Almost there: Dossier!

I got an email today from our courier saying our last four documents were submitted to the Chinese Consulate in Chicago and we will have them back by next week.  That means that next week, we will have a completed dossier!  I will make three complete copies and then I will be ready to mail the most important document I've ever compiled.  We got preapproval for Asher in October of last year, so this dossier will be roughly 6 months worth of work.  It's such a great feeling, but it's also making me a little nervous because that dossier will just go and sit at our agency until we come up with around $2,500 to get it sent to China.  That is just more time that Asher has to wait.  More time that he doesn't have his family.  More time that he doesn't get the medical attention he needs.  I hate that $2,500 will be holding us up!

I know God is faithful and He has provided in every way so far, so I know He has this, BUT we are cutting it really close and that has my nerves on end.  I look at his sweet face every day and long to hold him and tell him I love him.  This wait has been an incredible time of growth for me, but also very excruciating.  I can't even begin to explain what it's like, to have a child that you know God created to be your son, but not be able to hug him, or kiss him, or know that he is okay.  It's hard.  It's very hard.

It's also hard to keep having to ask for money, but I will continue to push on because you will do things you never thought you could when it comes to your children.

Our sweet little boy didn't ask to be abandoned, or born with all the medical conditions he has, but yet there he is; a precious gift from God.  A little boy who loves, makes other people laugh, and has a big heart even though it doesn't work perfectly.

God has called us to bring this little boy home, but He hasn't called us to do it alone.  We are praying for and relying on God calling others to help us in this journey.  We are beyond blessed by those who have answered that call already.  We will never be able to tell you thank you enough.

I'm not sure what plan God has for this part of our journey, but I know it has to happen soon.  We covet your prayers right now as we wait and hope to get one step closer to our little boy.  God bless!

~Carly

Update!

We finally received our immigration approval last week!  We got notification via phone on Monday the 14th, and then received our official letter of approval  several days later.  Our next step will be to take a copy of this approval, along with a few other papers we had to redo, to Indy on Friday to get the stamps from the Secretary of State's office.  Once that is done, I will mail these final papers to Chicago to have the Chinese Consulate put their final stamps of approval on them.  Then we will have a completed dossier!!!  I am so very excited for this!  At the beginning of this journey, it seemed so impossible that we would ever get to this point, but here we are! :)

We have received a few donations since our story was in the paper.  $425 worth to be exact.  What an incredible blessing!  We know God will continue to provide however He has planned.

We still haven't received a translation for Asher's ECHO yet, and I'm very anxious to get that.  It would be so wonderful to see how his heart is functioning now after his surgery, and what might lay ahead after we bring him home.  I'm feeling very impatient these days, waiting for updates and new pictures.  I just love seeing new images of our little boy and learning new things about him.  It's SO hard for this Mama to have a piece of my heart so far away and out of my reach.

We are still hoping to travel in October, but it will all depend on how quickly we can get the remaining funds together to get our dossier to China, and then how long it takes China to approve our dossier.

As always, we ask for your prayers and we are so very thankful for your support!

~Carly

We made it in the news!

I am so excited to say that our adoption story was featured in our local newspaper today!  A wonderful friend I've made through this adoption process, connected me with a local journalist for the Fort Wayne News Sentinel and she wrote a wonderful article about our family.  The kids are super excited to have their picture in the paper :)  I am excited to get our story out past our smaller circle of family and friends.  It's such a blessing to our family and I pray positive things will come from it.

We have no new news on our paperwork or funding.  We are in a long waiting stage, but hopefully that will be ending soon.  We are still waiting on our immigration application to be approved.  We are now on day number 32 of waiting.  At this point, it looks like it's taking people around 39-40 days to get approval, so we should be hearing soon.

I would just like to ask for your continued prayers during this time.  It is very hard for me to wait on anything in general, but having my son a world away takes every ounce of strength I have.  I am relying heavily upon the Lord each day, but thankfully, He graciously provides for me what is needed.  It might not be what I think I need, but it's what He knows I need and when I need it.  He is growing me and I'm so thankful!  I'm also very thankful for your thoughts and prayers.  You will never know how much your support means to all of us.  God bless!

~Carly