Surprise!

Today marks the 2 year anniversary of our LID! Two years ago today our paperwork was logged into China! At that time we thought that in about12-13 months we would be parents! How exciting! But as time raced on, the wait time started to become longer, then longer, then even longer. This is something that we definitely don't understand and to try to explain it is even more difficult. In the meantime, alot has happened. We have had some tradegy in our lives (the passing of my dear mother into a better place), we have felt the joy of our nephews becoming Dads, we have tried to be a substitute parent for an exchange student and we have gained another addition to our family (Cheyenne). Life goes on....but as we continue to wait, we do know that our God has that perfect little one already picked out for us, we know that He will help us to be patient as we wait on his timing and we know that He does love us. On that being said, here is the surprise:

December 29, 2008

Referral and dossier review update:

Through the CCAA's on-line site for adoption agencies, we received the following update regarding the review of dossiers and placement of children:

The CCAA has finished the review of the adoption application documents registered with our office before February 28, 2007.

The CCAA has finished the placement of children for the families whose adoption application documents were registered with our office before February 28, 2006.


Yes! We have referrals for January! The last batch of referrals came out December 10th so this is a nice surprise. Actually, I think that there is a holiday coming up soon in China and they worked hard to get the referrals out before the holiday. Wish this was the case every month! Anyhow, again the time between the LIDS was only 5 days again....that is still disheartening.

Please continue keep us in your prayers. It sure does help!

Official Rumor

The rumor is true. Here is the Hot News from our agency:

December 10, 2008

Referral and dossier review update:

Through the CCAA's online site for adoption agencies, we received the following update regarding the review of dossiers and placement of children:

Document Processing

The CCAA has finished the review of the adoption application documents registered with our office before February 28, 2007.

The CCAA has finished the placement of children for the families whose adoption application documents were registered with our office before February 23, 2006.

So, it looks like another month of 5 days of referral....we are praying and praying that our day will come!

Referrals

It is already December 9th and there are no referrals that have been sent out for this month. I have seen a rumor that the cut off date is Feb. 23rd. With last months referral cut off of Feb. 17th is seems that they are still working at a snail's pace. The latest piece of news that I can report is that the orphanage fee has gone up from $3000 to $5100. I definitely understand this....the orphanage fee has not changed since 1995. Plus I am hoping that this in an incentive for the orphanages to work a little faster to get babies paper ready for international adoption. Please pray for all those littles ones waiting to get a forever family and for the process to speed up.

New Puppy

This is our new puppy, Cheyenne. She is a yellow lab, and is 6 weeks old. I think this is good practice for having a baby. She had us up every two hours the first 2 nights that we had her. Now I am getting up at 5:00am because she is crying and ready to go out. Tony seems to think a baby will be easier....I am not so sure!

November Referrals

This is all I have this month....This is from our adoption agency.

Program updates
The CCAA just issued referrals for families with LIDs of February 16-
17, 2006; since our next group of LIDs is February 24, 2006, we did
not receive referrals this time. This makes the wait time up to 33
months from LID to referral. We hope to have referrals in December
for the 2/24/06 LID group and after that our next group of LIDs would
be 3/6/06.


As you can see from the previous posts, the last LID referred was Feb.15th. Two days! That is all the referrals for this month! I am going to say it! This REALLY sucks!

Good News!

This is an email that I received from our adoption agency on the ruling of the
I-600A from USCIS:

Dear China families,


We are writing as a follow-up to an email you received last week from Keith Wallace announcing a Call To Action regarding the “grandfathering” of families that had applied for CIS approval prior to April 1, 2008. We are more than pleased to announce that the USCIS has heard our voices!!


Today the USCIS announced that families who had started the adoption process using an I-600A approval, and who had received the one time free extension, may now file one additional form I-600A as long as they file before the current approval expires. Families will have to pay for this additional approval. If a family does allow their approval to expire, they will need to reapply using the I-800A form with a home study that meets all of the Hague requirements.


For more information on this topic, please refer to the USCIS website at: uscis.gov and go to “What’s New.” There is also a list of Frequently Asked Questions that appears below the announcements.


