Leaving Soon!

We have been spending our days preparing for my departure.  There have been lessons to plan, subs to secure, suitcases to pack, meals to plan, groceries to buy, and technology to update.

Catherine will be flying out tomorrow and will be in Lansing on Tuesday.  We will leave from Lansing on Wednesday afternoon.  It will be a long day with 2 layovers (Detroit and Shanghai).  We should arrive in Beijing on Thursday at 11:40pm (11:40am your time).  Please pray that we make the connecting flight in Shanghai.  We will have 2 hours to get through customs and cross to the domestic side and find our flight.  We are hoping our bags go straight through.

We will spend Friday and Saturday sight seeing in Beijing.  Then, fly out Sunday to Emilyn's province.  We will shop for everything that I don't have room for in my luggage to make Emilyn comfortable. I will finally be able to hold her at about 9:30am Monday morning (9:30pm Sunday night your time). We will tour her province and wait for her passport to be prepared.  Friday, we will fly to Guangzhou to finish the process.  She will have her medical and we will do more touring.  On Tuesday, we will have her Consulate appointment.  We need to wait 48 hours and then her visa will be ready and we can fly home!

We thank you so much for your prayers!!  Here are a few specific requests:

• Health - Our family (including me) seems to be battling colds
• Mark - He will be single parenting for 2 weeks.  This includes homework, lunches, dinners, managing kiddos at Half Time at church while preparing for the Worship Service, and coming to my rescue as I communicate with him at all times of the night.
• Catherine - She has a LONG trip here and then to China.  She has to do the same thing on the way home.  She has a foster daughter that is in the care of a nanny, please pray for her while Catherine is with me.
• Emilyn - She is about to have her entire world turned upside down.  She will be leaving a nanny that has loved and cared for her since she was just a few months old. Please pray that she will allow me to comfort her and will begin the attachment process.
• April - Patience and love for Emilyn.  Comfort in missing my family and best friend (who selflessly agreed to stay home and hold down the fort)!
• Most of all, Catherine and I would ask that you pray for our testimony.  We pray that we would have the opportunity to pour Christ's love into everyone we meet: nannies, guides, other adoptive parents, locals, hotel workers, and the sweet kiddos we will meet when we tour the orphanage.

We Have TRAVEL APPROVAL!

We received TA today!!

Our CA (Consulate Appointment) was confirmed as well!  This means our entire trip is determined.  I leave in TWO WEEKS!

October 12th - Fly to China
October 13th - Arrive in Beijing
October 14th and 15th - Tour Beijing
October 16th - Fly to Emilyn's province
October 17th - MEET EMILYN!!!!
October 18th to 20th - Tour her province
October 21st - fly to Guangzhou
October 22nd to 26th - tour Guangzhou, medical visit, Consulate Appointment
October 27th - fly home

WOW!  It will go so fast only being in China for 2 weeks! It's been 5 years since we've only adopted one kiddo and had a shorter stay.

It feels like this journey took forever, because I just missed a couple of lightning fast approval rounds.  However, we still made AMAZING time!

January 11th - saw her face for the first time (requested the file on the 12th) - only 8.5 months ago
January 26th - finally received an update
February 26th - LOI finally submitted! (Lots of pre-submission paperwork) - only 7 months ago
March 2nd - Received Pre-Approval from China (officially started)!!

This is truly one of the quickest adoptions!  Only 9 short months from seeing her face for the first time to holding her in my arms!  WOW!! GOD IS GOOD!!!

ALMOST THERE!!

We are at the LAST STEP!!

Our Article 5 was picked up from the US Consulate today (actually last night).  This paper lets the Chinese government know that the US will issue a visa to Emilyn so she can come home.  She doesn't become a US citizen until she sets foot on US soil.  So, she travels home on a Chinese passport with a US visa.

