[No news on our renewed background checks yet. Still waiting.]
Our delay with the I800 Approval allowed us just a bit more time to fundraise. Thanks to numerous donations that have rolled in recently, we are so close to our final goal to meet our international travel fees! It is very exciting to be so close - we are within $900 of having our China travel fees covered! See our Donate tab for the exact figures.
Unless our house sells in the next day or two, at this point, the time has come to make the decision to take a hit and use some funds from my retirement account to pay off the rest. In talking with many, many adoptive families, this is something many families have done. In a way, by talking with these friends and hearing their stories, they gave me "permission" to use those dollars, if that makes any sense. We'll take a hit on it come tax time next year, but we'll tackle that when we get to it.
We're thankful that our first employer gave us an incredible benefit of a retirement account. It's something our last and current employers don't offer. Because we haven't been socking anything away for the last 6 years, not to mention the fact that we've lost so much value to them with the economic downfall, we've said there's no way we should use those funds. However, everything God gives is a gift from Him. My retirement account is His and He will provide for our needs come tax time and He will provide for our needs come retirement. Of course, I'm thankful that we don't have to take out too much because the tax hit we will take won't be pretty, but I have faith God will provide.
To those of you who have made a financial donation on our behalf, we want to say thank you. Seriously, friends, thank you! All of you deserve personal letters conveying our gratitude, but I would like to send them with a picture of my daughter once she is officially a member of our family so you can see your donations at work. We are blown away by your generosity. All of you gave such generous amounts, some of you shocked us with your generosity because of your limited incomes, personal missions endeavors, or family hardships. Even a gift of $5 made a difference! When you look at my daughter's face you will know full well that you were a part of God's plan for the orphan. You have lived out Psalms 82:3 and the dozens of other verses in the Bible that call all of us to care for the fatherless. When you see Jesus face to face, I know He will say to you, "Well done."
From Jay, our boys, our waiting daughter, her anxious grandparents and excited aunts, uncles and cousins, thank you! Well done! May God bless you (and I know He will) for your generosity! And know that we will pay it forward for the rest of our lives as we intend to make a life changing difference in the lives of orphaned children.
Thank you!
Monday, February 27, 2012
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
No News, Just Pictures
I have no updates other than we're just waiting on the results of our latest child abuse clearances and CA fingerprints. Once all those are in, our social worker will send her home study addendum and everything along to our agency to hopefully get the ball rolling again with USCIS. Until then, we wait.
While we wait, I scanned in our referral pictures. Remember, these were originally embedded in our referral documents, printed and then scanned, so they lack clarity. But these were the first pictures I saw of our daughter.
And lastly, here is the original close-up of her right hand so you can see how it started (but then stopped) developing.
I may have found a photo of her on another website of an organization that serves her orphanage in China. I've emailed them for confirmation that it is indeed her. If it is, I'll certainly copy and paste and post that photo here later.
Next update when we get some more news. Until then, prayers please for all these clearances from NE and CA to arrive this week!
While we wait, I scanned in our referral pictures. Remember, these were originally embedded in our referral documents, printed and then scanned, so they lack clarity. But these were the first pictures I saw of our daughter.
And lastly, here is the original close-up of her right hand so you can see how it started (but then stopped) developing.
I may have found a photo of her on another website of an organization that serves her orphanage in China. I've emailed them for confirmation that it is indeed her. If it is, I'll certainly copy and paste and post that photo here later.
Next update when we get some more news. Until then, prayers please for all these clearances from NE and CA to arrive this week!
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Delay
Most of you probably heard via Facebook yesterday, that for Valentine's Day I received a not so sweet, not so loving pink notice from USCIS. They are not approving our I800 Application until we submit updated paperwork. In the next 45 days, they are requiring:
Would you please pray for all of this to happen in the next 2-3 weeks so that we get everything completed long before the 45 day deadline? The fingerprint and accompanying background checks will take the longest because we're counting on government agencies to do their jobs quickly and efficiently. And of course, all this requires money. Please pray that God will continue to provide everything we need to make the rest of this adoption happen.
