Adoption Journey

As some of you know the last week and a half has been a whirlwind journey of God revealing Himself abundantly clearly to us that we were to pursue the adoption of a special needs boy in China. We were past the point of “God are you really calling us to do this” and moved to the point of “God we believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that you are in this. We are ready to move forward with this but pray that if this not be your will that you will clearly close the door”. Tonight that door closed. We spoke with our international pediatrician, who in consultation with a geneticist, told us that she is very concerned about the health of this little boy. In a nutshell, he was born small, but not abnormally. In two years though, he apparently has not grown much bigger than what would be a SMALL one year old. She told us that in her medical opinion, she is very concerned that there is something going on inside him that could be extremely serious.

Sometimes the answers we receive are not the ones that we hope for. But answers and guidance are what we pray for, and when we do so with all our heart, God is faithful to provide. We are abundantly grateful for His faithfulness to give us CLEAR direction even though it may hurt at the time.

Let me close here with two thoughts. Just this afternoon, prior to knowing all this was to happen, I read part of a book by Max Lucado. In there he states the following: “We can use any tragedy as a stumbling block or a stepping stone…I hope this will not cause my family to be bitter. I hope I can be an example that God is wanting us to trust in the good times and the bad. For if we don’t trust when times are tough, we don’t trust at all.”

And finally, over the last month or so I’ve been stuck on a new song by Mercy Me. Haven’t’ been sure why. Perhaps now I know. Part of the lyrics go like this….

I can count a million time
People asking me how
I Can praise You with all that
I've gone through
The question just amazes me
Can circumstances possibly
Change who I forever am in You

Maybe since my life was change
Long before these rainy day
It's never really ever crossed my mind
To turn my back on you, oh Lord
My only shelter from the storm
But instead I draw closer through these time
So I pray

Bring me joy, bring me peace
Bring the chance to be free
Bring me anything that bring
You glory And I know there'll
be days When this life brings me pain
But if that's what it takes to
praise You Jesus, bring the rain

Each time I hear this song, I pray that it be true in our lives. Unfortunately though, we’re never really sure if it’s true until life brings us pain. But tonight with tears in our eyes, but joy in our hearts we clearly say “if that’s what it takes to praise you, Jesus bring the rain.”

Thanks to each of you who have prayed with us through this. Please continue to pray for this little boy in China.


-Mike, Guest Contributor in Darcy's little blogging world

July Adoption Update

By now, you are probably beginning to see a pattern. Referrals seem to be arriving around the first week of the month. Here is the latest from our agency...

"Lots of news from China! The CCAA has finished the review of the dossiers with log-in dates up to May 31, 2006. We were blessed with 8 referrals for baby girls from Guangxi Province on Friday, July 6, 2007. The 8 girls' ages ranged from 6 to 17 months. The families who received these referrals were LID 11-10-2005. The CCAA has issued referrals to the families whose dossiers were logged in before November 14, 2005. "

In short. The CCAA (Center of Chinese Adoption Affairs) has reviewed the paperwork for families that were logged into their office through May 31, 2006. So, they still have 5 months of paperwork to review. With this months referrals, families are no longer waiting 19 mo., but rather the wait has moved up to 20 months. Each month seems to be adding another month to the wait. Please keep our family in your thoughts and prayers with regard to the adoption of Baby (Insert our last name here) #3.

June Adoption Update

Here is the email we received from our agency:

"Today, June 6, we were blessed with 8 referrals for baby girls from ChongQing Province. The 8 girls' ages ranged from 7 to 9 months. The families who received these referrals were LID 11-4-2005. We have reason to believe that China sent referrals for families nation-wide with LIDs up to 11-7-2005. This information has not been confirmed yet."

Okay, this is good news, right?!? This month they processed 6-7 days of referrals. Whew! We are moving on up...The agency says that these families waited 18 months. I believe it was more like 19 months, however. Hey, on the bright side ... Based on the current wait time, we are a third of the way there.

May Referral Update

Below you will find the update we received from our agency today. Based upon my information from the "rumor" sites on the internet, China sent out referrals through November 1st of 2005. So, they are speeding up the process - they increased the number of days this time by one extra day... Isn't that great? Yes, that is sarcasm you detect :o) Here is the message we received:

"Today, May 1, 2007, we received a big blessing of 10 baby girls' referrals from China. The girls' ages ranged from 7-15 months. They are all from Congqing Province. These 10 families were all LID 10-28-2005. We thank God for each little girl and pray for each family whose lives were changed today."

April Adoption Update

Well, here is the newest update....I am really beginning to think that my joke about signing adoption papers at the same time I am signing my membership papers for AARP is going to come true!! Here is the message we received today:

"Last night, the early morning for China, the CCAA posted the news that families with LIDs up to 10-26-2005 received referrals this month. A Helping Hand did not have any families logged in between 10-24-2005 and 10-27-2005. We know and understand that this news can be frustrating as you wait for your referral and struggle with the growing wait. Please know that you have our empathy."

OH MY GOODNESS! (As Morgan would say, "Whatz up with that, dude?" ) In an entire 4 week span, China only sent out referrals for 3 days. They were sending them out a month at a time....At this rate, I hate to estimate when we will be going. It is very frustrating, but at the same time in our hearts we know without a shadow of a doubt that God knew this was going to be our journey when he sent us down this path.

Adoption - March Agency Update

Well, here is the update we received today....

"We celebrate with three families today who had waited for almost 17 months for their child's referral. All three adorable girls are nearly seven months old and they are all from the Samoan Children's Welfare Institute in Hunan province. The CCAA issued referrals for families who were loggedin between Oct. 14th, 2005 and October 24th, 2005. We will be sending out a more detailed update later this month. Congratulations to those three families!"

That was the update...My thoughts...17 MONTHS?? Holy cow! Based upon that update, we have 14 months to go still... UGH!!!

February Adoption Update

Well, there has not been too much news on the adoption home front. But, I figured I would update you all when we receive some word on referrals from our agency.

This is the message we received today:

We were delighted to receive referrals for 13 beautiful girls, from the Anhui and Sichuan and Provinces, on February 2, 2007. The CCAA issued referrals for families with log-in dates through October 13, 2005 indicating a current waiting time of 15.5 months.

The China Center of Adoption Affairs has the following posted on their site:

"The CCAA has finished the review of the adoption application documents registered with our office before March 22, 2006. The CCAA has finished the placement of children for the families whose adoption application documents were registered with our office before October 13, 2005."

All that is to say...they still have to review the documents 8 months ahead of us and it is going to be a while.