A Letter from Li Meng

Shortly after my post this morning, I received an email from Angela at Lady Bugs N Luv. She had just received a package from the orphanage. The package contained a letter from Li Meng, some paper "handcrafts" for our children and some of his homework. She sent us a picture of the package and translation of the letter. The package is on its way to us. What a huge blessing on a day we were all feeling a bit down after not hearing word of our travel approval this week. Enjoy this sweet letter. It is a blessing to know his care takers are helping him to understand and prepare for this transition. We know it will still be stressful and difficult for him, but we are thankful God has surrounded him with caring people and has given us an opportunity to have some communication with him. p.s. The picture I posted this morning is a picture of him signing the letter that was in the package. That picture had been emailed from the orphanage a couple weeks ago.
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Dear dad and mom,

Hello to everyone! I am Li Meng. I was very excited to receive gifts from dad, mom, brothers and sisters. I really love all the stuff. I am doing very well now. I am healthy. I study every day. I learn Chinese (learn the characters), calculating, art and crafts, etc. I have also learned some simple English words. But I can’t speak them well. But my nanny told me: Don’t worry. Soon I will be able to talk after I live with you. I will definitely study English hard!

I have seen my family picture, I hope to see you soon also. I want to send my home work to you, and give it to you as a gift. My homework and pictures I painted for dad and mom; handcraft work “dustpan” for big sister, so she can help mom clean; “little basket” for my little sister, so she can put her favorite things in it; “precious tower” for my big brother, Chinese tower looks just like this; I give “little boat” to my second big brother, he can take the boat and come pick me up; I give “piano” to my little sister, I hope she can play a beautiful music. Dad, mom, brothers and sister, will you like the gifts I made for you?

My nanny wrote this letter for me. I will write letters to you when I am older.

Love you,

Li Meng

(note from Angela - He signed himself “love you, Li Meng”.)

There seems to have been some translation issue with which sister gets the piano and which one the dust pan...but I have some ideas of which should go where :)

Brothers!

They've had haircuts since this picture! Looks like the shirt fits!

This week, we had boys all over the place. My oldest son, James, went to Florida with my dad and my sister's family. That was a big treat for him. He has had great fun helping to chase down his younger cousins in water and other parks. We are so excited to have him come home today. Our seven year old son, Mark, spent the week in Central Oregon visiting some friends and staying with grandparents. He was feeling like he might miss out when he goes to China and his siblings get to stay with friends and grandparents, so this was a treat for him. We were also hoping to give him a break from his allergies, but it looks like he is also allergic to Juniper! He came home yesterday. While the boys were away, we spent time doing final preparations for the new brother to arrive. All three boys have quilts on their bunks (thanks to my mother), we picked up a new mattress (thanks to generous friends), have new shelves and lamps for each one (thanks to my husband) and my mother is working on curtains to cover the newly organized closet.

There are rumors that travel approval documents were sent from China late this week and will arrive on Tuesday. We have no way of knowing if ours is included or if our province is allowing appointments yet. Our agency has a travel group leaving at the end of the week. It seems unlikely we would be able to secure all of the necessary appointments even if our TA does get here. The next travel group is expected to leave June 11 or 18. That is only three or four weeks away and seems pretty likely. Assuming no further travel complications, we should have the other brother here soon - very soon!

On the radio yesterday, I heard a song that I also have on my i-pod. It is a good inspirational song during a half-marathon and seems very fitting right now -- see bottom for "There's a Light at the End of This Tunnel".

Last night and this morning, I felt drawn to John chapter 15. There is much to chew on in the whole passage. It is hard to select just a few verses. 15:4-5 (words of Jesus) "Abide in Me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing." It reminds me again of why and how we do what we do and to be certain not to put the mission before the Master. I know that God has a plan for us and for our son and He will bring it to pass in His time.

(This song is especially for you Ginny..."keep holding on")

Calling All Prayer Warriors!