This paper is overnighted across China to CCCWA in Beijing.  Now, we are officially waiting for TRAVEL APPROVAL!! :)

We have to have this important piece of paper to set our Consulate Appointment.  Once that is set, everything else is scheduled backwards from that point.  We are PRAYING that we get Travel Approval (TA) on Monday or Tuesday of next week.  This will give time for the Consulate Appointment to be made before everything in China closes down for a week due to National Holiday.  IF we can get a super quick TA, I could leave on October 12th and Emilyn could be in my arms on October 17th!!  Thank you for your prayers!! :)

 

Introducing: My Travel Buddy

 

OUR STORY

God is in the details, all of them! When we realized that there was another little one waiting for us in China, we quickly determined that I would be traveling without Mark this time. We have a large number of kiddos with very diverse needs and Mark needs to stay home and support them. I decided that the perfect travel partner would be my mom. It would be a life-altering experience and she will have 7 grandchildren from China. She has never flown in a plane and was unwavering in her absolute determination to never fly. I was devastated. I couldn’t figure out what God was doing, it seemed like the perfect plan.
I then realized that an adoptive mama that we traveled with on our last trip would be a great travel partner. Her beautiful daughter was from the same province as Emilyn! Her wonderful family agreed to let her travel with me and live without her for two weeks. It started to make sense. However, her husband’s job could require him to travel away at a moment’s notice. This would mean that we couldn’t be certain if she would be able to go or not. Once again, I couldn’t figure out what God’s plan was.
After hearing the news that this other adoptive mom wasn’t a guarantee, Mark and I both felt that we needed to explore other possible travel companions. Then, Mark and I had the same immediate thought! We knew right away who the perfect travel partner would be! This amazing woman supports us in so many ways! She has visited, prayed for, encouraged, and loved on our family ever since we met in July of last year. Every family I talk to, who has met this woman, completely falls in love with her. Her love for the Lord shines through and draws you in. We knew she was the perfect solution, but would she be able and willing?
We presented our idea to her and she asked us all to pray about it. We did and… SHE SAID YES!! My travel partner is the amazing, Catherine Theriault!!! We are so excited. Mark and I both know that she will be a wonderful blessing on this trip and a way for her to experience the international adoption process like never before. She, through the organization she works with Chosen and Dearly Loved, has impacted so many families in bringing their children home through grants and so we thought, what better way for her to experience the joy of helping by seeing a child be united with a family for the first time! We are so excited to be on the journey literally together in China!
Please pray for us! Pray for me as I work hard to attach to Emilyn and form those early bonds in China. Pray for Catherine as she has to deal with an emotional mess (me). We would also ask that you pray for our impact on China. We want to feed love into the children we meet that are still waiting, the guides that we spend time with, the Chinese people we cross paths with, and the other adoptive families that travel at the same time.

HER STORY

My journey with the amazing Anderson family began shortly after I started working with Chosen & Dearly Loved over a year ago. I had the blessed opportunity to go and visit them to do a video of their story and immediately fell in love with Mark and April and there are eight amazing children. Two of which have a very special place in my heart because we helped to bring them home with an adoption grant. April's passion for orphan advocacy is unmatched and she is one of my heroes so when I had the opportunity to go and spend the day with them again I jumped at the chance. There is something so incredible about this family and I was so blessed when they shared with me that they were adopting again and that I was one of the first people they told . I was honored beyond belief! As the months went by I looked for their adoption grant application and was so pleased to be able to make the phone call to share that we were indeed ecstatic to be walking with them on their journey to bring Emilyn home. It is with absolute elation that I share this incredible news! Because One of them needs to stay home with the kids and of course April is obsessed with all things China they have asked me to be April's traveling companion to go to China. As I prayed about this incredible opportunity to walk in the footsteps of all of our adoptive families I was overwhelmed by the reality of how this will impact me and the cause of orphan care for the rest of my life. Please join me in prayer as I embark on what I know will be a life-changing experience. Here we come Emilyn!

GOD IS ABLE!

GOD IS ABLE!!!!  When we began this journey, despite our efforts to work extra, scrimp spending, and obtain a loan, we knew we would be short of the funding we needed.  I knew the amount we needed, but it was such a large amount.  I worried about announcing the amount… What if God didn’t provide?  What if we didn’t get funded? I prayed a lot and realized that too often our doubts set limits on what God can do.  So, I decided to ask for prayers that God would provide the full $15,000 we needed.  I set to work filling out more grant applications than I can count.  You all supported us with prayers.  The grants started to come in: $1000 from Rollstone, $3500 from Gift of Adoption, and $1000 from Families Outreach.  Then, we learned that Chosen and Dearly Loved had given us a $4500 matching grant through Lifesong.  We realized that if we could raise $5000, we would have met our $15,000 goal!  We watched, prayed, celebrated, and danced with joy as that number grew and grew!!  It is through tears of utmost praise and thankfulness, we announce that WE ARE FULLY FUNDED!!!!  So many of you through donations and prayers, helped us reach $15,000!!  GOD IS ABLE!!!

