Seeing is beleiving

We are very blessed to have received a video from a dear lady who traveled to Ling's orphanage in 2008. She sent us about 30 minutes of video of the orphanage with over 5 minutes of Ling included! The video that she sent on DVD is actually much clearer than it appears on our blog. I have trimmed several minutes of the video and posted it here. The video shows Ling playing with and comforting several small children. It is such a blessing to see her caring for others in her situation. We have been told that she is a very loving and caring young lady and we can see that in the video. Carolyn and I debated if Ling had some sort of "tick". If you watch her closely, it appears that her head "jerks/twitches" somewhat. I think we came to the conclusion that it was probably that she was just facing a very large window and she was "fighting" the glare. One of the ladies that has visited the orphanage several times this year says that she refuses to wear sunglasses.

Pictures

Here are a few more pictures that we have of Ling. She looks sooooo skinny! These almost look like two different girls, but we have been assured they are both Ling. I think they are take about a year apart (both pics are about a year old)

Fingerprints and answered prayer!

We went to the USCIS office in Columbus to have our fingerprints recorded on the 17^th and all went well! Another answered prayer to report! We received a wonderful phone call on December 16^th from an organization that we had applied to for assistance! They will be sending our agency $3,000 on our behalf to go towards our expenses! Praise the Lord! He truly knows what we need when we need it!! We had a balance of $1,300 that needed paid before we could send in our dossier, and now we have it! We have our Consulate and Embassy documents ready to go for the final authentication. We hope to have our USCIS approval toward the end of the week or early next week. When we have that, we will need to have a copy of it notarized, taken to the county courthouse for authentication, and then my plans are hand delivering it to the Secretary of State for their certification. Then it will be ready to send to the Consulate. Once we have the USCIS clearance document back from the Consulate, our dossier should be ready to go to China. If (and that’s a big “if”) we can get “logged-in” before January 10 ^th, we wont have to file an extension. The Lord will truly have to work a miracle for that to happen.

Just a quick post, but another answered prayer. God has provided the money we need to send our dossier paperwork clear up to the Secretary's of State level. Just like He said He would do!

Inside the Orphanage

Over the last few days, a nice lady has sent me more pictures of Ling's orphanage and surrounding Province. The orphanage is a once abandoned hotel. It looks clean, but according to the pictures I have seen, looks very bleak and somewhat colorless. I am sure they do what they can for these kids, but I wished they had a little money to spend on pictures etc. to make it a little nicer for them. I have stared the certification process for all of our paperwork that must go to the state and federal government as well as the Consulate and Embassy for authentication. Its a huge process, but taken one step at a time, is manageable. Carolyn and I are praying for the money to finish this part of the process. The next time I post, I hope to be able to report that God has provided again :)

Today we mailed out the care package. Praying that it makes its way into her hands. According to the post office, it should arrive at her orphanage in 7-10 business days. I didn't mention that we were able to mail the box as a result of an answered prayer. We had it nearly ready to go with the exception of a few remaining items we really wanted to send and was praying for the funds to get them. On Friday we received an unexpected check from a church in Alabama that was just enough to purchase the final remaining items and to pay the postage to send the box. Thank you Lord once again. I also received a few pictures today from an online friend who has been to the orphanage. One of them looks like it was taken on wash day. I couldn't image doing laundry for 200 kids and having to dry it outside on anything available (as the picture alludes). The orphanage is an abandoned hotel. Not really sure of the internal living conditions, but imagine they are sparse at best. I am sure they do the best with what they have.

