Number Nine

We found out yesterday that our dossier was approved and we are officially on the wait list! We are currently family number 9 on the list. That may not sound like a lot, but this program is so small that it may take a while for that many babies to be born. We were told yesterday to expect a 9 to 18 month wait for a referral, which is a lot longer than we had expected. Morning Light Home sent out 165 letters this week to village leaders to try and get the word out about their programs to help pregnant women in need. In a country where there are more abortions each year than there are live births and up to 50% of all Taiwanese women have had an abortion this program truly is shining a light in the darkness. Please pray that these letters will reach the leaders and young women that need to hear this message so that many more lives can be saved. Also, that this new year will be filled with many referrals for the families that would love to welcome these babies into their families!

Waiting Again

Well, after 6 months of never-ending paperwork, 4 homestudy visits with our social worker, 6 online education courses plus an education workbook, medical exams, fingerprinting for FBI background checks, and numerous delays, our dossier has finally been sent to our agency. We received our final homestudy in the mail as an early Christmas present on Thursday, December 23 and had everything notarized that same day. We then headed to Des Moines on Monday, December 27 to the Secretary of State’s office to have everything state certified. When we left there we went to lunch and did a little shopping. We stopped to have everything copied and mailed when I realized that one of the state certifications was done wrong. So, we had to go back to the office and have that one redone. Luckily I noticed it before we got out of town or had it sent in already. Then we stopped at the UPS store on the way home and had everything copied and put in the mail. This time we weren’t so lucky, however, because today I realized that the guy at the UPS store that made the copies forgot to copy the backside of the homestudy sheets, so all of the copies are missing several pages. The good news, however, is that I just heard back from our agency and they said they can make the copies for us there, so we won’t have to resend it. Once our agency receives our dossier it will be sent to Taiwan and we will be put on the waiting list. So, after 12 months of waiting for the program to open plus 6 months of paperwork, now the official waiting begins. We really have no idea what kind of time frame we are looking at to get a referral. We do know that once we receive our referral there is approximately a 4 to 6 month court process that needs to be completed before we can travel to bring our child home. So, originally we thought it would be sometime next year, but now we’re not so sure. It just depends upon how many families are on the waiting list in front of us, how soon that number of babies is born and how quickly our court process goes. It really would be nice to have a special Christmas present home with us next year though or even earlier than that if possible!

Kids Say the Darndest Things

Following are some funny conversations Maya and I have had lately.

A few weeks back we were driving to Humboldt. Maya was hungry and wanted to stop and get a snack. Me: There aren’t many places to stop between here and there, but maybe we can stop when we get to Webster City.
Maya: Are we at Website yet?

This morning I was wearing jeans and a casual fun shirt for work because it is Friday and we can dress down. As we were walking out the door this was our conversation:
Maya: Are those the kind of clothes you wear to work on Fridays?
Me: Yeah.
Maya: Why, because you want to look awesome on Fridays?
Me: (Laugh) Why? Don’t I look awesome all the other days?
Maya: No, you just look like a big old lady!

“Beihai Sisters” Reunion

On October 16, 2006 we held our daughter, Maya, for the first time. We didn’t realize at the time that we not only gained a daughter on that day, but an entire extended family as well. The seven other families that received their daughters with us on that day have become like family to us. We spent two weeks together in China as we all adjusted to being new parents and we share many common memories of those days. We have a reunion every summer so that the girls can stay connected with each other. This year it was at Paris Landing State Park in Tennessee. They play, swim, laugh and just enjoy being with other girls that share a common background. I’m sure at this young age they don’t realize the incredible bond they share, but hopefully as they grow older they can stay connected and have each other to lean on and share their feelings about their adoption. The “Beihai Sisters”, as we call them, will have many memories of their annual reunions to share as well. At the top of the list, I’m sure, will be all the pictures they had to pose for over the years!

Following the Leader

The idea of adopting again had been stirring in my heart for quite some time, but with the wait for another child from China estimated to be 5 to 8 years or more we weren’t sure what direction to go with it. So, I contacted our previous agency to see if they had any suggestions. One year ago yesterday we met with them and one of the first things out of the social worker’s mouth was “We just opened Taiwan!” Jeff and I looked at each other as if to say, okay, this is where the Lord is leading us. Well, it wasn’t as simple as it sounds. The agency sent us the information on the program the next week and everything looked like a perfect fit for us. Even though we were pretty sure we were going to move forward with it, we gave it a few weeks and then decided to fill out the pre-application. That’s when we found out that they had made a mistake and the program was only going to be open to families who would accept children with special needs. We were devastated. So Jeff suggested that we check into other agencies that might have Taiwan programs. That’s when I found All God’s Children. I stumbled upon their website and saw that they were starting a pilot birth mother program for healthy infants in Taiwan! I contacted them right away and was told that it was currently just a pilot program and the official program would be opening by the end of the year. We submitted our pre-application on September 16th and were pre-approved on September 22nd. Then in November I contacted them again and was told the program wouldn’t be opening until spring. On November 19th I got an email newsletter from them saying that they were looking for volunteers to go on a mission trip to Taiwan to help paint the birth mother home, which was also the current baby home. I thought it would be awesome to be able to go paint and prepare the home where our future son or daughter and his or her birthmother lived, but didn’t know how I would convince Jeff. Then there was a sign … within a couple of hours of finding out about this mission trip I received another email from AGCI that said “Dear Pam, Thank you for your interest in attending or leading an Embrace Missions trip with All God’s Children International. . . .” What? I didn’t tell anyone I was interested. . . .except God! Well, God opened many doors to lead us on that trip. Surprisingly, Jeff was on board as soon as I mentioned it to him. Originally it was only going to be open to groups, so I sort of dismissed the idea, but in the back of my mind I still wanted to go. Then on December 10th I found out they were opening the trip to individuals! Our application was in the mail a few weeks later and we left for Taiwan on May 5th. It was an amazing trip. As it turned out they got a building for the new Hannah’s Hope Home just a few days before we arrived and we ended up painting and preparing that home instead of the birth mothers home. I even got to design and draw all of the murals for the baby rooms! The rest of the team that went was made up of AGCI staff, so we got to know them and learn more about the program. We were told that we would probably be able to enter the pilot program as soon as we returned home, before the program is officially open! As soon as we got home I contacted them and they said we could start the process right away. We sent in our application on June 2nd, Jeff’s Birthday, and were approved on June 10th! On June 15th we had our orientation call with AGCI and found out that we are only the 22nd family to enter the pilot program. Four families have completed their adoptions and the others are all at different stages in the process. So, that brings us to where we are today. Let the paperwork begin!