And while you're at it, would you please pray for my heart? With everything we have going on: a house not selling, living in limbo, my kids tired and needing their own space, and a messed up adoption in a broken system, I'm just fried. I'd like nothing more than to stay in my pajamas all day and cry. I know full well that God has a plan and He'll get us through this but my heart is still just so very sad.
UPDATE at 2:00PM
This afternoon I spoke with my agency who has had their attorney review the pink notice a dozen times. They have come to the conclusion that we will not need to jump through all the hoops I listed above. What will be required is:
The elimination of the federal background checks is HUGE, people! And the fact that all we need is a home study addendum versus an update is HUGE too. It eliminates so much time, money and hassle.
So for an updated prayer request, please pray this is the LAST PINK NOTICE we receive (remember the 2 I received for our Nepal adoption?) and that the rest is smooth sailing to our daughter in China.
- a homestudy update
- additional child abuse registry checks in both NE and CA
- additional federal and state criminal background checks (fingerprints required) for NE and CA
Would you please pray for all of this to happen in the next 2-3 weeks so that we get everything completed long before the 45 day deadline? The fingerprint and accompanying background checks will take the longest because we're counting on government agencies to do their jobs quickly and efficiently. And of course, all this requires money. Please pray that God will continue to provide everything we need to make the rest of this adoption happen.
And while you're at it, would you please pray for my heart? With everything we have going on: a house not selling, living in limbo, my kids tired and needing their own space, and a messed up adoption in a broken system, I'm just fried. I'd like nothing more than to stay in my pajamas all day and cry. I know full well that God has a plan and He'll get us through this but my heart is still just so very sad.
UPDATE at 2:00PM
This afternoon I spoke with my agency who has had their attorney review the pink notice a dozen times. They have come to the conclusion that we will not need to jump through all the hoops I listed above. What will be required is:
- a homestudy addendum (as opposed to an update) saying we are not criminals
- CA background checks (fingerprints required)
- child abuse clearances for NE and CA (our social worker mailed those this morning)
The elimination of the federal background checks is HUGE, people! And the fact that all we need is a home study addendum versus an update is HUGE too. It eliminates so much time, money and hassle.
So for an updated prayer request, please pray this is the LAST PINK NOTICE we receive (remember the 2 I received for our Nepal adoption?) and that the rest is smooth sailing to our daughter in China.
Friday, February 10, 2012
Settlers of Catan
No news on our 800 Approval yet. So enjoy another post I wrote this winter...
Back in December, I was enjoying a seemingly regular nightly occurrence of Settlers of Catan with friends. Actually, we were playing Seafarers of Catan. I'm not much of a gamer, especially when it comes to strategic games. I prefer games like Scattergories and Catch Phrase. But Catan is fun, strategy and all, although you wouldn't know it by my emotions that other night.
In our friend's home, a funny, familiar, framed, black and white picture of Willie Nelson hangs above the game room table. I hear it's an annual re-occurance at the staff white elephant party and they were the "lucky" recipients this year. So with Willie looking down on us, the person sitting next to me said, "I could listen to a little Willie Nelson right now." So, I grabbed my iPad and got on Pandora. We enjoyed a few classic folk and country songs, I'm sure to the dismay of the non-Country fans in the room. A familiar song began playing, which I quickly skipped, only to upset of one of the players.
"Don't skip that one! That's a good song," I was quickly corrected.
"No, it's too sad," was my response.
"But that's why it's so good!"
So, I went back to the song: Tim McGraw's "Don't Take The Girl."
The art of song brings up so many vivid memories. I could hardly finish the rest of the game because I could barely hold back the tears and I know I secretly wiped a few away. All I could hear about in the song was the loss of a loved one and all it brought back to me was the loss of our Nepal adoption. The pain honestly surprised me because August 6, 2010 was over a year ago. We hadn't even been matched with a Nepali girl at that point, so we didn't lose a "specific" loved one. But the loss was refreshed within me and I wanted so badly to excuse myself from the game table and go sob into a pillow somewhere over the loss of a dream and the sadness of knowing so many wonderful Nepali children are still without the love of a family.