We have overcome many hurdles and collected a three inch thick binder of paperwork. We are so close to bringing our son home. We are currently waiting our Travel Approval (TA) document from China with permission to travel. We have our Visas and are approved for the adoption. Everything is in order with US Immigration. We didn't receive our TA with the others from our agency that received their acceptance letters on April 15 because our paperwork was still working its way through US Immigration. We are hoping our TA will be issued soon.

However, things are very unsettled in China as a result of the flu. There have been many rumors over the past couple of weeks. Today, our agency told the current travel group that their travel is delayed until they can confirm appointments with the civil affairs offices in each province. These appointments are not usually an issue. Several adopting parents have reported their agencies have been unable to get these appointments due to concerns over the flu. There were also reports today that China is suspending matches and referrals for families waiting to be matched to a child. No word on if they are suspending TAs for families already approved.

We are trusting that God has not brought us this far to close the door now. We would appreciate your prayers that this flu would be managed well and not cause unnecessary delays in uniting children with their families. The current travel group for our agency is scheduled to leave on May 28. If our TA comes before that time, we hope to travel with them.

Today I received an email note from the orphanage. I have emailed pictures of Anna to them over the past three years. They thanked me for the last set of pictures and thanked us for adopting Li Meng. I had wondered if they had told him about us prior to receiving our first care package a couple weeks ago. I had been cautious about corresponding about him this past year because of immigration rules, so I hadn't asked and language is a bit of a barrier. Our agency did not allow us to send things to Li Meng until we had our acceptance letter on April 15. The email today said they had received the package and it had made him very happy. They also said they had showed him pictures of our family and told him about us before that. They also said, "he is very enjoy to join your family,and he is waiting." I wonder how long he has been waiting for us.

In the email, they also said they hoped we would bring Anna and that they and the foster family miss her. We do not plan to bring Anna. We think it will be too difficult for her. I also think it would be hard for them too since she doesn't remember much about China or any Chinese and I'm not sure how she would react. We do hope to bring her and Joshua for a visit when they are older. I'm not sure how to respond to this. I need to pray about it.

Where in the World

In case you were wondering where in the world we will be going - here is a map of China highlighting the Capitol of The Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region. This is where we will stay when we receive Joshua. The ShiHeZi orphanage is actually a couple hours to the northwest of Urumqi. Urumqi is an interesting city. It has a population of 2 million people. It is usually pronounced as something that sounds like Woo Luh Moo Chee . Don't try to look at it and say it at the same time...

Our agency received our travel visas back from the Chinese Consulate today. We are still waiting for our Travel Approval document from the China Center for Adoption Affairs. If we get it by the beginning of next week, we might be able to travel with our agency's next travel group. That will probably take a few miracles, but we know all things are possible. We're trying to be ready in case of a miracle...

Update!

When we received our RA and had permission to send a care package, we contacted a service called Ladybugs 'N' Love (I'm putting a link on the side). Angela is located in China and, with help from an adopting parent here in the US, started this service. In addition to putting together and sending our first care package, she also called the orphanage with questions from us. Today, we received answers to our questions, confirmation that the second care package sent from home had arrived and pictures of him wearing some of the clothes and enjoying the cake we had ordered through Angela.

It is such a blessing to finally have a real connection to our son. We are told he has been looking at the pictures and can recognize each of us and is very happy.

Here are the questions we asked and the answers we received.

1. Is there something special we could send that would make him happy?
A: We asked Li Meng, he said he likes toy automaton and rooter. (Not sure what that means - trying to clarify... perhaps remote controlled toy?)

2. Has he learned any English?
A: Li Meng is not going to school yet. He is attending preschool at our orphanage. He learned a few English words. He knows some simple English, such as: Hello, thank you, good bye, dad, mom, hungry, etc. (got to know those important ones like HUNGRY!)

3. Did he have anything with him when he came to the orphanage.
A: Li Meng was sent to our orphanage by policemen, there was nothing with him but a note. (Yes, we are now asking about that note...)

4. Did he tell you anything about his family?
A: When he first entered our institute, he had told us he had dad, mom and grandma (paternal). But because he was too young that he couldn't tell clearly. And then he told us something else about his family which is different then he first told. We can't tell if it's true or just imagined by him. (We have had the same experience when Anna talks about her foster family...we don't think she really remembers very much because her stories are inconsistent and don't make sense.)

