Fingerprints Done

On Saturday we got our fingerprint appointments in the mail.  This is where we have to go to a US Immigration office and be fingerprinted as part of the Immigration approval process.  Don't ask me what this all really is for - I just know it is something we have to do.  Anyhow, the appointment date is Nov 13th and of course that is when Brian will be out of town on business.  So - this morning, Brian, Josh (because now he is an adult living in our house) and I fought early morning Charlotte traffic and went to the Application Processing Center to complete our biometrics (fingerprinting).  I feel so blessed that our total wait time was only about 40 minutes.  I am very glad we were able to get it done so quickly and also didn't have to wait until the 13th.  The folks at the USCIS office were very nice and helpful.  Hopefully all of that info gets back to Dept of Homeland Security quickly and our I-800 is approved ASAP.  This is the last piece of info that we need to give to the Philippines before they will give us a decision on our adoption application.  All of this work so far and we still do not truly know if we will be approved to adopt a child from the Philippines (lots of prayer is still needed in this area so that our application is approved).

On the way back from this adventure, Brian - in his "I'm so funny" humor - reminded us that we CANNOT commit any crimes now because our fingerprints are on file.  Darn - that just ruined all of my plans for the weekend!!  Guess I should have thought harder about that fingerprint appointment and waited just a little bit longer.  Really??   I guess if I haven't committed a crime in my first 40 something years of life, I sure hope that I don't consider it anytime in my next 40.  And - if I was going to commit a crime - I watch enough TV drama to know that I need to wear gloves - right??  Seriously - who does anything without wearing gloves?  Well - we all got a good laugh out of it anyway because somethings you just have to laugh at - hehehe.

On another note, our friends Tim & Cindy Gale are hopefully within a few days of bring their daughter Mia home from Ecuador.  Tim actually returned to the US a couple of weeks ago and Cindy & Mia had to stay in Ecuador to get a few final papers & new ID/passport done.  Today they are traveling to the consulate to hopefully get all the final papers and permission to leave the country.  If all goes good, then Cindy & Mia will leave Ecuador on Friday and return to Charlotte on Saturday.  PRAY, PRAY, PRAY for the paperwork, the flights and little Mia.  This is a really big change for her and I can't even to begin to understand how scary it must be for her to leave her country to go live in a new country with a new family.  Pray for God's wonderful hand of peace & comfort to be on the entire Gale family as they end one chapter and start a new one.  I am so excited for them and can't wait to meet Mia (check out their story at http://gale6.blogspot.com/).

So what's next for us you might be wondering.  Well, we have to get that USCIS approval and then the Philippines approval.  In the meantime we continue to review and inquire on children from the Waiting Child List in hopes that one or two (or three) of them just might be the child/ren that God has planned for our family.  We are also planning our next fundraiser but that event will not happen until after we get all the approvals.

This little bit of down time is being used to focus on the boys.  Sometimes they can seem to get a little lost in shuffle as I do adoption planning, research, paperwork, etc.  They are both doing great in school and hopefully they are both enjoying being the big boys on campus this year (Josh is a senior and Jason is 8th gr).  We are also using some of this downtime to try and prepare for Josh's college next year (college app sent to USC, scholarship searching, etc).  There is rarely a dull moment around here and God is moving in so many ways. 

Thank you for being part of our journey.  Don't forget to check out our T-shirt store (Christmas is just around the corner) and look at the updates to our Adoption Funds page.  I am also working on a Timeline page so that everyone can see where we've been and what's still ahead in this process.  It's exciting, scary and amazing - all wrapped into one.

For His Glory,
   Chris

Printer Is Finally Getting a Rest

In the last couple of weeks I have really been putting my printer to the test with all of the various items of paperwork that we have been working on.  That wonderful HP Officejet really stepped up and just printed it's little rollers off.  Page after page, picture after picture.  Between work and all the adoption forms - the poor little machine has really been working overtime.  It's now time for a little rest.

A lot of happened suddenly in short amount of time. A few weeks ago our Dossier has been submitted to the Philippines.  The Dossier is a big packet of papers that pretty much is the total history of our lives - our Home Study, our applications, our psychological reports, our family photos, etc.  It was such a relief to get all of that together and sent off.  About 2 weeks ago we send in our I-800 (immigration request) application.  Last week I mailed in the application for a Lifesong for Orphans account (where you can make tax deductible donations) and a Show Hope grant application.  Last week we also go our Tshirt fundraiser setup - see our store at:

www.adoptionbug.com/godsexpansionplan

Over the last several weeks we have been gathering up donations from lots of wonderful folks for our garage sale.  That sale was held on Saturday and it was a wonderful success.  On top of the great donations, my great sister-in-law Sherry and my BFF Lynne come over and helped be organize on Friday and mange the sale on Saturday.  It was such a wonderful help and so appreciated.  Saturday was on of the most gorgeous Fall days here in South Carolina and we met some really great folks that came to the sale.  We were able to share our adoption testimony and I know we have a couple new prayer warriors.  Putting the sale together was a lot of work but a great time.

Now we are moving into a "waiting" pattern - waiting for I-800 approval, waiting for Philippines approval and waiting for God to bring us our child(ren).  As some of you  may know - waiting is not one of our strengths.  So - I'm going to turn my attention to our next fundraiser event - a Cornhole Tournament (stay tuned for more info on that fun) and then I won't have to think about the waiting.

Thank you for all of your love, prayers and support.

For His Glory - Chris