What a week of paperwork...

This has been a week of filling out papers, getting re-fingerprinted, signing & notarizing papers, getting police checks... A home-study is good for one year in the state of Florida, so ours is being updated. Also, Matthew had to get things checked out/signed since he's 18. We signed the document for China accepting Fu Jie to be our son - and that has been sent! It's wonderful to have things done! Today Terry, Andrew and I leave for a couple of days at the beach. Matthew heads off on an adventure camping trip with three friends - also a celebration for one of the guys who just finished his Masters in Engineering! Oh, and by the way, Matthew is having fun saving lives as a lifeguard at Wet 'N Wild. It has been a good week...

We have LOA (Letter of Approval)

We just got a call from our agency - we have our Letter of Approval from China! Our Pre-Approval was 6/16/09. We have LOA in 38 days! Usually takes 3-4 months... wow, we are so happy and scared and excited! Our Travel Approval will probably come within 6 - 8 weeks. Only God knows! And we know He is the planner of all this. Keep Jie in your prayers. Keep us in your prayers, too, as we continue this step by step walk of faith.

Every penny helps!

Our dossier is done, which included the home-study,many forms, documents, and fees... and is paid for. The first agency fee is paid for. We will have the second/final agency fee, the document fees in China, the orphanage donation fee, and of course the traveling. China requires at least one parent to travel and be there two weeks. We would like to both go, as well as take Andrew, to help with the adjustments. The orphanage fee used to be $3000. and last I heard has gone up to $5200. It went up when the value of the dollar went down. Pray for God's continued provision as we gather these funds together. Here's a simple, easy way you can help: register with iGive and put Langford International Adoption as your cause. Download iGive to be in your toolbar - then whenever you shop on-line, shop through iGive. They have tons of stores. Also, whenever you search, search through iSearch rather than google or whatever you're used to. Thanks!


http://www.iGive.com/LangfordInternatlAdoption
AND
http://www.iSearchiGive.com/LangfordInternatlAdoption

When we first heard about Jie

This was written in August 2007.

You can read more about this on Sera's blog: Ashermeanshappy.blogspot.com

Asher is from Jie's orphanage - Sera is his big sister, and I might add - an excellent blog writer.

"When we first met Jie, he was very sad looking. Our guide Hannah, went right over to him and Jie began asking her if she had found him a family. At nine years old, he has seen several of his friends leave with their families but no one has come for him.

The orphanage staff kept telling us that Jie is a very smart and good boy. He always listens to the nannies and is very helpful.
Jie attends a boarding school that is several hours away from the orphanage. He is a very good student and loves to learn, but he does not like the school because he has no family or friends there.

We told Jie that we would pray for a family for him. Jie asked us what did it mean to pray, so Ian explained that praying was asking God for something for someone. And Jie looked at us and asked "What is God?"
This little boy is so hungry and he wants to learn so much.
But he hasn't been given the opportunity to.

Like Asher, he was born with a cleft lip but he has had the surgery and is completely healthy. I don't believe his palate was involved because he spoke very well for being 9 years old. Asher sounds very nasally because of his palate and is hard to understand. Even though I don't speak Mandarin, I was able to clearly understand everything Jie said.

Jie wouldn't smile while we were there. He just looked at us and seemed to be asking if we could take him home too. When we told him that we would do everything we could to find him a family, he finally gave us a smile."

Journey to Jie

Our journey to Jie starting in August 2007 when friends met him while they were in China adopting their son. We personally started learning about international adoption and looking for his file in January 2008. It is our story of faith and trusting in God. We hope it is also his story of faith as well. He's a long way from home, but hopefully within a few months will be in our family and home.