The Princess on a Hunt for Candy

While somewhat overwhelmed by the number of people and the odd dress of many attending the fall festival at her church, Gracee was not distracted from the all-too-plentiful candy. I'm sure she wondered why she had to complete a task (a game) before she was allowed to dig through the candy bowl, but she complied nonetheless. In the picture below Gracee waits--impatiently--as our dear family friend Melinda explains the need to drop a wooden clothes pin into the jar below. Gracee finally agreed to drop the pins into the container and was rewarded with -- more candy! The church did a wonderful job, keeping the games and events for the preschool set separate from the rest of the activities. In the picture on the right, Gracee--who looks more like a pink statue of liberty than the princess she really was (and is)--poses with her very special friend, Jenna.

WE ARE DTC!

Our adoption agency has told us our dossier for Gracee's little brother or sister is on its way to Beijing! That's what it means to be DTC--Dossier to China. We are excited, but we know we have a long wait ahead. Our prayers are focused on the little one that needs a family and that God intends to join our family.

What happens after our dossier arrives in China?
1. Our agency's office in China translates our dossier from English to Chinese.
2. The translated dossier is taken to the Chinese government's adoption offices (CCAA).
3. The dossier waits to be officially "logged-in" to the system.
4. The dossier waits to begin the review process.
5. The CCAA takes our dossier to another group in Beijing to verify the accuracy of the translation.
6. The dossier goes back to the CCAA and is passed to Department I for review.
7. Moving from there, the paperwork goes to Department II for matching. This is where a child that is waiting for a "forever family" is matched with us.
8. The much-anticipated referral is approved by CCAA executives and sent to the U.S. through our agency.

Currently that process is taking 14 months. We are praying that God will supernaturally accelerate that process.

We definitely value your prayers in this most special adventure--for God's will to be done, for the protection of the child, that God would place hope in his or her heart, and that the financial obligations of adoption would be addressed.

We are trusting God in all things.
Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God. (Psalm 20:7)

The NEW Big Adventure Starts Up Again!

All of our important adoption documents--notarized and authenticated at the county and state level--are on their way tonight to Washington, D.C. to be--you guessed it--authenticated at the U.S. Department of State and the Chinese Embassy. These special papers--mom and dad's birth certificates, employment statements, police reports, financial statement, and much more--are in the trustworthy hands of FedEx and form the core of the complete packet of papers (the dossier) that will eventually and literally make its way to the Chinese government (in China.) Once the papers are authenticated in D.C. this week, our courier will FedEx them back to us. We will pull everything together and take them to our adoption agency office locally. They will overnight them to St. Louis (CHI headquarters) and then on they go to China. Wow! God is good!

OUR I-171H HAS ARRIVED!!!

After weeks of waiting--sometimes not so patiently--God was faithful. The postman delivered our long-awaited form I-171H Saturday, Sept. 30. We were fingerprinted on July 6 and were hopeful we would see the form within 2-3 weeks, but that was not to be. After inquiries by our adoption agency (www.childrenshope.com) and U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander's office on our behalf, the Memphis office of the Citizenship and Immigration Service said two weeks ago that we should receive our 171H within 2-3 weeks. And we did!

What does this mean? It means our efforts to give a little boy or girl in China who needs a future and a forever family can resume. I will have the form certified at the county and state level tomorrow morning. I intend to send all of our paperwork to Washington, D.C., later in the day to be certified by the U.S. State Department and the Chinese embassy. We use a courier for that.Once that paperwork is returned to us (probably by next week), we will then gather everything together into an official packet (our dossier) and sent it to our adoption agency's home office in St. Louis, from which it will be sent to Beijing for translation and to be logged in by the China government agency responsible for referral of children who need a a family (CCAA).

The wait time until referral is running much longer than when Gracee came home last year. Yet we are confident the whole process is in God's hands. We ask you to continue to pray for us--in the paperwork and financial needs--and for that little boy or girl who may even now be waiting for us in an orphanage somewhere in China. We are grateful to the Chinese government who allows these little ones to be adopted. We are most grateful to God for His watchcare over the those waiting for their family. We can surely testify to God's care and protection for these children. God preserved Gracee as she waited for us to come for her. She is such a wonderful and special blessing. Her big adventure continues...