A little bit of nesting to make a place for our Sparrow.
…happy, happy, happy…
*smile*
Preparing For Our New Sister
4
Too Much for One Day!
It may just be too much good news for one day!
*smile*
First, we received a call from our case worker at Lifeline telling us that we are
DTC!!!
(Dossier To China)
This is an important and exciting step in the China adoption process!
Next, we received a letter from Show Hope which began…
“On behalf of Show Hope and the donors who make our grants possible, we rejoice with your family as you step out in faith to experience the miracle of adoption. Thank you for allowing us to be a small part of your adoption process. We are pleased to inform you that you have been awarded an adoption assistance grant in the amount of $4000.”
We were already celebrating a year of middle school successfully completed, a year of high school successfully completed, and a semester of college successfully completed by our talented and dedicated students…
so it was a triple celebration as we took the “big kids” out for coffee and dessert tonight!
We continue to Praise God for his provision as we continue to prepare to travel to China and bring Lucy Joy home!
If you would like to join us on this journey and
help make this happen, go here to read more about
Lucy Joy’s Puzzle Project.
The Same Sun
We took a walk together tonight, all of us.
Well, almost all of us…
Jason commented that at a little after 8:30pm, we could still see the sun, that he thought we could probably see the sun at the same time that Lucy could.
I just looked it up, the sun rises in Baoji City at a little before 6:00 am,
which is a little before 5:00pm (the previous day) here…
so, yes, we see the same sun everyday.
However, Lucy Joy sees tomorrow before we do.
I imagine she will lead the way for our family in many things.
Maybe China isn’t so far away after all.
…and a little child will lead them.
Isaiah 11:6b
Stops Along the Way
Our updated count for Lucy Joy’s Puzzle Project tells a wonderful story
of the generosity of many who have contributed…
We are almost half way there!
Let me share a few more details with you, you will be blessed!
Many young people that we know have sponsored puzzle pieces themselves, by crafting, baking, and babysitting to raise the money. Perhaps we have not heard all the stories, and we do not have pictures of everyone’s hard work and service, but here are a few that have been shared with us!
“All Proceeds go to the Rothfuss Family Adoption Fund!”
hand made note cards!
rainbow loom keychain charms!
We look forward to the day when we can share these stories with Lucy Joy,
stories of how she was loved and anticipated by so many.
Our Dossier should begin its journey to China tomorrow,
with a few stops along the way!
First, it needs to be sent to the state of Alabama (where Lifeline Children’s Services is located) and Shelby County (the county where their Birmingham office is located).
This should take about 1 week.
Next, it will need to stop off at the Chinese Consulate in Houston, TX.
This will take about 1-2 weeks.
After that, it is off to China,
hopefully by the end of May!
Once we are DTC (Dossier to China), it will take 3-4 weeks to be logged in.
After we have an LID (Log in Date), we should receive our
Letter of Approval (LOA) in 2-3 months.
We should be able to travel 2-3 months after receiving our LOA.
If you have been counting along with me, a conservative estimate
might put us traveling sometime between October and the end of the year.
Will you pray with us that all of this (and more!) will be accomplished in
God’s perfect timing?
Be still before the Lord
and wait patiently for him…
Psalm 37:7a
It’s really starting to come together!
We are so grateful to all of you who have sponsored pieces in
Lucy Joy’s Coming Home Puzzle Project!
Some of you we have never even met,
and yet you have contributed!
Thank you!
It’s really starting to come together!
We are also piecing together the last few details of our Dossier. Kirstin’s passport has arrived and Jason is starting a new job. Thank you to everyone who prayed into that transition with us! God continues to provide everything we need as we walk through this adoption process, this journey to China to bring Lucy Joy home.
It’s really starting to come together!
To see our original Coming Home Puzzle Project Post…
https://www.rothfuss.us/2014/03/24/coming-home-puzzle-project/
Puzzle Project Update!
Thank you to everyone who has
contributed to our adoption fund by
sponsoring pieces in
Lucy Joy’s Coming Home Puzzle Project!
To see our original Coming Home Puzzle Project Post…
https://www.rothfuss.us/2014/03/24/coming-home-puzzle-project/
If you would like to see a picture of Lucy Joy,
be sure to go to our “About Us” Page!
Now, just for fun,
We’ll let you watch it coming together!
Approval Received!
We have received our I800-A Approval!!
This is one of the things required to complete our Dossier.
(As a side note, Kirstin’s fingerprints were never accepted by the Citizenship and Immigration Service, but they allowed us to use other means of establishing she was not a criminal!)
We have a short list of things left to gather and will then be able to send it all to China.
This is very exciting!!
Some of these items are simple to obtain.
For example, as soon as Kirstin’s passport arrives, we will
submit a copy of it to Lifeline.
There are a few other items that appear to our human way of thinking
to be on the difficult or impossible side.
We will have more to tell in the future,
and for now are believing that God has a plan in our current
circumstances to provide a family, home, and future for Lucy Joy
and in doing so provide a testimony of who he is to our world!
A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows,
is God in his holy dwelling.
God sets the lonely in families…
Psalm 68:5-6a
“Coming Home” Puzzle Project
In many ways, our journey to adopt Lucy Joy has been a puzzle. Are we to adopt again? Where should we adopt from? Is there a particular child for us Lord? Who should share a bedroom? What can we do about those troublesome fingerprints?!?! Many of you reading have also been pieces to this puzzle. You have prayed for us, you have walked with us, you have supported us, you have counseled us, we have learned from you, you have cheered us on. The questions continue… How many of us should travel to China? Who will help those that stay home? Which city should we fly into? How will we fund this whole process?
As you probably already know, all adoptions are a big financial undertaking. Our agency estimates that we will need approximately $30,000 to complete this entire process. Some of the things covered by these funds are background checks, physicals for everyone in the family, the home study, travel expenses and fees to the US, China, and our agency.
So, today we are inviting you to be another piece of this puzzle! In fact, today we are inviting all of you to place some of the actual pieces in the puzzle that is bringing Lucy Joy home!
With the help of our wonderful brother-in-law, Bill Armstrong (who took the photograph below on a recent trip to China), we have had a 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzle created that we titled:
“Coming Home.”
The village pictured is Xizhou (pronounced she-joe) in Yunnan Province near the city of Dali. Believe it or not, that is a field of garlic in the foreground. Amazing!
For each $10 that is donated, we will write the donor’s name on the back of two puzzle pieces and add them to the puzzle.
As the puzzle comes together, we will post updates on our blog. Completing the puzzle will raise $5,000 of the needed finances. When it is complete, we plan to frame it and display it in our home. We love that this will be a visual reminder that there were so many of our friends and family working with us to
bring Lucy Joy home.
We are already off to a great start! Sixteen pieces have
already been sponsored!
If you would like to contribute, we have provided a Paypal button in the side bar to the right. You may also contribute funds in person or through the mail.
Please feel free to share Lucy Joy’s “Coming Home” Puzzle Project with anyone that you think would like to contribute!
Another care package on its way!
This time it is for Lucy Joy’s Nannies.
We hope they will enjoy the snacks and use the camera to take pictures of Lucy and the other children she is sharing her life with right now.
When we go to China, they will give us the camera to bring home with us.
We want to have pictures and memories of her life before she became part of our family to help tell her story, some of which has happened before we were a part of it.
“A good snapshot keeps a moment from running away.”
―Eudora Welty
More fingerprints!
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