ONE. DAY. PEOPLE.

Not sure if we should laugh or cry, but after 6 months of paperchasing and almost 15 months of just waiting, we have officially missed this month's cut-off by ONE DAY. The CCAA website was updated sometime during the night saying they have completed referrals through September 8, 2005. I was a lot sadder than I expected when I first read this, but now have moved on to being glad that we know we will be next. Scott at first couldn't believe we'd missed it by one day, but then we realized that this just fits with our entire journey thus far. He said that we can go through this next month, knowing she is alive, probably b/t 6-12 months old, and we can just pray even more for her each day, knowing we are next. The next batch of referrals should arrive the last week in December or the first week in January.

Unfortunately, this means we will for sure have to renew a big portion of paperwork for our government because it will expire on 2-5-07 and we definitely won't be in China by then. This will cost us a little over $1,000 more and some time to get everything redone and to have the social worker come AGAIN to our house to see we haven't killed anyone or broken the law since our last visit. So while everyone else is praying for snow to fall from our skies this morning, we're praying for dollar bills! Another big bummer $ wise is that because our adoption will not be complete in 2006, we will not be eligible for the $10,000 adoption tax credit on our income taxes until 2008. We were really counting on this money to offset some of the costs and never dreamed we wouldn't complete the adoption in 2006. The good part about the wait is that both Scott and I have really grown in our walk with the Lord and truly know in our heart of hearts that He really will make a way.

The other day we were reading Exodus 33:11-19 where Moses is asking God for details concerning how this plan of Moses leading the people is going to work. Moses says, "If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here." v. 15 How many times we have prayed that prayer concerning our adoption, and every time, in some way, God speaks to our hearts and reassures us just like he did for Moses. God does not answer Moses' request for specifics, but answers in v.14 "The Lord replied, "My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest."" I love how Moses responds in verse 18 "Now, show me your glory!" To me, it's like him saying, "okay, if you're with me, let's do this thing - SHOW ME YOUR GLORY!".

In anticipation,
Dena

Fasten Your Seatbelts!

Every month we go through the same cycle. Towards the end of the month we start hearing rumors about who will be included in this month's referrals. The rumors come from different agencies who have connections with the CCAA(China Center for Adoption Affairs). Our agency stays mute up until the day they make the calls that your referral has arrived. The referral includes pictures of the baby you've been matched with and all of their medical information and history. When you receive a referral is based on when your paperwork was logged in at the CCAA. We were logged in on 9-9-05. There have been absolutely no rumors until this morning. Now 3 agencies are saying that most or all of September will be matched this time, at the end of November or beginning of December.
That would include us! This would be a major speed up compared to what they have been doing the past year, so it's kind of hard to believe at this point. Click here to see the Rumor Queen site where the information comes from. It feels funny to have been waiting so long and now feel like it has snuck up on us! Remember, this is a roller coaster and there will probably be many twists and turns before the end of the month. We can't help ourselves, we are excited!
I've had many people ask me how to leave a comment. You just click on the "comments" word at the bottom of the post and then write your comment and click "anonymous" if you don't have a blogger account. I think that will allow you to comment without logging in to blogger.
Dena