Go Time

"Please Jesus, just bring her home by Christmas."  This was my prayer for months and months, long before we laid eyes on our beautiful girl.  Once we were given our referral, I started doing the math of how the next steps would need to work out so that this would actually become a reality.  It was close.  Really close.  But it was possible. Our China Team called last week and said that if our travel invitation was issued by Wednesday the 3rd, we would likely be able to travel with our agency's travel group leaving in December.  I was hopeful and doubtful all at the same time but The Lord gave us such a peace about things. Whether we traveled in December or January, Emma would be coming home soon and that is all that really mattered.  So, today I was in my mom's bible study group at church and they were asking for a status update.  I was literally in the middle of explaining things and my phone rang.  It was our travel agent saying he was about to send us our flight options! Say what?!!?!  We were issued our travel invitation! We leave NEXT WEEK and we will be home right before Christmas!  All 5 of us!!! Under one roof!!!  For Christmas!!! The Lord is so good and we are thrilled, overwhelmed, overjoyed, anxious, and pretty much feeling every other emotion out there as we are so close to bringing Emma home.  Please say a prayer for our family if you don't mind for traveling mercies, for Emma's little heart (we love her dearly but we are taking her from the only home she has ever known), for EK and W as we are away from them for so long and as they deal with gaining another sibling, for the grandparents who are so awesome and willing to hold down the fort with the kids while we are away, and for our transition to a family of 5.  We have many challenges ahead as find our new normal but we are trusting The Lord with the details. He has been so gracious and faithful to our family and we are trusting in Him as we move forward.  Thank you for walking down this road with us.  We are thankful. 

Beautiful Baby Girl

This week, we saw a picture of our baby girl for the first time!!!! One might think that in the 17 years that I have been praying and thinking about adoption I would have thought about what I would actually say when the day finally came that I got to see my baby's face.  Well, I was ill-prepared and am completely at a loss to adequately articulate all the feelings and emotions that have flooded over me this week.
  

Monday night was a "Match Night."  These have started to happen more frequently, so I really didn't think much about it on Monday.  The China team had informed us that we would be notified if we received a referral and if you didn't hear anything, it was safe to assume that you did not receive a referral.  There was no phone call or email on Monday night. Bummer, but with it being our 12 match night, I was starting to get used to the feeling.  

Tuesday morning, Walker and I were on the way to the church for Bible Study when my phone rang.  I didn't know the number but answered anyway and heard our case worker from the China Team say, "Good morning Wesley!  How would you feel about a referral?"  Um seriously??? I was like " I would LOVE a referral!"  She talked for a couple of minutes and all I heard was "girl" "17 months old" and "repaired cleft lip."  I wheeled into the church literally on 2 wheels as she said she was emailing me the file right then.  I was shaking like crazy and called J 5 times before he answered.  Oops.  He was in a meeting. We got Walker dropped in the nursery and I ran up to Bible Study to tell them I would be a little late.  J and I went down the hall and opened up all the referral documents and started to read about the most precious little girl.  Y'all, I CAN NOT WAIT to show you her picture because she is seriously beautiful.  I could not help but get emotional as I read the details like "chubby cheeks," and "loves biscuits and baby dolls."  We then sent her file to our medical team for their evaluations/recommendations.  They checked things out and gave us the green light to proceed and submit our formal intent to adopt this sweet girl!!!!  There are many things that still have to be done before we can bring her home, but we are hopeful that we will travel sometime around the first of the year.  

We are just overwhelmed by God's goodness and how present He has been throughout this entire process.  He has been so faithful and it is truly a blessing to be a part of this story.  Tuesday was my Mammaw Jones' birthday.  A day that was going to be tough in the wake of her recent death turned out to be a day of joy in celebration of our Emma.  How cool is that?  His timing is pretty amazing!!!  There are MANY ups and downs as you go through the adoption process but the picture of redemption that adoption paints is just beautiful.  We are so thankful that there will now be one less orphan in the world and we CAN NOT WAIT TO BRING EMMA HOME!!!!!!  

In The Waiting....

Since our last update, our paperwork has been on the move! Our Dossier was delivered to China on January 28 and we were officially logged in on February 11th which means that we are eligible for a placement in the eyes of the people in power in China.  We had a conference call with our agency's China team on February 20 to discuss our openness to special needs in depth and it allowed for the team to get some information that will help them place our child with us.  February 24 was match day and we were not placed with a child.  I didn't really feel like it would happen that quickly but that still didn't make it any easier!  Match days take place at the end of every month and our agency is hopeful that we will have a match by early summer....which would be AWESOME....the sooner the better!!!!  While we have just been playing the waiting game, we have actually completed 2 fundraisers in preparation for our travel expenses.  We ended up selling 165 "Choose Love" tshirts and it has been so amazing to see these shirts on so many of our friends!!! We are truly blessed by a wonderful village to help raise our family!!!

