What a WONDERFUL week it has been!!! Yesterday, we received our I-800 provisional approval!! Once we receive our cable letter from NVC (National Visa Center) our agency will send for our Article 5. It'll take about 2 weeks to get it. Once we get Article 5 we will have Travel Approval in about 3-4 weeks. Then it's "on like Donkey Kong!!!" LOL!! Just had to say that!!! We will be leaving for China SOON!!! We are very excited!!!
MORE AMAZING NEWS!!
Wednesday...we received a text from a friend at church that he wanted to stop by and bring us a delivery. We were like...sure...no problem!! :) We weren't sure what he was delivering. :) Anyway...what he told us absolutely blew us away and was just a 'kiss from Heaven' to let us know that God KNOWS and He SEES and He will provide. God's faithfulness is so amazing!!!
What our friend Clint began to tell us was that he and his wife are both in lifegroups at church and they have been doing the Bible Study "The Blessed Life". Their groups decided that they wanted to come together and do something to bless someone. Clint & Amy Jo (who have also adopted a PRECIOUS little boy from India) know the cost of adoption first hand, and they brought up that we are adopting Shep and still have funds to raise before we go. So both groups decided they wanted to give toward our adoption. They have absolutely blown us away by blessing us with $1800 to go toward our adoption expenses!!! WOW!!! That is absolutely AMAZING!!! God was saying..."SEE!!! I'm taking care of it! Where I guide...I'll provide!!!" I was in tears. It was the PERFECT timing and we could not have been more grateful!! With that $1800...we have now reached $6000 to go toward the $16,000 we have to wire once we receive TA. This is such wonderful news!!!!
For each person that gave anything....we wish we knew who you all were and could PERSONALLY thank you. But this is the best way we know to say thank you!! You guys will NEVER KNOW how God used you, not only provide and bless us in this last stage of our process, but your act of generosity spoke in a HUGE WAY to our hearts and encouraged and built up our faith SO MUCH!!! We pray God's blessings 100 fold back to each one of you for the gifts you gave toward making a difference in our little boys life!! You ARE changing a life and a destiny!!! Please do keep up with our journey. We want you to see what the seed you have sown is going toward. We are SO grateful!! A mere "Thank You" seems like it isn't enough. But we are thankful and we pray blessings on you all!!!
ONE MORE THING...
We have a precious friend who sells Thirty-One Gifts who has asked if she can do a fundraiser for our adoption expenses. She plans to donate the profits from this sale to our adoption. We thought that was such a SWEET thing for her to do and again...we are so grateful!!! If you or anyone you know would like to purchase anything from Thirty-One...Check out our friend Tammie Burgoon's website HERE!! Thirty-One has some really great products and if you happen to purchase something you need or like there...It'll go toward our adoption expenses!! Thanks SO MUCH Tammie!! We are so grateful!!
NEWS ON SHEPARD:
We are HOPING that we will receive updated info and pictures from Shepard soon. We really need to know what size he wears so we can start getting him clothes and shoes and his room ready!! :) As soon as we get info on him or when our Article 5 comes in...we will blog again!!
To be able to share this journey with our friends and family is SUCH a blessing to us. We have had SO MANY of you bless us on this journey. So many of you have been support and encouragement, have offered to help us purchase gifts to take our guides, and have given so sacrificially! We hope you know just how appreciative we are for all that you have done!! We also want to thank you for your prayers and support. They mean more than you will ever know!!! We anticipate heading to China (as long as there are no delays) in about 8 weeks!!! NOT MUCH LONGER!! We are excited!!
We will be in touch soon!! Have a great weekend!
Blessings,
Mark & Buffi
Friday, March 15, 2013
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
How Can We Say It?!?!
We have postponed blogging for a couple of days because we were trying to think of a way to let you all know just how much we are blessed by each one of you. We are overwhelmed with gratitude by the friendships that we have and how you all are personally taking on the heart to help bring Shepard home. You are carrying out God's heart for orphan care. Really...look at the amount on the thermometer to the right....Over $19,000 in a year!!! Y'all...that is a miracle and God has used YOU to make that happen!! You will NEVER know how blessed we are because of your gifts of kindness and your heart to help change the life of a very precious little boy.