Many thanks to the families who participated in this Call To Action!!


Sincerely,

Your China Team

Even though we have to pay for another extension it it still good news! Praise God!

I-600A Issue-Your Help Needed

This is in the Hot News from our agency. My previous blog touched upon this subject but hopefully this will help make the importance of the matter more clear.

I-600A Issue - Your Help Needed

We are asking for your assistance/advocacy to address the serious concerns that families presently in the process of adopting from China - and other countries with long waits for referrals - will face if the current CIS policy of only one (free) extension of the I-600A is permissible. Right now, if the family does not complete their adoption before the one extension expires--which is not likely given the current wait for referrals in China--families will have to file an I-800A. There are many unknown implications of what filing an I-800A will mean to families but will undoubtedly cause additional expenses and delays for families and children.

You can follow the links below to see what FTIA in cooperation with JCICS is asking of families. Please read the letter from JCICS that lists 5 ways to help. The JCICS position paper provides a clear explanation of the issues & concerns.

As Step #3, JCICS is asking families to sign on to a petition that was initiated by some parents in process of adopting from China. Notwithstanding our concerns about the accuracy of some information in the petition (e.g. the number of agencies denied Hague accreditation, the implications of switching agencies, etc) we still support the fact that families in process of adopting from China who submitted their original I-600A prior to the effective date of the Hague Convention on April 1st 2008 should be able to complete their adoptions without having to file an I-800A. Therefore we are asking you to support this advocacy by signing on to the petition, along with the other 4 steps suggested by JCICS in their "5 Ways to Help Us."

Link to JCICS letter: http://www.jcics.org/I600A.htm

Link to JCICS position paper: http://www.jcics.org/I600APosition.htm

Link to what you can do: http://www.jcics.org/5WaystoHelp.htm


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Petition

We are currently facing some issues with our adoption and immigration. Since we started our adoption, new rules and regulations have come into effect. The Hague convention which I wrote about in a previous post could have some serious effects on some adoptions waiting to take place. The concern is that our paperwork for immigration will expire and we will have to file under the new laws. This may exclude some people. It may also add addition costs to the adoption and in the long run, it may slow down our adoption even more. Please go to this website and sign the petition:

http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/adoption-for-all.html

Thank you for supporting our adoption.

Fireproof

Lt. Caleb Holt lives by the old firefighter's adage: Never leave your partner behind. Inside burning buildings, it's his natural instinct. In the cooling embers of his marriage, it's another story.

After a decade of marriage, Caleb and Catherine Holt have drifted so far apart that they are ready to move on without each other. Yet as they prepare to enter divorce proceedings, Caleb's dad asks his son to try an experiment: The Love Dare.

While hoping The Love Dare has nothing to do with his parents' newfound faith, Caleb commits to the challenge. But can he attempt to love his wife while avoiding God's love for him? Will he be able to demonstrate love over and over again to a person that's no longer receptive to his love? Or is this just another marriage destined to go up in smoke?


This is a great movie and I would like to encourage everyone to see it. Make sure to take plenty of tissues!

China Referral Update

This is the hot news from our agency! It always seems that they have to put that last part in there about anticipating the wait time to get longer...guess they don't want to get our hopes up. But we serve an awesome God and if it is in his time table the wait time will speed up! Just keep praying for us!


We just received referrals for families with a log in date (LID) of February 14,
2006. The CCAA online system has not been updated so we don’t yet know if referrals went beyond this date. FTIA families who received their referrals today waited 31.5 months after their dossiers were officially logged in until the time they received referrals. Congratulations to all the families that are seeing their new child’s face today!!

FTIA’s next groups of LIDs: 2/24/2006 and 3/6/2006.

Please Note: While we will always be happy to provide information regarding the most recent group of referrals as far as the time between their LID and referral, we cannot and will not attempt to predict when future referrals might arrive. Although it is tempting to try and guess, we do not want to provide information that is not based on fact to our families. We must also remind you that this time frame changes. The continuing trend presently is that we anticipate the wait to become longer and encourage our families to be prepared for such.

