Brothers

Nathan spent the first 10 years without a brother. He has a great older cousin who he gels with and they act like best bros when together, but never a live in brother.

It has actually been very beautiful watching God graft Junhan into our family. At first we were worried that Nathan would feel slighted, being the only boy, having the new kid show up. But in true, beyond what we can imagine fashion, God is knocking our socks off with brotherly love.

Nathan and Junhan LOVE  each other. They love building Legos, fishing, Nerf wars, riding scooters, chasing each other, and discovering things... i.e. what happens if you shoot a leaf blower at your brother.

They will intently listen to each other describe some mind numbing Lego creation or super hero attack.

Today at church, like every other Sunday they were busy being so into each other, I was worried they were distracting the crowd. They had found some straws, cut holes, and were playing their straw piccolos along with the worship music. Nathan was playing Junhan's back like a drum, they are hugging, they have their arms around each other, I am closing my eyes trying to concentrate on Jesus.

I look over and see a mom I do not know, smiling at me. I roll my eyes at her, trying to apologize that my boys' antics are distracting her. After church she comes over to introduce herself to us. She has been coming to our church for a couple of weeks. Week one she sees my boys interact and is brought to tears. You see she has a blonde biological son about 4 and an adopted 2 yr old son from China. They are church shopping and when she saw our boys it was a sweet glance into her future. She said she felt like God affirmed them that this was their church by watching our boys. The next week, the girls and I were on time, and Perry and the boys were late. She looked over and didn't see them. She said to her husband, "where are my boys?". They came in bouncing a few minutes later. She can't miss them since Junhan picks out the SAME neon shirt I got from the Doerflers a couple weeks ago.

 Today, Nathan dressed in neon like his brother.
After the service, in the bathroom, another friend said to me, "It blesses me so much to see the love your boys share."
Huh. I was worried that it would distract people from God, turns out He is using it to point people to Him. You see, Jesus IS knitting us together! We were scared Nathan would feel slighted, but instead he has been blessed, beyond what we could have asked or imagined.
Junhan is the brother Nathan never knew he wanted, but cannot imagine living without.

Been Home for 2 Weeks

Junhan gives his new family a thumbs up! (Really he liked the food my Chinese friend made him). It is honestly hard to remember the papers and the LOOOOOONG process it took to get here. Seriously. Feels like a lifetime ago that we were in China. Every day I live in the moment. I am very present in my life (haven't always been). I am very thankful for the flexibility of summer. God's timing was perfect at every turn for our family with this adoption. Every day he trusts us more. He is super affectionate! He lights up when he sees us and is only looking to us for attention. As far as adoptions go, I feel like we have a lot of positive ingredients. I attribute most of his adaptation and connection to us to his loving foster family (and your countless prayers). He has spoken to them 3 times since being home. They are incredible mature and supportive of this adoption. It reminds me of the story in the Bible where 2 women claim that the baby is theirs. The judge orders the baby to be cut in half and the biological mom surrenders her rights to the baby and says, "give him to her!" to preserve the baby's life. I feel like Fu Mama did that. She loves him enough to know this is best for him. She can't keep him. In fact, the government required him to return to the orphanage these past 2 years for school. She actually has more contact with him now. She is very respectful and lets us contact her. She knows he has a future with us.

 My brother and wife gave our other kids some money to spend on experiences with their new brother. They each chipped in some and bought an Children's Museum membership. Although we had previously aged out of this, they experienced new delight in watching their brother experience it anew. His delighted squeals when the apples came down the chutes, his bouncing up the tree house, him enjoying the ambulance..... 2 of them also used their money to buy him a toy from the gift shop (hope he doesn't think I buy stuff wherever we go).

He has had some periods of grief. Crying without being able to express why. But even in the grief he burrows into us. I am sure there are hard times to come, but I am thankful for today! Thankful for my church friends, my school friends, my pool friends, my long time friends, and my family who have supported and blessed us on this adventure! Perry and I realized, we REALLY DO LOVE THIS KID! An answer to prayer for sure. We delight in him as we do our others! Praising God for how He is knitting us together.

A Great Cloud of Witnesses

Well, today is the day. This is what we have been "training for". I see Jesus gently jogging ahead of Perry and I leading us through a cross country trail of sorts. Trying to fix our eyes on Him as he helps us dodge the obstacles in our path, trusting Him as He winds us through uncharted territory.

And as we are running, I hear you all cheering us on. I see you, friends, passing the baton to the next friend, as you jog alongside us for a stint. I see you on the side of the path shouting words of encouragement as we run past you. Thank you.  We are NOT alone. We are following the Greatest and we see, feel, and hear you...helping us to keep running.

