Friday, July 27, 2007

An update from China!

Another day of working on the house---just when I think that all of the painting is done, we find something else for me to do. Today it was the stairs going down to the basement.

Checked my email when we got home and found that we had a note from our agency--the long awaited update from China. Three new pictures of Janelle, and her height and weight, as well as a note telling what she is doing. I'm really glad for the new pictures, as I'm not sure that I would have recognized her. Her hair has been cut quite short (like a boys, said Taylor). Her height is 54 inches and her weight 64 pounds---a bit bigger than I figured from the last report we had (over two years old). I'll have to run out tomorrow and exchange the two outfits that I bought last week for one size bigger. But now that I have an idea of size, I can buy her more things!!

The report says that she is on summer vacation, and will start 5th grade when school starts again. I bought a number of used 4th grade school books recently, so I think those will be a good place to start---once she learns English. It also says that she likes to help with the younger kids and is outgoing.

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Day 63, and still waiting......

.....but we aren't just sitting around doing nothing. Vacation this year is a little different than usual. We did spend the first week with our kids, and had a great time. The last couple of weeks have been spent ripping out carpet, painting walls and ceilings, replacing the heater, new deck, finishing the basement and.....well, you get it. We are remodeling a house here in Missouri to resell. This is the way that we have been able to pay for our first two adoptions, and it will help out this time as well. We are beginning to see light at the end of the tunnel, and are hoping that with one more week of work we should be pretty well done. Then we will put the house up for sale.....anyone want a nice 4 bedroom home in southwest Missouri??

Unfortunately, adoption is expensive, what with all of the government requirements of paperwork for two countries, travel and all. God has been very faithful to us to enable us to completely pay for the first two adoptions, and it is no different this time. Very few of us just have the funds sitting around that are required, but we all find the way that works for our family to be able to complete the payments. For our family it has been in building/remodeling houses. We also applied for a couple of grants, and both are being considered in these days. Will you please pray with us that we might receive one or two grants to help? If God would put it on your heart to help us, we would be glad to hear from you, as well.

OK, back to work......

Thursday, July 12, 2007

The Waiting Game

Waiting, Waiting, Waiting. Adoptive families all know how to wait. Some patiently, some not so patiently. It's interesting to watch LOA's and TA's come---some after just 60 some days of waiting, others well into the 100+. And the frustrating thing is not knowing if you'll be on the short end of the wait, or the long end.

Last year, when we were waiting for TA for Taylor, they seemed to speed up a bit, and I thought we might get ours near the beginning of May. Well, May rolled around, then crept by one day at a time, and no news for us. We were traveling, visiting from Tenessee to Kentucky to Michigan to Wyoming to Oregon. And wouldn't you know it, our TA arrived the day after we got to our last stop in Oregon. A gentle reminder that God's timing is perfect.

Here we are waiting again. We are on day 49---and counting. But, I think that I am waiting patiently this time around. I know that I can't do anything to speed it up or slow it down, so I just keep busy (and check my email, of course). We are remodeling a house this month to sell and help cover the expenses of this adoption, so days are spent painting and cleaning. So, we just wait to hear from our agency, and know that God is in control, and that His timing is perfect.