5. Can you tell us what Li Meng has been doing in school or send examples of his school work with him?
A: He is learning math, Chinese words, painting, hand crafts, general knowledge. He is happy to mail some of his handicraft and school work to you.

6. Do you have earlier pictures of him that you can share?
A: There are some pictures of him and other children together. We have to take pictures of the pictures. We will send these to you as well.

7. Is there any other information about his life with you or in China that will be important for us to save for him?
A: Li Meng is a lovely child. Compare with other boys, he is more gentle, but very active and friendly. He likes to play games and toys with other boys who live with him together (you can see that in the pictures). When he is alone, he likes to draw, paint and read books. Although his hands are not very flexible, he still helps other children who has mental problem to button, switch their shoes if they are on wrong side. It's very sweet. (This was my favorite part of the report.)

8. Does he remember Shi Ru Yi? (Anna)
A: We showed him their pictures together, but because he was too little and also they were not in the same unit, he can't remember her now. But he know Ru Yi is a child from Shihezi orphanage.

9. Could we get a copy of his finding ad and the finding ad for Shi Ru Yi?
A: Yes. We can give you the copy when you come to adopt Li Meng.

The last question was about visiting the orphanage -- they said they need to ask permission. We probably won't know until we arrive. We also received updated measurements. "Little brother" is almost 3 pounds heavier and a good inch taller than Mark -- but who knows, maybe that is with shoes on :)

We feel so blessed to have this opportunity to communicate and ask questions. We are very eager to meet our son in person. Our agency received travel approvals for other families today. They will travel later this month. We would love to get our travel approval and go with them, but that may take a miracle!

This morning, when my radio woke me up, I heard this verse: Deuteronomy 3:22 "You must not fear them, for the LORD your God Himself fights for you." I got up and looked up the verse to see the context. It is Moses' report to the Israelites as they are standing on the side of the Jordan. The words in Deuteronomy 3:22 were spoken to Joshua.

I think Joshua is a good new name for Li Meng. I hope that he will be happy with it. We introduced him to this name in the care package we sent. It will be interesting to find out if he understands.

More Progress!

Yesterday, our agency told us the last piece of paper we needed for US Immigration (the article 5 report - or second RA/LOA) was picked from the US Consulate in Guangzhou and forwarded to the China Center for Adoption Affairs! Our agency also applied for our travel visas this week. The next thing we are waiting to hear is our Travel Approval from China and travel dates! We are hoping and praying that this would be a step in the process that happens more quickly than expected!
Tonight, I received word that the orphanage received our second care package and are working on putting together some pictures and information for us.
Tomorrow, we are going to get the suitcases out of the barn and start thinking about packing. I realized that if we are praying for God to do a miracle of speedy travel approval -- we had better be ready!
We sang this song at our women's prayer gathering tonight and it made me think of Joshua.

One more step........

Today we received notification that last Friday the National Visa Center forwarded our case to the US Consulate in Guangzhou for processing. Now we wait for word that the Consulate has issued our Article 5 report for pickup by our agency's representative and forwarding to CCAA. Still waiting to hear reports of more Travel Approvals and hoping to see some this week.

Here are the pictures that started us on this journey. These pictures were taken in summer of 2006 with a disposable camera we sent in a care package for Anna. There were several pictures taken with her foster mother and her foster mother's relatives. We aren't sure why these pictures were taken with this group of children at the orphanage. As far as we have ever been told, she spent all of her time in foster care. Can you pick out Anna and Joshua?It was the picture of the two of them standing on the stairs that caught my husband's attention. We were waiting for our turn to share our story at an adoption information meeting for our agency. He and Anna were looking through a photo album. We had seen the pictures before, but until that night hadn't noticed that the boy in the pictures seemed to have the same condition affecting his arms as Anna. I couldn't sleep that night. Those pictures started a quest to find out about this boy. That was January of 2007. In April 2008 we finally found him listed for adoption and now here we are, waiting for travel approval to bring him home!

