Brian and I went to the USCIS building in Louisville to get our fingerprints done. Then we waited and watched as God showed us he is in control
Even the little ones were helping complete the process
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
May makes 12 months
So I will have to admit that this time one year ago we (or at least I) was thinking we would have her home in about 8 months. Boy did I over estimate that a bit!!!!! There were a few bumps in the road, and getting the paperwork completed took a little longer than I had hoped. Frustration and disappointment started to creep in, but I am leaning on my belief that walking by faith is mostly walking without sight and that's very scary for a control freak.....
Brian and I went to the USCIS building in Louisville to get our fingerprints done. Then we waited and watched as God showed us he is in control
Even the little ones were helping complete the process
Brian and I went to the USCIS building in Louisville to get our fingerprints done. Then we waited and watched as God showed us he is in controlEven the little ones were helping complete the process
She's not just on my mind.....
My younger sister Crystal posted this on February 27, 2013. I feel so alone sometimes in this journey, and when ever I see someone post something about Hadley, or other adoption stories it gives me encouragement.Here was my response.....
Saturday, September 21, 2013
Home Study Approved
March 24, 2013
During my small breaks, I mainly focus on things that really need to get accomplished, try to spend all my time focused on the kids, spend much needed time with my sweet husband, and cry and worry about the one child we have that is not home yet.
Brings me to the parable Jesus taught us in Matthew, a shepherd will leave 99 sheep to find the 1 that is lost. I guess I'm just a shepherd searching for the one that's missing. The great news is our home study is finally complete, approved, and on it's way back to us. From here it will be sent with the 1-800a application through the USCIS. This next step takes about 3 months to complete, once it's finished we will be ready to send our dossier to China. After it arrives we will officially have our LID (logged in date). This basically completes the main portion of paperwork.
The referral process is a different story. Every month our agency receives referrals, however we have yet to receive ours. It's very hard waiting, knowing that they are coming in and that this might be the day we have longed for. It takes me back to when Brian and I tired for almost a year to get pregnant. Every month that passed I got more and more discouraged. It's a hard place to be in, a place where you have no choice but to completely trust and believe in God's plan for your family. So as these past few months have come and gone and we still have not received a referral, I keep turning to God. I tell myself that Hadley was just not in the last bunch of files, maybe next time. Then next time comes and I tell myself that again. It is so HARD, and so DISCOURAGING! Last Monday, we didn't receive a call either. I cried the entire drive home. I got in the car, hooked my seat belt and the tears just flowed. No radio on, just silence....... half way home Brian called I said no words.... just cried. He knew, and responded with "In God's time".
So here we are today, waiting for next months referrals. However, I know God is working. His making plans for our sweet Hadley. I'm not doubting, I'm just inpatient.
During my small breaks, I mainly focus on things that really need to get accomplished, try to spend all my time focused on the kids, spend much needed time with my sweet husband, and cry and worry about the one child we have that is not home yet.
Brings me to the parable Jesus taught us in Matthew, a shepherd will leave 99 sheep to find the 1 that is lost. I guess I'm just a shepherd searching for the one that's missing. The great news is our home study is finally complete, approved, and on it's way back to us. From here it will be sent with the 1-800a application through the USCIS. This next step takes about 3 months to complete, once it's finished we will be ready to send our dossier to China. After it arrives we will officially have our LID (logged in date). This basically completes the main portion of paperwork.
The referral process is a different story. Every month our agency receives referrals, however we have yet to receive ours. It's very hard waiting, knowing that they are coming in and that this might be the day we have longed for. It takes me back to when Brian and I tired for almost a year to get pregnant. Every month that passed I got more and more discouraged. It's a hard place to be in, a place where you have no choice but to completely trust and believe in God's plan for your family. So as these past few months have come and gone and we still have not received a referral, I keep turning to God. I tell myself that Hadley was just not in the last bunch of files, maybe next time. Then next time comes and I tell myself that again. It is so HARD, and so DISCOURAGING! Last Monday, we didn't receive a call either. I cried the entire drive home. I got in the car, hooked my seat belt and the tears just flowed. No radio on, just silence....... half way home Brian called I said no words.... just cried. He knew, and responded with "In God's time".
So here we are today, waiting for next months referrals. However, I know God is working. His making plans for our sweet Hadley. I'm not doubting, I'm just inpatient.
What's up in 2013
Starting the New year.....
January 2013
This is what I would like to get accomplished in 2013
January 2013
This is what I would like to get accomplished in 2013
- Hadley has to come home, period the end............