The Hague Treaty

Here is some information regarding international adoption that you might find interesting......

Question: What Is the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption?

Answer:

The Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption is an international agreement between participating countries on best adoption procedures. These procedures have basically two goals in mind:


The best interest of children are considered with each intercountry adoption.
The prevention of abduction, exploitation, sale, or trafficking of children.

The guidelines and procedures that are set forth in the Hague Convention are also for the protection of birth families, as well as adoptive families. Part of the Convention's guidelines ensures that one Central Authority is in place in each country so that adoptive parents get the most accurate information regarding adoption. The Department of State is the U.S. Central Authority for the Convention. According to the State Department's Web site, implementing the principles of the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption is the State Department's top priority at this time. They hope that the U.S. will be a Hague Convention country by late 2007 or early 2008.

As of February 26, 2008, there are 75 countries that have joined the Convention.

History of the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption

The Hague Convention on Private International Law has been around since 1893, but the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption was completed for comments by member countries on May 29, 1993.


The United States signed the Convention on March 31, 1994.


In 1998, President Clinton sent the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoptions to the U.S. Senate for ratification.


In 2000, both Houses of Congress passed bills for implementation of the Convention, the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000 (the IAA), Public Law 106-279.


President Clinton signed the IAA into law on October 6, 2000.


The United States ratified the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption on December 12, 2007 in the Netherlands.


The Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption entered into force for the United States on April 1, 2008.

This means that private adoption service providers will need to be accredited, temporarily accredited, or approved, supervised by a provider that is accredited, temporarily accredited, or approved, in order to provide adoption services involving the U.S. and another Convention country. See an updated list on the Department of State Web site of these agencies.

Adoptions between Hague and non-Hague countries are not prohibited by the Hague Convention

Top 10 Convention Countries that U.S. Families Adopted from in 2005
China
Guatemala*
India
Colombia
Philippines
Mexico
Poland
Thailand
Brazil
Moldovia
*Guatemala is a party to the Convention, but is not following the standards of the Convention at this time.


New developments -

Guatemala plans on being compliant by January 1, 2008, but will not work with any country that is not compliant.
On April 1, 2008, the Department of State advised that prospective adoptive parents not initiate an adoption with Guatemala.
Top 10 non-Hague Countries / Territories that U.S. Families Adopted from in 2005
Russia
South Korea
Ukraine
Kazakhstan
Ethiopia
Haiti
Liberia
Taiwan
Nigeria
Jamaica

Hot News

Hot news from our agency!

September 02, 2008

We just received referrals for families with a log in date (LID) of February 6, 2006 The CCAA online system shows that referrals went through February 9, 2006. FTIA families who received their referrals today waited 31 months after their dossiers were officially logged in until the time they received referrals. Congratulations to all the families that are seeing their new child’s face today!!

FTIA’s next groups of LIDs: 2/14/2006 and 2/24/2006.

This is an interesting month....the time between last months referrals and this months was only 22 days! Which is awesome! Hopefully this is a new trend for referrals!

Rumor Has It

Rumor has it that the cut off date for this month is February 9th....we will just have to wait and see!

Labor Day

Does anyone know why this day is called Labor Day when we actually get the day off from work? After a little research (I love Google) this is what I found....

Labor Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the first Monday in September. The holiday originated in 1882 as the Central Labor Union (of New York City) sought to create "a day off for the working citizens".

Congress made Labor Day a federal holiday in 1894.[1] All fifty states have made Labor Day a state holiday.

Traditionally, Labor Day is celebrated by most Americans as the symbolic end of the summer.

Labor Day has been celebrated on the first Monday in September in the United States since the 1880s. The form for the celebration of Labor Day was outlined in the first proposal of the holiday—a street parade to exhibit to the public "the strength and esprit de corps of the trade and labor organizations," followed by a festival for the workers and their families. This became the pattern for Labor Day celebrations. Speeches by prominent men and women were introduced later, as more emphasis was placed upon the economic and civil significance of the holiday. Still later, by a resolution of the American Federation of Labor convention of 1909, the Sunday preceding Labor Day was adopted as Labor Sunday and dedicated to the spiritual and educational aspects of the labor movement.

