Our dossier is on its way to China!  We are so thankful to have completed this step of the adoption process.  Please pray that it arrives safely and gets processed without problems.  Thank you for all of your prayers.  We know that our God is a God that answers prayers!



And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.  1 John 5:14-15

Signed, Sealed and Almost Delivered!

Our dossier is on its way to our agency!!  This is a huge step closer to bringing Micah home!

Since the last update, our documents have put on some miles.  First, they were brought to Secretary of State in Springfield, IL.  We were very grateful that all of our papers passed on the first try.  The only problem was that we made a mistake!  So, back to Springfield I went to have it re-certified. All was good until they made a mistake!  A third trip to Springfield in three days and all was good.  Next, our papers traveled to Chicago, IL to the Chinese Consulate.  We are praising God that they all passed at the Consulate, too.  Currently, the papers are being overnighted to our agency in Oregon.  They will look over our dossier and then it is on to CHINA!!!! (Then, the wait continues...)

At the Secretary of State office

 



 

50 pages + 61 photo copies on their way!

Mail

I have been running to the mailbox for weeks.  We were waiting for our last piece of paper to complete our dossier.  We prayed that our dossier would be complete by the end of the year.  In my mind that meant that it would be in China.  I was wrong and that is okay.  The paper came yesterday!!!!  You know when it was post marked?  December 30, 2013!!  Praise God for His faithfulness!  We plan to have it notarized this weekend.  Next week I will take everything to the Secretary of State for certification and then to the Chinese Consulate in Chicago for authentication.  Getting closer!!!

Happy Birthday, Jesus!

The last two days have been filled with a birthday celebration for our King and Savior, Jesus.  We are so thankful that God gifted us with His Son, Jesus!  What a glorious gift to receive!

Although we were happy to be home as a family, there was somebody missing.  That would be sweet, Micah!  He is never far from our minds.  We are prayerful that he will be home with us next Christmas.  We look forward to sharing our traditions, and most importantly...JESUS!!!  Jesus is the reason for the season after all.  He is also the God that has placed our family in this call to adoption.  He has given us a great gift with the life of Micah.  We continue to pray for our paperwork to be processed quickly.  We also pray that Micah is protected, healthy and feels loved.  We pray that God wraps His arms around Micah to comfort and love him until we can do the same. 

 

 

 

My friend posted this video.  I wanted to share it with you, too.  We are hoping that Micah will be with us next Christmas. 



We hope that you had a blessed Christmas!  May God's grace, mercy and blessings be with you in 2014.

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."   Luke 2:14

P.S.  If you are new to our blog, "Welcome!"

Check..Check...Check!

This past week we were able to check some items off of our to-do list.  On Friday, Matt and I were fingerprinted at USCIS.  We were in and out within 15 minutes!

We also had 6 documents notorized.  We only have one more document to receive and then our dossier is complete!  We will have the documents certified and authenticated, then they are off to our agency and China!


We took advantage of the post-Thanksgiving sales.  Our biggest purchase...bunk beds!  Nathan is SUPER excited!  It was a tight squeeze on the way home, but we made it! 

All in HIS timing...

I have said it before, and I will say it again.  God is SO good!!!  I have been anxious.  I have been excited.  I have been nervous.  I am wanting to be in control.  I have to remind myself that God is control.  I have to remind myself that all things happen in His timing.  Let me tell you, His timing is perfect!

We mailed our immigration papers on October 30th.  We have been waiting to receive our fingerprinting appointment by mail.  I *may* have been running to the mailbox to see if it was in there every day!  Matt and I have been talking about how if we received our paperwork before Thanksgiving, then we would try to do a walk-in appointment while in Chicago for Thanksgiving.  You know what our One, True God orchestrated?!  Our appointment is the Friday after Thanksgiving!  I can't help but sit here and praise Jesus!

If that was not enough, we received interesting information from our agency yesterday.  A woman has contacted them because she has pictures and video of Micah!  A series of events led to this connection, so we are working on building a friendship and getting updates on our little guy. 

Didn't I tell you?!  God is good!

Please be in prayer for all of those affected by the tornados.  May God's peace comfort them and reveal that all things work for good.

I lift up my eyes to the hills.
    From where does my help come?
My help comes from the Lord,
    who made heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot be moved;
    he who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, he who keeps Israel
    will neither slumber nor sleep.

The Lord is your keeper;
    the Lord is your shade on your right hand.
The sun shall not strike you by day,
    nor the moon by night.

The Lord will keep you from all evil;
    he will keep your life.
The Lord will keep
    your going out and your coming in
    from this time forth and forevermore.

Psalm 121

Immigration papers that were mailed October 30th



Happy Birthday, Micah!

Our little guy is 5!  It was bittersweet to celebrate his birthday.  We were so excited to make a cake and celebrate.  The reality is that he is in China.  He most likely had no celebration, cake, presents or anything out of the ordinary.  We are hopeful that this birthday is the last one that will be spent in an orphanage.  We are praying that he felt love on his special day. 

In honor of his birthday, we have decided on his name.  His name will be Micah Jichun. 

Here are some pictures of our celebration.  Claire was not feeling well, so she sang and had cake this morning for breakfast.

Decorating the cake

 



November 4th, 2013

Micah is 5!

 



 

 

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.  And what does the Lord require of you?  To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.     Micah 6:8