This is what you are shouting:
-I'll do anything you need me to do
-Let me help you pack
-Use my suitcase
-Have this money
-Take my purse to use
-I'll fold your laundry
-Here is a rice cooker
-I've printed these Scripture cards out for you
-Text me anytime
-I'll take your kids where there need to go
-I could be there tomorrow if you need me
-Don't worry about a thing
-I'm happy to love on your children for the next 9 days
-I'll meet you at the airport
-Let us pray over you
-Let me make a meal sign up for you
-I'm praying for you
-I'm thinking about you
-You got this
-I'll post your syllabus for you
-I'll wrap that gift for you
-I will make you cool t-shirts to wear
-Here is a text, email, post of encouragement....

I'm overwhelmed by your support. Really. I'm overwhelmed by His provision. Every. single. step. of the way. I feel unworthy, scared, excited, dependent.

We will go where He sends us.

As a friend reminded me this morning, "Each change that is made in our families, is a death to our old family in a sense." She is right. Things will never be the same. I am praying they will be deeper and richer. One thing is for sure, I will follow my Heavenly Father. Joseph followed Him and he was beat, thrown in a pit, sold, slandered, and then was used to save God's chosen people.
Remind me if you see me in the pit, Egypt is ahead.

I read this recently:
"The only way anyone gets to adoption is through a door of loss and unless you fully feel the depth of that loss, the door you're walking through leads to nowhere honest."
"There are scars you can't erase, all you can do is write more love into them".

So- obviously I am an emotional ball of mess. Taking one foot and putting it in front of the other. Super excited about this adventure and very aware of my constant neediness.

My adoption into Christ's family through His blood, all the more rich.
If I had a theme song these past few days, it would be this: He is God of the hills and valleys.

theme song
I love you guys! Thank you for jogging with us!

Hills and Valleys

Tauren Wells

I've walked among the shadows
You wiped my tears away
And I've felt the pain of heartbreak
And I've seen the brighter days
And I've prayed prayers to heaven from my lowestplace
And I have held the blessings
God, you give and take away

No matter what I have, Your grace is enough
No matter where I am, I'm standing in Your love

On the mountains, I will bow my life
To the one who set me there
In the valley, I will lift my eyes to the one who sees me there
When I'm standing on the mountain aft, didn't get there on my own
When I'm walking through the valley end, no I am not alone!
You're God of the hills and valleys!
Hills and Valleys!
God of the hills and valleys
And I am not alone!

I've watched my dreams get broken
In you I hope again!
No matter what I know
Know I'm safe inside Your hand

On the mountains, I will bow my life
To the one who set me there
In the valley, I will lift my eyes to the one who sees me there
When I'm standing on the mountain aft, didn't get there on my own
When I'm walking through the valley end, no I am not alone!
You're God of the hills and valleys!
Hills and Valleys!
God of the hills and valleys
And I am not alone!

Father, you give and take away
Every joy and every pain
Through it all you will remain
Over it all!

Father, you give and take away
Every joy and every pain
Through it all you will remain
Over it all!

(
And I am not alone!

And I will choose to say "Blessed be Your name, yeah, yeah"

And I am not alone

Travel Approval!

Last week, Lynn said we should get a soft TA on Tuesday 6/27, but we would have to wait until I had the actual document in hand to travel. With the 4th approaching she thought the earliest we would travel was 7/13 (you travel on a Thursday).

Well on Tuesday, 6/27 I sent her an email, "I am sure you will let me know if we get TA. Just checking in". She wrote back at 5:00, "You actually got it 6/26, I put it in the mail to you".

WHAT?! I wrote back, "Any chance we can travel 7/6?" Well Lynn got that message later Tuesday and since China is 12 hours ahead, she contacted her fellow employees in country and asked for a 7/10 meeting day at the orphanage. I got the actual paper in hand Wednesday!

By the time I spoke to Lynn on Wednesday morning, she confirmed the orphanage date! The last 48 hours have been a blur. A stress migraine rendered me useless for much of it. My dear friend organized an impromptu prayer meeting at her house. These dear folks, with hours of notice, gathered to pray over us. SUCH a special time! SO loved by these folks and so many others.

Booked the flights. We return Thursday July 20th at 11:58pm...sorry about that.

Started a private FB group ALL THE WAY TO JUN HAN if you are interested in joining. I think that will be easier to update instead of blog.

I have a WeChat if you want to download the app. My id is rebeccaperry  

Please continue to pray not only for sanity and thinking things through, but for Jun Han as he and his foster family prepare to see us one week from Monday.

So thankful for the support we have received this week. Friends surrounding us, praying for us, buying thoughtful things for us, lending us suitcases, buying us a rice cooker, wrapping presents, crossing things off my to do list.

We leave Thursday afternoon.

Not Long Now (DC Tour)

In the 18 days since I last updated, A LOT has happened:
Our visas have been processed and returned
Our Article 5 has been picked up from Guangzhou
Fellow host child, Andy,  has been officially adopted!
And we are on our last waiting step....Just waiting for Travel Approval!

