Thursday, February 5, 2009

Well, we prayed for a change...

One of our prayers during this period of waiting has been for God to remove the obstacles in China and to significantly speed up the process. There have been times where I've just asked for to see some positive changes. In two days our dossier has been officially logged in with the CCAA for 15 months. As far as we can tell, there is no end in sight--with China, that is.

While the situation in China doesn't appear to be changing, we are changing direction and we believe God is walking before us and preparing our path for this change. We have decided to pursue adopting a baby girl from Taiwan.

I had heard of people adopting from Taiwan but felt like I couldn't get a good grasp on the process. Don and I don't come to decisions easily and once we've decided to pursue something it isn't like us to change course. I pretty much had decided Taiwan wasn't in the cards for us because I couldn't figure out much about it and our agency didn't offer it, anyway--until now.

This summer our agency took over several Taiwan cases for an agency that went under. At that time, my interest was piqued but they weren't actually saying they were going to open a program. I expressed an interest but wasn't sure it would result in anything and guarded my heart from being too optimistic about it. After getting acquainted with the way things work and having a chance to develop some in-country contacts, our agency decided to begin offering a Taiwan program.

After some initial fact gathering and phone calls with the Taiwan caseworker, we took the steps to become pre-approved. On January 6th we received our pre-approval and were given the green light to proceed.

We just got our updated home study today and now have to make some changes with our immigration paperwork to let the U.S. know we'll be going to Taiwan instead of China. Once we have that completed, we will send our paperwork to Taiwan and do what we do best--wait...

Currently, the estimated wait time until referral is 12-18 months (which could increase). After we receive our referral we expect we will travel four to six months later. While it still seems so far away, this wait time feels more manageable and tolerable.

We have also decided to withdraw our dossier from China. We believe this child will be our last child. If for some reason this adoption doesn't work out, we are so blessed with our darling Lindy.

I have some sadness knowing that our next daughter isn't from mainland China but am excited to get to learn about Taiwan. One of my first questions was, "Well, how do they say little sister in Taiwan?" I was excited to learn that the answer is, "mei mei" since the most commonly spoken language is Mandarin. Already, I am trying to process the differences between how things are handled regarding the adoption process.

In the past few weeks we have gone from sorely discouraged, to cautiously optimistic, to hopeful excitement. As is typical of the adoption process, we've experienced quite the rollercoaster of emotions.

So again (or still), we ask for your prayers. As my dear friend Diana reminded me this week we have a God who deals with details and wants us to be specific with Him, so here are our specific requests:

  • Please ask for the necessary changes to our immigration paperwork to go smoothly and quickly so that we can have our paperwork in Taiwan within the next few weeks.
  • Please be pray for God to provide financially for this adoption. It is significantly more expensive and during these terrible economic times we specifically ask for Don to remain gainfully employed.
  • Please pray for the birth parents. It is possible we will get to meet our daughter's birth mother which is a lot to think about given the contrast to our experience with Lindy. However, we pray that the birth parents are healthy and that the birth mother will make wise choices to take care of this little one before she is born.
  • Please pray for us to be patient and to look for ways to enjoy the wait and find the joy in the journey. God has given us a beautiful daughter, already, and I want our last months/years as a family of three to be special.
Thank you for those of you who have been praying already, for those who have expressed concern, and been faithful followers of our journey. We appreciate your love and expressions of encouragement more than you know.

15 comments:

Jenn said...

How EXCITING!! Oh my goodness!! Praying!!

Hugs,
Jenn

The Oswalds said...

So excited for you and am praying for you and Mei Mei.

myra said...

Wow! Isn't God just wonderful! I say this a lot I think but I do think that He guides our lives in ways we can't imagine. And it always ends up better than we expected.

Praying for you all!

Jennifer said...

How exciting!!! I know how hard the wait has become. We are close to 16 months logged in for baby sister. Sometimes I think it will never happen. If it doesn't we are truely blessed with Katie Min Min.

I am excited to follow your journey.

Jen

Heather said...

Hey sweetie - so happy to see your bloggy hiatus is coming to an end - I miss the way you inspire and challenge me!! This is beyond exciting and Ihave been remiss in not sending some form of encouragement as of late - I am working on that!! We love you guys and pray that Mei Mei is quickly on the horizon.

We will continue to lift you in prayer.

All our love,
Heather

Michelle R Photography said...

Hi Lisa,

It sounds like you and Don are very content with the direction that God is leading you. I am so happy to know that this shift in direction is lifting your spirits and putting a new skip in your step. I will pray for you, Don and Lindy on this new journey.

Have you ever read the blog, Journey to Taiwan for Hannah Claire? Sarah has the most beautiful blog, which is filled with photos of her gorgeous daughter that she brought home from Taiwan a month or so ago. She and her husband went into great detail describing Taiwan before and during their travels. If you haven't visited, I recommend stopping by.
http://journeytohannahclaire.blogspot.com/. As you're researching Taiwan, you might find tidbits of info that might be helpful. Plus, her blog is just so creative and her daughter is precious.

Love,
Michelle

Tish said...

Hi! We began our adoption process with China in 2006 and completed the adoption of our son, born in Taiwan, in 2007. Unlike you, we decided to keep our dossier in China, although thr future of that process is unknown.

We had a very easy time getting all of our paperowrk switched to Taiwan; I hope the same for you! We began the process before Taiwan becamse a high demand country for adoptions (and their process didn't seem to be as cut and dry as China), and so I am hoping that the process is a little more structured now.

Best wishes!!!

Sheri said...

Praise God for his direction! I'll be praying for you every step of the way on this new path you are going down. Thanks for giving us specific ways to pray.

Football and Fried Rice said...

HOLY SMOKES!!!!!!! This is SOOO very cool!!!! I am so happy for you guys & for your prayerful decision!! A mei mei from any where will be blessed to have you & Don as parents and Lindy as a big sister! Congratulations, this is so God!!!

Karen said...

I'm so excited for you all! I will keep you in my prayers.

Karen

JulieC said...

God does have amazing ways of directing our paths. I will pray for you in your pursuit and for God's guidance in each step. What a change of direction!!
God Bless
Julie :)

Michelle said...

I just found your blog from Wenlovecalls and decided to stop by. I am guessing you found Melissa through Lisa but in case you didn't - visit redthreadtomydaughter.blogspot.com.Lisa has receieved a referral and is awaiting the necessary rulings to go get her daughter, Paige. Congratulations on your decision. As I have always told Lisa, we need to trust HIS plan is the right one. I will follow along.

Amanda said...

I will definitely continue to pray.

To The Moon and Back said...

This is good news. We are one of the families on a slow boat to China, and today I find myself VERY discouraged. I will pray that your family brings your little Mei-Mei home soon.
Thanks for sharing

Lori said...

WOW!! Lisa, congratulations on this new and exciting decision!!
I will hope and pray for mei mei to be home soon!!! ((HUG))