An Amazing Fundraising Update!

Check it out...

We are so very close!

Only $205 to reach our matching grant!  $705 and we will be fully funded!

Would you like to help?
https://mystory.lifesongfororphans.org/stories/help-us-bring-emilyn-home/

Funding Update #2

We received an official regrets letter for the Show Hope Grant. That's okay, because God has provided!

• We have taken out a loan, taught summer school, and made other cuts to pay $21,000 in adoption costs.
• God blessed us with 3 grants totaling $5500 that went directly to our agency to cover adoption costs.
• We received a matching grant for $4500. That means we get $4500 IF we raise $4500. We are hoping to raise $5000, giving us a total of $9500 from Lifesong.  Currently, we still need to raise $2665 to reach our goal.

This would mean our adoption costs are covered. Please know that when we say fully funded, we are not implying that we don't intend to do our part. We have sacrificed to pay more than half of the total cost. A friend and I are traveling to make it as affordable as possible as Mark stays home with the kiddos. 

We thank each of you that have given, no matter the amount! It all adds up and means SO much!!! THANK YOU!!

Funding Update!

When we started this adoption, we knew that it would stress our finances.  However, we also knew that God was asking us to step out on faith and trust Him.  Knowing that it was important to do our part, we made some sacrifices.  We have been blessed in various ways, as noted in another post I wrote, and have been given opportunities to have the money to start this journey.  We also took out a loan to help cover a big portion of the cost. This adoption will end up costing just over $36,000.  We knew that we would be $15,000 short of covering the cost.  I decided early on to set my expectations high.  I decided to trust that God would provide this amount, though I struggled with setting a lower (more easily attainable) goal.  Then, I set to filling out grant applications.  This was a full time job and took hours (I am so thankful I had the summer to work on these).

God always provides!  We have been blessed with 4 grants!  Three of these grants were received in full.  The fourth grant is a matching grant.  We will get the funds IF we raise an equal amount.

Rollstone Grant - $1000
Gift of Adoption Grant - $3500
Families Outreach Grant - $1000
Hoping to Raise - $5000 (currently $2160)
Will be Matched - $4500 (currently $2160)
TOTAL = $15,000!!!

Can you believe it??  Well, of course you can!  God provided!  He provided the exact amount we needed!  Now, comes the work.  In order to reach this and be fully funded we need to raise the remaining $2840.  We have a little over 2 weeks to do this. Am I nervous?  No, God always provides.  However, I am praying and sharing.  Thank you so much to the many sponsor partners we already have!

Are you able to help us out? Remember your gift is DOUBLED!  If you give $20, it becomes $40!  If you give $45, it becomes $90!!  Donations have become easier to give.  We now have a direct link, so you can know your donation will make it to our account.  We also get immediate notification. :)

Click on  https://mystory.lifesongfororphans.org/stories/help-us-bring-emilyn-home/
Click the "Donate Now" button
Enter the amount you wish to donate
Fill in the other information

IF you would rather not make a donation online, you can always mail a check.  Please let us know if you choose to do this, then we can be on the lookout for it and make sure it makes it to our account.  We had one that didn't make it due to a wrong account number and were able to fix this, because we knew to look for it.

Please make checks payable to: Lifesong for Orphans
In the MEMO LINE, be sure to write (Preference 6216 Anderson)
Mail check to:

Lifesong for Orphans

PO Box 40

Gridley, IL 61744

 

I think Emilyn was filling out grant applications too! ;)

i800 Approval!!

So very excited! After emailing twice, our officer CALLED me today and let me know our i800 (final US approval) was approved yesterday!! We are getting so close!! 

Next week I work on getting a special number and paper that confirms our papers have been sent to the US Consulate in China and I fill out the visa application for Emilyn. Then, our agency drops off all of the important paperwork for her visa at the Consulate in China. Exactly 2 weeks later they pick it up and send it to Beijing to wait for TRAVEL APPROVAL!! 

