It Can't Get Much Slower!

Okay, we knew it would take a while. We were prepared for a year wait, maybe 14 months. Good things comes to those who wait, right?? Right now the word is that the wait could go to 3 years. We are praying hard that it will not take that long. All things are possible with God and if there is a speed up I know it can only come from God. God is never late and I know we will get our child in His perfect timing. We recently watched the movie "Facing the Giants". It is a WONDERFUL movie with a great message about faith. There is a part in the movie where they tell the story of two farmers, both praying for rain. One farmer prepares his fields for rain because he knows God will answer his prayers and the other does not prepare because he does not have faith. Nick and I have faith and we are going to start preparing our little one's room. Please keep us in your prayers! Remember we are still collecting squares and wishes for our 100 Good Wishes Quilt. I joined a quilt swap with other families who are LID the same time we are . I have about 30 squares so far. Our good friends Sherry and Pat took us to dinner in December to celebrate our LID. I am including the picture we took at a very nice place to eat in Wetumpka called "Our Place". It has great food in a really cool atmosphere. Nick and I will be heading to the mountains in May to celebrate Nick's dad's 80th birthday. We are going White Water Rafting and we are very excited!! We should have some good pictures to post next month! God bless all of you.

3 Months Behind Us

Time seems to be passing quickly with everything in our life (except for our adoption process)! It is now March and we have been logged into the CCAA (China Center for Adoption Affairs) for 3 months. If things remain at the current speed for referrals then we should get our referral late 2008 or early 2009. We appreciate your prayers during this looonngg wait! In the meantime we are staying busy. We visited Nick's family in Florida last weekend. Our nephew and his wife are building a new home in Bonifay. We had a picnic inside their unfinished home and rode 4 wheelers. The pictures are self explanatory. The one at the top is Nick's dad. We have also started collecting quilt squares for Anna Jean's 100 good wishes quilt. We are asking all our family and friends to send us an 8x8 square piece of material and on a separate card write a wish or pray for Anna Jean and glue a swatch of material onto the wish. The 100 good wishes quilt is a tradition in China. I leave you now with some scripture that my sweet friend Joetta sent me lately. The light of Jesus shines through her and I am always learning from her and I wanted to share this with all our family and friends. Philippians 1:3-4 "I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy" Praise God!

Meet Mary Grace (Yi Ru Mei)

We cannot believe it is already February! We started off the month celebrating Nick's 46th birthday (Feb. 1). Last year, on Nick's 45th birthday we thought Anna Jean would be with us to celebrate his 46th! Oh well, great things come to those who wait! Speaking of great things... our friend Leigh Ann received her referral last month. I am pleased to introduce Yi Ru Mei (also known as Mary Grace). Mary Grace is currently living in Hunan Province. Leigh Ann will travel to China to get Mary Grace March 2. You can follow along on her journey at www.leighannschinababy.blogspot.com. We are happy for Leigh Ann and we can't wait to meet Mary Grace. I am sure Mary Grace and Anna Jean will be close friends! We have now been logged in more than 60 days so right now our wait has shortened to 14 months. Referrals came out yesterday. The CCAA placed children with families who had been logged into their office after September 27, 2005 and before October 13, 2005 (about 2 weeks worth). Lately, the CCAA has been taking 2.5 months to get through one month of referrals (that is why the wait has gotten so long). We pray that it will speed up sometime this summer. Mary Grace is proof that it will happen. Leigh Ann waited 16 months! Hang on Mary Grace.... you will soon be here with us in Sweet Home Alabama!! A big thanks to our friends and family who have posted comments! It is good to hear from all of you. I also want to express my thanks to my dear friend Sherry who lets me pour my heart and soul out to her on a daily basis while we wait. Sherry is just as excited as we are about Anna Jean... believe me when I say Anna Jean will be the "best dressed and girliest girl" in town. I also could not get throughout the day without my sisters in Christ and prayer warriors Joetta, Shannon, Renae, and Alethia. God is good!

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." Mark 12:30

Welcome to our blog!

We have created this blog for our friends and family to follow along with us during our journey to our dear sweet daughter Anna Jean. As many of you know, God has led us to the Peoples Republic of China where our application (also known as a dossier) is waiting to be matched with our daughter. We started this journey in November 2005. Children of the World, a non profit Christian adoption agency, held a seminar at our church. We attended the meeting and the rest is history. We spent most of 2006 paperchasing and getting approval from our government to adopt from a foreign country. Our application was sent to China on October 25 to our agency's representative in Beijing. She hand delivered it to the CCAA (China Center for Adoption Affairs) on November 6 and we were officially logged into their system November 30. The log in date (also known as LID) is a big milestone. Now we wait until the CCAA matches us with a child who needs a home. We requested a healthy infant girl up to 12 months in age. They take pride in matching parents with their children. Unfortunately, the wait between LID and referral is 16 months and getting longer. Please pray that things speed up. We have comfort in knowing that
God is in control. We are waiting on God, not man.

In the meantime, we will stay busy decorating her room and preparing for her arrival. Susan took a couple of Chinese lessons last October and November. We also have met alot of great families who have already adopted or who are waiting. We are fortunate that our agency has functions and workshops where we can meet and network with other families. We also have a group in Montgomery called "Panda Pals". It is made up of families who have adopted or who are waiting to adopt from China.

We hope you enjoy this blog and following along in our amazing journey. We will post updates on a monthly basis.