No. 7

Many people have been asking where we currently are in our process, so here is a snappy little chart of where we are currently.

We are on No. 7, and as soon as we are matched, the next stages go pretty fast.   

It has taken nearly nine months to get from steps 1-7.   Amazing.

I have many thoughts to share more in detail, but for now, wanted you give a little snapshot of where we are at this time.

Prayer warriors:
-God's leading to bring the child meant for our family
-our kids (Ben and Maddie), preparing their hearts for meeting their little brother
-Les and I (to pray and to rely on God's prompting to know when we are making the right decision when that time comes).  

Thank you for continuing to follow our journey.  It's getting so much closer......

My wondering heart

It's been a little while since I've blogged, so I thought I'd share a few thoughts.

We are waiting to be matched with our son.  It could seriously happen any day. It seems surreal at this point, because we continue to just go about our every day as it has always been and yet, we know that at any given moment....our lives will forever be changed and this is a long awaited, anticipated day.

The wonder of who our child is, and the beauty of how we love someone we haven't yet met is amazing. I think about God's love.  It's unconditional and boundless and it sets in motion the example of how we love because HE FIRST loved us.  Adoption allows a special kind of love to abound that surpasses some forms of understanding. 

My heart is full of wonder for the littlest of details and the big picture.  Who is going to be our little boy, what does he look like, where is he living, is he cold, does he have a special toy, does he cry a lot, is he hungry, does he like to be held, what comforts him.......

My wondering heart 

longs to see his face.  

Prayer requests:

-health of our little boy
-the caretakers at the orphanage
-our family (preparing the details to be able to bring him home)
-continued fundraising efforts
-God's leading for the team that will match us to our little boy.  

Thank you for following along.  Means so much.

Les & Sara
Ben and Maddie




    

LOG IN DATE

We are excited to share that we received our LID on October 12, 2015.  

LID (Log In Date), which means that all our paperwork has been received, reviewed, and approved by the China Center for Children's Welfare and Adoption (CCCWA).

And....we move forward to get matched with our little one.

The matching is done by our China team who has studied our files in detail and will prayerfully match us with our child. 

This is such an important time to ask everyone to pray for us, the China team, and for our precious boy.

The matching usually occurs once a month, but sometimes it can be twice a month.  Once the children's files are 'released', there is somewhat of a frenzy amongst agencies from all over, to match children with their forever families.  I cannot even imagine this intense and extremely important process.  There is only seconds in which social workers have to prayerfully match a child with their families.  

Once a match is made, our social worker will contact us and we will get what information is available , photos, videos, medical information, etc...on that child.  We have 24-48 hours to make our decision on that first file.   I know that if my husband was sitting here next to me, he'd ask every reader to pray for me BIG TIME, as he knows that my heart will be tugged in a mighty way once I see the precious face of the first match.   

We have to be prepared that the first match may or may not be our child.   We chose to trust God throughout and we pray that God brings little Gus to us accordingly to His will and purpose.

Thank you all for following along, it means a lot. 

The possible

When we started our adoption, we knew that raising the $ would be one of our biggest challenges.

It's not easy, but it is possible and although we have a long road ahead of raising the needed funding, we take each step as it comes and the possibility becomes the possible.

I received this email today confirming that we raised $924.00 from our shoe drive. 

THANK you to those who donated shoes.

When the first month had gone by and I only had half a box filled, I wondered how it would be possible to get the minimum required of 10 boxes.  

Another month or so later, we were able to send off 12 boxes!

All things ARE possible.

As I sit here writing this, I'm listening to some of my favorite worship music.  I'm reminded that I LOVE getting lost in the love of Jesus.  He is faithful to love us, He finds us and meets us where we are.  I chose to acknowledge Him because He first loved us and is faithful to the end.  There is no greater love.  

This is so encouraging to me and I'm thankful daily that I chose to love Him back and follow His will for my life and trust in His plan for this little boy we are preparing to bring home and love forever.  

As we prepare for this next step in our adoption process, which is getting our referral, I'm leaning on God at every moment.   He loves these beautiful, waiting children and I can't wait to see the unfolding of His plan for our precious little boy.

Prayer request:  Our referral is next.  This is the moment when we are matched with our son.  This is what we've been waiting for.  It's so close.  

-sara

What is DTC?

What does DTC mean?  It stands for Dossier To China.  The dossier was all the required paperwork to adopt.  It takes 3-4 months to  prepare.  Once done, it is send to Michigan to our global headquarters where it is reviewed by the China team for any potential errors, etc.  Once it is approved by them, it is sent to Washington, DC to be authenticated.  Then it is sent back to global headquarters to wait to be sent to China.  We had a hold up for about 3 weeks, because we didn't have the funds available to sent it.  God provided and we raised most of the money through donations and fundraisers.

It was sent off last Thursday and is due to arrive tomorrow.  Once it is at the China Center for Children's Welfare and Adoption (the Central Authority for the People's Republic of China):  CCCWA, it is translated and reviewed.  This usually takes a week or two.  Once that occurs, we will be officially LOGGED IN and waiting for our referral.  This is so exciting to think about.  We could perhaps see our little boy before Christmas.  (:

Please join us in praying throughout.  As exciting of a time this is, it's also a time to really be patient and trust in the process.  Pray for our China team who will be matching us with our child.  They only have SECONDS to match families with children.  It's hard to believe that it happens that way, but with all the other "waiting families" from around the world, it's how this process works.

Thank you for following along and stay tuned.  

Two words

Seems like just 2 simple words, but the appreciation behind them is HUGE.  

About a week ago, I was worried.

We needed our next phase of funding and we didn't have it.  The months of paperwork were done and yet because we didn't have enough money, our papers could not leave the U.S. until we had it.  And the longer we waited, the longer our little boy is waiting too.  

I struggled and still do about asking for help when it comes to raising money but God truly knows the desires of our hearts and He brings people to you in the right timing and that He did.

So, what happened?

We had someone donate $250 on Go Fund Me

Another donated $20, and another donated $25!

Then, I threw together a rummage sale at my business and raised $500 more.

We owed $1800 to start.

After our fundraiser and donations, we owed $1005.00

One of my local artists donated $200 from her sales to help us and we received another $200 from work we had done as a family for someone.  

ALMOST there.  Can you believe it?

It is my hope that our dossier will GO TO CHINA THIS WEEK!   Stay tuned.  

God Bless,

Les, Sara, Ben and Maddie.  

Have a little faith

As I sit here, I am restless today.  My heart aches to see his face for the first time.

Since February, we have been working on paperwork, and now with the dossier done, we just wait for the funding so we can send it to China.  

This waiting period is hard.  I know there will be much more waiting in other parts of our journey, but this one really tugs at my heart.  I know that we are so close to getting our referral, and that makes me a bit restless. 

To see his precious face for the first time is what my heart is longing for.  

Today, I was talking with a friend and I reminded myself that as I am restless with this waiting period, I think of how God has so much patience for us as He waits for us to draw near to Him.  He does not get angry and fired up and impatient, He just waits patiently for us.  I call out for His timing throughout this journey, so I am praying for my faith to pull me through this time of waiting. 

Thanks for your prayers, support and encouragement.  It makes a huge difference.

Check out my IG@theprairiemama

I'll post little snippets along the way as well. 

We still have t-shirts to sell ($20), and our gofundme/rowlandsadopt

Appreciate all the continued support to bring home little baby Gus.