T.A. usually is issued by the Chinese Government about 1-3 weeks after Article 5. Once it is "issued" we have been formally invited by China to come over and adopt. We have 90 days to use that approval. Our agency then frantically works to get our appointments set in China, hotels and flights booked, and guides lined up. Still a lot of details to fall into place, but this is happening.

A dear friend of ours was able to schedule some White House tours for us, so we took this opportunity to spend the night in NoVA (too cheap for DC prices) and tour DC a bit. Our last family vacation just the 5 of us.  Here we are outside of the West Wing

Please pray as we think through packing, gifts, our children as we will be gone from them for 2 weeks, and mounds of details. Also, for heart preparation for our new son MJHP and his foster parents as they are going to be grieving this separation.

White House Movie Theater

Official State Dining Room. Abigail is talking to a Secret Service agent who is telling her about the different dogs that work in the White House, where they are hiding, and what they do. That is Lincoln over the mantel.

The press room. Ironically during the Nixon administration he was advised to bring the press closer, so he had this room built over top of a pool that FDR used for physical therapy. The empty pool houses all of the wires and equipment for this room. Also it is a fully tiled pool where White House Staffers have signed their names for years. I have ALWAYS wanted to go to the White House. Awesome to have this off my bucket list. I love how it really is the American People's house and treasured landmark. It is old and historical and because of that not incredible opulent.

The podium that caught fire during JFK's inauguration

A flag with just 38 stars

A view from the Eisenhower Building of the White House 

Moving Right Along- update

Well, we were approved for final immigration (I800) on 5/25, so my mishap only cost us an extra 2 weeks.  That was step 9 out of 15.

Yesterday I emailed the National Visa Center (NVC) and they had received our approval of step 9 from the government so they issued us a GUZ number. That was step 10 out of 15! So I applied for a visa for our son (this is the only step of this entire adoption that has been online).

At the beginning of this application it tells you it will take 2 hours to fill out. Yup. Thankfully I had help from my new friend, who is one step ahead of me. Who is my new friend you ask?

Long story short, in February we launched a Facebook campaign for a young man named Andy who was hosted at the same time as our son. He had a family pursing him for adoption, but after they were $10,000 in, they had a personal situation and they had to walk away from Andy. Andy ages out at the end of June. God provided an amazing couple who have been able to complete this process before he turns 14! In fact if all goes according to plan, they will be flying back to the US on Andy's 14th birthday! Because of his age, his mom was able to do from February which I have been working on since September. She is 10 days ahead of us in the process. She is waiting for step 13.

BUT did you read that!?!? She is 10 days ahead of us.... and is traveling in MID JUNE!
THIS IS REALLY HAPPENING! It feels so far off, but the truth is, we are in the final stages. My guess is we will travel mid July.

Tonight we submitted the online form to get an immigration visa for JH. On Monday we will mail OUR visa applications.
So as of now these steps remain:
1. finish and mail our visa applications
2. Article 5 drop off (10 days)
3. China approves us to travel (1-3 weeks)
4. We book our flights and go. (usually 1-2 weeks after travel approval)

My Misshap

Well, last I wrote, we were on step 8 out of 15. Step 9 on my timeline says "2 weeks", I am sad to say I have been on that step 4 weeks already and my '2 weeks' hasn't even started.....

So, on 4/21 I got the new home study by FedEx and I had my papers ready to go as soon as the home study came (I had to get it amended because of the move). This is a sampling of the papers I had to fill out before sending in this step 9.

I was so proud of myself. I had all of these papers ready, the label printed, and actually asked the FedEx driver to wait so I could run my package right back out to him. The package was received that Tuesday, 4/24 and so should start my 2 week process. This is when Home Land Security checks out JH to make sure he is legit and can come in our country. Well after the 2 weeks, I emailed to see what was the hold up. Turns out I did not send in the $385 fee associated with the supplement 3 form for the address change to the I800A (Is your head spinning yet? MINE IS! My brain does not work through papers. I make a list, lose the list, and then when I find the list, I am often surprised that I took care of something on my list).

Anyway, my dear social worker, who is Chinese, had to explain the English document to me. "It says issued, okay that means they have sent it to you already".

God bless her having to translate the English letter from the Government to me. So, when the pink paper arrives, I can send in the payment. That was on 5/12. The pink paper came 5/13, I wrote the check and Fed Exed it that same day. It arrived 5/15 to Texas. The officer said if I could show proof of my payment in my checking account she would push me to the next step before waiting for the Government to tell her I paid. That was generous of her.

 Every day I am checking. This morning 5/23 the check is pending. I immediately take a pic of it and send it to the officer. Hours later they write back, well, our name is not on the pic, so they can't prove it is our account. I print a statement (that is the only screen that has our name on it) and our cycle goes from 21st-22nd. So of course the pending withdrawal is not on the statement, but I circle the last 4 numbers of the account and send it in hoping it is proof enough. So I am still on step 9 out of 15. And I have been here since 4/21. SO disheartening. This is the first time I was holding up the process.