Today, Labor Day is often regarded as a day of rest and compared to the May 1 Labour Day celebrations in most countries; parades, speeches or political demonstrations are more low-key, although events held by labor organizations often feature political themes and appearances by candidates for office, especially in election years. Forms of celebration include picnics, barbecues, fireworks displays, water sports, and public art events. Families with school-age children take it as the last chance to travel before the end of summer. Some teenagers and young adults view it as the last weekend for parties before returning to school. However, as of late, schools have begun well before Labor Day, as early as July 24th in many urban districts, including major southern cities in the United States such as Atlanta, Miami, and Los Angeles. In addition, Labor Day marks the beginning of the season for the National Football League and NCAA College Football. The NCAA usually plays their first games the weekend of Labor day, with the NFL traditionally playing their first game the Thursday following Labor Day.

And now for the rest of the story....As of yesterday, we have been waitng 20 months for Kara. I sat at the computer and watched "Gotcha Day" videos posted on You Tube. "Gotcha Day" is the name for the day that you actually see and hold your baby for the first time. Of course there was tears, but I was reminded that our day will come. There is no rumors out there at this time so keep praying, not just for our adoption but for all the orphans who are searching for their forever families.

Updates

Nothing new to update you all on the adoption. We are coming to the end of the month though and hopefully we will see a good jump in the referrals. My nephew's little one is still in Cincinnati's Children Hospital. He has had surgery but has had some complications since then. He continues to fight and seems to be getting a little better as time goes on. Great Grandpa Bowersock told me this week that he had a good day where he stayed awake alot and even smiled. Please continue to pray for him. Other than that, Tony and I are good. Tony bought a log splitter last week so hopefully he will get to spend more time with me since this is going to help him save time cutting wood. Stay tuned....

What does it mean?

As you can see by post from yesterday, the CCAA has referred babies to the LID of January 31, 2006. That means only 11 more months to go until they get to our date. The disheartening news is that it has taken the CCAA 6 months to get through January. Hopefully once the olympics is over we will see a speed up in the referrals. But in the meantime, I really feel that God is testing our patience, our perservence and our trust in him. Whenever I feel like I cannot see the end of this journey, when I can't even imagine what it will be like to have a baby in our home, I just pray...leave those feelings at the foot of cross because I know if I didn't, I would probably make myself and everyone around me crazy. I am not the one in control, but God is. It is and always will be his timing. And that timing is perfect. That is what I trust in.

Referrals

This just came out from our adoption agency:

August 11, 2008

Referral and dossier review update:

Through the CCAA's on-line site for adoption agencies, we received the following update regarding the review of dossiers and placement of children:

The CCAA has finished the review of the adoption application documents registered with our office before January 31, 2007.

The CCAA has finished the placement of children for the families whose adoption application documents were registered with our office before January 31, 2006.

Congratulations to the families who received referrals this month!

Still Nothing New

There are very few rumors out there about this months referrals. I have seen one or two that says Feb 6th or 9th will not be in this batch. I am just hoping that they get out of January! Looking back, when we started the process, the wait time for the referral was 12-13 months. By the time we were Logged in to China, the wait time became 14-15 months. At this time, the wait time for the referral is 29-30 months. Did I ever think that the wait time would be this long...No, but there has to be a reason. I do know in my heart that God has that one little girl picked out for us and that when that time comes we will be ready to accept the responsibility of raising her and loving her as our own. Until then, we are going to enjoy our quiet times and dream about the day that we bring her home. It is all in God's timing anyways and we accept that.

19 Months

Does anyone know any animal that is pregnant for 19 months? Me neither, but I can only imagine how that animal must feel! As of yesterday, that is how long we have been paper pregnant! No news yet on the referrals this month but as soon as I hear anything, you will be the first to know! Keep praying for us, there is power in prayer!

