Happy Birthday

Yesterday, our little girl turned three. There were no hugs, no kisses. There was no cake, no party, and no presents. Instead, there was an intense sadness knowing that no one acknowledged her special day in any way. She spent her day as she does every other day. We spent the day longing to have her here. As hard as it is to long for her each day, I know that I am the fortunate one. One day, I will have her here with me. Somewhere in China, she has a mother that gave birth to her and was then forced to give her up. Because it is illegal to place a child for adoption, parents must abandon them. They do this by choosing a very public place, usually a street corner, near a police station or orphanage, and then laying their child down and walking away. Most likely, her mom chose to do this because she has medical needs that could not be met in any other way. For many, many poor families, abandoning a child is the only chance the child has to get medical care.  Most likely, her mom also spends her days longing for this child. While my arms ache to hold my daughter, I do realize that I am so much more fortunate than her birth mother. I will hold her, love her, and share her life with her. Somewhere on the other side of the world there is a mother who marks her child's birth date with tears and sorrow. She wonders how she is doing, if she is safe, and if she has a family that loves her. I really wish it were possible to let this mother know that we are doing everything that we can to bring her child home. I wish that we could let her know how important her little girl is to us. As much as I worry and wonder about our little girl, I know that somewhere there is another mother whose fears are even greater than my own. Today, I pray that there is peace for this mom. I cannot imagine having to lay my child on a street corner and walk away so that there would be a chance that my child could survive. I am so very grateful that this mother found the strength to make such a hard choice.

Letter of Acceptance Received

We began this adoption journey after much prayer. We knew then, and we know now, that we are meant to adopt this particular child. Still, the wait has been and continues to be very difficult. This week, we received our letter of acceptance from China. This is huge! This child has been promised to Lifeline and they are supposed to be the only agency with access to her file. Thus far, she has only been on hold for us through Lifeline. The reality of that was that any glitch or change of heart in China could have resulted in her being adopted by another family. As of Monday, China is now holding her for us. No other agency or family will be able to view her information. Now, they know we are coming for her. Hopefully, her orphanage will soon know this and will begin to discuss this with her. We are so very excited. Now, we can begin to send care packages to her. Just think...You have a child that you have never met whose third birthday is in a couple of weeks. What do you send to her? What do you send that tells her, a child who knows no English and who is cared for by a staff that does not know English, that you love her and are so anxious to meet her? Our minds have been racing with possibilities since Monday. We are filling a small photo album with pictures of us. Hopefully, this will help her gain some familiarity with her new family. We are also searching for the "perfect" stuffed animal to send to her. While we know that there is no guarantee that she will receive any of the packages we send her, our prayer is that they make it to her and that they bring her comfort. Even knowing that she may not ever see what we send, we are so thrilled to have the chance to make contact with her.

Waiting for a LOA

Our Letter of Intent has been sent to China. We are now waiting for a Letter of Approval (LOA) stating that we have China's permission to move forward with this adoption. We hope to have the LOA back in a couple of weeks. We would love to have it back sooner. Please continue to pray that this process moves smoothly and rapidly. We are so eager to have her here with us. The waiting seems to get more difficult with each passing week.

Videos of Faith Lanxin Ginn

Letter of Interest

On Friday afternoon, Shannon and I received the packet of information that Lifeline will need to submit our Letter of Interest (LOI). We have completed everything and are going to submit it tomorrow. The director of the China program will review the care plan that we have written as well as the other documents that we are submitting. We hope that this LOI will be sent to China this week. This letter will tell the CCAA (the government agency that handles adoptions) that we are seeking to adopt Jiang Lanxin. The care plan we have written details how we will meet her needs. There are many sections to this document, each specifying how we will handle issues such as medical care, education, cultural issues, integration into our family, and others. As we understand it, the LOI will be reviewed and, if it is accepted, we will receive a Letter of Acceptance (LOA) in 3-4 weeks. Our homestudy will be submitted, and we will wait to receive a Log In Date (LID). This wait takes anywhere from 4-6 weeks. From LID to travel usually takes 5-6 months. While we are making progress, we still have a long way to go. Please join us in praying that the process continues to go smoothly and we continue to move very quickly through each stage.

Father's Day 2012

Many of the people with whom I’ve discussed our adoption process have heard me state my belief that God is using this journey to reveal to me much about Himself.  The adoption journey is filled with periods of waiting.  I know that God is using these periods to reveal to me a deeper understanding of His steadfast love for us.  He is the Heavenly Father that longs for his children to have a relationship with Him.  I am an earthly father longing to have a relationship with our waiting child.  As we approach the father’s day weekend, I must admit that it feels bittersweet for me.  Don’t get me wrong---I’m absolutely looking forward to spending time with Christy and our two boys.  But, I just can’t escape the feeling that our family isn’t complete.  Our little girl sits in an orphanage across the world waiting on a family to love her enough to bring her home.  We are steadily making preparations for her and she isn’t even aware of our existence.  She doesn’t have our DNA, our language, or even our skin color.  But, she already has our hearts.  I long for this journey to be complete and to finally be able to welcome her home.  I want her to know that I have prayed for her and long to be her father.  I want her to know that my ultimate prayer for her is the same prayer that I have for my other children---that she will come to know Jesus as Lord and Savior and have a deep, personal relationship with her Heavenly Father.  I want her to know that what the world judges as imperfect was, in fact, wonderfully made by God.  I simply want her to know that she is loved.

“For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the Lord will take me in.” –Psalm 27:10 ESV

This is fast?

Shannon completed his individual interview yesterday. During the interview our social worker, Ashley, commented that we are very quickly moving through this process. Shannon and I so often feel that this is taking FOREVER. It was nice to hear that we are making progress and that we are actually ahead of what was projected. Please continue to pray that we continue to move rapidly through this process. We both accept that Lifeline has a projected timeline that has us completing this adoption in May/June of next year. We both also believe that God has His own timeline. We so hope that His plan is not to have her wait another year. Please join us in praying that He allows us to move very quickly.