Adopted for Life

Click on the link below to hear the sermon "Adopted for Life" by Dr. Russel Moore. He shares the meaning of Romans 8 along with his personal experience with international adoption.

http://vimeo.com/25630063

                                                                                                                       Lori                       

An Unexpected Delay

It turns out that our home study cannot be finalized yet. Our adoption agency found something that our home study agency overlooked. Since I lived in Indiana for a short time, DCS in Indiana will have to run a background check on me. I was asked by our home study agency a couple of months ago if I received mail in IN while I stayed there and/or got a driver’s license from there. The answer to both of which were “no.” I was then told that they wouldn’t have to do a check on me there since I wasn’t really a resident. Well, it turns out that's not the case. It doesn’t matter if I had a driver’s license there or even how long I lived there, a background check is still required. The really aggravating part of it is that since I never had a driver’s license there, it is impossible for a background check to even find anything. So, they know they’re not going to find anything, but they have to go through the process anyway. If this delay takes too long, it could keep us from meeting our deadline of having our dossier to Children's Hope Inter. by Sept. 1 so that they can have it to China by Oct. 1.

I’m hoping that our home study agency will do everything in their power to get this done quickly. Our home study will have to be reapproved by IL DCFS after IN does their background check. We are still trusting in God to take care of the situation, though it is causing some anxiety. Please keep us in your prayers.

                                                                                                                                Lori                                                                                               

The Lord Has Provided

Post by Brent:

If you've been following this blog, you know that Lori has made all of the posts to date. Sometime we collaborate and often I read them before they are posted, but never before have I felt that I needed to contribute directly. Today I felt compelled to add something about what's been going on recently from my perspective. From the very beginning of our adoption journey we have felt that this was something that we had been called to do and not simply something that we wanted to do. Because of this we undertook a huge step in faith to begin something that we knew we did not have the resources to complete.  Since we started the adoption process there have been a few times when I couldn't help but wonder how we were going to do it. On two of those occasions I felt God reprimanding me for not having faith that He who created all things would provide the means to complete what he was asking us to do... and so we continued on. Recently I was talking with someone who made it quite clear that they thought that we should have never began this journey without having the funds to complete it sitting in a bank account somewhere. This conversation weighed heavily on me and again the seeds of doubt tried to sprout up in my mind. For the past three weeks, we have been waiting while the State of Illinois reviewed our home study knowing that once we received approval it would be time to submit to USCIS for approval and that along with that would come the first costs that we would not have the money to pay for. Then it happened... on Monday of this week we received an unexpected check in the mail that would not only cover the USCIS fees but also the costs for the Chinese Consulate to authenticate our documentation! God is so great, so faithful and His word is the absolute truth! In Matthew chapter 6 verse 25 says; "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?"  Christ was saying that he will meet all of our needs, and since God is the same yesterday, today and forever, the same thing holds true today! God has and will continue to provide. Thank you to all who have been praying for us as we continue on the wonderful journey that God has called us to. 

Jehovah-Jireh (The Lord Will Provide)

It’s been two weeks since our home study was mailed to DCFS for approval. From what we’ve been told, it will be about two more weeks before we receive that approval. In the mean time, I am busy filing out grant applications and getting together all the needed documents that go along with them.  Most grants require home study approval before submitting, but I want to have everything together so that the applications are ready to submit as soon as we have our approval in hand. Also, some grants are done quarterly, making June 30 the next deadline for them. It will be close as to whether we can get our applications for these in on time or not. If you would like to pray for us, pray that the finances for this adoption will fall into place.

God has many names, and one of them is Jehovah-Jireh used in Genesis 22:14. This means THE LORD WILL PROVIDE. And yes, He will provide.

                             
                                                                                           Lori 

God's Timing

Today at church we were once again reminded of God’s timing. A dear lady and friend there believes that any setbacks are God’s way of ensuring that we get the right child; the child that God has handpicked for our family. I believe this too. God knew from the beginning of time that this precious child born in China would one day be our daughter. How amazing is that? On the other side of the world, there is a tiny little girl without a home and family waiting for us. Please be praying for our daughter in China. Pray that she is safe, loved, and that all her needs are being met.  Though we do not yet know her name or what she looks like, she is already our daughter at heart.                                      

 Lori                            

Our Home Study is in the Mail

Our home study is in the mail!!! This is a long awaited day with piles of paperwork and a few unexpected roadblocks in our past. We now will be counting down the weeks – probably days – until we get the much coveted home study approval. This is a major step in the adoption process. We’ve been told that approval typically takes four weeks. Once we get the approval, we can apply for grants/loan, send our I800A to the USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services), and view CCCWAA’s database of special needs children. 

Even though we are trying to hurry things along, we acknowledge that everything will happen according to God’s timing. He may speed things up at times or slow them down at others so that we ultimately adopt the child that He has in mind for us. Of course, there could be other reasons for God's timing in this as well. I’m sure that at the end of this journey we will be able to look back and understand so much more than we do now.

                                       

                                                                                     Lori