and we are on our way!

100 Good Wishes for Sophia

I'm excited to announce that we have launched a 100 Good Wishes Campaign to support Sophia's adoption from Taiwan! Through the link to the right, you can visit our 100 Good Wishes page, and leave your good wishes for Sophia. This is based on the idea of the 100 Good Wishes quilt, a Chinese tradition that spans generations. The 100 Good Wishes folks have set up their organization specifically to help adoptive parents in their efforts to raise the necessary funds to bring home their children. Please feel free to pass along our information to any friends you might have who would be willing to support our endeavor as well. I will leave the Chip-in information posted as well; both the Chip-in and the 100 Good Wishes go to the same account.  Thanks, and God bless you!

Waiting...

We are almost at the end of week two of waiting to hear back from the orphanage in Taiwan regarding our request to be matched with "Beautiful Jade".  I know that the orphanage deliberates long and hard on their matches; they want to make sure that the "fit" between the family and child is a good one.  They really do try and cover all of their bases, which benefits the adoptive family in the long run.  However, it's a bit trying to wait, not knowing what they are thinking or even being able to prove yourself to them in some way.  Ultimately, we have left this decision in God's capable hands, and we know that His Will will be accomplished.

Until then...we wait...

God is Good

"God is good all the time, and all the time, God is good."  How often I have been reminded of this quote on this adoption journey!  Time and again God's goodness has shown through as He has been faithful to meet our needs.  And now is no exception.  We are at 29% of our anticipated need for the orphanage fee...praise God!  We have been waiting for nearly a week now on the orphanage's decision regarding our match with the little 2 1/2 year old girl we have grown to love.  As we continue to patiently await a decision, we know that God is in control.  He will continue to provide for us financially, emotionally, and spiritually as we wait for His will to be made known.  I am SO thankful to have a God like that!

Waiting and praying....praying and waiting...