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.