Nothing New

As we are closing in on the end of the month, there is no news out there on referrals yet. Usually about this time rumors start to fly but I am wondering with all the hype about the Olympics what is going to happen? It will be very interesting to see what the CCAA will do this month. As soon as I hear anything I will post it. Just keep praying for us and all those little babies in the orphanges that need families!

Asking for Prayer

My nephew, Abram and his wife Missie just had their first baby July 16, 2008 but complications sent him to Cincinnati's Childrens Hospital. He had to have emergency surgery last Saturday night and is still in critical condition. I am asking that everyone would just keep him in your prayers. Thanks!

Walk By Faith

Jeremy Camp has an awesome testimony. Sometimes in this world, we don't always understand God and his timing but when we walk by faith and leave it all up to God, everything is perfect, even through the tough times. Please watch this video, I hope that it will touch you as it did me.

It's my Birthday!

Today is my Birthday! I decided several(?) years back...(probably when I hit 40) that I wasn't going to celebrate anymore birthdays but I am feeling blessed today! God has given me another year! In waiting for Kara and learning patience, God has showered me with so many blessings! Sometimes we take life for granted...I am so thankful that God has given me an awesome husband, a wonderful loving family and extended family, a beautiful home, a good job, good health....the list could go on. So today, on the day that I was born, I just want to Thank God for it all. Without him, life is meaningless! Happy Birthday to ME!

Our Heavenly Dwelling

2 Corinthians 5

Our Heavenly Dwelling

1Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. 2Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, 3because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. 4For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
6Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. 7We live by faith, not by sight. 8We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. 10For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

Today would have been my Mom's 75th Birthday. She was called home on February 2, 2008 after a short battle with cancer. She was a strong women with a great love for Jesus. When she found out just how terrible the disease was, her response was "Well, I am ready to see Jesus". One of her favorite sayings was "Absent from the body, Present with the Lord", which brings me to this passage in the Bible. This was read to my family hours before she left us and it will always be a favorite of mine. Our ultimate hope when we are experiencing terrible illness, persecution, or pain is the realization that this life is not all there is-there is life after death! Knowing that we will live forever with God in a place without sin and suffering can help us live above the pain we face today. Paul was not afraid to die because he was confident of spending eternity with Christ. Of course, facing the unknown may cause us anxiety, and leaving loved ones hurts deeply, but if we believe in Jesus Christ, we can share Paul's hope and confidence of eternal life with Christ. Death is only a prelude to eternal life with God. We will continue to live! Let this hope give you confidence and inspire you to faithful service.

May this be a tribute to my beautiful Mom, I love and miss her so!

Referrals

Well, my agency has received referrals for families with a LID of January 23, 2006. It looks like January 25, 2006 is the cut off date. This is a real bummer!
Oh well, patience, patience, patience!

I waited patiently for the Lord to help me,
and he turned to me and heard my cry.
Psalm 40:1

Happy 4th of July!

As we celebrate our freedom and independence, let us not forget that freedom is not free. May God bless each and everyone who has fought to give us this freedom, may He bless those who are still fighting and I pray that He will watch over our troops and bring them home soon.

No News

Rumors are flying that the referral cut off date is Jan. 25th. It is still too early to tell, so I am not getting too excited about it. It is crazy...looking back over the past referrals, I can tell you that it took 5 months to get through Nov '05,
4 months to get through Dec '05 and it looks like at least 5 months to get through Jan '06. Lets do a little math...with the average of 5 months for one month of referrals, and we are 11 months away from our LID then that equals about 55 months. That is another 4 1/2 years! We just hit the 18 month mark for waiting on our referral. By the time we get her it may be that we waited 6 years for her. I pray that the program speeds up, that referrals will come to those who are waiting faster than we are expecting. Please just keep us in your prayers as well. As the saying goes, "Good things come to those who wait".

