Where Do We Go From Here?

Okay, I know that I have done my fair share of whining when it comes to how long this whole adoption process has been taking and that in reality things have moved much faster than with either of our two earlier adoptions, but some days it just seems like a lifetime ago that I held our sweet boy in my arms while saying good-bye to Maria’s Big House of Hope.  Ugh!  

And I often wonder if it is more of a blessing or a curse to have actually met our adoptive child on the frontend and to have actual memories of spending time with him while waiting to be able to bring him home.  It just doesn’t seem right that we are here ready and waiting while he is still stuck in an orphanage alone.  Why can’t things just be quick and simple?  And why can’t paperwork be processed while our child is at home with us surrounded by his family and tucked securely in his own bed in his pirate themed bedroom across from his little sister?  In reality I know that as much as I wish things could actually work this way it is never going to happen, but that doesn’t keep my mother’s heart from simply wishing time would go by faster and that we would be stepping off a plane in Luoyang City tomorrow rather than four or five months from now.  But then days like today remind me of just how fast this process actually is happening and I can't help but be thankful.

Back in January we applied for an adoption grant that we hoped would help offset some of the extreme financial commitment of this adoption.  A short time later we applied for a second grant with the same mindset and goal.  As you may remember, we began this journey with extremely little personal resources to draw from and have been working hard to budget and fund-raise all of the needed dollars to accomplish this journey while remaining debt free.  That said, any grant of any size would obviously help us in this endeavor.

Since applying for both of these grants we have prayed consistently and waited patiently to hear a response.  Ironically, although applied for months apart both applications seem to have fallen into review along the same timeline.  As we continue to wait and pray for the results of our first application, we were notified this past Friday that the second application was recently approved and we were subsequently awarded an adoption grant of $15,000… with the check already in the mail to our adoption agency.  Praise the Lord, this is an enormous blessing!!

After consulting with the giving organization and our adoption agency we have determined that this grant will cover all of our remaining agency fees, both of our Chinese Visa fees, most of Jack’s Entry Visa fee, a large portion of our domestic and international airfare, all of our in-country Chinese travel and hotel expenses, as well as our orphanage fee.  Again, I cannot emphasize enough that this is absolutely fantastic news!  Praise be to God!  On Friday morning we awoke trusting that the Lord would provide the money we still needed to pay all of the fees associated with Jack’s adoption.  On Friday night we went to bed awestruck by how God had once again worked a miracle in our journey and in just one short email had set us thousands of dollars closer to accomplishing our goal and bringing Jack home.

And that brings me back to today.  Every Monday I write an update email letting people know what has happened in our journey since the prior Monday.  As I wrote today’s update I couldn’t help but notice, and be a bit overwhelmed by, just how quickly things have actually come together.  Do you realize I boarded a plane to Chicago to meet up with the First Ever Show Hope Sponsor Team on my way to Maria’s Big House less than nine months ago?  And it was just eight months ago that I finally stopped letting Satan pester me with doubt and followed Dan’s lead to jump into this adoption thing with full faith that if it was God’s will He would provide.  And it was just seven months ago that we attended our homestudy orientation meeting and launched our first round of fund-raising with a Virtual Bake Sale and the beginning of Show Hope t-shirt sales?  Seven months, that’s it!  And here we are today on the very brink of having every dollar needed to pay for every cost of this entire endeavor and none of our uncles had to strike it rich and die for us to do it.  When you look at it from this perspective it seems like such a short amount of time.   What an amazing testament of what God can do.  Honestly, He will never cease to amaze me!

So the real question at this point is - what now?  Where do we go from here?  We actually spent all weekend tossing these questions back and forth and crunching numbers to figure out exactly where we stand.  As I listed the items above that this significant grant will cover, there is also a short list of things it will not.  The biggest outstanding costs seem to be the balance of our airfare and our post adoption reports.  Assuming our travel dates come as predicted they will put us under a new set of Chinese regulations going into effect August 1 so these two things together will most likely total somewhere in the realm of $3000.  There are also a few smaller in-country China fees that may or may not be covered by this grant depending upon how estimated numbers play out in reality.  But even here we are close enough to feel comfortable with the numbers and our ability to cover any shortage while we await travel approval over the next several months.  And if our second grant application comes through with any sort of support provided we should be able to shout from the rooftops that we have conquered the financial aspects of the journey God put before us, paid in full with time to spare!

So I guess the question remains – Where do we go from here?  Or perhaps better put, what do we pray for now?  Well, first and foremost we raise prayers of thanksgiving for the miraculous provisions from God our heavenly Father.  And we stand fast in our prayers and conviction that He will continue to provide for all our needs so that we can finish this race strong and provide an incredible testimony to God’s faithfulness so that others may see what He has done.  And we will pray for speed of process as we wait for the final paperwork hurdles to come and go over the next few months.  We now live in a world of timelines that are completely out of our control as the Chinese government reviews our paperwork and issues the needed forms and approvals for us to move forward.  We have estimated timeframes for each of these steps, but there are always exceptions to each rule and we will continue to pray that we might be found within those exceptions and our paperwork might move forward faster than is typical so that we might see our little boy face-to-face as quickly as we can.

And I think beyond that we just smile.  We stepped into this thing trusting the Lord and His guidance and here we are nine months later with a mountain of proof He has guided.  You would think after a while I would learn to expect great things, and yet I am constantly amazed at how God sends down His blessings in ways we cannot predict or imagine.  Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised.  Alleluia!

"Do not worry then, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear for clothing?'  For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.  But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."  Matthew 6:31-33

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."  Philippians 4:6-7

"And my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus."  Philippians 4:19

Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heav’nly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

-Doxology