Wouldn’t you think that we would have this adoption process down?  Third times the charm, right?  Well, as it turns out, there is a big difference between domestic infant adoption and international adoption – and a lot of little differences in how different agencies handle international adoption, and we are working with a new agency this time.  A few times, these little changes or differences in the process have left us at a loss and needing some explanation when we felt like we should know just what to do.
We have even lost a few documents along the way –
and although we have our share of crazy around here, this is pretty uncharacteristic for us!
So, I am glad to share with you that we are done with our part of completing the dossier!

We recently sent this very precious package to our Family Coordinator and it has been confirmed that it made its journey safely to our agency, AWAA.  Hooray!!  Included inside were an application letter, birth certificates (Jason and Kirstin), General Physical Forms (Jason, Kirstin, and Becca), Marriage Certificate, Financial Statement, Employment Verification letter (Jason), Non-Employment Letter (Kirstin), Police Reports (Jason, Kirstin, and Becca), 3 reference letters, our homestudy, I800-a approval (US Immigration), family photo pages, photocopies of the signature page of passports (Jason and Kirstin), two passport photos each (Jason and Kirstin), homestudy agency’s COA accreditation certificate, license, and nonprofit letter…
and a few misc. things for AWAA, the placement agency.

Last week, we ask our Coordinator what she thought our timeline to the next few milestones might look like.  She had the following to say about
DTC (Dossier to China) and LID (Log In Date):

DTC will take around 3 weeks.  We are only allowed to take 15 documents to the State Department at one time, so your documents will go in two batches. (We have 18.)  We already have 15 documents going for another family tomorrow, so yours will go next week.  After that, they are taken to the Chinese Embassy the next Friday.  I will keep you posted on how things are going.  I try to be loose with the time because sometimes the Embassy doesn’t have documents ready on time.  Hopefully we’ll have you DTC on May 13^th, but I will keep you posted.  Congratulations on getting to this point!  You’re so close!

**We heard today that our documents are at the State Department and
we are still on track for this time line!**

After meeting these two milestones, we will be getting close to being matched with a precious child who waits in China for a family, for a home.

We share (some of) the details of this amazing process with you so you can get an idea of the scope of this undertaking and understand the miracle
that the completion of each and every adoption is!
Without God’s heart for the fatherless and his mighty hand,
this could never all come together.

We cannot wait to bring our “New Little Birdie” home to its nest.
Because this is what HOME is…

“…I think God meant the home to be one of the primary places into which His Kingdom comes afresh, His life made known again on the scale of the everyday… home is not only a refuge from evil but also a place for a new beginning after evil has done its worst, a place where hope breaks once more into human existence –
not just as an idea, but as a refuge.”
Sally and Sarah Clarkson
The Life Giving Home