Just heard back from our in-country rep and we have to be in China on November 13th and will be coming back on either Nov. 28th or 29th. Just depends on flight availability as our travel agent, Todd Gallinek, has informed us that the carriers have reduced flights those two days. Should have things booked in the morning.

Cameron

And life continues to get more crazy …

Yesterday we received notice that we have a appointment with the US Consulate in Guangzhou, China, on Monday, December 2nd. That was a little disappointing in that it is SO far away and also because it didn’t work out as well for our child care here at home nor for Leah, who is traveling back to her orphanage and away from the excellent medical care in Beijing. Our coming back Thanksgiving weekend worked perfectly for my parents to come to Dayton and be here when we arrived home with the girls. After talking with our agency, we decided that they would write a letter to request an appointment on Wednesday, November 27th, and I would call the US Consulate office in Guangzhou and talk with them. I had called them once before to expedite paperwork and, once you figure out how to actually get to a live person, I found them to be very gracious and helpful. Last night at around 9:30 PM I called and was able to talk to a very nice Chinese man who works in the office and I explained our situation. He told me that it usually takes 3-4 days to process something like that so I told him that our time was very short and asked if there was anyway someone could look at it sooner. He said that he would try but that it would probably be Friday before someone could make a decision.

We awoke this morning to a notice that that appointment had been moved to Monday, Nov.25th. WHAT?!?! Do they know how soon that is?!

So, today will now be a blur of getting the airline tickets and hotel reservations that are required for all of the paperwork in China to be completed in time. And it will be a long day for our in-country rep as he tries to coordinate all of our travel and passport requirements for the girls in China.

God really does have a sense of humour. He often times answers our prayers in ways that we don’t really expect and in a way that still gets us what we wanted and yet still requires a little bit of faith.

Cameron

For some reason this morning I realized that I have never posted this picture! It is a very cute picture of Riley and Jessie along with another little girl, Melody, who is waiting to be adopted. I hope that you like it!

Cameron

It is 5:30AM and I haven’t been able to sleep for the past hour! Yesterday was filled with plenty of activity around looking at travel plans, but this morning I am hit with the reality of all the little things that have to be done within the next two weeks or so and I have to get up and start organizing life! Along with the normal aspects of work and home, there are all the other little things like putting up the Christmas lights, coordinating certain schedules, making sure SOMEONE will be here to watch the kids, getting the oil changed in the cars, registering the kids for basketball teams, buying all the little things that seemed like you wouldn’t need for awhile and now you would like to have it within the next seven days, and has the camping trailer been winterized yet? In addition, I let Dennis Brickner talk me into coordinating kindergarten basketball this year and I have to make sure I have coaches lined up for the teams before heading out the door!

As with everything else, God has a plan. Not only that, people seem to be so very understanding. I’m sure there are multiple things that I will forget, but Kelly is super organized, so I know that if it is important she is probably on it and will make sure I know it needs to be done.

In the end, even if something does get forgotten, we can probably work through it. And, to be honest, those little things that I am worrying about pale in comparison to the disruption that each of these little girls are going to experience in the next several weeks. Their world is about to change dramatically, and although we know that it is for their long-term good, there will be times that they will probably not think so! But we have been praying that God prepares each of them for these changes and we believe that He is already knitting their hearts with our family’s heart. There were be times when this change will be challenging for all of us, but change is good and only happens with a certain amount of discomfort. Jesus wasn’t comfortable when he went to to cross, but He knew it had to be done for our benefit. If He could do that, I think we, as a family, can manage what is ahead of us.

Cameron

After some confusion and information not getting faxed to where it was supposed to get faxed to (what else is new? As many of you saw, Kelly posted this week that “Bernadsky” must mean “delay” in Chinese!), this evening we received the electronic copy of our Travel Authorizations! The clock is now ticking towards our departure date.

First, we need to get our consulate appointment with the US State Department in China. Then, the in-country rep has to work out all the details around getting three girls in two different parts of China. Then we will know our departure date and be able to make all of our flight arrangements.