My friend Meaghan also hosted a Noonday Collection trunk show to benefit our family.  This is such an incredible organization that helps provide sustainable income to people in poverty around the world not to mention it is absolutely gorgeous jewelry!!! Noonday has a heart for adoptions as well, so a portion of the show's sales were graciously given to us. A huge thank you to all our generous friends who chose to "shop with a purpose" and we were overwhelmed to have received $550.00!!!!

The Lord has truly been gracious to us over the last few months and throughout this whole process.  A couple of weeks ago, we were told that we were the recipients of one of the Reclaimed Project adoption grants.  This is truly amazing and I am reminded of that old song we used to sing "God will make a way, when there seems to be no way.  He works in ways we can not see.  He will make a way for me."  (I can just see Larry Black in the front of FBCJ right about now!) All along as we have prayed about adoption, we have asked the Lord to make a way because we can not do this on our own, and once again it was like He just said "I've got this! Just trust me!"

Not only has the Lord been incredibly faithful in the financial aspects of our journey, but He gave me the opportunity to be a part of a retreat for adoptive mamas.  The whole adoption world is a really neat little community and it is so nice to get to talk and share experiences with people who "get it" and "get me"(as much as anyone can get someone else).  I was able to attend the Created For Care conference in Atlanta along with 450 other adoptive mamas.  My goodness it was good for my soul.  I did not know anyone going and I was a bit like a 7th grader on the first day of school in the feelings that I was having before going.  I met my new BFFs when they got in my van in Jackson and we headed out on our journey together.  We were involved in seminars ranging from attachment to how to deal with ethnic hair and everything in between.  We were part of some incredibly challenging and encouraging teaching from a phenomenal speaker as well.  The Lord really used that weekend to strengthen my understanding of parenting in general and helped me to put in to words the calling that the Lord has placed in my life to adopt.  What a gift that weekend was!  

So now, we just continue to wait and pray.  I try not to dwell on the waiting but I can't help to think about my little girl on the other side of the world.  Gosh, she is one loved little girl.  Not just by us (which is so, so much), but her Heavenly Father that I can not wait to tell her about.  His timing is perfect and tonight, I choose to rest in that truth.

#BringEmmaHome T-Shirt Fundraiser

All of our paperwork is complete and submitted so we are now just waiting to see a picture of our Emma!!!!!! This means we are getting close to traveling to China and we need your help!  We are selling tshirts to help with our in country expenses (orphanage fees, legal fees, travel, etc).   

We are taking pre-orders for the rest of January, and we'll be placing our order on Friday, January 31st. Expect delivery mid-February. 

The design is printed on the front of the shirt and a huge shout out to Sarah Largen for the design and Drew Chapman at Threads Screen Printing and Embroidery for printing these for us!!!!

The adult shirts are softwashed shirts in gray (the design background color). Adults sizes S-XXXL are $20. Kids shirts are $15 and come in YS-YL.

So how do you order? Please email wesleyclaire@yahoo.com or comment on this post. You can pay through PayPal on the sidebar (Please make sure your shipping address is correct, and include sizes needed, shipping info, etc. in the comments section). If you prefer, I'll also give you our address to mail checks.

We appreciate everyone's support. Again, thank you all so much for helping us step out in faith! Our fundraising allows God to make Himself known through this process...it's MUCH too big for us to do alone! When we reach our goal, He'll obviously get all the glory! It also allows you to be part of our little girl's story and allows you to care for the orphan in your own way! Just think....all that from a T-shirt! :)

One Step Closer!

Well, 2013 has come and gone.  The last year has involved a lot of change in our family.  We began the adoption process, J accepted a new job, we moved back to Jackson, Ella Kate and Walker started at a new school, we have established our new normal, and many more special memories have happened along the way.  Now we are 2 days in to 2014 and we are hopeful that this year brings along a trip to China to bring home our little girl.  In the midst of all the excitement that came with Christmas, I couldn't help but think about Emma in an orphanage on the other side of the world.  It just breaks my heart but I am trusting in the Lord since He is orchestrating this whole process and in His perfect way and in His perfect time we will bring Emma home to her forever family who so desperately want her here with us.  Today, we took a step to bring us one step closer!!!  We submitted our Dossier to global!!! Woo Hoo!!!!! I feel like a giant weight has been lifted since there is really nothing else to do now but wait.  We are so very thankful to have the enormous paper trail behind us! So, here's to 2014 and becoming a family of 5!!!!!!

