The things that nobody tells you......

There are plenty of moments where the adoption process is not glorious. The days when you are neck deep in paperwork, when your hand is hurting because you have been writing so much, waiting and waiting, knowing that the decision for you to be a parent is in the hands of humans, questions, and so on.  And I am sure that I am missing other things. But there are days when it is just not glorious. The days when people hear that your adopting and say that is so cool, but in the mean time you are thinking there is nothing cool about being put through the ringer, or paying the county to inspect your septic tank so you can be a parent.

I think from where your life has been built from will depend on how you use these days to affect you.

But for me, there are other days that just sneak up on me. I can feel them coming on, but for crying out loud, I do not feel like shedding tears today. The Longing Days as I fondly call them.

Longing is defined as: a strong desire especially for something unattainable.  And some days this just seems unobtainable. These are the days, where my faith is put to the test.

And I had one yesterday. Oh gosh did I cry and cry. I think when you are adopting, and it is your first child there are just things that you are forced to grieve. There is a lot that I am missing out on through adoption.  A lot that I am missing out by not naturally having a child. But then, there are also things that I am experiencing that only  an adoptive parent could experience.

This just seems to be a season of grieving. Please, Please, Please do not get me wrong, I love hearing about new life. But there are moments where it sneaks like the enemy in the night. I can feel like coming on, and then it hits like a tidal wave.

The process of adoption is incredibly emotional. It is like riding a roller coaster. I am thankful that God is giving me the time to grieve. Dealing with your junk is important, and I do not want to miss out on the opportunity to live without my junk. Less junk in my trunk makes life just a little bit lighter. And a better life not only for myself, but for my daughter.

On another note, We found out today we should have our home study back on Tuesday. Immigration office here we come!!! Please be praying that we filled the forms out correctly, and God will rush them through the right hands.

Much Love,

Jennifer

PS- Thanks to our village, the garage is filled with items for our yard sale. I actually think we will have one in the fall and one in the spring. If you are bored, come by on September 8^th and help is bring this baby home. We could use people to help be there the day of, price and so one. 

What is Next.....

It has been a couple of weeks since we have returned from China. Michael is famous for telling people “You would not believe how many Chinese restaurants are in China” It is pretty funny.

A ton of folks have been asking us what the next steps are, so I thought I would lay it out.

·       *   We have our home study in our hands for our review. From there, it gets sent to our agency for review. Once they approve it, then we will get the notarized copy back and can do what we need to do we need to do with it. 

     * Next is Immigration. You need to get approval from US immigration to adopt before you can send anything to China. Our I-800A is ready to go. Working on the necessary copies that are needed for it. But, we cannot send it in till our home study report is in our hands notarized.

·         Simultaneously, we are working on our Dossier. This is THE packet that gets sent to China. It includes a ton of documents that need to be notarized and then authenticated by the secretary of state along with the Chinese consulate. And when I say a ton, I mean at least 30 different documents. This package is what gets translated and sent to China. But in order to send this off, we have to have immigration approval. So we are working to get it all ready so once immigration comes in we move forward.

·        *  Wait ……that is what happens once our dossier goes to China. We wait for a referral, or in laymen terms, we wait to find out who she is. Who we have been praying for. But the reality is we will not be waiting. We will be saving any and every penny we can. We have some creative ways for people to get involved coming up. We will be doing some necessary things to the house in order for her to come home and so on.

So there you have it, the next steps. So many more to come, but so many completed so far. Each one feels like another step closer to our family.

There are a few words that God has been laying on my heart in regards to adoption. Like I said earlier in the blog, this blog was intended to let people know what was happening in our world. But, it was also so people could hear adoption from our perspective. The process, the heart process and just how personal the knitting together of hearts can be through so many piles of paper, time, energy and the reality of it taking a village to bring a child home. It is also from my perspective as a first time mom. The things that I am excited about, the things I have had to let go, expectations that I have had to change about what I thought my life would be and so many other things. So, over the next few posts, I will be highlighting these words.

Perspective

Longing

Sacrifice

Busy

Preparation

Why questions

Broken

Trust

Relationship

Thanks for the prayers, we can feel them every step of the way!

Jennifer

*This is pretty random, but to whomever is using our link to buy though Just Love Coffee Thank you! We just got the second check deposited! Every little bit makes a difference!