Although I am mostly distressed about it, there is a faint whisper reminding me, "God's timing is perfect. He is not surprised by this misstep. He knows what He is doing, and it is better than what I have planned. "

And just incase I am to despair, I am reminded of His faithfulness. A former student who now lives in Texas (Land of this Home Land Security Lock Box) made shirts in Chinese and English for us to wear, and a gift to give his foster parents. The package arrived with this precious picture of her children who prayed over our shirts before sending them.

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose"  Romans 8:28

Life Came at Us Fast!

So much to write, so little energy.

• Dossier was logged in to China on 2/23/17. We are now awaiting a match letter to our specific son (30-45 days is average wait) and then we will apply to immigrate him (I800)

• In late January, my generous sister and brother in law, forwent an investment house opportunity so that we could buy it. The owner's generous and thoughtful family named an extremely affordable price, which in turn really made a house like this a reality for our family.

•  I like to refer to it as "the time God dropped an amazing house into our laps for an even more amazing price" or "the time we moved and got 3 extra living spaces and 4 full baths for almost the same price we sold our old house". Or "Another time when God did more than we could ask or imagine!"

 (This is a before picture)

• We signed the contract in February and will the generosity of our family were able to buy it on March 1st. (They bridged a loan for us with funds they had access to).

• The last month has been a blur. Our families have worked tirelessly, literally until their hands are bleeding trying to help us clean out our new house (part of the amazing price is the owner just walked out. Leaving all of the contents. From amazing paintings and furniture to expired medication and soap from 1985) and settle us in. My mother in law worked herself to the bone for 18 days and kept our lives in motion. My parents spent countless hours at our old house painting and repairing. A team a friends painted, helped us move, helped us with our garage sales.

• Our old house went on the market on Thursday and we had 11 showings and 2 competing offers by Saturday. We close on May 5th so we can pay back our first loan and apply for a real mortgage.
• Still sorting and settling and going back and forth.
• No real conclusion....gotta run.

Happy Chinese New Year to Us!

On Wednesday, I checked a spreadsheet of adoptive families and their timelines. Three families got finger printed the same day and received their notice in the mail 1/23.

Okay, well it was 1/25, mine should be coming any day. On 1/26 I decided to call. Turns out, our "application just arrived on the officer's desk, and he had a stack of I800 priority cases on top".

So sad.

Not to mention, our adoption agency has trained 2 social workers during the time of our adoption whom have left. The one remaining faithful social worker is carrying all the weight and oh yeah.....so sick, she could go to work the end of last week. Pray for her! Endurance, health, and a careful eye.

Officer Lawrenz did say I could email him a FedEx label so that when he did get to it, it would arrive more quickly. So Friday, 1/27 I figure out how to make the label and low and behold the nice officer calls me from Kansas to ask a clarification question and then to tell us we were approved!!

He received the label I sent and should be overnighting it to Pennsylvania soon for the last piece of our dossier puzzle.

We started step 6. on 12/9, we are a couple days away from being on step 7!

Last night, we went to my friend, Judy's Chinese restaurant for our annual Chinese take out meal, our way of celebrating Chinese New Year, and a way to make sure Judy still remembers me.

And today, the most special thing happened. Through a Facebook connection, another mom realized that her son (adopted years ago) had the same foster parents as Jude! Although the boys were never in their care at the same time, this family went back in April on a heritage trip and got to meet them. They brought Jude with them to the orphanage to visit with their former foster son. See that precious boy in the background!?

My favorite quote from my FB conversation

" The foster mom specifically spoke out the wish for your son to be adopted. It was the first time adoptive parents came back to China to meet with them and so valuable to her. She saw first hand that 'her' sweet boy was loved on".

Did you read that?! Although the foster parents are very loving (mom stays home, dad owns his own printing business) the mom wants what is best for Jude.   Look at Jude's sweet foster parents! The boy was adopted 7 years ago. Man, that is going to be a tough goodbye! Seeing their sweet faces does give me a new appreciation for all they are doing to stand in the gap for these precious children. A dear former student of mine is helping create a special gift to give these 2 dear people. People whom I can never really repay for loving our son.

Oh, what a treasure to peek into his Chinese world, and what a blessing that the mother actually voiced twice that her hope for Jude was a forever family.  

Look at the timeline: April this family visits the foster family, meanwhile in America, we start thinking about hosting. We commit in May, he comes in August, we send him back with an album from our adventures, hopefully soon he will know we are coming for him and his foster mom's wish will be realized.

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR TO US!

Snow Day = Answered Prayer!

