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!

Waiting for pre-approval

We are well into our paperchase and still waiting on PA (pre-approval) from China and our update on the home study to be completed. The Chinese New Year celebration begins today and everything in China comes to a standstill for a week, so we will not hear anything on the PA until afterwards. In the meantime, our hearts and prayers are with the Chinese people as they try to recover from the storms. We never heard anything from Jin Ming's orphanage in the reports of those hardest hit, so are assuming she and the other children are fine. Half the Sky is an organization that is helping the children and keeping us updated. Their site is http://www.halfthesky.org/ and any donations that people want to make can be made through the "little mouse fund". A friend of ours in China was able to check on Jin Ming for us a couple of weeks ago and said her medical needs are being met and that she's doing well. The staff describes her as very friendly and a little fat (she loves to eat!). By Chinese orphanage standards this is great! It is such a comfort to hear anything, yet my heart still aches to have her home.

As far as our other kids go, they are all doing great. Brit just showed her steer in Ft. Worth and placed 12th, which is awesome, but was 2 out of the money. Blake is hoping to get his steer fat enough to take to Houston in March. Isaiah is still doing very well in school and talks about his "little girl"/ sister everyday. He went shopping for her in Ft. Worth and picked out a pink rhinestone cowgirl shirt along with a Dora coloring book. He is very interested in learning his language again and we start Mandarin classes in Amarillo tomorrow.

Hope to have our PA next time I post!

Our China Doll

We are on the road to our second China adoption and are awed once again how God puts His plans in perfect order and time. We knew as we started the process with Isaiah that we'd also have a daughter from China, but had no idea how or when. After a year of much transition and joy with our first, we found Jin Ming. We first saw her in November on the Chidrens House International list, but her file was under review. When we returned home from our Thanksgiving trip we checked the list again. She was still there and no match had been made. She continued to pull at our heart strings and on November 29th we asked to review her file. She was under review again from another family, but her files were e-mailed to us so we could get to know her. She had congenital glaucoma and was blind in her right eye with limited vision in her left eye. Surgery had been done at 15 months to stabalize her vision and two others to remove her tonsils and a polyp from her tongue. She had been through so much at such a young age. By December 7th Jeff and I were e-mailing the agency to let them know that we were seriously considering her. I was still reserved in my heart out of fear of all the "what if's", while I watched Jeff grow in a confidence that she was the one. I knew that Jeff would lead us through this adoption, but I wasn't prepared for the fears that would attack me. In all of this, God was faithfully leading us and preparing me for that leap of faith only He could perform.

I had called our daughter Faith from the beginning, not knowing how many unknowns there would truly be. After talking to doctors and waiting on a reply from our insurance, we took that "leap of Faith" and made our request to adopt Jin Ming on January 7th. I love to look back already and see how He leads through doubts and fears nevering wavering in His intentions and fully confident that His way will prevail on our weak hearts. He truly is a good, good God with an amazing heart for each of His kids. Our other kids are so excited about their little sister and Isaiah continues to bless us as he prepares for "his Jinny's" arrival home. He prays that "she won't have to cry anymore" and that "her mama and baba will get her soon". He's also informed us that she loves flowers and needs butterfly sunglasses! There is nothing like the simple faith and heart of a child to keep things in life real.

We continue to pray, as we did for Isaiah, that her heart will be prepared and her transition smooth. We also are praying for her eye pressures to stay in check and her ear infections to be healed. Isaiah often tells us how Jesus held him while he cried and waited for his mommy and daddy. We know he will do the same for Jin Ming.

Blessings--Leigh