More fingerprints!

USCISLetter

Well, I am sad to say that I received this in the mail today!

My least favorite part is where it says, “The FBI was unable to process your fingerprint card.”  So, I will be back to try again on the 19th of this month.

Pray for this new appointment to go well?

I am choosing to trust that the Lord is working this all out in His Perfect Timing!

Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!

Psalm 27:14

How did the fingerprinting go?

Well, if anyone could take my fingerprints and have a legible result in the end, it would be the capable employee working at USCIS this morning!

“Have you ever had fingerprints done before?”

“Yes.”

“Have you ever had …”

“Yes!”

“Well, I wasn’t sure how to ask…”

She could tell right away that my fingerprints were not very clear and then proceeded to roll and re-roll them many times!  In my limited experience with such things, she really seemed to know what she was doing and do a thorough job.  She also seemed to think we would be ok!  We should hear in the next month or so, and we will keep you posted.

On another topic, I must say that The Department of Homeland Security Building is very intimidating.  I was nervous and everyone was speaking English and for the most part friendly!  It made me think that our various appointments in China will also be a bit nerve wracking.  I also had the thought that I should have more empathy for the immigrants in our midst and also the refugees that Becca works with.  I am sure they have endured countless appointments and visits to similar places when they did not always know the language and when the faces were not always friendly.

 He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing.  And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt.

Deuteronomy 10:18-19

Fingerprints Friday at 10 am!

We will be visiting USCIS Omaha as part of the I800 A process.

Will you pray that our fingerprints will be legible?

Especially mine!

Some of you may remember that I do not have the best track record!

Thank you!

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Philippians 4:6

 

 

 

 

We have an answer.

I am so glad that we asked you all to pray concerning our agency, Lifeline Children’s Services, giving us permission to adopt two children concurrently! The leadership team met today and discussed our request. We received the disappointing answer that, no, they did not give us permission to pursue adopting a second child on this same trip to China. We really felt this on our heart and wanted to follow through on it, but with so many praying that the leadership at Lifeline would make the right decision, I am resting in the idea that this must be what is best and that God is sovereign in this situation. This is an encouragement to me! They mentioned that in part, they felt that Sparrow would be best served by coming home alone as she is an “older” child. Our social worker explained to us that any child over 3 years of age is considered to be an older child. They also mentioned that since this is our first international adoption, they felt a single adoption would be best. We appreciate them being so thoughtful in this situation and looking to what is best for our new daughter! Thank you again for your prayers, we appreciate you!

For now, we are excited to continue on our journey to bring our Sparrow home! Our I800A was submitted last Tuesday on February 4. Typically it is a 2-3 month wait to receive that approval from US Immigration and during that time, we will be fingerprinted again and also finish our Dossier so it can be sent to China. The Dossier includes our medicals, criminal clearances, family pictures, passport photos, birth certificates, marriage license … and finally we will add our I800A approval when we receive it.

We plan to send some pictures of our family to Sparrow this week and appreciate your prayers that God would be preparing her heart to join our family and become a sister and a daughter.

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.

1 John 5:14

Home Study Complete

checkbox1We just received word that our Home Study was completed and approved. This is a huge milestone! We have been working on our Home Study since August 2013.

Next Step: Apply to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to be deemed suitable to adopt, then wait 2-3 months!

Technically the application form is the I-800a or the “Application for Determination of Suitability to Adopt a Convention Child.”  A “Convention Child” is a child from a Hague Convention country.  A Hague Convention country is one that has signed the The Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-Operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption, but I won’t get started on that right now.

With our Home Study complete we can also apply for grants, and hopefully set up an account to allow people to donate money tax-free if they are so inclined.

More to come, thanks for being on this journey with us.