We have our referral!!!

 

Our Referral

 

 

God is always on time!  On November 9th, 2010, we made the decision to begin the adoption process, from Russia.  On the 10th, we applied for two brothers, under the age of five.  This past week, we were notified that these two little guys have been identified and presented to us as a referral.  After almost two years, we have actually seen our sons and know who they are! 

 

Because of Russia's restrictions on social media, we are unable to share much information, on the boys.  However, they are brothers who are 3 1/2 and 1 1/2 years old.  And yes, they are precious! 

 

Hopefully, we will be traveling, in the next couple of weeks, to see them, for the first time.  Russia requires three trips, so it will be several months before they can be brought home. 

 

The Lord has known these little boys, from the beginning of time.  He has also known that we would be their parents and Taylor and Leah would be their big sisters.  We are thankful that God's heart is for children and for adoption...may we always have a heart like His!   ^"A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation.  God setteth the solitary in families..."  (Psalm 68:5-6a)

 

We will try to keep everyone updated, as we are allowed to share, more information, in the days, ahead.  Meanwhile, please pray for our family and all that is involved in bringing our sons to North Carolina.

 

Love and blessings,

Kim, Craig, Taylor, and Leah

 





Documents for Russia

What a stack of papers!  This week, we were able to send our apostilled documents (with a special "stamp" from Raleigh) and copies to our adoption agency's family coordinator.  She will, in turn, send them on to Russia where they will be translated in the Russian language.  The documents are re-do's on papers that have expired (this occurs around a year from the date on the documents) and also papers for our adoption court hearing, in Russia.  I will say, acquiring all of these documents has been a daunting task!  However, the Lord, indeed, equips us to do what our mind simply tells us we cannot.  What would we do without a loving heavenly Father who cares about us and has the power to make things happen?  We know how dependent we are on Him.  The Bible tells us that without Him, we can do nothing...adoption will prove that over and over, again...not that everyday circumstances are not, already, constant reminders!

We learned at the first of the year, that Russia will now be requiring three trips before we can bring the children home.  Previously, we would only have traveled twice.  Over the past year, Russia has implemented many more requirements and restrictions.

We will continue to wait for a referral.  Now that Russia will have all of the updated documents, everything should be in place and ready.  Patience would be the word of the day!  Thanks so much for the continued prayers.

Blessings!

Kim and Family

Apostilling...This Week

We have almost completed our part of the pile of updates and re-dos!  Praise the Lord!!!  We are waiting for some official documents to be filled out and mailed to us.  Once we get these papers, we will send them, with the rest of our updates, to Raleigh to be apostilled.  Please pray that these documents will go through the apostilling process without any delays or mistakes that need to be corrected.  The quicker we get all of these documents to our family coordinator, the quicker they will go to Russia!  We are hoping to get everything sent off to Raleigh by the end of this week or the first of next week...depending on when we receive the other documents.  Each completed phase is one step closer to getting our referral.  We are trusting His timing!  

Thanks for your prayers!!!  They are appreciated!

Much love,

Taylor and the Church Family

Full-Swing!

It has been awhile since we have blogged.  As usual, we haven't had much to tell...we are in the "waiting" period (which requires much patience).  After an uneventful Christmas break and New Year, we have gone back into the paperwork full-swing!!!  So many official papers are expiring and are having to be updated or redone, in addition to the new forms/etc. that need to be completed.  Momma has diligently (and patiently) been completing these documents.  (She says it is like reading a foreign language...everything has to be "just so.")  It can be overwhelming at times...but God is so faithful and works in ways that He gets all the glory.  I say all this to ask for your prayers during this time...for wisdom and understanding as Momma does the paperwork, patience as we wait on the referral, and that God will provide for all these adoption needs.  

"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened."

Matthew 7:7-8 KJV

Thanks so much!!!

Love,

Taylor

Merry Christmas!

We are still waiting on our referral...just trusting the Lord and His timing!  In January, we will start redoing expiring paperwork and start filling out more information for regional documents.   