For awhile I have been praying for a Mandarin speaking friend who lives close to us who would be willing to help us communicate when we first bring home our son. I am praying that this person would have children who speak Mandarin and our son would be able to play with them to maintain his Mandarin (assuming he has positive associations with the language and would like to keep it). As a language teacher, I would love nothing more than for him to be a well attached, loving, bilingual American.
Although race and language have never before been a qualification of mine for friendship, I am interested in our son having positive role models who look like him and with whom we can share the parts of his culture that he would like to maintain.

Today, I took our children and the 3 kids I babysit to the library because this is our 3rd snow day! I actually saw 5 of my friends and their children stroll in, coincidentally with the same idea! It truly was the highlight of my week visiting with adults while my children read books!

Anyway, Anna had a Chinese classmate from 2nd grade named Henry. She went to a different school in 3rd grade, so they lost touch. We always remembered him, because in 2nd grade he would hug her and then tickle her arm pits. For years we have fondly referred to him as Tickle Pits Henry. Well, he has grown up and when she walked by him in the library and he said, "Hi Anna!". And there sat his adorable little sister and his friendly mom! Just like any good mom would do, I went over and introduced myself to my new friend, Judy! Although slightly embarrassing, I thought, "moms would do anything to help their children", this is my answer to prayer.

We chatted for 30 minutes! She lives less than 1 mile from us and now Henry and Anna are in middle school together. They speak Mandarin!!! And she is connected to the Chinese community and was so very friendly.
She and her husband own a Chinese restaurant in Bon Air. Because all blog posts need a picture, I took a screen shot of her restaurant because, she is my friend and I'm happy to advertise for her. We exchanged contact information and when she said to her daughter in Mandarin, "Say hi to Auntie" I was both in awe that I understood her and touched that she referred to me with that term of endearment.
Feeling so incredibly blessed how the Lord is weaving our story. Thank God for this snow day!

Finger PrintED!

Last update we were on step 6 of 16. Still there although we have made a bit of progress within the step. Mailed in the I 800A asking for an appointment time on 12/9. Many weeks of mailbox stalking and

our invitation letter arrived 12/31 with an appointment date of the following Friday. Thankfully, Perry realized that he could carry one personal day over to the first week of the year, so he was able to use it after all.

Yesterday, 1/6 we got the finger prints done and now are waiting another 3 plus weeks for the approval to come back. That approval letter is the final piece to our dossier.  Our invitation was for the one day a week that I do not work! It was for 8AM and my dear mother came over at 5:15am so we could drive to Norfolk. We got there 45 minutes early. We were the first in the door at 7:45, security, paperwork, finger prints and back in the car at 8:20!
No traffic, no weather, no problems! Today, 24 hours later, there is at least 5 inches of snow between us an Norfolk! Thankful it all worked out!

Lifeline

Update:
Mailed I800A on 12/9
12/19 got an email from government that our "invitation" to be finger printed would come in 7-10 days by mail.
12/26 NOTHING in the mail. NO mail service today. I am SO anxious to get the invitation. We really want to walk in on Wed or Thursday (2 hours away) but we cannot without the invitation. Praying it comes tomorrow. Please. After we get printed, it takes 3 weeks to get the approval.

(Our interpretation of Homeland Security investigating us.)

I am on some closed Facebook groups about adopting older kids from China. They are SUPER helpful! I think of it as a lifeline. Often there are SOS messages sent out saying things like, "I am in country, my child is crying, we are exhausted...." and then always 20-40 encouraging messages written back. I always come up with something encouraging to write, because I just imagine the mom sitting in the hotel room, panicked, hitting refresh, looking for some help. I also pray for the families, since Jesus can actually meet their needs.

On this group I met a woman I will call EH. I could tell by her encouragement that we were of like mind. She actually traveled to China in October to meet her 2 year old son she had been matched with. In the back of her pictures I saw several of the kids that were hosted at the same time as our little guy! Kids I knew by name! She was in his town and at his school! I immediately contacted her to see if she recognized him. She didn't. Well, she is traveling in the next week or two to get her son! She has graciously offered to bring a little care package for Jude. I got a letter translated and mailed it to her with a small album of wallet sized pictures (that I got from the sale of the century), a small bagged lego set, and car that he left here. In the letter I practically begged that he jot down a quick note or something to hand back to EH for me. This is the second letter we have sent. The first letter we emailed, also with pictures on it. We heard it was received in China, but never got a response. We asked for an update and we got this picture and a video of him coloring. Unfortunately he says nothing in the video. I'm not even sure he knew it was coming to us. Of course in my EH letter I mentioned the video so he knows we saw it. We have still been advised not to give him adoption hope, until we are farther along in the process, but we were sure to mention how much we loved him and missed him.

(This is the picture we got last week)

I would pay $100 to know what he is thinking. Does he miss us? Does he want to be adopted? Does he even think about us?

