Day 1 - Leaving on a jet plane

The time has finally come! After staying up all night, our bags are checked and we are waiting at the airport. We are hopeful that we will be able to rest during our flights. Pretty sure the last time we pulled an all-nighter was in college! The things you do for your kids. ;)  We are so thankful for the support of our family and friends. Please keep praying. We know that there is power in prayer.

Written Friday, May 1st, 6:00am

Going to China!

We can officially say we are going to China!  Travel approval is in our hands, airfare is booked and child care is arranged.  Thank you Jesus!

We leave May 1st.  Only 3 weeks!  We would have loved to travel sooner, but our agency travels in groups and there are no April groups.  We are so grateful that they added an additional group the first week of May.  On May 1st we will leave from Peoria and travel to Nanchang, China.  Nanchang is the capitol of the Jiangxi province where Hannah's orphanage is located.  We will arrive around 11 pm China time on May 2nd.  Monday, May 4th is Hannah Day!  Ahhh!  Can't wait!  Unlike most Chinese adoptions, we will not have the 24 hour "harmonious period" before the adoption is finalized.  Due to a Chinese holiday, we will finalize Hannah's adoption the same day we have her in our arms forever.  We will remain in Nanchang until May 8th for her passport to be processed.  On May 8th, we will travel to Guangzhou, China.  Hannah will have her visa medical exam May 9th.  Our visa consulate appointment is scheduled for May 12th.  We should receive her visa the next after noon.  We will depart Guangzhou May 15th.  We are so excited to have our travel dates confirmed.  Let the countdown begin!

In other news...we received an update on Hannah.  There were 7 videos and 3 photos.  The videos are of her and her foster brother playing and giggling.  So cute!  He is so sweet with her.  He appears to be a couple years older than her.  We also received news that her foster brother is matched with another family at our agency.  We have received their contact information and look forward to staying in contact in the future.  What a blessing!

Our sweet girl is certainly growing and we cannot wait for her to join our family.  Although there have been some delays, God's timing is perfect.  We are so thankful for God's goodness.  What an awesome God we serve!

 "Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!"  Psalm 34:8

Year of the Sheep and an Update

Today marks 9 months that Micah has been in our family.  He continues to thrive and grow.  We are thankful to call him our son.  He just finished his first hockey season and is looking forward to baseball season!  The busy schedules resume very soon! 

 

Update:  Our paper work continues to hit unexpected delays.  We covet your prayers that our paperwork will be processed without further delays.  We are still hopeful for April travel, but that door will close in just a few days.  If we do not have the necessary paperwork by tomorrow, we will not travel until May.  Our agency has changed their travel dates and now our window to collect paperwork has decreased.  Typical travel timelines are about 8 weeks after receiving the approval letter (LOA).  Our LOA was in December.  We never imagined that we would possibly travel in April or May.  We thought our sweet girl would be home well before those dates.  We are very anxious for her to join our family.  Although it is disappointing to hear of delays, we are trusting that God has all the details.  We know that this is all in His timing.  Thank you for your prayers and support!

February 19th was Chinese New Year.  This year is the year of the sheep.  We did not celebrate until a week later because Matt was out of town.  Deanna took the kids to a new year celebration and the kids enjoyed the traditional dragon dance.  When Matt returned, we celebrated as a family.

 

Micah loves fish dumplings!

 



The kids were doing their own dragon dance.

 Traditional red envelope gift

I800 Approved!

We officially received our I800 provisional approval on Saturday in the mail.  So exciting!  Now we wait to receive our confirmation letter from the National Visa Center.  At that point, we can apply for Hannah's visa and eventually receive Travel Approval from China.  We are still prayerful that we will travel in April.  Will you join us in praying for April travel?

We are so thankful for everyone's prayers and support.  We are humbled by the generosity of our family and friends.  We thank you for your help to bring Hannah home.  We are have raised about 60% of the monetary need to bring Hannah home.  It is not too late to donate!  You can make a tax deductible donation through our church, Bethany Baptist, or you may donate through Paypal.  God has already provided in BIG ways and we trust that He will provide the remaining amount in His timing.

During this adoption journey God has reminded us many times that all things happen in His timing.  It is so difficult to wait, but we know that there is purpose in the wait.  We serve a faithful, sovereign God that provides for all our needs.  We are so thankful!

This past week I was led to read Psalm 27.  I hope you find encouragement from the truth it speaks.

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

When evildoers assail me to eat up my flesh, my adversaries and foes, it is they who stumble and fall.

Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war arise against me, yet I will be confident.

One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple.

For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will lift me high upon a rock.

And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me, and I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing and make melody to the Lord.

Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud; be gracious to me and answer me!

 

You have said, “Seek my face.” My heart says to you, “Your face, Lord, do I seek.”

 

Hide not your face from me.  Turn not your servant away in anger,

O you who have been my help.  Cast me not off; forsake me not, O God of my salvation!

 

For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the Lord will take me in.

Teach me your way, O Lord, and lead me on a level path because of my enemies.

 

Give me not up to the will of my adversaries; for false witnesses have risen against me, and they breathe out violence.

I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living!

 

Wait for the Lord;be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!

