Have you heard this song?

Last year when I was making a video for my sister about her adoption from Kazakhstan, I came upon this song on the internet. It is called Waiting, The Adoption Song. The guy who wrote this song was selling it for $1.50, as a fundraiser to get his daughter home! It worked, and she has been home since January 2009. This link will let you listen to a preview of the song. Once I heard it, I couldn't get it out of my head. This link will also let you read the lyrics. I highly recommend you get this song! It is the heart cry of every parent who is adopting.
www.adoptionsong.com/theSong

If you want to read my sister's blog about her adoption from Kazakhstan with AWAA, go here: hornadoption.blogspot.com

Little Maia has been home since April 2, 2008. You can see the video (which also has the Waiting song in its entirety) on my sister's blog, as I have no idea how to add a video here. I'm slow like that. This video gives a ten minute walk down memory lane, about Maia's bonding time with my sister and my mom in Kazakhstan, and her homecoming at the airport. I still cry every time. Maia is a gift! (I would love to add a picture of Maia here to go with this little paragraph, but again, I have no idea how to do that. I can add a picture with no problem, but it always ends up at the beginning of the post, instead of exactly where I want it. Any suggestions?)

PS--also no clue how to add a link! I am using the "insert link" thing, but it is not showing up! This is all so above my head. Help!

Fingerprint Appointment

After checking the mail faithfully for two weeks, our fingerprint appointment came in the mail!

Well, in all honesty, it is the second fingerprint appointment we received. The first one was scheduled at a time when we will be out of town. I forgot to include in my cover letter with my I-600a application the ONE day that we couldn't come! And that is the day our fingerprints were scheduled. So, even though I didn't WANT to do it at all, I mailed back in the "reschedule this appointment" paper! Yuck!

And today we received the new appointment time! It is for Wednesday, August 19th at 10am. Of course, I wish it were sooner, but I will take what I can get!

Our home study is still at our state Department of Social Services, waiting for approval. After that, it is on to CIS, where we will wait for another approval!

"He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he." Deuteronomy 32:4

Calling All Prayer Warriors

Hi friends,
I know most of the people who read this blog are interested in all things adoption, but I want to give you the blessing of praying for a couple of families that need it.

I found out about Kate McRae through another blog, who, at age 5, was diagnosed with a brain tumor last month. Please read her story here. www.caringbridge.org/visit/mcraekate

Also, another young friend, Forester, with a brain tumor. His family blog is
thebradburns.blogspot.com Please pray for them!

On my side bar, you will see a link to mycharmingkids.net MckMama's fourth baby, Stellan, has a serious heart condition, and he is currently in the hospital in need of our prayers!

Thank you for praying with me!

Not OUR Referral...

...but a referral nonetheless!

We rejoice with the Limmer family for their brand new referral! They are also with AWAA and adopting from Rwanda. Yesterday, they got news of a referral of a 13 month old boy. What a sweet story God has begun to write for them. This family has a daughter, age 4, who has been calling her new baby brother from Rwanda "Moses" since the beginning of the adoption process. When they received "the call" yesterday about their new son, they learned that his name is...can you guess? Moses! Is that God or what?!

Read their blog and be encouraged!
www.limmerfamilyadventure.blogspot.com

Calm My Anxious Heart

No adoption news. Just so you know!

I am reading this great book entitled Calm My Anxious Heart by Linda Dillow. I am reading it with a bunch of girls and we discuss it each Tuesday night. It has been refreshing to my soul. The Lord is gently convicting me of how I need to spend some time this summer planning my life. The author quotes another author, Dr. Richard Swenson, from his marvelous book Margin:
"Americans are notoriously shortsighted. We live in a state of myopic mania that blurs the future. The horizon is never visible in the middle of a dust storm. But we must have a vision that extends beyond tomorrow. Living only from week to week is like a dot-to-dot life."
She writes a little later in the chapter about how we spend more time planning a summer vacation than we do planning our lives. This is so true in my life. Any suggestions for how to live day to day with the big picture in mind? My goal is to do something akin to a purpose statement, that I can review each morning during my quiet time. I feel like I need daily reminders of what my life is all about.

An Actual Tracking Number

As promised, I received a tracking number today so I can track the whereabouts of my newly approved Home Study. How exciting! I received 3 copies of the study. I received two tracking numbers actually. One is to track the progress of the study from my home study agency to our state agency, DSS. Then the second number is to track the progress from DSS to CIS. So, of course, I immediately put in the first tracking number, and to my surprise, it has already been delivered! WAHOO! So, my home study is officially in the hands of my state. Step by step! I think I wait 4-6 weeks until it is sent to CIS.

I-600a application

Yesterday (besides watching the Michael Jackson funeral) I mailed my I-600a application. I got the go-ahead to do that from my home study agency since my home study has now been approved by AWAA. While we are waiting to get approval from our state (our state must read and approve all international home studies), I can go ahead and submit the I-600a application. It has been filled out, check written, ready to go for almost two months now, so it was such fun going to the mailbox!

The mailbox has never meant so much. And I'm not even waiting for my I-171h yet!

Happy Birthday, Caleb!

Today, my sweet Caleb is 6 years old. I am so thankful for my precious boy, his sweet ways, his gentle demeanor. He is so careful to do a job correctly, and he genuinely wants to please people. He is a wonderful big brother, and is so good at including others. Caleb is such a fantastic reader, and he loves to devour books about pirates, knights, and even presidents! He loves sports of all kinds. To this day, he helps his Daddy mow the grass with his very own mower. Thank you, Lord, for the gift you have given me in Caleb.

Home Study Moving On!

Our home study has been approved by AWAA and is now in the process of being sent to our state for approval!! (AWAA doesn't have anyone to do home studies in our state, so I had to find a different agency to do the home study) I have been told this can take a month. Of course we are praying it will take less time than this, but we are also realistic. We should be receiving a tracking number to know when it gets to the state and when the state sends it on to USCIS, so you just know I will be checking that tracking number like crazy.

I will now send our application for our I-600a! We will hopefully get a fingerprint appointment this month.

Once our state approves our home study, it will be forwarded to USCIS, to join the rest of the application and fingerprints. Once it is all together, we wait for our I-171H! I can see the light at the end of the tunnel of paperwork. Then begins the tunnel of waiting for approval/referral. That is the hard part. At least now I have something to DO!

Happy 4th of July!

We are visiting my parents at the beach, and even my siblings are here! We have had lots of fun swimming, playing in the sand, and eating ice cream.

My kids love to see their cousin, Maia, who was born in Kazakhstan and was adopted by my sister last year. She is precious! We went to the beach for a fantastic fire works show, and we were able to see several different shows going on up and down the beach. It was beautiful! Thanks, Mom and Dad, for a wonderful week!