On the Facebook group, often there is an older child who is really afraid about leaving China. We get these SOS messages asking for prayer that the child will take a leap of faith and agree to be adopted. Children 10 and older are asked. Man that must be hard! For everyone involved. It is like an arranged marriage. So vulnerable to leave everything you are comfortable with and go to a foreign land with strangers who are committing their lives to you! I think about how comfortable I am with mediocrity. Sure, things could be better if I put in the
 effort or took a risk, but it is so much easier to be content with lukewarm/comfortable. I settle for good instead of God's best.

I see this with Perry's old job. He didn't love it. It was a great salary (we know that now but didn't really appreciate it then) and a good company, but he had no advancement. It was just a job. Something he didn't ever feel he was great at. We were content. Lukewarm. God had bigger plans. He pushed us out and for awhile we were miserable.

I liken it to the story of Joseph, the beloved son of Jacob. Brothers got jealous, beat him up, threw him in the pit. Man that pit must have been miserable! Smelly and seemingly hopeless. Then he goes through some more ups and downs. I mean there are some hopeful parts of his journey, then, BAM! Accused of something he didn't do, back to the pit, prison. Ultimately the King of Egypt promotes him out of the dungeon and into power. In doing so, the Lord uses Joseph to save His covenant children. The lineage of Jesus! All of that had to happen so God's people could have the best! The Lord provided for ME by sending Joseph to the pit!
This is so encouraging. I worship that same Lord! He too allowed us to wallow in the smelly pit! After a season He gave us something better! By walking this journey we found Jude. (We are currently trying out an American name really hoping we can agree on it soon and I can start referring to him as that. We of course will keep his Chinese name, by will give him an American first name so he has options. PS- it is NOT Jude).
Also, Perry really likes his current job! There are State holidays, he enjoys his coworkers, he is getting really good at the job, good benefits, he loves having a cubical, and looks forward going to work!
One thing is for sure. I know that I do not KNOW how hard this is going to be. But I also know my Lifeline. And I know we can trust His plan for our lives, no matter how smelly it is at times.

Adoption Outline/Timeline

I haven't written much on the blog, because frankly, adoption paperwork and life have been time consuming. We have been moving along, although each step has so many sub steps.
Many people ask where we are in the process. I am going to attempt to explain it.

1. Initial application to both a home study organization (ABC Carolina Adoption) and placing agency (Living Hope Adoption Agency). Tons of papers to fill

2. Pre-approval from China to pursue JH for adoption

3. The Home Study- This took 3 days set aside for meetings (we had fewer because this agency did a home study for us 3 years ago), doctor physicals for all of us, criminal background checks, outlining all of our finances, DMV driving records, child abuse clearances, 3 letters of reference, including one from a teacher vouching that we take care of our children, finger prints, and $2000.

4. The social worker first met with us at the beginning of October and turned in her draft to ABC on 11/7/16. I was amazed at how fast that was, but then there were the revisions, fine tooth combing, additional psychological evaluations, Thanksgiving holiday, signatures needed, approval needed, financial paper reconciliation down to the cents, notarizing, Living Hope approval etc. for it to finally be complete.

5. Home Study RECEIVED in the mail YESTERDAY 12/9/16 at 3:30pm

6. I 800 A- is basically the US saying that they approve us to immigrate someone. So we apply for this approval (hence the A in the form) asking them if we have permission to adopt from China. We must send them an official copy of our home study, our birth certificates, our marriage certificate, and about 10 pages forms filled out. Oh and $890. They will invite us to come get our fingerprints taken in Norfolk to make sure we are not terrorists or human traffickers. When they send us our approval letter that is the final piece of our dossier puzzle.

We mailed our I 800 A last night at 6:14pm same day we received the HS. This process will take about 5-6 weeks.

So that is how far we have come. This is the step we are on. Now we wait for Homeland Security to invite us to the finger printing. Please pray that we can get the finger prints done in 2016. Perry has a personal day that will not carry into 2017. We will need every single one of his vacation/personal days to travel to China.

WE ARE HERE

FUTURE STEPS:

7.Submit Dossier for translation to Chinese Consulate in NY.

 Once the I 800 Approval paper arrives- we will submit the Dossier. The Dossier contains, certified copies of our birth certificates, marriage certificate, physicals from doctors, financial information, employment verification letters, copies of our passports, 2 new passport pictures for visas (I assume), 6 family pictures, home study, and criminal background clearances.

Our Dossier MUST be submitted by 3/13/17 because of the dates on all of our forms have to be less than 6 months old.

8.Letter Seeking Confirmation (LSC) or Letter of Approval (LOA)- China confirms our match with our son JH, and sends us LOA giving us official permission to adopt him. This could take 1 week- 3months!)

9. Final Immigration approval (I800) 2 weeks

10. Receive GUZ number- 2 or 3 days. The next few steps have to deal with him being granted a visa. The visa will be placed in his Chinese passport and as soon as we touch down on US soil he will be a US citizen.