We would expect that we will be leaving sometime around November 13-15. We should have a much better plan laid out soon. Keep an eye on this blog for updates!

Cameron & Kelly

But I do have more pictures!

One of the dad’s who recently went to China to pick up a daughter from Ali’s orphanage sent some money back so that his daughter’s friends could go to a movie … their first movie ever. Riley was one of those friends. She seems like such a ham! I think she will keep us laughing!

As a treat they went to KFC to eat:

And we got one additional picture of several of the kids at Ali’s (and Riley and Jessie’s) orphanage. We will be there soon!

That is all for now! Hopefully next time I write it will be with TA received!!

Cameron

How often do we, as Christians, realize that statement? God doesn’t need us. He likes us. He made us so that He can enjoy us. But to accomplish what He wants to accomplish, He doesn’t need us.

Earlier this week Kelly received a call from a friend of our extended family. We cross paths with this lady maybe once or twice a year, but when we have been able to have the opportunity spend time with her and her family, we have always enjoyed the interaction. They are a wonderful Christian couple that has a heart for adoptions and have adopted children internationally themselves.

She started the conversation with Kelly asking her how our adoption process was going and, after Kelly gave her a quick update, she asked where we where on our finances for the adoption. This has been the farthest down the road to adoption that we have ever been without the finances in place, but Kelly and I have had a peace that God was in control and would provide. Kelly shared that we had a lot of the funds in place, but not all of them. She then asked Kelly if we had been praying about our finances – the answer, of course, was “absolutely”. I know … you are thinking this lady called out of the blue and offered to donate money. While I am sure she would be more than willing to do that if God told her to, that isn’t what God wanted. That was too easy for Him. He likes to do things bigger!

This lady then proceeded to tell Kelly an amazing story. This lady and her family don’t know their neighbors very well, so last weekend they decided to host a block party at their house. Many people showed up and this family was busy hosting. During one part of the evening her husband was talking to one of the neighbors and the conversation moved towards adoption. As part of that conversation, the husband told this family about us, our history with adoptions and the journey we are currently traveling.

The next morning the wife of that family called our distant friend that hosted the party and told her that after hearing our story she wanted to donate to our cause. She wanted to pay for one of the girls airplane tickets home. Kelly gave them our blog information and hung up the phone feeling blessed that God had moved on someone so distant to us.

Two days later our distant friend called back and told Kelly that the lady who wanted to donate had sent her an email that began with, “I don’t know what to do!” She had spent time going through our blog and felt that God was moving in her heart and that what she had originally planned just wasn’t good enough. She wanted to pay for ALL three girls’ flights!! Tonight we received that check, humbly amazed at how amazingly God has taken care of us through this process.

This donation doesn’t diminish the sacrificial donations that have been made by our family, our friends, and my coworkers. Every donation has been a symbol of God’s favor in this process and a continual reinforcement in our minds that we are doing what God has asked of us! But it still amazing to have God move on someone so many layers removed from us and have them cover such a major portion of this adoption. God doesn’t really need us to accomplish what He wants done. He just asks us to be obedient to what He has called us to do, and He will take care of ALL the details!

We hope to get travel approval (TA) this week and then things will really start speeding up! It seems real now … this is going to happen!

Cameron

Below are two new pictures of Leah that we received today. What a great answer to prayer to see how healthy and alive she looks! It wasn’t that very long ago that we were extremely concerned for her well being, but God stepped in and allowed her to have excellent care in Beijing and she looks fantastic. God new what she needed and for how long and the wait has definitely been good for her.

In addition, we heard this week that we have received Article 5’s for all three girls, which means the only piece of paper needed from China before traveling is the official Travel Approval. We should hopefully receive that soon and will start looking at dates in November! Kelly and I are at that point where we realize this is going to happen soon and are anxious and yet excited over what is going to transpire over the next two months!

Next update should be for the TA’s. Don’t stop praying now!

Cameron