- Take a winter trip with my family
- Have more dates with my husband
- Spend more time with my kids, one on one
- Get away with my honey on our anniversary
- Redo the office, get it organized
- read more of my bible, I can never do enough of that
- Get together with my friends at least every couple of months
- Host a Mother- daughter luncheon this spring
- Go on a vacation with my family to a lake cabin
- Take a lot more photos of my family
- Try to exercise more
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
The Paper chase continues
This was posted originally in November 2012
Today started early for us, I was up around 5:30am reviewing for my
upcoming school assignment that is due. Brian and I dropped the kids off
and got our last form notarized, certified, and ready to go to the
SOS's office in Frankfort. After completed my school work, Mom and I
headed to Lexington to get the last reference letter certified. After
that we picked up one of my dearest friends and the 3 of us headed to
the State Capital. We did some much needed catching up about all kinds
of stuff, but mostly about sweet Hadley and how our progress is coming
along. We finished up at the SOS's office and left with the remaining 12
documents certified and Authenticated. Yeah!!!!!!!!! My smile was so
big I could barely fit into the Yaris to drive back home.
When I got back home I finished the DAP#2 package and hopefully my sweet husband will mail it to AWAA tomorrow. As I stapled the remaining paperwork together, I realized that my sweet Hadley doesn't have the slightest idea that her forever family is getting ready to bring her home. I have mixed feelings about almost every decision we have made. I'm so happy that the day I get to hold her is getting closer, but I am sad for her. You see, all though her life here will be so much better than the life she has now, it's still all she's ever known, it's her life. I pray that she is with a foster family in China, and not in an orphanage, even then I will be taking her away from the only mother she has ever known. "Gotcha Day" will be one of the best days for us, but one of her worst. I pray that God starts preparing Hadley's caregivers for the day she will meet her forever family, and I am praying that God will give Hadley comfort through this transition. I don't expect her to like me in the beginning, let alone LOVE me. It will take time for her to understand that I will love her just like Jesus loves me, unconditionally............
I would also like to just throw this out there, because this blog is
where I like to vent whether it's good or bad. This week I have been
approached by a few people with such an ignorance of adoption that I
wanted to smack them upside their heads. Now, I'm a christian. I'm not
perfect. Just being very honest.... One person approached me about our
adoption, and told me how wonderful she thought it was and how great
Brian and I were for willing to raise someone's child, and blah, blah,
blah. Then when she found out that our baby girl lives in China she
informed me that there were plenty of children up for adoption in the
U.S., and I should have gone that route instead. I simply said "Oh,
thanks for informing me of that. I had no idea you could adopt in this
country" and she just looked at me as if she didn't understand what I
said. I went on to tell her that God called me to China. I really wanted
to tell her this. "God told Noah to build a ship. How stupid would he
have been if he didn't listen and instead built a truck. Would he have
been able to drive his truck through the flood????" People kill me. Then
a few days later another lady approached me and said "Why y'all
adopting?" I replied "Cause God told us to". Then she asked "did he call
you on the phone and tell ya?" (like a true smart butt). I then said
"God call us on the phone? No, in 2012 he has the capability to text
message." She didn't say another word. That's how I deal with
stupid....... Still waiting on the HS approval, I will keep everyone
updated as things change.
P.S. please pray for Ivy Joy she has had a few new issues come up and has gone through more surgery tonight.
Paper Chase for DAP #2
When I got back home I finished the DAP#2 package and hopefully my sweet husband will mail it to AWAA tomorrow. As I stapled the remaining paperwork together, I realized that my sweet Hadley doesn't have the slightest idea that her forever family is getting ready to bring her home. I have mixed feelings about almost every decision we have made. I'm so happy that the day I get to hold her is getting closer, but I am sad for her. You see, all though her life here will be so much better than the life she has now, it's still all she's ever known, it's her life. I pray that she is with a foster family in China, and not in an orphanage, even then I will be taking her away from the only mother she has ever known. "Gotcha Day" will be one of the best days for us, but one of her worst. I pray that God starts preparing Hadley's caregivers for the day she will meet her forever family, and I am praying that God will give Hadley comfort through this transition. I don't expect her to like me in the beginning, let alone LOVE me. It will take time for her to understand that I will love her just like Jesus loves me, unconditionally............
P.S. please pray for Ivy Joy she has had a few new issues come up and has gone through more surgery tonight.
Updates are encouraging
Here is another update from November 2012.....