Peace that Passes Understanding

The peace I feel today, truly passes understanding.

This has been a challenging week. Last Thursday night, I had a dream that there was an international crisis threatening to stop international transportation. In the dream, my biggest concern was whether we would be able to bring our son home before it happened. Then I worried whether I would get back to my other children. In the dream, we decided to bring them so that at least if we got stuck in China, we would be stuck together. In the end, the crisis continued to get worse and I woke in a panic thinking we would never bring our son home. I was very relieved to realize it was only a silly and ridiculous dream. It wasn't until a day later that I first heard someone talk about the swine flu (my dream didn't involve a flu...)

As this week has unfolded, I found myself being rather distraught with reports of restrictions on air travel. Rumors have abounded in the adoption community about how China will respond. Families that were told last week that their travel approval is coming this week were told earlier this week that it would be issued next week because someone that needed to sign was out of the office. Today, the China Center for Adoption Affairs issued a statement asking adoption providers to counsel their clients to postpone travel. The statement refers to those that received their travel approval between March 1 and April 30 and grants them an extension in the time they can travel up to 5 months. No mention of travel approvals after April 30. We are expecting our TA sometime in May. The current rumor is that TAs will be suspended temporarily. The expectation is that a decision will be made and communicated next week. Tomorrow is a holiday in China.

In this world, there are many reasons for fear and doubt. Throughout this process, I have been reminded that it is really out of my control. At each step along the way, we have done everything in our power to move the process along, only to hit roadblocks, complications and slow downs. Last Friday morning, when our immigration officer called with our approval, we thought we were home free and on our way! However, this journey looks like it will be a battle to the very end. We are thankful to have many praying friends that have prayed for Joshua and for us for a very long time. We would appreciate your continued prayers not just for us, but for the many families that are currently waiting to bring their children home. A family I know is waiting for a little girl just older than Joshua. They are one of the families that had expected their TA last week. They just received a message through an interpreter that their daughter asked them "to come fetch her".

My burden is to pray all of these little ones home. It feels like an all out battle to get them here. Many of us currently waiting have endured one set back after another as a result of new immigration procedures only to have this new global obstacle now. Yesterday, I kept thinking of the passage in Daniel where the angel assures him his prayers were heard, but delayed due to the battle at hand. (Daniel 10:12-13). Let us not grow weary and faint, may God strengthen us for the battle, let us pray without ceasing until each of them is home.

On a lighter note -- here are some pictures of our little guy working away at camp last summer...

Care Packages and Prayer Request

We were very excited to finally receive our acceptance letter from China because it meant we could send care packages. Here is a picture of the care package that was immediately sent to him from Lady Bugs N Love. In addition to the items pictured, it included letters to the orphanage director and to him from us that had been translated into Chinese. They have also ordered a cake and called the orphanage with a list of questions from us. We are hoping to hear back about these things soon. They did confirm the package was received last week.

We are also sending a care package from here at home that we packed with things ourselves. It includes a photo book with pictures of our family, home, pets, Oregon scenery, things we like to do, pictures of him and messages to him. The captions and messages were translated into Chinese by an exchange student.

Meanwhile, we would appreciate all prayer warriors interceding on behalf of our travel approval. That is the final big item needed before we can travel to China. The group just ahead of us has been experiencing delays in this step. We are also praying that fears of swine flu will not cause unnecessary delays.

This morning, when I woke up, I kept thinking of Isaiah 26:3. I emailed our family coordinator from our agency and asked for prayer and shared that verse with her. She replied that they had already been reading that chapter in their staff meeting and had previously selected Isaiah 26:23-24 as the verse of the week. I guess I need to keep that one in front of me -- here it is --

Isaiah 26:3 -"You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You."
24 - "Trust in the LORD forever, for in Yah, the LORD, is everlasting strength."

Another step complete!