After I get the special number and fill out the visa application, I get to rest and wait! Well, get sub plans ready and pack!!! :) Getting close!!!! Praying it all happens quickly, so I can secure a Consulate Appointment in October!! (They will fill up quickly, since a national holiday is closing things down for two weeks!)

Love is Patient

I had the privilege of helping out in the Kindergarten class this morning.  I love helping out in different roles and different capacities.  I learn so much.  This morning the kids’ lesson revolved around 1 Corinthians 13:4 “Love is patient, Love is kind”. I have to admit, I struggled with this a bit.  I knew God spoke those words, and I know I am NOT a patient person.  I thought, God is speaking to me about my wait for Emilyn.  But I didn’t get it.  How is being patient, loving her?

Then, on the way home I realized that I was applying it to the wrong situation!!  I was applying it to the easier part of my life.  Sure, I can try and be patient in the wait for Emilyn.  But, as amazing as it is, this isn’t where I struggle the most with patience and where it would manifest itself as love. 

I looked into the eyes of my precious son.  The son that I advocated, prayed, and fought for.  When it looked like there was no way to bring him home, we exhausted every option available.  To be honest, this is our hardest adoption. Just when I think we are getting somewhere and turning a corner, he has a rough day at school or blurts out and disrupts at Children’s Church.  I look into his eyes and feel extremely frustrated.  We have tried everything.  We have transitioned, time ins, time outs, extra time, holding, role playing, and schedules. It begins to feel like we will never truly “get there”.

That’s when it hit me… Love is patient… I have committed to loving this child.  I committed to loving him to the CCCWA in a letter of intent when we petitioned to adopt him and on the official adoption day.  I committed to loving him when taking an oath in the US Consulate.  But most importantly, I committed to God that I would love him when we dedicated him at church.  Love is patient…

I truly don’t believe he acts out due to spite.  He isn’t trying to be difficult.  It is a by-product of spending 7 years in an institution.  When I read about the effects of institutionalism on a person, I am amazed at how well he does.  I do believe he feels remorse, but the brain wires differently when a person is isolated and mistreated for that many years.  Love is patient…

I am so thankful for those of you who interact with our sweet boy. I apologize for the times when he is difficult to love. It is a struggle for those of us who have been educated about the effects of a trauma filled past, so I am sure it is even more so for those trying to understand.  Love is patient…

God taught me a tough lesson today.  I pray that I will remember it when the need arises.  I will no longer skim over this seemingly insignificant way of showing love.  I now know it is perhaps the most important one of all!

Jewelry and Supporting Our Adoption

We have a SUPER EXCITING opportunity to fund our adoption!! Another adoptive mama has offered to help us! This sweet family took a photo album of our family to Emilyn and took many adorable pictures of her for us. She has offered her artistic talents to help us raise money. She has an Etsy shop (online store) and is willing to donate 50% of the purchases made for our adoption to the matching grant! You just need to be sure to note “Please support Anderson’s adoption” when you check out! We are so thrilled and thankful! Here is a link to her amazing merchandise! Have fun shopping and thanks for helping us! https://www.etsy.com/shop/art4justice

Hearts Full of LOVE update

We are so excited to share the progress made in our artwork.  There are now 66 hearts sponsored!  Our amazing sponsors have donated over $1000!  Since that amount is matched, we have $2000 in our Lifesong account.  This money will be sent straight to our adoption agency to help cover in-country expenses.  We are almost 1/4 of the way there!  We still need your help.

Are you able to sponsor a heart for $15?  A donation of $15 will be doubled to $30.  For every $15, we will write your name on the back of a heart and add it to the artwork that will hang in Emilyn's room.  We can't wait to see this frame FILLED with hearts!  Our children love watching the hearts get filled out and added to the artwork.  It is a tangible way for them to see how people are joining us in our journey!

There are two ways to donate:

Online (using a credit card):

1. Go to www.lifesongfororphans.org/donate
2. Direct your donation (from the drop down menu) to “Adoption”
3. FILL IN Family Account Number = 6216 and Family Name = Anderson
4. Click on "Other" under donation amount and enter the desired sponsorship amount.
5. Complete the online form

 Mail in (using a check):

1. Please make checks payable to: Lifesong for Orphans
2. In the MEMO LINE, be sure to write (Preference 6216 Anderson)
3. Mail check to:

Lifesong for Orphans

PO Box 40

Gridley, IL 61744

* BE SURE TO ALWAYS INCLUDE #6216 AND ANDERSON IN ANY DONATION! *

Individual donations $50 or more will receive a tax deductible receipt. Receipts for donations under $50 will gladly be sent upon request. Lifesong is a 501(c)3 tax exempt organization.