Well everyone, here is a run down of last week's paper chase for Hadley;
P.S. still no morning sickness, but the paper-cuts are horrible!!!!!
real quick update
- received draft of completed home study
- emailed our EA template for approval
- emailed Brian's physical form for approval
- emailed our application letter for approval
- rec'd approval for all the above
- emailed our last reference letter for approval
- Completed and sent our EA, WC, Passport copies, and our family photo pages
P.S. still no morning sickness, but the paper-cuts are horrible!!!!!
Set backs.......
Another rough patch, but we prevailed.....
November 2012,
So here it is from the top; We were gathering our paperwork to complete for our home study, we had our family interview and home inspection scheduled for Sept 8,& 9th. On September 5th I lost my job, on Sept 6th I picked up my belongings from my old job and interviewed for my new job (yeah, you heard right! I had an interview the very next day). When our wonderful social worker showed up on Saturday, I met him at the door and said "I lost my job on Wednesday, but I have already found a new one! Are we still good?" Now I say that jokingly, but the truth is I new this was going to slow us way down on our paperwork. The next week they offered me my new job, if all my background stuff checked out. Then I found out from our family coordinator that a lot of our paperwork was going to expire, because the HS wasn't going to be completed due to my job loss. Boy was I upset!!!! So the race was on to get new copies and documents and try to put the dossier together, so when I did start my new job we would have all the other papers ready to go. What's the hurry? Our dossier has got to get to China by January 25, 2013 or some of the paperwork will be expired. The HS has got to be completed and on file before we can fill out our USCIS 1-800a, and it takes up to 2.5 months to get the 1-800a back. I was afraid that I wouldn't get to start my new job until November, and that our time was running out. Oct 16th was a bad day, despite my best efforts to finalize several documents that day I came home with nothing. I fought all day on the phone with a company that owes us money desperately needed to bring Hadley home. Then after being told that I would have to drive over an hour away to get a form notarized, I broke down in the car and all my sweet husband could do was sit there. I was so ready to give up, I felt completely defeated once again. Through tear-filled eyes I looked out of the window I saw it... God showed me his plan with just a few simple words "Objects in the mirror are closer than they appear." God was telling me that Hadley was closer than I thought she was.
The next day I drove the distance to get that simple form certified. As the kind lady was working on the paper I saw the posted sign that said "we do not take debit cards, and no out of town checks". I just started laughing out loud, and said you have got to be kidding me? I never carry cash, and I am most definitely out of town. The woman across the room at another desk looked up at me as if she thought I might be one of those crazy people that carriers an entire conversation on with themselves (which I do, by the way). I start digging through my purse in hope that God put money I didn't know about in there. When the lady returned with my form she smiled and said "it's on me, I will contribute to your adoption", I just started crying my eyes out as I told her thank you. Thursday, I was going over the paperwork I still needed with my mom, and she made the comment that we might not make the time line, and she wanted me to be prepared. I said "where is your faith? It's going to be fine". Friday at 4:15 I received the phone call I had been waiting on, and it was the start date for my new job. So this week I will be able to get the documents needed to complete our HS, dossier, and start to complete our 1-800a. That is 2 weeks earlier than I had hoped for. Thank you Jesus!!!!
I do want to say that since the beginning of this journey I have encounter many different emotions, opinions, advice, questions, criticism, and judgements. I say this in hopes that if someone who reads this has a dream or an idea of something great yet to happen in their life they are not discouraged, but encouraged. From the very beginning I have had many challenges, many sleepless nights, many scary what-ifs, many believers and many more non-believers. I have been loved and supported by family and friends, and I have been non supported by them too. I have been asked many questions on why, when, how, and what? There have been days when I am unstoppable, and days when I want to lay down and quit. What Brian and I are doing is not so people will think we are the "perfect" family, who have done such a wonderful service to this world. We could be no further from perfect if we tried. We are just average parents in an average house, who live in a small hometown in Kentucky. We have a tight budget, but believed that God would provide the financial means to get her home. We have no idea why God has picked us to be parents to this precious child he has chosen for our family. Hadley will not be blessed to have us, we are blessed to have her.
Although I fill out form after form, have days I want to scream, and worry about all of the things still yet to come I will not give up. I dream about what life will be like when she is finally home with us, I look over at her pillow every night while laying Haven down for bed. I look in the rear view mirror where her car seat will be, I think about teaching her about trust and love and all about the wonderful and loving God we have. I can't wait until I witness her blowing out her birthday candles, given that she has never ever had a birthday cake. They don't even know the exact day of her birth, let alone celebrate it. But mostly I think about how wonderful it will be to hold her in my arms and tell her that she is loved, loved more than she will ever know. I will tell her about all the wonderful people who helped to get her home, about the people who held fundraisers for us, the people who put money toward helping bring her home, the lady who paid for the document fee in Adair county, and all the people who pray for her safe homecoming. None of this would have been possible without God, he has done it all.
