China has logged us in! The last LONG wait!

     Our dossier was logged in in China on Oct. 26! That means that now we are at the point where all we do is wait for China to give the big approval. Right now those approvals are running 55-60 days. And when we do get it, it will be roughly 2 months to travel!!!
     We are thankful that we are coming into the holiday season! It will make the wait a little more bearable.
     For those who pray for us on the financial front... We need $350 to finish the China escort/translator fees and then the fees due to China are finished! So unbelievable! After that we will focus on the flight & meals while in China, which will be roughly $5,000.  That's it! Less than $6,000 to finish! AND, we haven't heard from Show Hope yet (adoption grant). We will hear from them by Nov. 15th.
     We received this picture of Maggie last week. It is the first picture where we can see a little of her personality; can tell she is giggling. We love her so much already!

Time is beautiful

Time is beautiful. It really is. But when it comes to getting our daughter in China, I have to continually lay that truth before my God.

     Matt & I learned that time is beautiful through the selling of our previous house. Three homes on our street at that time sold within one month of posting a 'For Sale' sign. So, we figured the sale of our house would be quick too. Not so much. While we waited for the sale of ours, we would drive through other neighborhoods to see where we wanted to live. We found a place that we thought would be perfect, but were bummed when our house wasn't selling. We had quite a few showings, but no one wanted to buy.
     Well, there was a reason our house took 7 months to sell. The builder was offering a financial plan in March that wasn't available back in August. And as a result, we were able to build a bigger home AND pay off a car. It was a huge blessing! We were able to look back and thank our God for His timing and not ours.

     I want to do the same with this stage of life. With our Maggie Mei. She is now 19 months old and I received an e-mail from the orphanage director telling me they were taking good care of her. I am so thankful, but I long for the day that we can take care of her.
     Our dossier was sent to China this past Friday!! That is a huge praise!!! I have a friend who received her LOA (the approval from China) within 45 days. Those approvals are now running around 80 days, which means we will not get her until late Feb/early March. One month later than we had hoped. Makes my heart sad and yet it is a quiet sad that my God holds near Him.
     I choose to believe time is beautiful because God is perfect, which means His timing is never early and never late. He already knows our 'Gotcha Day' and China's government doesn't change that.

My heart is so FULL

     Joy. True joy, that only comes from Jesus, is mine today. We received this picture of Maggie this morning. The joy is that she is walking and smiling! Two things we have not seen in previous pictures!! I asked the orphanage director when she was 15months if she was walking. At that time she was not. So my heart is very happy today!

     We were approved at US immigration last week! That is the final document that we were waiting on to be able to send our dossier to China! I got it in the mail yesterday at 4p, took it to Fedex at 6:30p. They delivered it to a courier (who was FABULOUS) in Columbia, SC for the secretary of State, and then sent it onto Washington, D.C. for the US State Department and Chinese Embassy approval. Whew! Are you tired just reading that?!?
     Every one of the documents for the dossier went through that procedure. It is a lot, but I have loved every minute of it! Now that our paperwork is almost ready for China, I'm not sure what to do b/c I don't have anymore packages to track!!
     We are still in need of $6,000.00, and I am just waiting for the next thing up God's "sleeve". Should be good!

I can see the grin

     All week I have carried around my new verse to help my mind, Psalm 50:10, which I wrote about last time (God owns the cattle on a thousand hills). However, I added verse 12. This is God speaking "If I were hungry I would not tell you, for the world is mine, and all that is in it."
     I LOVE THAT VERSE! It so speaks to my mindset. God has so many resources, and knowledge of our journey to go with it!
     So, my mind this past week has been covered in contentment from the Holy Spirit with that verse. Which is such a blessing.

     Friday is date day for Matt and I since Natalie and Jaydn are in school and neither of us work on Friday's. It has been a huge blessing not to have to pay a babysitter. ANYWAY, yesterday's date started with a trip to get the oil changed in both vehicles and conversation about how we really need to get the word out about finances for Maggie b/c the donations were kind of at a stand still.. Romantic huh?
     Well, while waiting, at 8:05a.m. I text a friend our newest goal of $6,500, b/c she is helping us get the word out. At 8:27 I get a text from another friend wanting info so they could make a donation.
     When we got home a couple hours later we found a PayPal donation for $7,000. $7,000! Not only had the Lord moved them to give, but it covered that goal and covered our Visas!!! I had returned home before Matt, but was on the phone with him when I saw the amount. I just kept saying "OH, my word. Oh, my word. Thank you Jesus!" I told Matt I had to get off and have a thank session with our God. I hit end and started the thanks and the tears just came."

