It's Been Awhile

Our paperwork has been sent to immigration and we're waiting on our receipt to get our biometric fingerprints done.  A new list of children has been posted on the waiting children page of our adoption agency, but none of them actually meet our requests.  We're in a lull stage of the adoption and I'm actually quite frustrated right now.  Once again, I'm supposed to be learning patience, and I'm failing miserably.

Clearance Complications

Our paperwork cannot be sent to immigration yet.  Travis had to get clearance in Missouri as well as Alabama since he lived there when he was over the age of 18.  This clearance form has not made it back to Lifeline yet.  I'm extremely frustrated with this since it is putting us behind schedule.  Patience is not one of my attributes!

Forever Home

I was so excited to see that YunPing has been matched with a family!  I've been checking the waiting children's list to see who has been matched and she has found a forever home.  This was such a blessing to me since we had considered adopting her and have been praying for her.  She is such a precious child and I know that she will greatly bless a loving family.

Decisions

We must decide by Monday if we want to place a little girl on hold.  Her picture is so sweet and we have already prayed over her file.  My prayer now is for peace in our decision and that God would give us confidence that it's what He wants.

Home Study Is Finished!

Our home study is done!  We send our immigration paperwork to the adoption agency tomorrow and then they will send it to immigration.  I feel like we're making progress again.  Of course the next wait will be even longer than this one.  It can take 3-6 months for immigration to approve our application.  Let's pray it's closer to 3 months than six.

Tired of Waiting

For 3 months now, I haven't felt like the wait would be too bad.  All of a sudden it feels like next July will never arrive.  I can't imagine the families that are waiting for several years for a child, especially if they do not already have children.  The special needs wait time is much shorter, but it's still not quick enough.

Travis and I prayed and talked about Yunping and have decided that God is not leading us in that direction.  It was a really hard decision and was not made without many tears on my part, but I do believe it was the right decision.  I know God will lead us to our little Katie.

New Pictures!

Just received updated pictures of Yunping.  She is absolutely adorable!  God is teaching me a lesson in patience and in submission.  I have really been convicted that Travis must be the one to make the final decision on which child we choose.  So, I'm waiting and praying.  I know that God will give him the right answer concerning this little girl.  It's hard though because I've already fallen in love with her.

Waiting

Just waiting and praying.  If we listen, God will speak.  I'm usually so busy talking that I miss what He's trying to say.  I'm trying to work on that and depend on Him to make the decisions in this whole process. 

One More Step

We had our last interview for our home study today in Birmingham.  Everything went very well.  Our social worker will compile our file and turn it into her supervisor at the beginning of next week, then it will be in review. It will take about 3-4 weeks for the review process, so the plan is to have it completed by the end of this month so we can send in our paperwork to immigration.

I'm so relieved and excited that this part of the process is behind us.  It feels like we are one step closer to meeting our daughter.  We continue to pray for Yunping and that God will show us the direction He wants us to take.  Thank you in advance for your prayers.

One specific prayer that I ask is for me.  I am terrified of flying and had a minor panic attack thinking about the trip last night.  Please pray for God's peace- I remind myself that He has not given me a spirit of fear.  This is really a struggle for me and your prayers are much appreciated.
-Michal

After a lot of prayer, we made the decision on Friday to not "hold" Yunping's file any longer.  This will allow other families to view her file and choose to adopt her.  We just did not feel that she was the child for us at this time.  We are still praying for her and look forward to following her story.  God will lead us where He wants us to go as long as we're open to hear His voice.

Our Journey Begins

You may be curious about the address of this site, "singing duckweed".  We have fallen in love with a little girl, YunPing, who lives in China and are seeking to adopt her.  "Yun" means "melody" and "Ping" means "duckweed" in Chinese, so we invite you to Follow the Melody as God directs us on this journey.


We are in waiting mode right now.  Our application was accepted in July, our home study is underway, and we have chosen a child from the "waiting children's list" but have not received approval yet.  Our last home study visit will be next month and there is still more paperwork to complete before that meeting.  Thank you to everyone who is following our story and supporting us with your prayers!