Travel Meeting

We got some exciting news yesterday. We have been trying to be patient while we wait for our dossier to be authenticated (each item must be signed by the Secretary of State) so that it can be sent to the Chinese Consulate in Houston. We were told today that it is already in Houston. We expect it to be back in Birmingham next week. Once it arrives back at Lifeline, they will send it to China. We are so eager for it to reach China!
We have been told to expect it to take three to four weeks to receive a log-in date. Getting a log-in date is huge! From log-in date to travel should be no more than six months. However, that six month timeline is based on those families that have not already been matched with a child. It includes time for that family to be matched. It includes time for that family to complete a care plan and for China to process this plan and approve the placement of their child. We have already done these things. We hope that we are able to travel very soon after receiving our log-in date. We have talked to families that were already matched who have traveled in as little as one to two months after their log-in date. We are continuing to pray that this process goes very quickly.
We are also excited to be going to training tomorrow afternoon. Shannon and I will attend a workshop at Lifeline that will prepare us for our trip to China. Thus far, we have asked each other dozens of questions about what we would do if.... We have so many questions about what to expect when we get there. We are very glad to have been invited to attend tomorrow's meeting. We cannot wait to find the answers to our questions. We are also very thankful to be working with an agency that takes the time to spend an entire afternoon providing travel information and tips that will make our journey go more smoothly.