Below is a link to the audio file from the first service last Sunday where I was able to talk a little about our adoption process.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Monday, November 28, 2011
AWESOME Sunday!!!
Yesterday was AWESOME!!!! Our church dedicated the entire service (all three of them) to adoption and Bring Me Hope. Anyone reading this that does not know who Bring Me Hope is can go to their website at: www.bringmehope.org to find out more.
It was truly incredible. Some of the Mahoney family came to talk, give testimonies and perform. They are a truly amazingly talented family that Love the Lord with all their hearts!!! They came down all the way from Minnesota just to speak at our Sunday services. I ask that you pray for their family as they hope to travel soon to bring home their 5th, yes you heard me right, 5th child (through adoption). They also have 4 biological children. You can find out more about their band and listen to their music at: www.silentsubstitute.com.
I had the opportunity to give a brief (12 minute) testimony as well. I think it was supposed to be under five minutes (sorry). Apparently I am not as afraid of public speaking as I thought, just cannot tell time very well. A couple of friends thought that I should be a preacher - not sure if that was good or bad. Anyone can speak if given the right topic, especially if it is something that God has put on your heart. I probably could have talked for a couple hours if my voice would last, maybe next time. (hahaha).
As far as the adoption is going, we have our fingerprint appointments. They are scheduled to noon on December 5th. We are hoping that we can do a "walkin" this week. We were able to do this once before. It would be amazing if this was able to happen. Once we do these fingerprints we will be waiting for our government to send us another numbered form (sorry, cannot remember all these numbers) and then we can send everything to the consulates and over to China. I would be a miracle if this could happen before the end of the year.
The little girls are getting excited too. They have been bugging me to get their bunk beds so they can be together again. These girls are really amazing. How many children "want" to share a room. Tiffani has been a big help lately too watching the kids for us. We Love all our children more than Life. We are truly blessed.
It was truly incredible. Some of the Mahoney family came to talk, give testimonies and perform. They are a truly amazingly talented family that Love the Lord with all their hearts!!! They came down all the way from Minnesota just to speak at our Sunday services. I ask that you pray for their family as they hope to travel soon to bring home their 5th, yes you heard me right, 5th child (through adoption). They also have 4 biological children. You can find out more about their band and listen to their music at: www.silentsubstitute.com.
I had the opportunity to give a brief (12 minute) testimony as well. I think it was supposed to be under five minutes (sorry). Apparently I am not as afraid of public speaking as I thought, just cannot tell time very well. A couple of friends thought that I should be a preacher - not sure if that was good or bad. Anyone can speak if given the right topic, especially if it is something that God has put on your heart. I probably could have talked for a couple hours if my voice would last, maybe next time. (hahaha).
As far as the adoption is going, we have our fingerprint appointments. They are scheduled to noon on December 5th. We are hoping that we can do a "walkin" this week. We were able to do this once before. It would be amazing if this was able to happen. Once we do these fingerprints we will be waiting for our government to send us another numbered form (sorry, cannot remember all these numbers) and then we can send everything to the consulates and over to China. I would be a miracle if this could happen before the end of the year.
The little girls are getting excited too. They have been bugging me to get their bunk beds so they can be together again. These girls are really amazing. How many children "want" to share a room. Tiffani has been a big help lately too watching the kids for us. We Love all our children more than Life. We are truly blessed.
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Pics of the kids Nov 2011
Here are a few pics that we took yesterday of the kids (possibly for the Christmas card).
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Packages are okay now
So, it's Thursday and nothing really new to add. We are starting to get a little "antsy" and wanting to figure out the room situations but I have been too busy with work these last couple weeks.
A big bulk of the paperwork is in Tally getting certified. That should probably take about a week. It isn't really that important right now as we are just waiting for our fingerprint appointments so that we can get this I800 application approved. We are hoping this will be fast but some families have waited 100+ days for this approval. No real rhyme of reason to it.
We did find out that we can send the girls a package now. That may be confusing since they have not and probably will not tell them that they have a family coming. We are going to write them some letters and send them a package (maybe a Christmas one?). This is really going to start making all of this seem real. I hope I don't freak out.
Ok, well I have A LOT of work to figure out today so that's all for now. I will try to be better about posting here daily, even if there is not too much to tell.
A big bulk of the paperwork is in Tally getting certified. That should probably take about a week. It isn't really that important right now as we are just waiting for our fingerprint appointments so that we can get this I800 application approved. We are hoping this will be fast but some families have waited 100+ days for this approval. No real rhyme of reason to it.
We did find out that we can send the girls a package now. That may be confusing since they have not and probably will not tell them that they have a family coming. We are going to write them some letters and send them a package (maybe a Christmas one?). This is really going to start making all of this seem real. I hope I don't freak out.
Ok, well I have A LOT of work to figure out today so that's all for now. I will try to be better about posting here daily, even if there is not too much to tell.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
We officially are Approved!!!
Like there was any doubt - we are officially approved to adopt Hope and Maggie, or I guess I should say pre-approved. The Chinese government has said YES (as long as all the paperwork is in order). We still have a long road ahead of us but we are definitely making progress.
So, we started a Blog for their journey. Make sure to bookmark it as Debbie will most likely post there daily and then before you know we will be on ANOTHER airplane to China. I still cannot believe that I have been to BeiJing China 5 times!!! Wow. I looked up on the map and the girls are a lot closer to Shanghai... Maybe we can try someplace new (as if going to China were not enough).
Here is the link: http://hopeandmaggie.blogspot.com/
All for today.... Peace, Bill
PS - For those of you who have't seen, there are a couple of photos of the girls on the blog.
So, we started a Blog for their journey. Make sure to bookmark it as Debbie will most likely post there daily and then before you know we will be on ANOTHER airplane to China. I still cannot believe that I have been to BeiJing China 5 times!!! Wow. I looked up on the map and the girls are a lot closer to Shanghai... Maybe we can try someplace new (as if going to China were not enough).
Here is the link: http://hopeandmaggie.blogspot.com/
All for today.... Peace, Bill
PS - For those of you who have't seen, there are a couple of photos of the girls on the blog.
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