Care Package

Today I finished the care package that is going to Ling. Tomorrow it goes in the mail! We ended up putting the following items in the box: A pink Ohio State hat (just because it was pink, but Trisha will like this anyways), a pair of fuzzy jammies, 4 pair fuzzy socks, 4 pair sunglasses (not fuzzy), a tween journal (hopefully her caretakers will encourage her to write in it and maybe her friends and caretakers will do the same), a set of 4 cute ink pens, chap stick, 1 heart shaped necklace, another necklace that says "big sister", two disposable cameras, hair scrunchies, hair clips, fancy bobbie pins, a package of Gheodelli chocolates (for the orphanage Director), and a photo album with about 75 pics of family (our favorite item). We labeled a lot of the pictures in Chinese and American so that she could see who her mom and dad are (ok, maybe not a good idea-lol) and what her siblings looked like. We also were blessed to be able to have two letters translated (thank you AHH). One from us to Ling and one to the orphanage director. I know how excited we were when we sent Bella a similar box! When I was packing this one for Ling, Bella was asking me question after question. "Daddy, did you send me a box when I was in China"? Yes sweetie, Me and mommy sent you a box just like this one. "Why daddy"? Because we loved you Bella and we wanted to let you know that we were coming for you! "Did you put the same stuff in the box Daddy"? Some of the stuff was the same, but we also sent you some different things that we thought you would like! "I did like them daddy, I liked them a lot"! I dont really think she remembers opening the box, but who knows. We have pictures of her opening it....and they are priceless to us! We pray that this box makes it to Ling with at least the letter and photo album. If the rest of the items make it, great. But we would at least like her to be able to see her new family so that maybe she wont be so scared. If you dont mind, those that are reading this, say a little prayer that the box makes it to the right destination. We probably wont know until we go get her.

Movin along

We finally got our I800-A application sent in today to the US Department of Homeland Security. Applications are taking 30-45 days on average to process right now. That gives us 30-45 days to get all of our documents authenticated, which means we are leaning on the Lord to provide the money to take care of it. On an answered prayer note, we received an unexpected check today that will cover the purchase of the remaining items that we want to put in Ling's care package as well as covering the postage to send it to China (about $50). Thank you Lord! Its just so awesome to see how He provides exactly what we need exactly when we need it :)

Another answered prayer

In my last post, I mentioned not having the money to send in with our I-800A form. I prayed about it all day....and God answered this evening :) A kind agency is taking care of it for us with a no interest loan that we can pay back whenever we have it :) I absolutely take that as an answered prayer! Thank you Lord

Very short video clip of Ling. This was taken by the father of a child that was adopting from the same orphanage. Ling helped care for his daughter.

Introductions

I guess we should introduce you to De Man (or Ling as we call her).

Trustin

We have our I800A (which is our request to bring an orphan into the US) ready to go, we are just waiting on the Lord to provide the finances to do it. This adoption is starting out a little different than Bella in the fact that we are basically starting out with exactly 0 dollars. With Bella, we had "start up" money provided from several sources. We know this is in the Lord's timing, so we will wait and see how He provides.

June 15, 2009 - October 30th.

The first date of any real importance is June 15, 2009. It was on this day that I was poking around the WACAP website and found a little girl with Albinism born in March, 1998. After praying about it all day, I showed her info to Carolyn. The next day I emailed Victor and Dana (at the agency we adopted Bella through) and inquired if this girl was on the CCAA shared list. Within 10 minutes Victor called back and said yes, she was. He sent me some basic info on her (basically her condition, the province she was in, and basic medical information) and a picture, all of which I shared with Carolyn.
That little girls name is Ling De Man and she is from the Dexing City and is now in the Children’s Welfare Center of Shangrao City. We really didn’t find out any thing further regarding her until August 14th when Dana emailed us additional medical information and a few new pictures.
Over the course of the next few weeks, Carolyn and I talked extensively, prayed diligently, and sought the Lords guidance in what to do, not only in regards to Ling, but adoption in general.

September 4, 2009
After nearly 15 months of prayer and contemplation, Carolyn and I agreed that we would pursue adoption once again. Honestly, neither one of us felt a big Yippee moment or anything, but what we did feel was a peace. A peace that only the Lord can provide in making such a big decision. We have agreed to pray about each and every step. Over the course of the next few weeks, we told family and friends of our decision and received mixed reactions (which we expected).
On September 7th, we signed the official forms for our home study and adoption agency to begin processing the adoption.