Hope you have a blessed and merry Christmas!

The Church Family

^"But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.  And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father."

Galatians 4:4-6 (KJV)

  

Patience is a Virtue

     I haven't blogged in such a long time, because I haven't had anything new to post.  So, I thought I would blog and tell you that I STILL don't have anything new to post!  Our paperwork has been in Russia since April and we are waiting for the referral.  How do you get a referral?  Well, our family coordinator, with our adoption agency, will call and let us know that two brothers, of Asian descent, and both under 5 years old, have been located.  She will email us all the information she has for them and once we accept the referral, the agency will begin to assist us in our first trip travel plans.  Once we fly, we will probably spend about a week in Russia and will get to visit our boys in the orphanage. 
     Russia requires two trips to visit the prospective child/children.  They do this so that both the child/children and the prospective parents can make sure that they are "compatible."  Russia wants to make sure that all is well with everyone involved before the child leaves the country.
     Once we return from the first visit with the boys, normally it takes two to three months to complete the extra paperwork that must be documented for the region in which the orphanage is located.  When that paperwork is finished and sent to Russia, we will travel for the second time.  On this trip, we will, again, see our sons in the orphanage, have a court hearing to obtain approval to adopt the boys in Russia, obtain medical releases, etc.  This could take anywhere from three to four weeks in Russia.
    It will be ten months, this Saturday (Sept. 10th), that we initially put in our application to adopt.  I don't know if it is a "mother's intuition" or just wishful thinking, but the last couple of days, I have had the feeling that something is happening with the boys.  Granted, it may be another year before our sons are located, but could it be that the time is drawing near?  We know that the Lord must have time to prepare the boys for us and prepare us for them.  We know, too, that there are many things that He must put in place before we can travel and get our sons.  Therefore, we continue to wait and truly trust in His timing.  Jesus is already in the future and He knows what is to come and what must transpire to get us all there.  We are going with Him! 
     As the weeks and months tick by, I am finding that I am longing more for our boys and desiring to be united with them.  I think this is part of the process of preparation by our Lord...getting us to the point that we can no longer live without them!  So, patience is good, but impatience can be a sign of the Lord, as well...especially when it comes to the motivation of bringing two orphans into a family...an experience they may, otherwise, never know.  Please keep praying for us as the Lord brings our family to mind.  He loves to hear from His children!  One day, we, too, will hear from our two children whom we have never seen.  We love you, all!

Blessings,
Kim

The Location of Our Sons

(Dark Red: Krasnoyarsk Region)

      Adoption is a wonderful thing, but it is amazing how often we walk in the unknown as we wait on the pieces of the puzzle to be put together.  One of the uncertainties is the location of our sons (Taylor's/Leah's brothers).  We know that they are in Russia, however, we had to wait for our dossier (official paperwork) to be submitted before we could find out the region in which we would be registered.  Yesterday, we were able to determine that our dossier has been registered in the Krasnoyarsk Region (Kras, for short).  We have been registered since April, so that means that we are three months along in the process of waiting on the referral!  How long until the referral?  Well, only the Lord really knows.  However, since we are registered in Kras, we can feel confident that this is where the boys are located.  We know that the Lord sees them and one day, we will, as well.  At least Russia doesn't seem so large and encompassing, now.  When we look at the map, we can narrow it down to a region and since we have requested children of Asian descent, we can even believe that the boys may be in the southern part of Kras, near the borders of China and Mongolia.  So, we will continue to trust in the Lord's timing and have patience as we wait on His appointed time to go and get these children. 

     Every little bit of information is welcomed and we anticipate the day we will get the referral that lets us know that our boys have been "found."  We are reminded that they are not "lost" from God and that His eyes are always on them, as they are us.  You see, the puzzle may look like there are pieces missing, but God holds all the pieces and knows the end results.  

     Please continue to pray for our family and these precious little boys in Krasnoyarsk, Russia.

Blessings,

Kim