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: