One Year Later

It was one year ago today that we pulled the trigger and applied to our adoption agency. It has been fast and painfully slow all at the same time!  It's like we've been "expecting" for a year, with several months to go.  Multiple times a day we look at baby girl's pictures placed all over our house and there is just this pain in our hearts that we're stuck here waiting instead of jumping on a plane and going to get her!  But we pray, and pray, and pray for her and for our patience and God is getting us through it one...day...at...a...time.

Several times a day Ella mentions her baby sister, usually in the context of something she thinks she'll like or something she wants to do with her.  "Sister will really like to celebrate Easter with us next year!"  "I can't wait for sister to come home so I can teach her to play piano!"  And every mealtime and bedtime, Ella prays something like, "Dear God, thank you for our sister and please keep her safe and healthy and please bring her home soon."  I have been brought to tears several times simply by hearing her say something about her sister.

A recent small milestone we hit was that our dossier changed to "in process" at the CCCWA.  This happened on March 30, and it means that after 60 days of being translated, our dossier is now being reviewed by an officer to make sure we meet all of their criteria.  But, it does not mean that we are done with this step.  We still have weeks until we will get this coveted LOA (Letter of Acceptance) that says China officially approves us to adopt our baby girl.  And after that, it will be 3 months until we travel.  So, all that to say we are now looking at July/August for travel.  So here is a summary of the remaining steps of the process:

• Receive LOA
• Send I-800 application to USCIS (asking US immigration for permission to adopt the child we were specifically matched with)
• USCIS forwards our approval to the National Visa Center to petition for baby girl's visa
• The NVC forwards the approved visa petition to the US Consulate in Guangzhou China
• The Consulate reviews the visa application (the DS-230), makes sure it meets the qualifications for an immigrant visa, and then signs off that everything is in order for the adoption to be completed.
• The approval is forwarded to the CCCWA, which issues our Travel Approval!

Those are the steps that take 3 months, and none of them can be done simultaneously.  If any of you feel led, please pray that these steps go smoothly and quickly.  Also, pray that we would be using this waiting time the way God wants us to instead of just wishing it away.  It is a difficult struggle, but we will continue to trust in Him.


"Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD." Psalm 27:14