Today our immigration officer called to inform us that she was approving our i800 form...not to be confused with the i800A that we waited to receive from August to December of last year. The i800 form could not be submitted until last week when we received our acceptance letter from China specific to Joshua. There are four more steps between us and making airline reservations for China! The next step is for the National Visa Center to receive our file and cable it to the US Consulate in China. After that, the consulate will issue what is being called an "article 5" report with our second "RA" (or LOA) -- the acceptance letter and call the courier for our agency to pick it up and send it to the China Center for Adoption Affairs (CCAA) in Beijing. The third step is for CCAA to issue our Travel Approval. The fourth step is for our agency to confirm our appointment with the US Consulate to obtain Joshua's visa and attend a swearing in ceremony for his US Citizenship. It seems to take about a month to complete these four steps. We're hoping we will be able to travel to China by mid-June.

These photos were sent to us last December when we received our Preliminary Approval.

A Lovely Mischievious Child

Back on December 1, when we received our preliminary approval, our agency's China liaison called the orphanage for an update. This was their report: "A lovely boy, Li Meng. He is a little mischievous child, has many ideas to do something. He is good with painting, but doesn't like study very much, and always has a very good appetite for all kinds of food."
It should be interesting when he and Mark put their heads and ideas to do something together! This picture was taken at the summer camp he attended last summer.

Plotting their course

We received the original of our acceptance letter today. There was great excitement as the fed-ex truck came up our driveway - Rachel took his picture. We signed this original and sent it back by fed-ex to our agency. This one will go to our agency and then to Beijing. The copy we signed yesterday was received in the Chicago USCIS office this morning and will make its way to their office in Missouri and eventually to the consulate in Guangzhou. Our agency sent another copy to Guangzhou with another form yesterday. Eventually, all three will meet up again, we'll get travel approval and be off to China. Pete, always the project manager, has charted all of this on the white board in his office.

The picture above was taken by the orphanage at the end of November when we received our preliminary approval. I looked up these symbols. They mean autumn and spring. He is pointing to Spring. I wondered if they told him that is when to expect us to come. Our first care package, letter and photos is supposed to be delivered to him on Monday or Tuesday!

Hooray Hooray RA Today!

Today we received that piece of paper we have been waiting to receive since December 23rd when our dossier was sent to China for review. Our agency calls it an RA (Referral Acceptance), most people call it an LOA (Letter of Acceptance). The document is actually translated to say "Letter of Seeking Confirmation from Adopter". It basically confirms that after reviewing our stack of official, notarized, certified and authenticated documents they have approved us to adopt a child and have matched us with Li Meng. The document asks us to check a box to confirm we accept him. We sign it and send it back to China to await travel approval. Now, that used to be all we needed to do and it would come back in 2-5 weeks. Now, however, we have to jump through more hoops with US Immigration first. So today, we sent by fed-ex our immigration forms, we had previously sent other consulate forms to our agency. Once immigration approves our forms are in order and cables their approval to the consulate in Guangzhou, it will be matched up with the form sent from our agency and another form will be sent to the China Center of Adoption Affairs in Beijing who will THEN process our travel approval. Our agency hopes we will travel by mid-June. Pete hopes we will travel in early June. I've learned to be a bit cautious about my expectations.
My greatest joy today is that this little piece of paper also means we can now send Li Meng letters, photos and gifts. The first care package with pictures and letters was ordered today from a service in China. I am also sending a package and photo book from here at home. We plan to send more between now and when we travel. Please pray that God will prepare his heart to receive our letters and gifts. As I'm typing this, my son is playing a Third Day CD and the song "Love Heals Your Heart" is playing (see earlier post...)
This piece of paper also allows us to post pictures! We have over 30 photos now and hope to get more-- so perhaps I'll post a picture a day for a while! Thank you all for your prayers and encouragement!
The pictures below are of the long awaited piece of paper and the growing binder of documents we've collected (about 4 inches thick now!)

