Adoption Timeline - Part 2

I felt I (Midge) should pick up the story from here. When Bill first began seriously discussing adoption, to say I felt overwhelmed would be an understatement. I felt our family was complete. However, shortly after our move I began to feel God really "tugging" on my heart. Everywhere I went, it seemed adoption was always front and center. After some discussion, Bill and I committed to spend time praying about this, to see if it was God's plan for our family. It quickly became evident to me that this would be pleasing to God, and I felt so strongly that this child would be a blessing to our family. My heart quickly came into line with this plan, and as each of our older children responded with enthusiasm, it just confirmed this was the right direction for us.
As we began to fill out the applications and begin our paperchase, I became more and more convinced that we should look into a special needs child. However, the whole process of adoption was new to us, and we decided to just proceed with the traditional program, and later address the issue of special needs. We submitted our dossier in late June of 2007, and I just couldn't shake the idea that we were supposed to adopt a child through the waiting child program. In the fall of 2007, Bill and I filled out separate forms to determine what medical issues we felt we could handle. Then we compared notes. It took several weeks to come into agreement as to what was best for our family, but by the time we submitted our waiting child checklist I was absolutely convinced this was the right decision.
It was exciting to see how God began to put together all the pieces to this puzzle. When we were going forward with all our plans, we had no idea what the future would hold, but we went forward in faith believing God would work all this out according to His plan. We found out in April of 2008 we would be staying in northern VA for several more years, and then shortly afterwards that we would be able to purchase the house we had been renting for the past 2 years. Just after closing on our house in July of 2008, we found out on the opening day of the Beijing Olympics that we had even more to celebrate! Our precious daughter Michelle was a gift we could not even imagine. We can't wait to go get her, to make her part of our family, and to begin to help her become healthy, happy and whole in every way.

Our Adoption Timeline

Midge and I had discussed adoption several times during our marriage. We were living in Germany in the mid 1990's when the orphanages in Romania opened up to the world. We considered adopting a child then, but our first two biological children were still in diapers and we didn't think we could care for another child at that point in our lives.
In April 2005 we were living in New Jersey and attended a Steven Curtis Chapman concert in New York. He always advocates for adoption during his concerts, and Midge and I talked about it for a while on our drive home. We hemmed and hawwed and finally just stopped talking about it with the issue unresolved. I think that God was beginning to soften our hearts at that time.
In the summer of 2006 we were moving (again) to Virginia. While our household goods were being packed we spent a few nights in a friend's house. Our friends had received a flyer in the mail from Bethany Christian Services about orphans in the U.S. and around the world that needed parents. I felt a real calling and brought up the subject again with Midge, but she didn't want to discuss it. Considering that we were in the middle of another chaotic move, my timing could have been better. I was disappointed, but I let the subject drop.
Later that Fall after we had moved to Virginia and the boxes were unpacked, Midge approached me after work one day and asked me if I had been serious that summer when I suggested adopting. I was surprised, but told her yes, I had been serious. We decided to start praying about it.

Serious discussions and prayers about adoption - November 2006
Decision to adopt - December 2006
Mailed application to CCAI - January 2007
Homestudy and paper chase - January-June 2007
Log In Date (LID) - June 26, 2007
Waiting Child Medical Checklist Complete (MCC) - October 23, 2007
Referral! - August 8, 2008
Pre-Approval (PA) - August 26, 2008
Letter of Accptance (LOA) - October 31, 2008
Travel Approval (TA) - waiting
Consular Appointment (CA) - waiting

A Little About Us

Midge and I have been married for 19 years, moved 11 times, lived in 6 states and 1 foreign country, and have finally settled down and bought our first home. We live in Northern Virginia and have three children already. Elizabeth is 16 and enjoys singing and performing in school musicals. Bill Jr. is 14 and enjoys playing basketball, lacrosse, and bass guitar. Joshua is 7 and enjoys playing basketball and baseball. We also have an English Cocker Spaniel, 'Clark', who is 11 and enjoys stealing food and drinking from the toilette. We can't wait to have Michelle join our family.

Welcome!

We will use this blog to share our family's experience of traveling to China to get our new daughter. She just turned two years old and is currently in foster care administered by the Luohe City Social Welfare Institute in Henan Province.