November 2012,
So here it is from the top; We were gathering our paperwork to complete for our home study, we had our family interview and home inspection scheduled for Sept 8,& 9th. On September 5th I lost my job, on Sept 6th I picked up my belongings from my old job and interviewed for my new job (yeah, you heard right! I had an interview the very next day). When our wonderful social worker showed up on Saturday, I met him at the door and said "I lost my job on Wednesday, but I have already found a new one! Are we still good?" Now I say that jokingly, but the truth is I new this was going to slow us way down on our paperwork. The next week they offered me my new job, if all my background stuff checked out. Then I found out from our family coordinator that a lot of our paperwork was going to expire, because the HS wasn't going to be completed due to my job loss. Boy was I upset!!!! So the race was on to get new copies and documents and try to put the dossier together, so when I did start my new job we would have all the other papers ready to go. What's the hurry? Our dossier has got to get to China by January 25, 2013 or some of the paperwork will be expired. The HS has got to be completed and on file before we can fill out our USCIS 1-800a, and it takes up to 2.5 months to get the 1-800a back. I was afraid that I wouldn't get to start my new job until November, and that our time was running out. Oct 16th was a bad day, despite my best efforts to finalize several documents that day I came home with nothing. I fought all day on the phone with a company that owes us money desperately needed to bring Hadley home. Then after being told that I would have to drive over an hour away to get a form notarized, I broke down in the car and all my sweet husband could do was sit there. I was so ready to give up, I felt completely defeated once again. Through tear-filled eyes I looked out of the window I saw it... God showed me his plan with just a few simple words "Objects in the mirror are closer than they appear." God was telling me that Hadley was closer than I thought she was.
The next day I drove the distance to get that simple form certified. As the kind lady was working on the paper I saw the posted sign that said "we do not take debit cards, and no out of town checks". I just started laughing out loud, and said you have got to be kidding me? I never carry cash, and I am most definitely out of town. The woman across the room at another desk looked up at me as if she thought I might be one of those crazy people that carriers an entire conversation on with themselves (which I do, by the way). I start digging through my purse in hope that God put money I didn't know about in there. When the lady returned with my form she smiled and said "it's on me, I will contribute to your adoption", I just started crying my eyes out as I told her thank you. Thursday, I was going over the paperwork I still needed with my mom, and she made the comment that we might not make the time line, and she wanted me to be prepared. I said "where is your faith? It's going to be fine". Friday at 4:15 I received the phone call I had been waiting on, and it was the start date for my new job. So this week I will be able to get the documents needed to complete our HS, dossier, and start to complete our 1-800a. That is 2 weeks earlier than I had hoped for. Thank you Jesus!!!!
I do want to say that since the beginning of this journey I have encounter many different emotions, opinions, advice, questions, criticism, and judgements. I say this in hopes that if someone who reads this has a dream or an idea of something great yet to happen in their life they are not discouraged, but encouraged. From the very beginning I have had many challenges, many sleepless nights, many scary what-ifs, many believers and many more non-believers. I have been loved and supported by family and friends, and I have been non supported by them too. I have been asked many questions on why, when, how, and what? There have been days when I am unstoppable, and days when I want to lay down and quit. What Brian and I are doing is not so people will think we are the "perfect" family, who have done such a wonderful service to this world. We could be no further from perfect if we tried. We are just average parents in an average house, who live in a small hometown in Kentucky. We have a tight budget, but believed that God would provide the financial means to get her home. We have no idea why God has picked us to be parents to this precious child he has chosen for our family. Hadley will not be blessed to have us, we are blessed to have her.
Although I fill out form after form, have days I want to scream, and worry about all of the things still yet to come I will not give up. I dream about what life will be like when she is finally home with us, I look over at her pillow every night while laying Haven down for bed. I look in the rear view mirror where her car seat will be, I think about teaching her about trust and love and all about the wonderful and loving God we have. I can't wait until I witness her blowing out her birthday candles, given that she has never ever had a birthday cake. They don't even know the exact day of her birth, let alone celebrate it. But mostly I think about how wonderful it will be to hold her in my arms and tell her that she is loved, loved more than she will ever know. I will tell her about all the wonderful people who helped to get her home, about the people who held fundraisers for us, the people who put money toward helping bring her home, the lady who paid for the document fee in Adair county, and all the people who pray for her safe homecoming. None of this would have been possible without God, he has done it all.
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