We've gotten a few anonymous gifts...and it has just blessed us more than you will ever know. Whoever you are...THANK YOU so much!!! We just want to shout it from the roof tops just how grateful we are. When walking in faith...it requires stepping in areas where your feet might not feel sure...but HE sets our feet on solid ground and with each and every gift that is donated toward our adoption expenses...we have just been reassured and encouraged that God sees...and He knows...and HE provides. YOU have been God's hands extended to us as we endeavor to bring Shepard home and give him a loving family! God has shown us HIS faithfulness through your kindness and your gifts.
Saying thank you never seems like enough. Finding the words to communicate just what our hearts feel is challenging too. But in as many ways as we possibly can...we wanted to say THANK YOU!!! Thank you for being HIS hands extended!!!
Blessings,
Buffi
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Made it to the "Lock Box"!!
We wanted to give you all a quick update!! We just received our I-797C paperwork from Homeland Security. Our paperwork is in what they call the "lock box" as we wait on the Cable letter from the National Visa Center. This is the first part of this paperwork we were waiting on as we wait on Travel Approval....see below:
- Once we get our LOA We will submit our 800 Provisional paperwork. We will then get a receipt of our actual 800 approval. This will take approximately 2 weeks. - JUST GOT THIS PART!!!!
STILL WAITING ON THESE:
- After we receive our provisional approval we will then wait for our cable letter from the NVC (National Visa Center).
- Once we receive our cable letter then Lifeline will submit our Article 5 letter to the US Consulate. The takes approximately 2 more weeks.
- After our Article 5 letter is picked up, the CCAA (Chinese Center of Adoption Affairs) wll initiate our TA (Travel Approval process) Our TA should arrive 3-4 weeksafter our Article 5 letter arrives at CCAA.
- Once we have TA (Travel Approval) it will take approximately 2 business days to get a confirmed CA (Consulate appointment)
- Once we have our CA we will likely travel 10-14 days after it is scheduled.
So...it looks like we are still on schedule to go in May. Praying all the paperwork continues to come through smoothly!!
PRAYER REQUESTS:
1. We mailed our Visa Applications off yesterday. Please pray that we get our Visa's back in a quick manner.
2. Please continue to pray for our finances to come in. Our social worker told us we will need to wire $16,000 to China once we get our Travel Approval/Consulate Appointment. We have $4,000 of that $16,000. (we still have $7000 for airfare on top of what we have to wire as well.) We are waiting on 2 grants we have applied for. Pray for favor and that these organizations will give our family a grant toward these expenses. God is faithful. Our faith is SO stretched...but we trust in the Lord and we know that where HE GUIDES...HE PROVIDES!! Thanks for your prayers for this!
3. Please continue to pray for Shepard and that his foster family is showing him our photos and talking to him about us coming. Pray that God prepares his little heart for the changes coming.
4. Pray for all of us as we prepare our home and hearts for adding a new little one. While we are all very excited...we know that reality sometimes isn't always easy. But we know God will cause all of us to grow in our faith and trust in Him.
Thank you all for keeping up with our process and for praying for us as it is getting really close to travel time. We are all excited...and nervous too!! We are so grateful for all that God is doing in our hearts. Our faith is being stretched...but we know God is faithful and being in the center of HIS will and trusting HIS heart in this process is where we want to be!! We wouldn't want to be anywhere else!
We will keep everyone posted when we hear something else! Thank you so much for your prayers!
Blessings,
Mark & Buffi
- Once we get our LOA We will submit our 800 Provisional paperwork. We will then get a receipt of our actual 800 approval. This will take approximately 2 weeks. - JUST GOT THIS PART!!!!
STILL WAITING ON THESE:
- After we receive our provisional approval we will then wait for our cable letter from the NVC (National Visa Center).
- Once we receive our cable letter then Lifeline will submit our Article 5 letter to the US Consulate. The takes approximately 2 more weeks.
- After our Article 5 letter is picked up, the CCAA (Chinese Center of Adoption Affairs) wll initiate our TA (Travel Approval process) Our TA should arrive 3-4 weeksafter our Article 5 letter arrives at CCAA.
- Once we have TA (Travel Approval) it will take approximately 2 business days to get a confirmed CA (Consulate appointment)
- Once we have our CA we will likely travel 10-14 days after it is scheduled.
So...it looks like we are still on schedule to go in May. Praying all the paperwork continues to come through smoothly!!
