Hi friends-
I am not exactly what you would call technologically advanced-and this wordpress site has been a challenge. SO—we are moving our blog over to good old blogger. The new address is
ourjourneytonumber4.blogspot.com
Note that we had to add the “our” part before the address, so save it to your reading list and come along the rest of this ride with us!! Thank you all!
Aaron and Sarah
Pretty much every post in blog-land probably has something to do with Thanksgiving, but there is no way around it-I am thankful. The kids and I were able to go to my parents for Thanksgiving (Aaron stayed here and worked). It was so nice to see my parents, sister, brother, and cousin and all of their families and play some loud exciting games, chatter until we were so tired our eyeballs hurt, and take long walks in the fields behind my parents house. But the whole time, my thoughts were constantly wandering toward Z, wondering if he will like walks, if he will love playing games or prefer to read a book or make a craft, if he will like to run outside all day with some of the cousins or prefer to stay inside like some of the other cousins. We are so excited to get to know the person behind the sweet face we already love. I am thankful to be a family of 5, but I am so hopeful that next year at this time we will be a family of 6.
Today was our second home study visit. There were more questions about how we parent, what my strengths and weaknesses are, how our marriage works, but this time I was much more relaxed. I was even relaxed when my kids told her I made them clean the house all afternoon 🙂 Our caseworker is young but already has really great experience, I was able to ask her some questions about methods she has learned that help kids who are coming from an orphanage environment and she was really helpful. So much has happened on this journey already that has shown me God’s love and gives us hope for our future with Z. We are making good progress with our paperwork and we pray this whole process continues to go smoothly.
I am so thankful for these times of peace. We will likely encounter some hard times on this journey, but for now we continue to be thankful that God has led us this far, that we have moments of calm to catch our breath. I am thankful for the small things-like my dad mentioning Z while we were gathered around the dinner table and my cousin asking me how our adoption is going. I am thankful for the support I feel every time I am at church and work. I am thankful that Aaron has been able to work some overtime and I have been able to pick up extra hours at work. I am thankful for friends and family willing to pick up my kids from school when I am working and knitting their hearts out for the etsy store and custom orders.
So today, please give thanks with us and continue to pray for smooth paperwork and for the process of our homestudy to finish quickly so that we can submit our pile of paperwork to our government agencies and eventually to China for approval. Please continue to pray for the grants we have applied for and other fundraising efforts. Thank you all for the continued love. ~Sarah
Our paypal link: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=EY6GWLJQ27LR4
We are making our way through this journey! Some weeks it feels like we just make baby steps-but we are always thankful to be moving forward. We started our actual visits for our home study which was exciting and a little nerve wracking. Our case worker seems very sweet and encouraging and met with our whole family for some questions about how we function and how we all feel about adoption. It is times like this that I am so amazed and so encouraged. She asked all three of our kids pretty pointed questions about adopting Z and they all told her in their own way how excited they are. I love watching all of my kids expressions when they talk to other people, especially about something as important as adding another family member.
I feel like I also get another glimpse into my husband in times like this. His answers to her were so candid and just showed his sweetness, I just sat back and watched as he grew excited telling her about his amazing sister that came to their family through adoption. I love listening to him tell people how he remembers going to the airport to meet her for the first time and how he cannot imagine his life without her. She is his sister one hundred percent, even if they don’t share eyes, noses, or even skin color. He is fiercely protective of her and loves her in a way that only a big brother can.
Another step forward was being able to apply for another adoption grant. Many of the grants available require you to have completed your home study-but there are a couple of grants that require you are in just in-progress, and now that we are officially *in-progress* we can apply!! We should know an answer to this specific one after they review the prospective files at the end of December-so as always, please be in prayer that we will be awarded some of the funds available to offset some costs.
We continue to lay awake some nights just praying for Z’s comfort and safety. So, as you gather around your tables or lay in your beds-please send up a prayer for our boy so far away. We are so thankful we have the ability to go through this process, but continue to beg for it to go quickly and that soon we will be praying with him and kissing his sweet head good night.
-Aaron and Sarah
Paypal Link: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=EY6GWLJQ27LR4
I have been asked this question a LOT. For Aaron and I, it seems natural. I remember while we were dating, talking about it and Aaron telling me he has always thought he would adopt at least one child. We did not know how or when or from where or even IF it would actually happen. But it was always in the back of our minds. I never personally dreamed we would adopt internationally, but I am so excited and at the same time find myself praying every day that Z is safe, warm, and feeling someone give him love until we can bring him home.
I have heard a lot of “advice” on how to answer the “why adoption” question. But the honest answer is-we want to, just like we wanted to have biological babies. We want to bring a little one in to our home and love them-show them this world is so much better than what their beginning months to years would have had them believe.
The other obvious answer for us is God, he has given us so much. I know we are so blessed. Just being born in this country makes me blessed. I know that we have more than many people on this earth: we have a home, jobs, clean water, electricity, the list goes on. We have three amazing healthy children and our cup overflows. We would love to share our family, share our love, hear even more giggles and sometimes dry even more tears. We don’t feel a “void” or dissatisfied with our family as it is now, but we would like another child. However, even though this adoption is progressing beautifully and even smoother than we would have dreamed– if God decides this isn’t the right thing and our adoption doesn’t work out, that’s ok-we will be sad, but we will still be thankful and know that He is the One.
We continue to pray daily for his safety, for our upcoming family integration to go smoothly, for Z to conquer some of the difficulties he is likely to have after being in an orphanage, and for our family to have a deeper bond because of this. Please continue to pray with us and know that we appreciate all of the comforting words.
And, if you feel you are able, some amazing friends have opened an etsy shop for us with a few knitted goods and they are working hard to get more items in. The link is in the sidebar. I am beyond grateful for their efforts to help us raise money for this adoption. We are surrounded by love and just when we think our hearts may explode, they love us more.