I was reminded again weeks later when our pastor happened to mention Mount Everest and Kathmandu in a weekend message. Seriously? Come on. How many times do your pastors mention Kathmandu in their messages? All the time, right? Again, tears filled my eyes over the loss of our dream of a beautiful Nepali girl in our family.
I hope Nepal re-opens one day. I hope all countries would be open and have the structure to support international adoption. I hope I never stop grieving for those in need of care, family, and love. I hope I never lose my heart for the orphan.
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Weekends
Most of us live for the weekend don't we? We're ready to leave the office behind and enjoy a couple of days away. A much needed break. Time to play.
Well, most of us adoptive parents hate the weekends. Weekends mean our agencies are closed. Our government offices are closed. Progress comes to a halt as our paperwork is left in their inboxes, phones are set to voicemail and our email full of questions and requests for status updates sit alone, unopened in their mailboxes.
Adoptive parents live for Mondays when we know we can get our questions answered, our concerns addressed and our minds put at ease (ideally).
Oh, weekends are tough.
Don't even get me started on holidays.
Well, most of us adoptive parents hate the weekends. Weekends mean our agencies are closed. Our government offices are closed. Progress comes to a halt as our paperwork is left in their inboxes, phones are set to voicemail and our email full of questions and requests for status updates sit alone, unopened in their mailboxes.
Adoptive parents live for Mondays when we know we can get our questions answered, our concerns addressed and our minds put at ease (ideally).
Oh, weekends are tough.
Don't even get me started on holidays.
Friday, February 3, 2012
Special Needs
I promised you a post about Hu Jing's special needs and now it's time to deliver. Having more to write about keeps me busy while we await our I800 Approval and make our final fundraising push. Please see our Donate! tab and spread the word, people. We're so close to our final goal!!!
Our Quiet Tiger's medical reports are glowing! Seriously, she is one healthy little girl! The medical report we received was quite detailed (compared to some) and included details from her first physical after she arrived at the orphanage in her province, plus an updated report when she was older. She has been well cared for and has met all the age-related milestones. In fact, our agency says they rarely see a referral like ours - a child so young and completely healthy yet still on the Waiting Child List.
But there is 1 special need which we will need to investigate and seek our doctor's opinion. Hu Jing was born missing her right hand. It might be some sort of symbrachydactyly. There's no way to figure out how or why it happened. It could have been from amniotic banding, it could have been from an injury her birth mom may have sustained during pregnancy, or it could have just stopped developing for some random reason. We may never know.
Since the link won't work on blogger today (grrrrr), here's a definition for what Hu Jing may have (we'll have a doctor make a diagnosis once we're home):
What is symbrachydactyly?
Symbrachydactyly (sim-brak″e-dak´tĭ-le) occurs during normal embryonic development, the hand initially forms in the shape of a paddle, and then eventually splits into separate fingers. Symbrachydactyly results when one or more fingers fail to form properly during this time. This hand disorder characterized by abnormally short fingers that are sometimes webbed or conjoined. Most children with symbrachydactyly have the "short finger" type in which the thumb is essentially normal but the remaining fingers are short, stiff and may be webbed. In other cases, only the thumb or the thumb and little finger are present. In more severe cases, all fingers are missing and small nubbins of skin and soft-tissue (little stumps) are located where the fingers would have developed. Research continues into further understanding why this happens. [emphasis mine]
I find it really funny how we've been surrounded by folks with limb differences in the more recent past. When I started working at our NE church's childcare ministry on Tuesday morning, they asked me where I wanted to serve. I just said, "Put me where your greatest need is." I find it absolutely no coincidence that I was placed in a room led by an adoptive mom. She adopted a darling boy from China with a missing arm (not to mention a sweet, pretty girl from Vietnam. Hi Honey Girl & Little Mister!). I love following her blog and seeing all that her Little Mister faces in his young life. I have so much to learn from them! She has introduced me to sites like Living One Handed, Lucky Fin Project and Born Just Right. Amazing sites from amazing people in similar circumstances.
