Jin Ming last summer

This is a picture we think must have been taken last summer. She has so much more of her "baby" fat. It's hard to believe how much they change about this age. We were just looking at Isaiah's pictures from about the same age and he looks so much older now. I can't wait to see new pictures, but it makes my heart hurt just knowing some of what we've missed. I have to remember how many firsts we've had with Isaiah and how many we will still have with Jinny.

Update

I wanted to let everyone know that we did get fingerprinted on the 25th and so begins our wait for immigration approval (I 171H). This can take, on average, any where from 2-3 months. With Isaiah it was much quicker and, of course, we are hoping for the same. I did request special consideration due to Jin Ming's condition and are praying that request will be honored.

On another note, we are asking for prayer concerning our agency's Hague accreditation, which is still pending. I'll try to explain this as simply as possible. China has become a part of the Hague nations and all agency's must follow certain guidelines in order to become accredited and to continue their China adoptions. Adoption agency's have been working with our government to meet these requirements by April 1st. For those agencies like ours (CHI), whose cases are still pending, concerns about delays and suspensions have arisen. The State Department told CHI that as long as I-600A's (ours was filed 3/14/08) were filed by the 4/1 date all should be fine. China's Center for Adoption Affairs has not stated that this will be THEIR policy. They could suspend any agency's adoptions that have not already been logged in (dossiers/all paperwork in China), until Hague approval is granted. This is where we need prayer for favor with the Chinese government and for our government to complete the cases of "pending" agencies as soon as possible.

We will not have our dossier ready until well after this date. We are hoping by that time all things will have been worked out, but it can still affect us and many other families. We knew this adoption would require more trust and a stretching of our faith, but noone ever knows exactly what that will look like. As everything continues to unfold, I am reminded in a deeper way that He truly is our sheild and fortess in times of trouble.

We know, through other families that have had contact with Jinny's orphanage, that she knows she has a family waiting for her. We are still hoping to send her something soon to let her know who we are. We pray as the process unfolds that she will be surrounded with His lovingkindness and have peace in her wait.

Waiting...

(I'm actually posting on March 17th, but decided to post this draft from the 4th
as I struggled with...well, with waiting, trusting, etc.)

We are still waiting on many things--pre-approval (which has been taking a long time for some families), home study approval, more medical explanation forms, and our precious daughter to be home. I'm not sure what I was thinking when I said, "we've done this before, I'll be more prepared this time, the paperwork shouldn't be so bad second time around"! I know my Father has to look at me and chuckle sometimes. Sooo... more lessons on waiting for Him and pressing into His strength during my daily moments of weakness, anxiety, frustrations, etc. I have to say in all my wrestling, He does bring a peace and a grace to press through that can't be found any other way.

I started to delete this entry since I never got back to it, but decided it needed to be left as a reminder of how we, I, walk through.

We did finally see answers--our PA came in on March 14th along with our homestudy approval. The last of the medical forms arrived, so all we really need as far as paperwork is our FBI/ immigration clearance and approval. That approval wait can be up to 2-3 months, but we continue to hope for quick processing. We did hear from a family who just got their child and was able to visit Jin Ming's orphanage. They took video and pictures of all the children who came to greet them and will post those when they return. We are so hoping to see our Jin Ming in some of those pictures. They said the new facility was so nice and that all the children were well cared for and so loved by the staff. We so often pray for those precious caregivers in China who have become mamas to our children until they can find their forever homes. I know many of them will always hold a special place in our kids hearts.

After the whirlwind of stock show season ending, we are now planning on being home for a while. Hopefully that means me keeping up with posts better! Thanks for all of you who keep us covered in prayer.

Love and blessings!