We have said from day 1 we need to write down the many answers to prayer along this journey, so here are just a few. It has been so clear to us that God has been evident throughout this journey but it was difficult to capture in a short blog!
1. In the previous entry I spoke briefly of how we chose our international agency after much prayer. However I didn't share that we had attended an adoption introduction class at our church last summer and heard several couples share about agencies. One of the agencies was CCAI. We googled and researched it shortly after but wanted a more personal connection/story. Just a few weeks later Blair heard a couple talking to his administrative assistant in the student ministries offices and they were sharing about their adoption process. The agency they were talking about was CCAI, the one we were researching. Shortly thereafter we submitted our application. After nearly a year of research God's timing in this decision was incredible (see #2 for why).
2. Our application was approved by our international agency and so the next step was getting a local agency to do our home study. We had just completed that application when we received the call for the match for twin A. All that time researching had lead to the right agency and right timing for a quick match. This also meant we had to move quickly on the paperwork for our home study. However the timing of the match and the point we were in the paperwork was just right for God to move again (see #3 for why).
3. Again we didn't set out to adopt 2 children but we checked yes for multiples in case we were matched with a child with a sibling. We also understood this was rare. China has only recently allowed for multiple adoptions and not all agencies will even do it. On top of that even if matched with 2, many social workers only write the home study approving a family for 1 adoption. In order for paperwork to be completed for 2, the home study has to state 2, and you can't be too far in the paperwork for 1 already approved. Basically it's a very narrow window! So when we got the call that we were a match for twin B we "just happened" to be in that tiny window where we hadn't gone too far into the paperwork with 1 and our home study could still be written for 2. However when we were matched with the 2nd we only had 5 months left to complete all paperwork for the dossier and get it to China. This nearly impossible 5 month window was again well within God's grasp (see #4)
4. Since we were matched with twin A in December the 6 month paperwork deadline started at that point for both boys. We were very diligent in completing what we needed to as fast as possible, but most documents we had to send away for and wait on state departments to authenticate. We prayed for each document each step of the way. The final wait was for the immigration document. This is known to be the longest wait and usually there isn't a call to check on the progress. Following other adoption blogs we knew to expect about a 45-60 day wait. We were informed near the end that we could call to see if we'd been assigned a case manager. We thought we only had about a 2 week window to get the approval in order to get everything sent to DC, and then to our agency for translation to get it to China before the 6 months ran up. So Blair made the call. The agent informed him that our case manager was gone for the day but they did find our application on his desk. It appeared to them that nothing had been started. We knew that it took weeks for each application so if it wasn't started we'd never get it back in time. We prayed that night for a miracle and went to bed restless. The next day we received an email that our application had been approved the day before and was being mailed out that week. It didn't show up on the desk because it was already done when Blair called! This wouldn't be the last time that paperwork showed up so quickly (see #5).
5. After this last document came back and we had everything authenticated by the Chinese Consolate in DC it was time for final review by our agency. We sent our dossier to be reviewed in Georgia (based on where we live) and then they fed ex it to CCAI's main office in CO. We received the tracking info on a Friday and it said it would arrive the next Thursday. We thought that seemed like a long time, but we tracked it multiple times a day. By Monday it was already at a Fed Ex location about 20 miles from our agency. We thought that meant an early delivery, so when it wasn't delivered Tuesday or Wednesday, Blair called early Thursday to see why it hadn't moved. They could not find our package, it was lost! Naturally we called our prayer warriors and prayed for a miracle. Less than 2 hours later our agency called and said the "lost package" was delivered. As if that wasn't amazing enough 24 hours later it was on its way to China.
6. Now the most current evidence of God happened yesterday. We are on day 33 of our approval wait in China. We have heard wait times are averaging 45 days. We also knew that we would get an email stating it was out of translation and in critical review (the last step before approval). We had been praying to get approval before Blair left for Mexico so we could sign and return the papers right away. We knew that meant we needed to get the email this week about our dossier being in critical review. So we called for prayer support and in amazing God fashion we had the email within 2 hours stating we were in critical review.
7. Id love to post in our next blog about how we got official approval before Blair leaves for Mexico so if you would like to join our prayer warriors I will update as soon as God answers that prayer! What an awesome God we serve and thank you for joining us on this adventure He is guiding us along!
Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7
