Thursday, February 25, 2016

Trusting

We are leaving in less than three weeks! It's hard to believe, in the adoption process you're waiting, and waiting, and waiting some more,  then all of a sudden you're in fast forward mode.

If you've ever thought about adoption and have questions or want to talk about it, please feel free to contact me. So many children need families, it's overwhelming and heart breaking.  You don't have to be rich, trust me! I used to think that too. I'm not saying it will be easy but it's so worth it! The past year has been challenging for us, to say the least. We've lived on much less than we ever thought was possible.  Just this morning I was feeling so stressed about how we are going to make it through the month of March financially. I seriously have no idea, but God does. He set us on this path, we stepped out in faith big time, He's brought us this far, and He's not going to leave us now.  That, I know for sure. We're thankful for God's provision in our lives.  I had myself a little cry this morning and then I had to let go of my worry because it isn't helpful. So, I listened to a sermon, turned on some worship music, did some exercise, got ready for the day, and headed to the bank to notarize the last document we need for China.  I'm feeling much better now. Casting Crowns song "Just Be Held" has helped me put things in perspective today.  The good news, actually the amazing, wonderful, fantastic news is that our adoption expenses are covered.

                                             

We get to Skype with Gabriel on Monday! 



Puzzle pieces are still available-$10



Thursday, February 18, 2016

TRAVEL APPROVAL!!!

I'll keep this post short and sweet. As many of you already know, we got our travel approval today! God is good! We feel so blessed to be on this amazing journey. Not only did we get travel approval, we also got word that Gabe knows about us now, and has listened to our voice recording. It doesn't get much better than that, pretty much a perfect day. Oh, and we get to Skype with him soon!




Check out this sweet video that Mike made, we played it at our fundraiser dinner in December.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/5jwkxdhlvj5ybj2/Video%20Dec%2016%2C%209%2009%2011%20PM.mov?dl=0


Friday, February 12, 2016

Chinese New Year!

Just a few more days until the CCCWA is back to work after Chinese New Year. We're hoping to get a quick travel approval next week.  The kids and caregivers at Bethel have been busy celebrating. I'm looking forward to next year when we will get to celebrate with Gabriel.  Below is the sweetest picture we received of our little guy at one of the CNY celebrations.


We're still hoping to get the rest of our puzzle pieces sponsored before we leave next month.  Mike will be out of work without pay for more than two weeks while we're traveling. This is the last bit of funds we need for our adoption. Any donation is greatly appreciated!

Consider being a piece of our adoption story and sponsor a puzzle piece for $10
Your name will be written on the back.

You Caring link


Thursday, February 4, 2016

Waiting for Travel Approval!!

Today our article 5 process will be completed and now we are officially waiting for travel approval! Recently there was a glitch in the system causing delays for travel approvals but it's fixed now so it shouldn't affect us. Next week is the CNY closure,  and I'm thinking we'll get our travel approval the week after which would allow us to leave on March 3rd. That's only 28 days!!! I can't believe it! After all the waiting we are finally so close!

We just sent our voice recordings for Gabriel yesterday and I sent pictures last week so they can describe us and our home to him. I guess they will be telling him about us soon if they haven't already. Very exciting!

*Edit* Just after I posted this I got an email from our caseworker, (it was a group email to all the families waiting for travel approval), he said that a Gotcha day of March 7th is not possible for any of us, meaning we won't be leaving on march 3rd as we hoped. Gotcha days are always on Mondays. It looks like we'll be adding a week to that, but it still all depends how quickly we receive our TA.

This is a new picture we received last week and it's one of my favorites. How sweet is that face??


Puzzle pieces are still available. If you want to sponsor a piece for $10 you can donate to our 
You Caring fundraising page.


Thank you all for following our adoption journey, praying for us, supporting us...we feel the love!