Tuesday, August 30, 2005

Think Quick!!

We were asked today what Chia-Ho & Ling-Wei's English names will be. We are under the gun now! They want to start calling them by their English names so when we come to pick them up, they will know who we are talking to. We (or should I say "I") have had a name picked out for Ling-Wei for some time now. Her name will be Sophia Noelle Ling-Wei. We have NO CLUE what Chia-Ho's name will be and the family just can't come to an agreement. Poor thing....he wants to know what his new name will be!!! YIKES!!!

Thursday, August 25, 2005

Mom to Mom

We have been praying and praying for our paperwork to come so we could just move on with things, but I haven't even slowed down to think about what was going on half way around the world............until now.
I hold in my hands the adoption contract that our daughters birthmother had to sign. She had to sign a paper giving away any and all rights to her only child.
Can you imagine what this young mother must have been feeling?
I never imagined that I would feel such heartache when I saw the papers that I had been so anxiously waiting for.

In our "Dear Birth Family" letter we wrote these words: "It is our commitment to you, to always speak about the honor, bravery, and love that you demonstrated in your decision to allow us to adopt your child."

I didn't really understand what that meant until this very moment. Seeing and touching her name and signature was just so overwhelming to me. The tears that this mother must have shed on these very papers. How could I be so insensitive to what she has been going through? I only thought of myself and how I longed to be a mother to this precious little child.

I feel so guilty, but at the same time, I know that God has a plan for this little girl and her birthmother and our family has simply been given the privilege of being included in it. God has so graciously given us this child to be our daughter. One day it will be clear as to what God's plan is for her life and why He allowed us to be her forever family.

**This is a private journal entry that I feel led to share. There are so many unexpected things that happen in the world of adoption and this was one of them for me.

Wednesday, August 24, 2005

Miracle Worker

WOW!!! The power of prayer!!! We have been sharing with our Sunday School class our dilema and asked that they pray with us that God would make this happen soon because the wait with no end in sight is getting to be too much. So, as usual......God took care of us!! What could have taken 1 - 2 more months just to get into the court system to start the change of guardianship, has been completed in only 6 weeks!!!! And......... the papers were signed by the previous director of the other orphanage! We didn't even have to go through the courts!!! Again, I am in awe of the mighty power of our God and how merciful he is to us!

We have received all of our paperwork for both children and we are moving on now!!!! Thank you for all of your prayers. They are working! Let's keep praying our precious children home!!

Thursday, August 18, 2005

July Update



July update - weight is 18.1kg height is 96cm
What a sweet update. Looks like she is adjusting to her new home. The caregiver states that Ling-Wei is starting to join the other children in activities. She likes to be a little helper, throws things away in the garbage and gets tissues for her friends. After some guidance, the frequency of her temper tantrums when frustrated are reducing and the length of them is shortening. She is still sucking on her fingers which they don't seem to like much. The little boy in the photo with Ling-Wei is Shan-Pen. He is her roomate and is going to the Netherlands.

Wednesday, August 17, 2005

INS Approval Take #2

Well, everything looks good. They did in fact make a mistake on our form. We received our I-171H today showing we are approved to bring both children home!!!! YEAH!!!!!!! We will send our dossier out for certification as soon as we get the paperwork for both of the children to the Sec'y of State in Tallahassee.

Thursday, August 11, 2005

INS Approval

We received our I-171H today. We were so relieved until we took a closer look at it! It shows we were only approved for one child. I e-mailed our contact right away to ask if this was in error. Please pray that all is well and we are only dealing with a typo!!!

NEW BLOG

Check out our new blog for our Ethiopian Adoption!! http://www.totsites.com/tot/journeytoafrica