PRAYER REQUESTS:
1. We mailed our Visa Applications off yesterday. Please pray that we get our Visa's back in a quick manner.
2. Please continue to pray for our finances to come in. Our social worker told us we will need to wire $16,000 to China once we get our Travel Approval/Consulate Appointment. We have $4,000 of that $16,000. (we still have $7000 for airfare on top of what we have to wire as well.) We are waiting on 2 grants we have applied for. Pray for favor and that these organizations will give our family a grant toward these expenses. God is faithful. Our faith is SO stretched...but we trust in the Lord and we know that where HE GUIDES...HE PROVIDES!! Thanks for your prayers for this!
3. Please continue to pray for Shepard and that his foster family is showing him our photos and talking to him about us coming. Pray that God prepares his little heart for the changes coming.
4. Pray for all of us as we prepare our home and hearts for adding a new little one. While we are all very excited...we know that reality sometimes isn't always easy. But we know God will cause all of us to grow in our faith and trust in Him.
Thank you all for keeping up with our process and for praying for us as it is getting really close to travel time. We are all excited...and nervous too!! We are so grateful for all that God is doing in our hearts. Our faith is being stretched...but we know God is faithful and being in the center of HIS will and trusting HIS heart in this process is where we want to be!! We wouldn't want to be anywhere else!
We will keep everyone posted when we hear something else! Thank you so much for your prayers!
Blessings,
Mark & Buffi
Sunday, February 24, 2013
LOA Signed, Sealed & Delivered!!!
Here it is!!! This is the piece of paper we were waiting on!!
We HAPPENED to be spending the weekend in Birmingham this weekend with our friends The Lee's - so we were able to meet with our social worker and sign this VERY important piece of paper and get it mailed off!! Here's a pic of it being signed!!!
 |
| We met in the parking lot at Lifeline!! :) Signed on the car hood!!! ;) |
The is some really confusing paperwork we are waiting on now. We didn't have to do it last time...but with the Hague Convention...we are now having to do it. So...the next few weeks will be waiting on those items to go through.
TRAVEL:
We've been told to apply for our Chinese Visa's. We will begin that process this week!! Wow!! It's getting close!!We're also beginning to look into travel. Karla, our social worker told us that she thinks because three weeks in April is a BIG business Trade Fair in China...that we will more than likely go mid-May. So...that's what we are going to be aiming for.
She also told us that we will be wiring our money to China when we get our Travel Approval. There are SO MANY things we need prayer for now. I have wrestled with how often to keep before everyone our prayer needs for His financial provision for the completion of this adoption. I really don't like to keep bringing it up. But it truly is one of the most overwhelming parts of this process. So please...do continue to pray for God's miracle provision. He knows the need and we trust HIM with all that is in us to make it work. We trust him...and we know that HE will not leave us hanging. Thanks for your prayers concerning this.
We also are preparing a Medical Travel Kit to go. We have been instructed to take any kind of meds we could possibly need when we go. Just so we won't have to purchase it there. Last time we purchased the Orphan Allies Kit....but they no longer sell them. So we will be compiling all the meds (prescription and over the counter) and stuff any of us might need for travel. Pray that God gives us wisdom and remembrance for everything we may need to take.
We will begin focusing on packing light. So we need LOTS of prayers for packing light for 5 of us for two weeks! :) I'm guessing May there will be warm?? I need to ask my friends who have traveled to China in May.
THANK YOU:
We wanted to send a BIG THANK YOU to all our friends and family who have continued to bless us through this process. We are so humbled and grateful for God blessing us with such special people in our lives. We just wanted to let you all know how much it blesses us for every single thing you all have done for us and for Shep. We KNOW you are doing it as unto the Lord and our prayer is that God multiplies every single thing back to you one hundred fold!!
We wanted to send a BIG THANK YOU to all our friends and family who have continued to bless us through this process. We are so humbled and grateful for God blessing us with such special people in our lives. We just wanted to let you all know how much it blesses us for every single thing you all have done for us and for Shep. We KNOW you are doing it as unto the Lord and our prayer is that God multiplies every single thing back to you one hundred fold!!
We promise to keep you posted. Things will begin to happen more often now that we are so close!! MAY will be here before we know it!!! Have a great week!
Blessings,
Mark & Buffi
Friday, February 22, 2013
Three BIG Letters!!!!!
It's not going to be too much longer now!!! We will keep everyone posted what we do next!!! We just couldn't WAIT to tell you that we got the best news today!!! AMAZING!!! Thank you Lord!!! We are all very excited!!! We're coming to get you Shep!!!
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
NEW PICS OF SHEP!!!!!