Every week it seems we get a bit of good news and it is such a blessed relief. We have known that we were locked and approved by our agency for a couple of weeks, but we have been waiting on the Chinese government to “lock” us (or preapprove us) with our boy. This process was supposed to take about 2 weeks, but after just 5 days (including the weekend) we got the good news on Monday that we are locked!
We are in what many people call the “paper chase” we are continuing our dossier paperwork and the process of filling out our homestudy paperwork and expect to start our homestudy visits next week or the week after. The homestudy is a process to try to ensure the adoptive family will take good care of the child-the Chinese government requires four visits to our home, background checks, physical exams, financial statements, fingerprinting and reference letters among other things. While this is a somewhat tedious step, we are so thankful we are this far.
We have had a couple of anonymous donors to help offset some of the costs thus far-and thank you just doesn’t seem to express our gratitude, we have been humbled to tears by the love already being shown for this sweet boy. Every little bit of help brings us one step closer to our little Z. A few friends and family were here this weekend (when I say “few” it was more like 15 because we have awesome friends and family) and we made up these “change for change” jars. We are hoping people will want to take one home, to work, to friends and just donate any loose change toward our adoption. Every little penny, nickel, dime and quarter help! Please let me know if you would like a jar, we are more than happy to hand them out!
Another plan is an etsy site being set up by one of our friends (and my amazing army of knitting friends are helping stock it!) and a dinner/silent auction along with a paypal button at the bottom of this post, I can’t seem to get it on my sidebar 🙂
Thank you all again for everything. Your support and prayers are so appreciated.
Much Love,
Aaron and Sarah
Here is the link for our paypal button, apparently this site doesn’t let you insert a button, but the link works! Thanks again
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=EY6GWLJQ27LR4
Because He bends down to listen, I will pray as long as I have breath Ps 116:2
Hello friends. We are making slow but steady progress through the adoption process. We are so grateful for the sweet and much needed words given to us already and the prayers that are being said on a daily basis for our family and our boy. We are in awe of the community of adoptive parents, adopted children, and even just those who have such a strong love for orphans helping us along this new journey.
We have turned in all of our starting paperwork and first agency fee, we have been in contact with the home study company and that is in the beginning stages, and we have our dossier guide. We have submitted a HUGE packet of information for some zero interest adoption loans and are in the planning stages of some fundraisers.
We are beyond grateful for the outpouring of love. Please continue in prayer for us. We are specifically praying for continued guidance, speedy paperwork and government processes, and for our boy to be well cared for in the meantime, and for him to somehow know he is already loved and is in our thoughts every minute.
In the meantime, among all of the strain of paperwork I have to remind myself constantly of one of my favorite verses “for I know the plans I have for you” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jer 29:11).
I saw a call come through on my phone last Thursday (Oct 16, 2014) while we were at the zoo with my kids, sister, and her family. I didn’t answer the call, but instead checked the voicemail a few hours later when I was back home. It was from a woman named Kathi, a representative of an adoption agency that we had applied with almost a year and a half ago-she was requesting I call her back as soon as I could. I dialed the number, assuming she was updating our file as we had not any contact with the agency in over a year. When she answered I let her know that I was glad they had kept our file, but we had decided to pursue a foster to adopt program. Kathi hesitantly asked me “so you are SURE you don’t want to be on our waiting child list any longer? Is that what you are saying?” I sighed and took a deep breath, and told her that yes-I guess that was what I was saying.
I hung up the phone, and something was just absolutely sinking inside me. It occurred to me that I never gave her the chance to say why she was calling, what if she had a child for us? I felt panicked, but then reassured myself she was just updating our file. I knew I had to get to my daughter’s cross-country meet, so once I was in the car, I called her back just to be *extra* sure. When she answered, I sheepishly explained I just had to be sure of why she had called, that I had assumed our file was just being updated, but instead I heard these words “no, we have a child that you have been matched to.” I was silent. I finally said “wait…what?” She began telling me all of his information, all I heard was “3 1/2 year old boy….named Z***…matched to your family…very sweet…likes cars…active…counts to 20” I could not even process all of it. I finally asked how many other families they are talking to about him and how many other agencies have his file. Kathi then slowly said “I don’t think you are understanding…he is matched-to YOU. To YOUR family. We are not offering his file to anyone else, unless you say no. I will send you his file, think it over, pray about it, talk with your doctor and let us know what you are thinking.” I hung up the phone, shaking. I was back in my car headed to my daughter’s cross country meet, when Tammy (my sister) called my phone. All I could say is “I have something REALLY BIG to tell you” and I launched into my story. I met her at the park where the cross country meet was taking place and told her the rest of the details with tears in my eyes. I could not believe this. I still can’t believe this.
We have since prayed A LOT, filled out the beginning of a mountain of paperwork, talked with family members, sent files to doctors, and said YES to the process of bringing him home. As of today, we have submitted our letter of intent and information about us to the agency where it will be translated and submitted to the Chinese government. If their government approves us (which we pray they will! The agency has assured us they see no red flags that would make them think otherwise) we will then be considered “locked” with our boy-we will call him Z for now. Then we will have to complete our home study and dossier (a large packet of every document imaginable in our lives that is notarized and translated), come up with the funding, and wait for travel approval from China. It will likely be several months before he is home.
This process is overwhelming, as it is for any new parent. We had not given up on adoption, but certainly were not expecting a call like this for a child half-way around the world. We are excited, but prayerful. We hope you will check in and continue to follow our journey. Right now, we need prayers and support for the process to continue to go smoothly and for doors to continue to be opened. Please continue to pray with us for the paperwork to go smoothly.
Thank you our dear friends,
Aaron and Sarah
journeytonumber4 