Making Progress

    We have been a bit busy this week on a crazy paper chase.  Last week, we received an email from the China program telling us we could begin collecting our Dossier documents.  We were thrilled and immediately began getting organized and making the to do lists.  One of our to do's was a police clearance letter.  Well, I am happy to report that after 4 trips to the JPD with my dad's paralegal alongside us, we successfully have our letters and we were even able to participate in the JPD tornado emergency drill that happened in the midst of our visit today.  We are thankful to be finished with that office and also feel very prepared in the event of bad weather.  Good times people!  

     We also were told that our Home Study had been approved by everyone that needed to approve it, so we were finally able to submit our immigration paperwork to USCIS.  Now, we just sit and wait for our appointment with USCIS to have our fingerprints done.  Once we are cleared, we will have the last piece of our Dossier to submit to China and then we will wait to be matched.  We are still a long way off but every step we take gets us one step closer to our little girl!!! 

      Adoption is such a beautiful thing.  As challenging as the countries might try to make it and as silly as some of the hoops we have to jump through may be, it is still beautiful.  I am so thankful for so many friends that are on this journey with us.  One of my closest friends in the world is almost at the end of their adoption journey as they get ready to welcome their sweet boy home to his forever family THIS WEEKEND.  Will you pray for the Gordon family and this transition that is about to rock their family's world?  You can check out their blog here for specific prayer requests and to read their story http://thewesgordonfamily.blogspot.com/  God has truly shown up and shown out and I can't wait to be at the airport to welcome His precious gift to Mississippi....with my water proof mascara on for sure!!!!

It's Been A While

   Things have been busy in our lives lately, and I have neglected to document our adoption journey.  It can be summed up with this statement, "The Lord has been faithful."  We want nothing more than to bring home Emma as quickly as we can, but it the midst of the move, things had to slow down.  While in Hattiesburg, we were one step away from completing our home study process.  All we lacked was the home visit and we were ready to move on to Immigration and Dossier paperwork.  Well, one week before our scheduled home visit, the Lord opened the door to Christ United and our visit would have to wait almost 2 months! Ugh!!! We got settled as quickly as possible and scheduled our visit with our case worker for yesterday.  We are so blessed to be surrounded by such an amazing group of family and friends that covered us in prayer as our visit was taking place.  I was a nervous wreck as to how our kids would act, and how the entire visit would be, but things went as well as I think they could have!! Our case worker said she would have the home study complete in the next week or so even though she has 30 days to do so and then we will move on to the mountain of paperwork that is the Immigration and Dossier process.  She is hopeful that things will move quickly and smoothly and then we will FINALLY official be waiting on Emma!!!!  My heart hurts for her so much.  The thought that more than likely, she is already born and in an orphanage consumes my mind and thoughts.  I pray for her, her birth mother, her loss, and her place in this family often and I am confident that the Lord has his hands in all of this.  I absolutely am blown away as Ella Kate talks about Emma.  It is amazing to hear her heart break for the fatherless.  I think she talks about Emma and adoption more than me!!! She tells anybody and everybody, and it just makes my heart smile!!!
    Now, I said the Lord has been faithful and I want to share some of those ways.  He has been so faithful in the waiting.  He has given me patience when that is not my strength at all!!  I guess because this adoption has been 16 years in the making, I am just anxious to expedite the process as much as I can.  But, this is not about me and what I can do...thank goodness!!!  He has been so good to us by providing an amazing community to support us through the process.  One of the questions our case worker asked us was about our families and if they were on board with our adoption.  We immediately responded with absolutely!!!! We are so lucky to have support and encouragement given from our families.  We have amazing friends as well.  It is so great to be able to talk with other adoptive families who "get" what we are going through!!! It is such a comfort!!!! Another way that God has been at work is through the financial aspect of the adoption.  We have been BLOWN AWAY by the generous giving that has been shown to us!!! We are getting close to completing Emma's puzzle which has been such a cool thing to watch come together.  Through the garage sale, Emma's puzzle, and people's generous gifts, we are a little over 2/3 of the way to being completely funded!!! Y'all!!!! That is INCREDIBLE!!!!!!  Thank you so very much to all who have supported us along the way, because we could not do this without you!!! We are so very thankful and we can't wait to tell Emma about all the people that made it possible for her to become part of our family.
   Thank you for your prayers for our family.  We are forever grateful!