We awoke this morning to a WONDERFUL email from Karla. No...it wasn't our LOA...we are still waiting on that. But we did get two new photos of Shepard as he received our care package. We were so excited!!! While our hearts were so excited to receive these photos of him, we were also a little sad...because we could see he was very pensive in these photos. We know his little world is about to be turned upside down. He may have just found out about us...We don't really know. But we could tell he was thinking a lot about what he was seeing. At least he has the photo album of pictures of all of us!
Anyway...we are so excited to share these photos with you. Please join us as we continue to pray for him. These weeks before we go to China and get him are critical. We are praying that his foster home talks to him a lot about his family coming for him. We know God can prepare his heart. Thank you for your prayers!!! Here are the pics!! Thank you all so much for your prayers, your encouragement and support. It means a ton to us. Blessings!
Anyway...we are so excited to share these photos with you. Please join us as we continue to pray for him. These weeks before we go to China and get him are critical. We are praying that his foster home talks to him a lot about his family coming for him. We know God can prepare his heart. Thank you for your prayers!!! Here are the pics!! Thank you all so much for your prayers, your encouragement and support. It means a ton to us. Blessings!
Friday, February 8, 2013
Travel Meeting Weekend!!
We just got back today from our China Travel meeting in Birmingham. What an exciting time!! It was SO GREAT to see our social worker Karla again...and wow..there were a ton of families who are adopting right now. We were so surprised. It is so much different that it was six years ago for us. There were just a hand full of us back then. What a blessing to see there are so many more families who have stepped up, answered the call and said yes to adoption! What a blessing!!
So...here is what we found out at our travel meeting!
PROCESS STILL TO GO: HOW MUCH MORE TIME?!?
- Once we get our LOA (we are on day 50 of a 60-90 day average wait) We will submit our 800 Provisional paperwork. We will then get a receipt of our actual 800 approval. This will take approximately 2 weeks.
- After we receive our provisional approval we will then wait for our cable letter from the NVC (National Visa Center).
- Once we receive our cable letter then Lifeline will submit our Article 5 letter to the US Consulate. The takes approximately 2 more weeks.
- After our Article 5 letter is picked up, the CCAA (Chinese Center of Adoption Affairs) wll initiate our TA (Travel Approval process) Our TA should arrive 3-4 weeks after our Article 5 letter arrives at CCAA.
- Once we have TA (Travel Approval) it will take approximately 2 business days to get a confirmed CA (Consulate appointment)
- Once we have our CA we will likely travel 10-14 days after it is scheduled.
So what does this all mean?!?! WELL....If we get our LOA right at the 60 day mark (which you NEVER KNOW...it could go a lot longer! It did with Sadie) Anyway...lets just look at it from our day 60 wait for LOA.
Let's just say February 19th is our day 60.
Add 2 weeks for 800 approval
2 more weeks for Article 5
3- 4 weeks for Article 5 to arrive at CCAA
2 more days for Confirmed CA
And 2 more weeks to leave.
That leaves us POTENTIALLY leaving by April 30th.
OBVIOUSLY these are just average waits with NO delays...and probably best case scenario situations. But...it gives you sort of what we're looking at regarding travel!!! It will generally be around that time frame.
Lots of info...but we want you guys to be praying for us as we are still waiting!!!
GIFTS FOR GUIDES:
We have to purchase and bring with us approximately 10-12 gifts in the $5 - $10 range for our guides. These gifts have to be made in America or something specific to our state or area. If you have any cool ideas...send them our way!!
We also have to purchase our orphanage director and child's orphanage care giver a little nicer gift. Would love suggestions or thoughts on this as well!!! We need to keep the cost as low as possible...but still let them be nice and thoughtful gifts!! :)
PRESCRIPTIONS NEEDED:
We just found out that the orphanage Shepard is from has Scabies pretty badly. :( So sad. We are praying for our little fellow that when he goes there from his foster home that he doesn't get them. But...we were told we need to bring a prescription for Scabies just in case. We are grateful we have friends that are doctors and can get us these prescriptions!! We were told now that Walmart has gotten to China...we can purchase most anything we need there...but they don't recommend us purchase medicine there. So we will need to take every kind of meds we can think of with us...so we'll be prepared. Praying for the orphanage there that some how they will be able to eliminate that issue.
There was SO MUCH INFORMATION covered at our travel meeting. It would probably bore you if I went into it all.
PRAYER NEEDS:
Please continue to pray for
- Shepard as his little world is getting ready to be turned upside down.
- For the rest of the finances to come in so we can take this trip without going into debt.
