Our God is Amazing!

Well, it has been a little over two weeks since our last post, and God has been doing great things for us. He has shown over and over that He cares for His children, and He will provide in His time and in His way. Let me tell you about the past few weeks.

At work, a salesman that I had never met visited my office. Noticing a few pictures in my office, he inquired about our family and our adoption story. He called later that day giving me information about a grant his church offers to adoptive families. We are waiting to hear back from them, but we are grateful to the Lord and Montgomery Community Church for the chance to be considered for this grant.

Around the same time, my friend Stacey introduced me to her sister-in-law Christie. Christie and her friend Nicole, both adoptive parents themselves, were looking for a family in the process of adopting to sponsor through their businesses. Christie runs www.featherrefuge.com, and Nicole is a part of www.noondaycollection.com. Through this I was able to share our adoption story and meet more people involved in orphan care. The Lord provided encouragement for us through our contact with these ladies, and we appreciate the time they spent to help us out.

Yesterday, I was sitting in my company's budget meeting my phone alerted me to an email at 8:47. I glanced at my phone and noticed that it was an email from our fundraising partner AdoptTogether. I opened the email, and just stared. It was an anonymous donation for $11,000. Sitting here typing this I am simply blown away at God's goodness to my family. We certainly don't deserve that goodness, but are determined to honor Him because of it. To our "anonymous" donor, I prayed this morning that God would bless you for your kindness and generosity. This donation along with what we have been given previously brings our fundraising total to $24,000. This means that at least half of our total adoption expenses will be covered by support from all of you!

Lastly, after 43 days, we received today our final approval from China for our two children. Our original LOA documents are on their way from China to the U.S right now. This is a MAJOR step in the process, and as Lisa from our agency said today, "Things will really start to pick up now!" We have a few more steps in the process before we can schedule flights to China, but the longest wait should be over. We're hoping to travel late June or early July.

Waiting. In the meantime....

We haven't updated in a while simply because it would seem that there's not much to tell. Our dossier is logged in, and we can only sit and wait for a letter from China that gives us final approval to adopt our children. We are on day 25 of this wait for LOA (our confirmation letter). This wait is currently ranging from 35-60 days, so we're hoping to hear something soon!

Though we are waiting, we are still busy preparing our lives for this adoption. As much as we focus on the visible steps of getting through paperwork and various milestones, there are several things an expecting family can do in their 'down time.' Here's what we're working on--trust me, the busier I am, the less time I have to spend wishing we were headed to China already!

Reading. Both Jason and I have spent time reading (or listening to) others' experiences related to adoption. Though we know every adoption and every child is different, we know there are things we can learn from those who have already done it. Our soon-to-be-children being older provides us with even more to learn. We are trying to understand the affects of institutionalization. We are researching albinism and how to protect our daughter with her skin sensitivity, as well as devices to help her eyesight once she is seen by an optometrist. We also genuinely want to learn about the Chinese history and culture since this is part of the heritage we will pass on to our kids. Along the same lines, I'd love to help my new children retain their current language as they begin to learn English. For this reason, as well as the ability to communicate with them initially, I am putting as many Mandarin words into this old brain as I can fit!

Saving. Our entire family is still on a mission to save every penny possible. Our needs are being met, but we have been amazed at how many things we just don't NEED (that we used to think we did).

School. With homeschooling comes flexibility. During a normal school year, we take advantage of that. If we miss science on Monday, we just make it up later in the week. Since October, we have been pretty strict with our schooling. Most of the kids have worked ahead a bit on the weekends and will be finishing by end of April or early May. This is more important for Mom than the kids though. School takes up a huge chunk of my day. Without that to worry about, I can accomplish several other things like.....

Spring Cleaning. (Jason is calling this nesting.) Deep cleaning never happens during the school year around here. Simply not enough time. So I grit my teeth and endure until school is out, then I go cleaning crazy! This time, there are other factors though. Clean out enough closet space in Clare's room so her new sister will have some. Go through the storage bins downstairs and determine what clothes Grant can pass down to his new brother, and what things we'll need to purchase. (Or maybe my guesstimate on his sizes will be way off and they will actually be in the same size clothing...we'll find that out in a month or two!) Jason is watching craigslist or yard sale listings for a set of bunk/twin beds since we'll need to get rid of Grant's full size bed. Another thing to figure out is how we're going to arrange the school room--find a couple more desks or switch to tables. Yep. So much to think about in addition to cleaning.

Cooking and Freezing. From what I hear, when we get home we're going to be overwhelmed. For one thing, jet lag will have us exhausted for a couple of weeks making it difficult to get enough done in a day. I'm taking the advice of many of those been-there-done-that mamas and freezing some meals before we go. I've already started making a bit extra of some things that freeze well, but after school is done I plan to get serious about this.

Having conversations. We know that our current kids are excited about adopting. However, there are so many variables that they cannot possible know what to expect. They need to be prepared for many possibilities. So Dad and Mom are trying to inform them, one conversation at a time, of how life will change once we return from China.

When I first started this post, I only had a couple points. I have surprised myself at how many things we are able to focus on as we're preparing to grow our family. Though at times we get tired of the many days of waiting we must endure, this has been a good reminder for me of the Lord's perfect timing. He knew 6 months ago when we began this process that we would need this time to get things ready. When I begin to feel like we are wasting time waiting, it is good to remember that this time can be profitable after all!