Sunday, March 1, 2015

Update

What a month!  February held lots of paperchasing, more necklace making, and one big ol' garage sale.  Austin and I continued to check things off of our dossier list- birth certificates authenticated at the state level, check; background check clearances, check; employment verification letters, check; medical exams, check; appointment made to have medical exams notarized (what?!?), check; first home study visit, check!  That's right- we met with our social worker for the first time this weekend and the visit went great!  We anticiapte one more meeting with him in two weeks.

We still have more paperwork (!!) to track down, fill out, mail in, wait for it to be returned, mail somewhere else, notarize,hand deliver, notarize again, etc.  I'm absolutely resonating with the term 'paperchasing' now- its a wild chase!

One of the documents is a letter that will be sent to Chinese authorities basically stating our intentions and asking permission to adopt a child from China and in sweeping general terms, describe how we will care for that child.  Its a 'form letter' that doesn't allow for flowery prose and yet as I was retyping it, I was struck by its duel meaning.  We state that she will become our daughter, as if she had been born to us.  We will not harm or abuse her.  We will provide the best education to her and give her everything she needs to succeed in life.  And our child will inherit from us as if she had been born to us.  

And that's absolutely what we'll do. But even more than our physical provision for her educational, emotional, etc needs, we pray that she'll come to know the provision from her heavenly Father- who has adopted each of His children.  

"See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are." 1 John3:1

"And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise." Galations 3:29


That is our prayer for each of our children, that they will come to love God and partake in this very royal inheritance.  Because God will provide everything they need to succeed in life- so much more so than anything we can do here on earth.

We look forward to sharing this inheritance with our daughter.  Every dollar raised represents one step closer to bringing her home.  Yes, we have paperwork and wait times, but this financial hurdle is significant.  And yet, its shrinking before our eyes, each and every day.

Thank you for being a part of this journey.  For caring about bringing one more beloved daughter home.
If you'd like to support us further, here are some current and upcoming fundraisers:

"Love Makes a Family" jewelry fundraiser- check out these handmade necklaces!  Custom orders welcome- contact me for details.

www.etsy.com/shop/christmastreeface


Garage Sale on March 7th.  Utah Way, Escondido, CA
7am- come and get a great deal!


And as always, we will gladly accept donations through this fundraising page.

Thank you!

love,

Austin and Anna