---

I800

We covet your prayers. Our I800 approval still has not been issued. It seems that mail to and from US Immigration is truely snail mail. It takes at least 7 days each way. The process to obtain approval is typically 10 days. We have been waiting since January 2nd. Our immigration officer did request two additional pieces of paper. After waiting a whole week to receive the notice, we finally received it. We overnighted the documents and they were delivered yesterday (2/10) morning. Our officer says it takes at least two days for the documents to arrive on her desk. Another week will come and go without approval. We are trusting that the approval will come in God's timing. It is hard to be still before the Lord and be patient. We hold onto His truth to not be anxious. We know there is power in prayer, so please join us in praying for our approval letter to arrive as soon as possible. Thank you!

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God." ~Philippians 4:6

Support Update

We are excited to report that we are just over 25% to our fundraising goal!  Thank you to everyone that has donated thus far!

It is not too late to get involved!  We want to encourage you that no amount is too small and every dollar counts.  We have added the option to donate electronically on the left hand side of the blog.  Donating electronically will send the donation directly to our family and will not be tax deductible.  You may still make a tax deductible donation through Bethany Baptist Church.  If you would like to receive a support letter in the mail, please let us know.  You may also view it here.

We are so thankful to everyone that is helping to bring Hannah home.  We know that God's hand is in every detail.  We trust that He knows how this "bill" will be PAID IN FULL.  What a celebration that will be!  Until then, we ask that you pray.  Pray for Hannah, pray for our family, pray for all of the paperwork, and pray about how you can be involved with caring for the orphan. 

Now, a Hannah update!  We received an updated picture, videos and information in January.  It is always so exciting to have an update on our sweet girl!  This time was no exception!

 

 

 

Oh my goodness!  She is looking at our photo book that we sent her.  This picture is priceless!  We cannot wait to have her in our arms and in our photos!

 

We are currently waiting for our I-800 approval.  It is taking longer than expected.  We went to Naperville last week to renew our fingerprints.  We were told by our immigration officer that our I-800 approval would be issued this week.  We hope it arrives in our mailbox soon. 

 

We spoke with our agency.  March travel is out due to our I-800 delays.  We are hopeful to travel in April.  We would covet your prayers that we will be able to travel in April.  This would allow us to use our current visas before they expire and save some money. 

 

We thank you for following our journey back to China.  Please feel free to contact us with your questions.  You are loved!

 

"Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all." ~Matthew 6:31-32

 

 

 

 



 

 

Our Support Letter

Dear Family and Friends,

We are excited to be writing this letter to give you a glimpse of how God is currently working in our lives.  This past summer we were blessed to have our son, Micah, join our family through the miracle of adoption.  We are so thankful to God for the gift that Micah is to our family.  We are also thankful to everyone that helped to bring Micah home through prayer and financial donations.  God was faithful to provide in big ways!

Now, God has asked our family to step out in faith and obedience to follow Him again.  He has led us to a two-year-old girl from Shangrao City, China.  We have named her Hannah and she has stolen our hearts.  We wanted to share some details and some ways for you to come alongside us to give this little girl a loving home and a hope for the future.

You may be thinking, “Why are you adopting again?” or “Why so soon after Micah’s adoption?”  The short answer is God.  When He says “Follow me”, you leave your nets and start walking.  We have always felt God calling our family to adopt more than one child.  In fact, before we found Micah, we were originally looking to adopt a sibling group.  God led us to China, though, and adopting more than one child at a time was unlikely.  Nevertheless, our original paperwork with U.S. Immigration and DCFS was approved to adopt two children.

We knew we would have to wait for God’s perfect timing to bring home another adopted child.   That timing happened to be revealed to us while we were travelling in China.  There we connected with two other families that were also approved to adopt two children.  Talking with them put a second adoption on our hearts.  Additionally, Micah’s transition into our family went very smoothly.  So, a few days after returning from China we contacted our adoption agency and prayerfully submitted our application.  Since then, God has given us many more confirmations that this is exactly where our family needs to be.  Is it scary? Yes!  Do we trust in Him alone? Yes!  The Bible says we are all called to care for orphans, widows, sojourners, and the poor.  We feel we have been called to care for this one particular orphan through the miracle of adoption.

The adoption process has moved along quickly since we were able to reuse most of our paperwork.  At this time, our paperwork has been approved by the Chinese government and we have submitted paperwork for U.S. immigration.  We are hopeful that we will travel to China in March or April of this year!

Would you consider joining us in prayer?  Pray that we could be an instrument of God’s grace and a light to the world as we go through our journey.  Pray for Hannah to be in good health and have a soft heart to join our family.  Pray for wisdom and guidance for Matt and Deanna.  Please pray for the details of the adoption paper work to go smoothly.  Pray for safety during our travels to China.  Lastly, pray for Nathan, Micah, and Claire as they gain a new sibling.

Secondly, would you consider supporting our family through a financial gift?  Hannah’s adoption will cost more than $30,000.  In addition to our savings, some of that cost will be covered through the U.S. adoption tax credit, Matt’s employer, and support from our local church, Bethany Baptist.  With all things considered, though, there is a deficit of over $16,000 to bring Hannah home.  God was faithful to provide for Micah’s adoption and we are confident he will provide for Hannah’s adoption as well.  If you would like to stand beside us on our journey and help meet this need, please return the enclosed card and envelope at your earliest convenience.

Thank you in advance for your prayers and your gifts.  You are a blessing to our family!

In Christ’s Service,

Matt, Deanna, Nathan, Micah, and Claire Marquette