Prepare

My mommy's heart has been broken more than once in this waiting process. Last week was a difficult week in waiting to hear news of our Referral Acceptance. This is the next piece of paper we need to move forward with adopting Joshua. Last week, it felt like we had waited long enough, other people had been receiving their acceptance letters and I was sure we were now prepared and ready to go on to the next step. No news. Today, there was news of more people receiving acceptance letters, people whose paperwork has been in China less time. Still no news. Last week, I was pretty sad and emotional about this. Then, I began to feel guilty for feeling sad, as if my emotions somehow meant I wasn't trusting God to be in control. I know that He is in control. I'm thankful for these emotions. It is truly a miracle that my heart breaks for a little boy I only know from pictures and second hand reports.
Throughout this process, even before we found him on an agency listing, I felt like God had spoken to my heart about being prepared. Last week, a friend told me that when she prays for us, she thinks of the word "prepare." I've spent the past few days reflecting on preparation. It feels like we have done many things to be prepared. However, that doesn't mean God is finished preparing us or Joshua. A couple of days ago, I went to the gym intent on running 10 miles at a good pace. I thought I was prepared, but a couple of miles on the treadmill revealed I wasn't as prepared as I thought. My new shoes were not working well, my energy was low and in the end, I realized I had started too late and didn't have enough time. I've been praying that God will show me the areas where I need to do more to prepare. Perhaps it has nothing to do with adoption paperwork or preparing my house. Although I have my next package ready to send to USCIS, a photo album ready to mail to Joshua and letter ready to send with the first care package...and I've organized some closets. Perhaps it has more to do with drawing nearer to the One who led us on this journey to begin with. I decided to do a scripture search on "prepare" to see what God has to say and found these treasures.

Psalm 23:5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.

Mark 1:3 Prepare the way of the Lord; make His paths straight.

John 14:2 I go to prepare a place for you.

1 Cor 2:9 Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man the things God has prepared for those who love him.

Eph 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

Heb 11:16 But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.

There is plenty there for meditation.

I also thought about inspiration from a movie that caused me to think about Joshua months before we knew whether we would find him for adoption. It is from the movie, Facing The Giants...

I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name." Revelation 3:8

There were two men with fields that needed rain. They both prayed for rain, but only one went out and prepared his fields for it.
Which one are you?
God will send the rain in His time, your job is to prepare your fields for it.

Finally, as I look at the list of scriptures above, I can't help but be drawn to the Hebrews verse. My children all know that Hebrews Chapter 11, "the hall of faith" is my favorite chapter in the Bible. It is followed by the verse that I would probably pick as a life verse (if I'd ever picked one...) It seems to be a verse that comes to my mind often. Hebrews 12:1 "Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us... (okay, have to do part of next verse - 'looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith...' rest of Chapter is really good too -- this is why I've never designated a "life verse." I'm not very good at picking favorites.)

Thank you friends for your prayers, support and encouragement! They mean so much to us.

What's In A Name

Naming our children has always been challenging for us. I feel such pressure to pick just the right name, even though I know that no matter what we pick, once we start calling the child by name, we won't be able to imagine ever naming them something else. We deliberated over each child's name for a long time. Rachel means "a lamb" and is from the Old Testament. It was Pete's Grandmother's middle name. Rachel's middle name is the same as my sister's - Lynn. Sarah's name means "princess" and is also from the Old Testament. We knew two young ladies whose birthdays were near Sarah's due date (which had been Christmas) and both teased us we should name her after them - so we did - Sarah Nicole. James means "successor" and was a New Testament Book of the bible. I had trouble sleeping one night late in my pregnancy and was praying for a family in distress as I was reading the book of James. The next day we all agreed on the name James. James, and the rest of the kids, have now memorized the first chapter of James. James always starts the recitation with "James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ..." I love that. His middle name is "David" - Pete's father's first name. We didn't think my father's first name, Dean, left the image with James we were intending. Mark's name means "mighty warrior". Some of you that know him are probably smiling right now... It is also a New Testament book of the bible. His middle name is "Dean" and it is perfect. "Mark Dean Aldrich" flows off of the tongue quite quickly when needed! Anna means "graceful". We had seriously considered the name "Grace" before coming to Anna. In the New Testament book of Luke, Anna was the old woman who spent her days at the temple where Mary and Joseph brought baby Jesus and recognized baby Jesus for who He was. Our Anna loved hearing her name in the Christmas story this year. Her middle name "Mei" means beautiful in Chinese. Our first exchange student from China was named Mei Ling. My mother-in-laws middle name is "Mae". My middle name (and my mother and grandmother's) is Ann. We did not keep any of her Chinese name - even though it is a fun name. RuYi is a greeting on Chinese New Year that means "everything go well with you." We have joked that she thought it meant "everything will always go your way!" So, we come to our new son. We previously posted about our decision to name him Joshua. Joshua means "Jehovah Saves" and is a book in the Old Testament. It wasn't until the day after we decided on "Joshua" that we realized we all had a pendant with this verse on the back - Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified,do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." We just ordered that pendant for our Joshua (and a couple extra since some of us tend to misplace ours...." We are still praying about the middle name. We had considered keeping his Chinese name. The character for his given name has several meanings when I have researched it. Most of them are not meanings we would want. The most likely meaning is from the name for the country Mongolia. We are told it is a common name. One concern with keeping his given name is that it would never be pronounced or spelled correctly. Meng is actually pronounced "Mung". We are praying about either finding a Chinese name that has special significance or using a family name that we really like. We're leaning toward the latter. Hopefully we'll be ready to post it when we get our letter of acceptance and can post our pictures! Your prayers for him to like his new name and understand its significance would be appreciated. We are hoping to get our letter of acceptance by the beginning of April. Yesterday, we heard of a family that logged in their paper work exactly a month ahead of us that received their letter of acceptance. We know God's timing will be perfect and we have much to do while we wait!