And just this year, there is a teacher at C's school who also has a limb difference, missing her left arm just beneath the elbow. I noticed her at the beginning of the year, weeks before we were matched with Hu Jing and I immediately thought maybe our daughter would have a limb difference. Oh, God knew exactly what He was doing! This teacher was female athlete of the year in high school and is a strong, confident, amazing woman. We've introduced ourselves and shared our story and she's excited to meet our daughter and offer her help, advice and friendship. I'm thankful to know her as we raise a daughter with 1 hand.
If you're at all curious, and I know you are, here is a picture of her hand, or lack thereof. I have a close-up in her batch of referral pictures that shows some tissue where fingers started to form, but it's embedded in the document and it doesn't have good resolution for the blog. So, you'll just get this cute version. I can't wait to see all that she can do!
Hu Jing, you are fearfully and wonderfully made! We think you are perfect just the way God made you!
Our Quiet Tiger's medical reports are glowing! Seriously, she is one healthy little girl! The medical report we received was quite detailed (compared to some) and included details from her first physical after she arrived at the orphanage in her province, plus an updated report when she was older. She has been well cared for and has met all the age-related milestones. In fact, our agency says they rarely see a referral like ours - a child so young and completely healthy yet still on the Waiting Child List.
But there is 1 special need which we will need to investigate and seek our doctor's opinion. Hu Jing was born missing her right hand. It might be some sort of symbrachydactyly. There's no way to figure out how or why it happened. It could have been from amniotic banding, it could have been from an injury her birth mom may have sustained during pregnancy, or it could have just stopped developing for some random reason. We may never know.
Since the link won't work on blogger today (grrrrr), here's a definition for what Hu Jing may have (we'll have a doctor make a diagnosis once we're home):
What is symbrachydactyly?
Symbrachydactyly (sim-brak″e-dak´tĭ-le) occurs during normal embryonic development, the hand initially forms in the shape of a paddle, and then eventually splits into separate fingers. Symbrachydactyly results when one or more fingers fail to form properly during this time. This hand disorder characterized by abnormally short fingers that are sometimes webbed or conjoined. Most children with symbrachydactyly have the "short finger" type in which the thumb is essentially normal but the remaining fingers are short, stiff and may be webbed. In other cases, only the thumb or the thumb and little finger are present. In more severe cases, all fingers are missing and small nubbins of skin and soft-tissue (little stumps) are located where the fingers would have developed. Research continues into further understanding why this happens. [emphasis mine]
I find it really funny how we've been surrounded by folks with limb differences in the more recent past. When I started working at our NE church's childcare ministry on Tuesday morning, they asked me where I wanted to serve. I just said, "Put me where your greatest need is." I find it absolutely no coincidence that I was placed in a room led by an adoptive mom. She adopted a darling boy from China with a missing arm (not to mention a sweet, pretty girl from Vietnam. Hi Honey Girl & Little Mister!). I love following her blog and seeing all that her Little Mister faces in his young life. I have so much to learn from them! She has introduced me to sites like Living One Handed, Lucky Fin Project and Born Just Right. Amazing sites from amazing people in similar circumstances.
And just this year, there is a teacher at C's school who also has a limb difference, missing her left arm just beneath the elbow. I noticed her at the beginning of the year, weeks before we were matched with Hu Jing and I immediately thought maybe our daughter would have a limb difference. Oh, God knew exactly what He was doing! This teacher was female athlete of the year in high school and is a strong, confident, amazing woman. We've introduced ourselves and shared our story and she's excited to meet our daughter and offer her help, advice and friendship. I'm thankful to know her as we raise a daughter with 1 hand.
If you're at all curious, and I know you are, here is a picture of her hand, or lack thereof. I have a close-up in her batch of referral pictures that shows some tissue where fingers started to form, but it's embedded in the document and it doesn't have good resolution for the blog. So, you'll just get this cute version. I can't wait to see all that she can do!Hu Jing, you are fearfully and wonderfully made! We think you are perfect just the way God made you!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)