I believe Jesus was grinning from ear to ear...in fact I am sure of it.

We received these pics this week. My mom says her pout looks like me when I was little!

God can even use cows

     I was debating whether I should blog about God using a cow for me yesterday, some might think I am a bit odd. My husband says "just simple". So, do with it as you will, but God used a cow to calm my heart.
     Yesterday my heart was low on hope in the fund raising area, on finances in general, really. We still have roughly $12,000 to raise to bring Maggie home. Then we got a letter from our mortgage company telling us they figured our escrow wrong so we can either give them almost $600 or start paying more each month on our mortgage. Then we realized that our flex spending for medical is gone until March, so all regular prescriptions come out of our pockets. Uggh. We are used to having that benefit, so that will be an adjustment.
     In comes the cows...I was watching some show which had cows in a field. One man started playing his instrument for the cows and one by one the cows came over to listen. By the time four men were playing their instruments, a whole herd of cows was mesmerized. It was hilarious!
     An hour later I was watching AFV, a tongue segment, which had cows showing their tongues. I was quite unimpressed, HOWEVER, it was at this moment, as I was changing the channel out of disgust, that God's voice spoke to my heart. "A thousand hills Shari. A thousand hills. I own the cattle on a thousand hills." It is a verse found in Psalm 50:10, which translated means, 'YOU CAN'T FATHOM THE RESOURCES I POSSESS!'

So there you have it. My heart went to bed renewed in God's knowledge of His resources.
   

The Scenario in my mind...

     Our homestudy first has to travel to DSS before meeting up with our I800A at USCIS in MO. It's been at DSS for 28 days. Four weeks.
     A friend of mine received her I800A approval after 48 days. Time is ticking...
     We had our fingerprint appointment this morning. Another step closer to approval...but not without our homestudy being matched with your I800A in MO. Still ticking...
   
     I find myself reminding Jesus of the scenario. Praying out of fear really. As if He doesn't understand time. Oh, the fear of the unknown. And the frustration of being able to do nothing about the timing of the journey.
     Our homestudy agency was able to speak with the lady looking over the homestudies at DSS. Come to find out she has been filling in for someone else so she is a little behind on the studies. My guess is she is feeling pretty overwhelmed. My thought? "Jesus, do you really think it's necessary for someone to be out of that office NOW? I mean, MY homestudy is there..."
     Then this morning while getting ready for the day, the sweet voice of Jesus spoke to me again. (He tends to do that when I am lost in the midst of myself). "Shari, how about praying for the overwhelmed lady having to fill in for someone AND work with the homestudies?"

Enough said. I am praying for her today. Trying desperately to convince myself of how much God understands that I don't.

Two questions

   I have had two questions in my brain this week. One, what does a heart do with waiting? And two, what do you write on a blog when you are just waiting? I mean, don't you have to write something that people would be interested in?
   I am a terrible "wait-er". When Matt & I run errands and he just needs to run into a store quickly, I still opt to go with him so I know WHY I am waiting for what feels like forever.
    We are just beginning to wait on our I800A approval. Some people are at 50/60 days and we are closer to 20. And already my heart is screaming for the time to MOVE.
    However, I will daily choose to take God at His word. I have to. I cling to it. Isaiah 40, says that those who wait upon the Lord will renew their strength and Psalm 19 says all His ways are perfect. Which means I have to continually lay down my heart and trust that our "gotcha day" with Maggie Mei is already set. This has been Jesus' gig from the beginning. He thought this up and changed our hearts, so I have to keep the focus in the right place.
    What floors me is that Jesus knew, before we even agreed to step out in faith, that we would struggle at points through this...and He still chose to work with us.
    Hmm...guess that's the beauty of the gospel. Jesus chooses to work in me - an impatient, imperfect woman - simply because I choose to believe that God is real. He can take the mundane, everyday life, and show His absolute glory. It's a beautiful thing.