Selling Cattle

We saw a speaker not too long ago who was giving the testimony of their family's adoption story. Like many people, theirs was a story of being led on an adoption journey that might have seemed a bit crazy and for which they lacked finances to complete. As they stepped out in faith, they believed God who "owns the cattle on a thousand hills" could sell a few to help provide for their needs. As they watched the funds come in for their adoption, they would say things like, "God sold a few cows today." Last night, I received an email from a family that returned from China a couple of weeks ago. They are with the same adoption agency and adopted a seven year old with a similar condition to Anna and Joshua. As we spoke with them while they were waiting to go, they had told us a bit of their story and situation. As they were preparing to travel, they were facing loss of employment and a move out of state upon their return from China. In her note last night, she joyfully reported that upon reaching their new home, the first phone call they received was a phone call informing them a donor was giving them $25,000. In her note last night she said, "So, while we'd prayed that the Lord would sell one of His 'cattle on a thousand hills' on our behalf, He sold an entire herd!!!" I replied and told her that my husband had been quoting that verse yesterday too! We were so surprised and blessed a couple of days ago when we received a check in the mail for year-end gifts made through the adoption fund at church. We had known of some of the gifts this year, but there had been a very large anonymous gift as well. We are so happy to report that God has sold some cattle on behalf of Joshua and our family too! We have been trusting Him all along to provide what we will need to complete this adoption. Up until this point, it has often been provided at just the last moment before a fee needed to be paid. However, now with the largest portion of the funds due when we receive the approval from China in the next couple of months, it appears we will be able to complete this adoption without debt. Thank you Lord! There are more details about how all of the finances have worked on the "Help Bring Him Home" link. That link includes details of the expenses of this adoption. (See 2008 entries.) For those considering adoption, the cost can seem overwhelming. It seemed impossible to us with both of our adoptions. For those considering adoption, but hesitant because of the costs, please be encouraged. If your family is called to this journey, God will be faithful to meet your needs. We have seen it happen over and over for many families. James 1:27 says, "Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble and to keep oneself unspotted from the world." There are many ways to meet the needs of orphans even if you aren't called to adopt. We are so thankful to those of you that have prayed for our family, encouraged us and helped provide funds to bring him home. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

Cute Little Camper

We have been asked to wait to post our referral pictures until we have received our LOA from China - the final approval from China. We are waiting for that now and expect it some time in the next 2-4 months. In the mean time, I received permission to post a picture that appeared in a newsletter reporting on summer camps in Xinjiang last summer. We immediately recognized the sweet little face with the camp volunteer and were so excited. Having this picture appear in the newsletter was another one of those little miracles along the way. We have also learned that this woman is currently a full time volunteer with the Christian organization that ran the camp, has learned Mandarin in order to communicate with the children and is an occupational therapist. We never could have arrange such a qualified visitor to report back to us. Another miracle. Enjoy the picture.