- For our faith to stay strong and not waiver in all the "unknown" places we are walking right now. HE is our Rock and our Fortress. Pray that we will remember HE is where our strength comes from.
We are SO GRATEFUL for each and everyone of you!!! THANK YOU for following our blog, for praying for us, for encouraging us and for being our friends!!! You are a blessing!!! We promise to keep you posted!
Blessings,
Mark & Buffi
p.s. We are creating an email distribution list to let everyone know when our blog has been updated...Social Media Sites are blocked in China. If you don't want to sign up to receive our blog updates in your email inbox (you can do so at the top right of our blog) Send us your email address if you haven't already done so and we'll add your email address to our distribution list. We want to keep everyone informed!!! Thanks again for the prayers!! Blessings!
So...here is what we found out at our travel meeting!
PROCESS STILL TO GO: HOW MUCH MORE TIME?!?
- Once we get our LOA (we are on day 50 of a 60-90 day average wait) We will submit our 800 Provisional paperwork. We will then get a receipt of our actual 800 approval. This will take approximately 2 weeks.
- After we receive our provisional approval we will then wait for our cable letter from the NVC (National Visa Center).
- Once we receive our cable letter then Lifeline will submit our Article 5 letter to the US Consulate. The takes approximately 2 more weeks.
- After our Article 5 letter is picked up, the CCAA (Chinese Center of Adoption Affairs) wll initiate our TA (Travel Approval process) Our TA should arrive 3-4 weeks after our Article 5 letter arrives at CCAA.
- Once we have TA (Travel Approval) it will take approximately 2 business days to get a confirmed CA (Consulate appointment)
- Once we have our CA we will likely travel 10-14 days after it is scheduled.
So what does this all mean?!?! WELL....If we get our LOA right at the 60 day mark (which you NEVER KNOW...it could go a lot longer! It did with Sadie) Anyway...lets just look at it from our day 60 wait for LOA.
Let's just say February 19th is our day 60.
Add 2 weeks for 800 approval
2 more weeks for Article 5
3- 4 weeks for Article 5 to arrive at CCAA
2 more days for Confirmed CA
And 2 more weeks to leave.
That leaves us POTENTIALLY leaving by April 30th.
OBVIOUSLY these are just average waits with NO delays...and probably best case scenario situations. But...it gives you sort of what we're looking at regarding travel!!! It will generally be around that time frame.
Lots of info...but we want you guys to be praying for us as we are still waiting!!!
GIFTS FOR GUIDES:
We have to purchase and bring with us approximately 10-12 gifts in the $5 - $10 range for our guides. These gifts have to be made in America or something specific to our state or area. If you have any cool ideas...send them our way!!
We also have to purchase our orphanage director and child's orphanage care giver a little nicer gift. Would love suggestions or thoughts on this as well!!! We need to keep the cost as low as possible...but still let them be nice and thoughtful gifts!! :)
PRESCRIPTIONS NEEDED:
We just found out that the orphanage Shepard is from has Scabies pretty badly. :( So sad. We are praying for our little fellow that when he goes there from his foster home that he doesn't get them. But...we were told we need to bring a prescription for Scabies just in case. We are grateful we have friends that are doctors and can get us these prescriptions!! We were told now that Walmart has gotten to China...we can purchase most anything we need there...but they don't recommend us purchase medicine there. So we will need to take every kind of meds we can think of with us...so we'll be prepared. Praying for the orphanage there that some how they will be able to eliminate that issue.
There was SO MUCH INFORMATION covered at our travel meeting. It would probably bore you if I went into it all.
PRAYER NEEDS:
Please continue to pray for
- Shepard as his little world is getting ready to be turned upside down.
- For the rest of the finances to come in so we can take this trip without going into debt.
- For our faith to stay strong and not waiver in all the "unknown" places we are walking right now. HE is our Rock and our Fortress. Pray that we will remember HE is where our strength comes from.
We are SO GRATEFUL for each and everyone of you!!! THANK YOU for following our blog, for praying for us, for encouraging us and for being our friends!!! You are a blessing!!! We promise to keep you posted!
Blessings,
Mark & Buffi
p.s. We are creating an email distribution list to let everyone know when our blog has been updated...Social Media Sites are blocked in China. If you don't want to sign up to receive our blog updates in your email inbox (you can do so at the top right of our blog) Send us your email address if you haven't already done so and we'll add your email address to our distribution list. We want to keep everyone informed!!! Thanks again for the prayers!! Blessings!
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