Busy Week~

Lets start off at the beginning of the week! On Monday the 21st, I called to speak with our agency about some things. They informed me that, as we spoke, they were uploading more WC to be reviewed. I quickly looked and requested the file for MA281 (SFY). Things unfolded so quickly! They called me while I was having lunch at the park and said we were the first to request the file and they just emailed it to me. I tossed my lunch onto the floorboard and rushed back to work! The diagnosis was a vision issue, so I quickly sent the info to all my optometrist friends! Jack and I discussed it and decided to proceed! That night, we wrote up our LOI, emailed all the neccesary paperwork and photos to our agency. Their Beijing staff was standing by to translate! We were thrilled! Tuesday we were on cloud nine! Then on Wednesday, someone emailed me and said they knew someone who had video of SFY if we were interested! Are you kidding? Heck yeah! So we go to church and we're teaching the youth a bible verse by erasing words and repeating it until they know it. That verse? And we know that all things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28. So when we get home... I have an email from the lady with video's. Turns out, they were able to review SFY's file with their agency and noticed the only diagnosis listed was the vision. They wanted to make sure we knew about the other issues. WHAT??? SFY also has CP and DD. We watched the video as our hearts crushed. She struggled to walk and keep her balance. We knew that this was more than we were willing to take on. As selfish as it sounds, we want our daughter to run and laugh and play baseball.... This wasn't our dream. We quickly got in touch with our agency and withdrew our LOI. It was heart wrenching. But things happened so fast and I was so excited that I had prayed that if this wasn't God's will, He was going to have to stop it. He did! And we know that all things work together for good, for those who love God and are called according to His purpose! So this wasn't our daughter, but I believe that God has a daughter in mind for us, in His timing. And I know what He has planned is better than anything I can plan for myself. And so we wait....

Happy Birthday ZL

Last week we reviewed a file for a little girl in GeJiu. We decided not to pursue with adopting her, but she is heavy on my heart anyway. She is such a precious little girl and today is her 4th birthday. I pray she finds her forever family and this will be the last birthday she spends in the orphanage. Happy Birthday ZL, sweet girl!
Now, could it be? Maybe! We'll see! Stay tuned!
His... -JMS

I guess you can tell by my lack of posting that we've been pretty busy!

Jory lost his first tooth April 3rd. It started out pretty devastating, but then it was no big deal when it finally did fall out and didn't hurt!

Group180 is preparing to participate in the:

The closer it gets, the more I realize just how long 30 hours really is! But the truth is, 29,000 die each day due to hunger, disease and poverty. Just $1 can help feed and care for a child for a day. That's one day they don't have to worry about wether or not they will eat.

We are going hungry so others can eat. We will feel the hunger of those who don't have a choice about their own circumstances. Pray for our group, it's going to be tough and we don't even want to attemp this without God. It's through Him that all things are possible. Not by might, nor by power, but by HIS spirit. And His spirit lives within me, so I think I can do it!

Been A While...

Wow! Been a while since I've posted. We've kept busy, so I'll try to catch you up to speed!

Jacen and Jory colored Easter eggs at Grandma's house! We do this every year at her house because she has a bigger kitchen counter! They really enjoy this!

Jadeth got some new sunglasses for Easter. He's looking all cool and like he just stepped out of a magazine! I love this picture of him!
It was soooooo cold Easter day! Jacen, as usual, didn't wear a coat so he had to wear Grandpa's! Here's a shot of him by Grandma's bottle tree!
Here's Jory freezin' and huntin' Easter Eggs! Did I mention how cold it was Easter Sunday?!

Nothing new on the adoption front! I'll be glad for summer, Jacen and Jory will both play ball this summer, so we'll keep busy! Jack has got a new body on the race car and is anxious for racing to start. We will have plenty to do to pass the time so we don't sit around and obsess about China.

Happy Easter

Hague and our Agency

We received this email from our agency yesterday. Gee... so much going on. I'm really feeling the blues. I think I'm ready for winter to be over and I'm just blah.... I feel at times that this adoption will never happen. I'm trying to be patient and take it one day at a time and remember that God planted this in our hearts and so we will just be patient and 'let God'. Anyway, good news on the newsletter, as you read it we fall into option #1. Our I171-H expires May 28 and we've contacted our social worker about our homestudy update to refile. So we should be ready to re-file under the 'one time free extension' before our's expires. That renews us for another 18 months. However, should our agency not receive their accredidation by the end of our 18 months and our adoption is not completed, at that time... we're screwed. I know, I hate that word to, but no other fits right now! :-(
Our agency is 100% committed to receiving their accredidation, so I'm not too worried right now. But this will affect many families and my heart goes out to them. Until later....
His...JMS

Dear Children’s Hope International Families,
On March 7, 2008, Council on Accreditation (COA) reviewed Childrens’ Hope International (CHI) Hague Accreditation case. COA issued their report on March 19, 2008 and concluded that additional evidence is needed to demonstrate CHI’s compliance with the Hague standards. Our Hague accreditation status is still “pending”.
In COA’s March 19 report, they stated that CHI’s corrective action plan is very detailed; however, COA requires that full licensure status be obtained in Illinois, which is estimated to be May 31st or later. The agency must demonstrate that the corrective action plan has been fully implemented in Illinois. CHI also needs to provide a detailed implementation report for the period of January 1 to June 30, 2008 that documents that:
1. The corrective action plan has been fully implemented in Illinois;
2. The license status has been obtained in Illinois; and
3. The procedures are in place to ensure that the incident will not occur again.
CHI’s Illinois branch office has been working diligently with the Illinois Division of Children and Family Services (DCFS) on our corrective action plan due to be completed on May 31 and renewal of our license in Illinois which is due to expire on July 2, 2008.
As soon as we have a letter from Illinois DCFS documenting the successful completion of our corrective action plan and our new Illinois license, CHI can submit the requested documentation to COA. COA will then review the documentation and schedule a review by the COA Commission. After the meeting, COA will issue their findings to CHI. This process may not be completed until early fall 2008; however, CHI will do everything within our power to expedite this process.
CHI deeply regrets that we find ourselves in this position and have been working tirelessly to right the wrongs committed by two former employees in our Russia program in July of 2007.
Our pending Hague status does not directly affect our Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, Russia or Vietnam families with USCIS as these are not Hague countries and USCIS will continue to process I600A applications for these countries. See below for more important information for the Vietnam and Kazakhstan programs.
Our pending Hague status directly affects our China and Colombia families in the following ways:
1. If you are a China or Colombia family and have a valid I171H or I797C and are entitled to still file a one time free extension, you do not need to take any action at this time.
2. If you are a China or Colombia family and you have already exercised your right to a one time free extension, you will hopefully complete your adoption prior to your I171H expiring or you will need to file an I800A once CHI is Hague accredited in the future.
3. If you are a China or Colombia family and you let your I171H or I797C expire, you have 2 options: 1. File an I600A, including fees and all documents except the home study to be stamped received by your local USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) office on or before March 31, 2008. You have one year from that stamped received date to file your home study with USCIS. Or 2. You may wait and file an I800A with USCIS once CHI receives Hague accreditation. If you choose to wait and CHI never receives Hague accreditation, you will not be able to complete you adoption through CHI.
4. If you are a China or Colombia application family and have not filed an application with USCIS yet, please file an I600A, including fees and all documents except the home study to be stamped received by your local USCIS office on or before March 31, 2008. You have one year from that stamped received date to file your home study with USCIS.
Please contact me if you have any questions. For instructions on how to file an I600A, please consult your program dossier workbook or go to www.uscis.gov and look under Immigration Forms.

Rebecca Davis, MSW