DTC!!!

DTC!!! For those not familiar with adoption acronyms - that stands for Dossier to China. That means we finally have all of our official documents completed, notarized, certified, authenticated and sent in a nice thick bundle to China. We have moved from waiting for a review and approval from the US Government to waiting for a complete review and final approval from China. We anticipate this step will take 3-4 months at which point we will receive an LOA - Letter of Acceptance and return an RA - Referral Acceptance to China. Once that is done, we will wait for our TA - Travel Approval to come from China, that takes 2-4 weeks on average. Our actual travel dates will then be determined based on when our agency gets CAs (consulate appointments) for our assigned travel group - probably 1-4 weeks later. Our agency sent our dossier to China on December 23rd which was a wonderful Christmas gift to us. There was a great deal of effort by many people to make that happen. A USCIS officer finally took pity on our long wait and helped us get our approval processed quickly once she had reviewed it. Our social worker stayed up late one night to make changes to our home study and got it out on a fed-ex priority mailing the next day. USCIS sent it back to us priority fed-ex, but it was scheduled to arrive the day of the first winter storm. We didn't find out until it had already been sent that priority delivery in our area is not until the end of the following day. Fed-ex was able to mark our package to be held at their local office and miraculously was able to catch it for us before it got on the truck for the day. We intercepted it when the office opened, drove through the snow to Salem to have it notarized and certified at the Secretary of State and sent it fed-ex to a courier in San Francisco. She had to make two attempts to hand deliver it to the Chinese consulate, but retrieved it Monday and sent it fed-ex to our agency in Virginia. It was supposed to be delivered by 10:30 am, but was delayed four hours due to weather. Despite the delay, our agency China coordinator managed to put it together with the other dossier pieces we had sent the previous week and get it out the door on its way to China before she left that day and the office closed for the rest of the week! It has taken much time and effort. We are very thankful to have our documents on their way!

Immigration Approval!

After waiting more days than I'm willing to count, we finally have our approval from the US Department of Homeland Security USCIS, Hague Unit to adopt a child from China! Our application was sent in mid-August and spent several months in a huge backlog of files created when new regulations were implemented in April . However, that will soon be just a memory. Our immigration officer told us she was putting our approval document in a fed-ex envelope for us today. Once it arrives, we will be notarizing it, driving it to Salem for certification, sending it to a courier in San Francisco who will hand carry it to the Chinese Consulate for Authentication and then forwarding it to our adoption agency where it will join the rest of our dossier for its journey to China! If all goes well, it will be there by the end of the year and we will begin the next wait which is for final approval from China to adopt Li Meng. That wait looks to be 3-4 months. Once we have that approval, it looks like it will take another couple months to actually get there. When we have received that Letter of Acceptance, we can officially post his picture on our blog.

While we were sleeping...PA!

There was exciting news in my email this morning! While we were sleeping last night, China issued our Preliminary Approval. This means that they reviewed our Letter of Intent to adopt a special needs child and some basic application information about our family and have agreed to review our file for his adoption. Our agency had previously agreed to request updated information once we had the PA. We never dreamed they would have almost instantaneous results! Our agency's China liaison called the orphanage and sent us an update dated 12/1/08 (today!) which means they would have been talking with them while we were sleeping last night since China is 13 hours ahead of us. The orphanage then took some pictures of him in his classroom and emailed those. We received four pictures of him in his classroom and a brief updated description, “A lovely boy, Li Meng. He is a little mischievous child, has many ideas to do something. He is good with painting, but doesn’t like study very much, and always has very good appetite for all kinds of food.” They also gave us measurements which show he is slightly taller than Mark, a couple pounds heavier and the same shoe size. I guess that will make clothes shopping a little easier! Last week, we finished moving the boys to a newly repainted room with three bunks! Here is a picture.