September 10th
We officially requested to adopt Ling from China and on September 11th, she was put on indefinite hold for us to complete our paperwork.
Between Sep 10th – October 30th, we completed the homestudy process and started working on completing the dossier requirements. We also completed and submitted a dozen grant applications for assistance with bringing Ling home.

October 12th
We received our pre-approval from the Chinese government today. This basically means that they are approving us to adopt Ling as long as we can fulfill the extensive requirements. It also means we can send her a “care package”. We have worked on this care package and so far have included the following items to send: A translated letter to Ling and to the orphanage director, a photo album with over 50 family pictures, a journal, 2 necklaces (one that says big sister), some hair items, Chap Stick, and chocolates for the director. We still need to find some sunglasses and socks and maybe a few other items to include before we mail it.

October 30th
Today we received an update of measurements for Ling and a few new pictures her eight is approximately 4’ 10”, her weight is 95 pounds and her shoe size is about 8 ½.

And so it begins.....again

I thought about posting everything that has happened since June 30, 2008, but after more thought I decided to only summarize what has happened to date. I guess I can sum it up with just few words actually: prayer, concern, prayer, questioning, prayer, realization, prayer, excitement, prayer, and yes even more prayer. Can you tell that much prayer went in to our decision? From June, 2008, a lot of “things” and events happened that led to where we are today in this journey. We talked frankly to one another, to family, friends, fellow adoptors, and various agencies. We contemplated finances, room, emotions, reactions, consequences, and feelings. Our decision finally rested on one realization. Love and obedience to God’s call. We may not have the room in our house, but we have room in our home. We may not have the finances, but we didn’t with Bella either. We may not have the 100% backing of family and friends, but again, we didn’t with Bella. And that’s OK. What we realize is this. Approximately 6,000 miles from our home is a little white haired girl that needs us. She has a place to live, but doesn’t have a home. She has a group of people she lives with, but she doesn’t have a family. She has a person who watches over her physical needs, but she has no one to share the love of Christ with her. We are going to take care of all of those things with the Lords help and guidance. We can not do those things perfectly, but we can do them. And so we will.
With that being said, welcome to our journey. Share with us if you want and pray for us if you will.

Are we crazy? Maybe.

June 30, 2008 –

Ok, maybe I’m crazy. I’ll admit that first. Are we ready to adopt again? Yes, I believe so. Do others believe that? Not everyone. But that’s ok. What I do know for sure is that I feel God’s calling, and when I feel His calling, I want to act. Another thing I know, there are too many kids out there without a family. Ours isn’t perfect by no stretch of the imagination, but it is better than the alternative for these kids. I believe every family (in whatever way) should do everything within its power to see to it that no child goes without a loving home. The Bible supports in over 40 scriptures, God's approval of adoption. He encourages and instructs us to be carriers of the fatherless. Adopting a child is a huge step and one that should not (and cannot) be taken lightly. It requires a special type of individual and marriage to take in a child and care for them and not everyone is equipped to do so. What most do not realize is that if they feel drawn to adopt a child, God has already chosen them to be an adoptive parent. The mere existence of such a drive should reassure us that God has a plan in our lives for adoption. We should recognize it, thank God for it, and pursue it without fear of failure because God is in control. Fearing the things of this earth will only lead to stress, anxiety, and a lack of self-confidence. In the Bible there are several scriptures that address how Christians should approach every decision they make objectively, with self-control, and within obedience to God's will, and the decision to adopt is no different. We should adopt without fear of failure, but with confidence in knowing that God has led us to this decision. But that does not always drive away that fear. If you've studied the Word closely, prayed earnestly for answers, and given yourself over to the Lord in complete acceptance of His decision; Satan will plant doubt, confusion, and frustration within your mind if you’re not careful. I know that we will face hardships, I know that we will get aggravated at the slow pace, I know that we will face opposition and questioning from those that don’t understand our decision. But more importantly, I know that God is on our side and I know without a doubt that He is in control. God smiles upon couples that make this important decision not out of selfishness or with high expectations, but out of love and in obedience to His word and He will bless those that give of their heart.