Time

Does anyone else feel like time flies by too quickly? Here it is July 1st already (where did June go?) and in the adoption world it is time for referrals to start arriving. This is when we see how fast the CCAA is moving. CCAA stands for China Center of Adoption Affairs. This is the part of their government that controls the adoptions in China. They are very dedicated to doing what is best for each and every baby in their system. The beginning of each month referrals are sent to those lucky families that have been matched with a baby. It is all according to the LID (Log in Date) of your adoption. If you remember, our LID is December 31, 2006. Last months referrals were through the date of January 20, 2006. So what does this mean? Well, we hope to see that the referrals this month move into at least February. It is very heartbreaking when it takes 4-5 months to get through one month of LIDs. This is what has happened in the past and has slowed down the process so much. Several reasons I have heard why this is happening is that the economy is getting better in China, Chinese are adopting their own, and that the number of babies being abandoned is down. Whatever the case, my prayers is that God will protect the babies until their new families are found. I also pray for peace for the mothers of these babies, that in their heart they will know that their child is loved.

Our exchange student

This is our exchange student Mer, from Thailand. We hosted her for the 2007-2008 school year. She was a junior at Bellefontaine High School. She recently returned home (just to go right back into school again...their summer break is in Feb, March, April) and we really do miss her. She was so much fun to have around and we learned alot about having a teenage daughter! She adapted well to our culture and her English improved while she was here. All of this has been part of our journey to our daughter. One of the reasons we decided to host was to pass some of the time waiting for Kara. And time did pass very quickly! There were alot of firsts for Mer. Her first snowfall, her first time carrying wood (she was a big help!), tubing down Mad River Mountain, her first Prom...so many memories! We have been so blessed with having her as part of our family and we will cherish those memories always. Thanks Mer!

Just a little education

I wasn't sure if everyone was actually familiar with the the world of international adoption but I thought that maybe I should do a little educating! The first big decision to adopt internationally is which country. We chose China because the program is stable and we also have a little cousin who is Chinese. The next step was to choose an adoption agency. There are ALOT of great agencies out there but we chose FTIA based on a referral from a family that had adopted 2 girls from China and had used FTIA both times. FTIA stands for Families Thru International Adoption and they are based out of Evansville, IN. Our application was approved July 2006 and the paperchase began. The paperchase consists of compiling documents (i.e. birth certificates, marriage license, health exams, financial statement, employment letters, criminal history checks), applying to immigration a petition to adopt and having a homesudy done. This took us approximately 4 months to complete and in December 2006, all the paperwork was sent to our agency to review. This paperwork became our completed "dossier". It was sent to China by our agency and became officially "Logged into China" on December 31st, 2006-this is what is know as our LID date. Then next process is for the dossier to be sent to the review room. We recently (about 1-2 months ago) learned that our month is out of review! Yea! In the review room, they may question your paperwork, so to be out of review is a good thing! We passed, no questions asked! The next step will be the matching room, where someone compares our paperwork to that of a little orphan in China and decides we match. This brings us to our last leg of the journey. Once we are matched with a baby, the referral is sent to us. (I dream about this day all the time! The day that we will get to see our little girl!) Then a whirlwind of activity will start, getting our visas, getting travel approval and making travel arrangements....with the help of our agency of course! Our stay in China will be approximately 2 weeks, and we will return home with a daughter! What a journey it will be. Please just keep us in your prayers, for patience and acceptance of this journey God has given us. We are certain the end result will DEFINITELY be worth the wait.

New to this!

This is my first time "blogging" (is that a word?). We are standing in line, waiting to adopt our first child from China. It all started in the summer of 2006....we contacted an adoption agency and jumped on the boat! Our paperwork was finished in December of 2006 and was sent to China. The first big wait! What would our LID be? I prayed that we would get logged in before the end of the year and God is GOOD! He answered my prayers and our official LID became December 31, 2006! When we started this process the wait for the referral was 12-13 months. Since then, the wait time has become 29 months! We have been waiting almost 18 months now and really, it has gone fast but that doesn't make it any easier. I worry...how old am I going to be when I get this baby. Does it really matter? Anyhow, this starts my blog and I will try to do my best to keep it going. Sometimes it is hard when someone ask "Where are you at in the adoption?" and the only answer that I can give is "Still waiting" so I hope this will belp! My prayer is that God will continue to give me patience-it is all that I can ask for because I know that he has that one little perfect girl picked out for us and this will be in his timing.