Introducing Emilyn!!

We wanted to introduce you to our newest daughter...

We received wonderful news today that we were issued our LOA (Letter of Acceptance)!  If you aren't sure exactly what this means, check out the last post. The process is fairly straight forward at this point.  It should take about 2-2.5 months to travel.  We are praying that I get to travel in October.  So thankful for your prayers!!

 

Current LOA Status - Matched!

This process is taking SUCH A LONG TIME!!  Unfortunately, the timelines lengthened out right when we started this wait.  We have been blessed to have updates at each step.  These have taken longer to reach than I expected, but at least I know that we continue to make progress and aren't stuck on (or behind) someone's desk.

We are in the FINAL STRETCH now!  Our timeline for the other steps:
6/30 = LID - logged in
7/19 = In Review
8/1 = to be matched
8/8 = matched

All that is left is for someone to fill in the blanks on the LOA form and print it!!  LOA is Letter of Acceptance.  It is the formal request from China to make sure that you are committing to this child.  We can't wait to sign YES!!!

After this we will have four more big steps (however, they are more standard in their timing).
i800 = US approving us for our particular child (i800a was a general approval to adopt from China) - approximately 4 weeks
NVC = National Visa Center informs the US Consulate that they will issue a Visa for our daughter (since she is still a Chinese national until she lands in the US) - approximately 2 weeks
Article 5 = US Consulate in China giving their stamp of approval on the visa and documents to show this to CCCWA - 2 weeks
TA = Travel Approval (China invites us to come and get our beautiful daughter) - approximately 1 week

Introducing "Hearts full of LOVE"

We will be meeting our newest princess soon.  We are excited about how our journey is progressing. We are so thankful for the multiple ways we have already been blessed, however, there are still many expenses left.  We could use your help!  We have been blessed with a $4500 matching grant from Chosen & Dearly Loved through Lifesong!

This time around we desired to do something different than the puzzle fundraiser we did last time, but still wanted a tangible reminder of those that play such an instrumental role in our journey.  We came up with the idea to make a piece of artwork that will hang in our two littlest princesses’ room.  We are calling this project “Hearts full of LOVE” which will help us raise the money needed to bring home our newest treasure.   

The beauty is that YOU can help!  You can be a part of our story!!  For every $15 you donate, we will write your name on the back of a heart and add it to our artwork. Thanks to our matching grant, that $15 becomes $30!  Every amount donated is doubled, up to $4500!! $4500 will be matched if 300 hearts are sponsored.  However, we really need to get to the $5000 donation mark and we can reach that if 335 hearts are sponsored. Thank you in advance for considering a donation to our project!! Donations go directly to our account.  These funds are sent to our agency to pay for adoption costs.

PLEASE do not think any amount is too small!  Those dollars add up!  Again, every $15 you donate means another heart on our “Hearts full of LOVE” artwork. 

How can you sponsor a heart?

Online (using a credit card):

1. Go to www.lifesongfororphans.org/donate
2. Direct your donation (from the drop down menu) to “Adoption”
3. FILL IN Family Account Number = 6216 and Family Name = Anderson
4. Click on "Other" under donation amount and enter the desired sponsorship amount.
5. Complete the online form

 Mail in (using a check):

1. Please make checks payable to: Lifesong for Orphans
2. In the MEMO LINE, be sure to write (Preference 6216 Anderson)
3. Mail check to:

Lifesong for Orphans

PO Box 40

Gridley, IL 61744

** BE SURE TO ALWAYS INCLUDE #6216 AND ANDERSON IN ANY DONATION! **

Individual donations $50 or more will receive a tax deductible receipt. Receipts for donations under $50 will gladly be sent upon request. Lifesong is a 501(c)3 tax exempt organization.

Thank you so much for playing a part in our journey and we look forward to seeing God work as you help us bring our daughter home!! Can't wait to start filling these boxes in with hearts!!