11. NVC Letter- 1-3 Days after the GUZ. Confirms that the National Visa Center has forwarded our caste to the US Consulate in Guangzhou

12. Article 5 Drop-off- 10 business days until pick-up. The US Consulate in Guangzhou prepares the paperwork for the visa. Then will be submitted to China by Living Hope so we will be granted travel approval.

13. Travel Approval- 1-3 weeks. China extends an invitation to us to come on over and get him! We have to do it within 90 days of the invite!

14. Consulate Appointment- 1-2 days. After Travel Approval (TA) Living Hope schedules an appointment for us at the US Consulate in Guangzhou to complete the final paperwork necessary for the visa. Once we have this appointment, we begin making travel arrangements. Our social worker from Living Hope said to plan for $15,000 for the travel! That includes: flights for 2, hotel, 2 meals/day, guides, in country travel (train/plane), province and orphanage fees, and legal fees.

15. WE FLY TO CHINA FOR 2 WEEKS

16. You meet us at the airport upon return to celebrate with us!

The Sale of the Century- Amazing!

When my friend Katherine said to me in September, "We are going to host a garage sale for you and it will raise thousands of dollars", I was skeptical. WOW! A LOT of work, A LOT of craziness endured by this loving host family, A LOT of donations, A LOT of love and A LOT of volunteers!

We felt loved by every single donation, word of encouragement, shopper, friend who came, neighbor, you name it! There is no way I can even thank everyone who helped. Countless hours of sorting, pricing, loading, unloading, hauling, moving, advertising...... And just when we had not an ounce of energy left, my sister and her family and 2 other dear families showed up for clean up! Took 2 loads of the best stuff to our favorite thrift store and a charity picked up the remaining garage full a couple of days later.

It was so very beautiful seeing this team effort. Seeing friends and family working so hard to help us. And WOW did God multiply the money! I was going to be thrilled with $1000 and He provided $6,336! The largest cash deposit I have ever brought to the bank.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts to every person who was a part of this special event! I won't mention your names, but here are a few of the people who made us feel so special. Sorry I don't have a picture of all of you.

Today is the Day! (Well Saturday)

I feel so very special, like it is my wedding tomorrow and everyone has put in so much time and effort to pull it off! HOURS have been spent sorting, pricing, box moving, sign posting, and tomorrow is the big day to enjoy! I am really looking forward to it!

We have over 1000 items and I have felt loved by every single donation, every thought, every smiling friend, every kind wish and hope!

I have friends posting items to their neighborhood sites, running out into intersections to post signs,  picking up donations, making signs, making crafts, sorting jewelry, making phone calls for me, baking treats, selling their own things online to profit us, carting treasures back and forth over the river, and buying items. WOW! Are we loved!

The weather is supposed to be great, the treasures are poised, and I need to go to bed. Wake up call in 5.5 hours! Several years ago, some ladies from church chipped in for a double stroller for our dear friend, Matbien. Now that her children are older, it felt so special to see the stroller came full circle, to our sale, to help bring our son home!

T H A N K  Y O U !!

The Sale of the Century

One note of clarification: Our soon to be son (God willing) has a real Chinese name. Jude is just the American name that the adoption agency gave him so we could basically refer to him, be able to pronounce his name, and to protect his privacy. We signed a paper that until he is ours, we will not publish his real name. Also, we are thinking about giving him his own American name in addition to his Chinese name so he can use that if he chooses. All of this to say, he has never heard of the name Jude nor will that end up being his American name.

Now, on to the post. A dear friend, Katherine from church stopped me a couple of weeks ago to say, "I am going to have an adoption yard sale for you and we are going to raise thousands of dollars to help you adopt!"
Katherine has A LOT going on. She has 5 young children, both she and her husband work full time, and did I mention they are moving out west in November! Even with ALL of this going on, they have gone ALL IN and have been accepting an amazing amount of items almost daily! They have spent countless hours, sorting these items. (Picture after a very long day of work, finally getting your 5 children to bed, spending 4 hours sorting through discarded treasures to repack.)

Did it look like this in your head?

The garage is half full of "processed boxes" meaning they have touched every item,  re-categorized them, and re-packed them. Tim is very dedicated to the process (thankfully so) and they both are amazing workers! If I had seen all of the donations, I would have balled up in the fetal position in the middle of the room and cried not knowing where to start. God is definitely using Tim's systematic brain to serve us! 

 So every night that they sort, boxes are spread out around the house and each item is processed. Here Katherine and her neighbor Saint Ethel (who has donated hours of her time) are starting to sort (at 9PM on a Friday night!)

