This is our first update in a year!  

When we first began our adoption journey we were simultaneously starting up a new school for James as well as a big life change of Jerimiah becoming a head pastor and our family investing in a new church family.  Lots of amazing changes, but each change required a lot of time to settle in.  We decided to take our time in this adoption journey and not rush it along as we adjusted to new changes in all our circles of life.

So here we are in Jan 2018 and Jerimiah and I both believe this is the year for our child to come home.  We do not know this for a fact as we have yet to be matched with a child, but this is our prayer for 2018.  We are so ready.  Right now we are waiting (very impatiently) for ONE paper to come back to us so we can get officially official in China.  There is this pesky form called the I800a that we had to fill out and apply for to allow us to adopt from China.  We had to have a lot of other paperwork finished to complete this form so it felt like I had just turned in my PHD when we finally applied for it.  It was also contingent on finishing up our home study, which was actually a lot of fun to do with our case worker.  Our kids walked her all around our house, told her all about pizza nights and movie nights and they made us pretty proud.  We celebrated big that night with a massive Chinese food feast (thank you Sesame Kitchen).  I felt very Jack Bower-ish while I was filling out our large check to the US Department of Homeland Security.  This form is what gives us the nod from the USA the we are fit to adopt a child from China.  
Just to bore you with a few details about the I800a, it shouldn't take this long.  A year ago this process took about 3 weeks.  For whatever reason, for the past 6 months it has started taking up to 90 days.  So we are on day 60 of this process of waiting.  I called yesterday and we have not been assigned an officer yet to handle our case.  So we wait.  
But we are very familiar with waiting for our kids to join our family.

China has decided to make some major changes with their international adoption program and the changes have started just a few days ago.  China has always worked off of a partnership system for adoptions to US.  US adoption agencies have had partnership orphanages with 10, 20, 30, different orphanages with in China.  However, now that is over.  Now they are operating off of a shared system where all agencies will be open to find children off of a shared list that all US agencies will have access to.  We have no idea how much this will affect our adoption process.  It might be no big deal at all or it might delay our process.  There is really no way to know.  

So at this point here are our biggest prayer requests:

1. Pray for our child today.  Pray that they are being loved on each day.  Pray that their caregivers look them in the eyes, smile at them, care for their basic needs well.  Pray for their medical need.  Pray that they are happy and that they have an unexplainable peace in their hearts that we are coming.  I pray that they know they are loved.  If all you do is pray for this part then that is enough for us.  Please pray for them today.  This early stage of their lives is completely out of our control and that is hard.

2. Pray for our kids as we get closer to bringing home a child. Pray that they will love and adore this child.  Pray that they will begin to make connections to the love that Jesus brings to us through this process.  Pray that they would love the culture of this child and that they would fully embrace a new member to our family.  

3. Pray for this dang form to show up!  Pray that we get assigned an officer soon and that we can get this party started!  

4. Pray for Jerimiah and me as we pray over what types of medical needs we can handle.  This child will definitely have a special need or medical need.  Pray that the Lord would guide us as we make these big decisions.  Pray that our marriage would grow stronger and stronger through this process. 

5. Pray that Jesus would be glorified!  In all things good or bad that we would rejoice!  Pray that others would feel a nudge to adopt a child.  We don't want this to be about us at all. We want Christ to be glorified in all things.  

Thank you all for everything you have done for us in 2017.  The PJ fund raiser (shout out to Gara) (that was the end of 2016, but I'm lumping it into 2017), the Run for Hope (Shout out to David), the Facebook Auction (Shout out to Julia), the countless donations, the LuLaRoe sale in November (My girl Stephanie!).  Thank you all!  We are overwhelmed!!!

I will also do a better job with updates this year.  This process has been such a journey for us for years upon years of praying.  At times I feel very private about all this but I know I need to be more transparent, especially since you have all helped so much in making this happen.  So expect more updates and pray that 2018 is our year!!!  

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Phil 4:4-7

Blessings,

Jennifer