My dear friend, Ann and I got to participate in the sorting last night. There is still 2 WEEKS before this yard sale! The week of the sale I will be posting details on Facebook and Craig's list. Please help me spread the word, because we need SHOPPERS! Since it is hard to remember, I am telling people, "It is the Sat. before Halloween or last Sat in Oct and to look for the signs at the entrance of Smoketree across from the new North Courthouse Library".

How this sale has affected me:

I have a realistic expectation of the money we will raise. I will be thrilled with $500, but having this sale has made me feel so incredibly loved and supported! EVERY SINGLE time someone has given me things, dropped stuff off to Katherine, called me about it etc, I have felt loved! 2 great friends are moving and this was perfect timing for them to unload some quality items before they moved! Some friends just bring it to Katherine's and I never even knew they were going to. Friends of friends, Facebook friends, Aunt Martha, strangers, people from our church family that I have never met, SO MANY people have given to this. It turns out that beyond raising money to bring home our boy, it has given people an opportunity to be involved, to be a part of his story!

Ann said this yard sale was going to be my baby shower. With all the planning, and energy, and time that has been invested, it feels like it! I certainly feel supported and loved!

This is going to be a blast! Friends are bringing donuts, making baked goods to sell, coming early to set up, helping sort etc!

Please let me know if you can donate a couple hours of sorting one night or if you can help at the sale. And PLEASE COME TO THE SALE! There is SOOOO much there! And although we are raising money, there are bargain prices. We need shoppers!  Everything must go. We will probably still be there well into the afternoon, so please come by!

Financial Support Information for those interested

Some folks have asked how they can support us on our adoption journey. Thank you so much for your interest! Below are several ways if anyone wants to support us financially. Absolutely no pressure. Thank you for following our adventure, I have been busy filling out paperwork, but do occasionally update the blog.

Option 1: Click on this link to use your credit card and support us through Go Fund Me.

The More The Perryer Adoption

This is not tax deductible. It will go directly to our account when we close it.

Option 2: Another way is to make a tax deductible donation directly to our adoption agency:

Living Hope Adoption Agency

PO Box 579

Fort Washington, PA  19034   

Make a note that it is for Rebecca and Chris Perry VA Adoption and it will all be applied to our future expenses. Some people are curious why adoption is so expensive. To date we have already invested over $7,000. 

The projected cost is $30,000-$35,000. I will jot down a few of our upcoming fees that we will need to pay to Living Hope just to give you an idea.

1. Home Study Review $300 (we paid $2000 to another organization for HS)
2. Dossier authentication $5,475
3. CCCWA China Adoption application/translation $1,550
4. Chinese Travel Visa $380
5. International Airfare $3,000
6. In China travel and accommodations for 14 days $4,500
7. In China facilitator $667
8. Jun Han's airfare $1,050
9. Orphanage donation $5,833 (not sure what this is about)
10. Adoption fees in China $2,130

and the list goes on.

Option 3: Local friends- donate things to our garage sale, or better yet, COME SHOP AT IT! Advertise for us. We are going to have tons of really nice things and  we will need shoppers. A dear church friend is hosting it on Saturday Oct 29th at their home in Smoketree near Monacan High School. Please spread the word. It will be on Craigslist. The  Larsons are now accepting donations in their garage for the big sale. Contact :   katherine.a.larson@gmail.com

Or myself to drop off items.

Here is the information:

Preparing for the home study

 (Picture of our kids and cousins this summer)

There are MANY steps in international adoption! Most of the time I am thankful that they are so careful about who they let through this process, but some of the time it just seems oppressive. As we filled out the 26 steps of paperwork needed to begin the home study, we both said, "Our hat is off to anyone who would do this without knowing the kid they are pursuing!"

WOW! What a labor or love! At least we know the sweet boy we are pursuing since we hosted him this summer.

 With Perry starting his new job, and still working his part time job he has logged 60 hours these first two weeks of work. That has been an adjustment to us since he hasn't worked full time since last October. We did the last piece of our puzzle this morning! (For this very beginning home study step). Some of the 26 steps are involved (health physical, notarized guardian letter...) some are signing fee agreements etc. Perry mailed the documents today!

The caseworker is on vacation until Thursday, so in some ways that allowed me some breathing room this past week. We are hoping the papers will arrive at the end of this week and she can assign us the case worker. Their is only 1 worker who lives within an hour of us who works for this home study agency. Please pray she is available. We need this home study complete by Thanksgiving to get to the next step. Also, we need to find 15 hours to do some on line training classes together as well as a couple of other things to complete the home study.

One step at a time.

A HUGE thank you to everyone who has been supporting us in prayer, encouragement and financially! We have already paid  $6,810 in this $35,000 process and are thankful for every gift!

This is the link to our "Go fund Me Page" if you are interested

The More The Perryer Adoption

 

Also a very sweet (and busy) church friend is organizing a yard sale for us at her house Sat Oct 29th. More details to follow, but if you have anything you would like to donate to the sale, we are hoping to raise some money to bring this little guy back home.