Support Needed

the following is an excerpt from the American Center for Law & Justice:

Support Human Rights and Religious Freedom
There are troubling reports out of the Gaza Strip, Egypt, and other Middle Eastern nations. Islamic terrorists are targeting Christian residents and forcing them to convert to Islam under threat of death. This coerced conversion to Islam violates international law and is simply unacceptable. We must stand up and speak out on behalf of freedom for these Christians. Please read the form carefully and declare your membership with the ACLJ by signing our online Petition to Protect Religious and Human Rights.

Petition to Protect Religious and Human Rights
Ms. Louise Arbour, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
We proclaim to Christians of the Middle East that we support their religious freedom and the protection of their human rights. We cannot sit idly by while terror reigns in the Middle East and the persecution of Christians and forced conversion to Islam continues in Gaza, Egypt, and other Islamic nations.
We, the undersigned, in solidarity with the persecuted Christians in the Middle East, pledge our unwavering support and strongly urge you to provide a full investigation to protect these citizens and work to safeguard their religious and human rights.

You can sign this petition electronically by clicking the link below:

http://www.aclj.org/

enter you zip, then select 'sign a petition'

Ni Hao

We're home from China...what an amazing trip! Thank you for your prayers!! Flights were on time (with luggage), no one got sick (even though we ate some crazy food), and most importantly many opened their hearts!

Our team spent the afternoon with a student SBC sponsored. Her family cooked lunch for us...actually, a feast. It was the equivalent of a Thanksgiving meal in the US. We were honored and humbled by their generosity!

Vince is helping some middle school students practice English. Most all students in China are exposed to English; it is considered a lucrative language.

This is a student who had received a scholarship. Her eyes filled with tears as she thanked us for paying her tuition. Chinese culture is typically unemotional, so it was a special moment to see her soul so deeply moved.

Two of our days in the villages were spent with students (and their families) that receive scholarships from our church. There is no public education in China, therefore these students would otherwise not be able to continue their schooling. They are truly grateful and work very hard. Meeting a crucial physical need opens the door for us to share with them.

It was surreal to be in China at this point in our adoption...now, fully comprehending China is the birth country of our daughter. Many times I wondered if we had crossed paths with Mayah's birth mother (yes, I realize China is a big country, BUT, God is bigger). It was a blessing for our team to be able to pray for our adoption while physically in China! Are hearts are more ready than ever to bring her home!

Ironically enough...

I spoke with our family coordinator this morning, and it looks like all is well with our dossier. It's expected to be Fed-Ex'd to China this Friday. Upon arrival, we'll receive our log-in-date (LID).

Right now the estimated wait for a referral from the LID is 22 months. However, our fc seemed very optimistic about a possible decrease in the wait time after the first of the year. That would be wonderful! Several factors affect the wait time: stricter criteria enforced in May which disqualifies families (this one makes me sad), and families pulling-out b/c the wait is too long.

Ironically enough, this Friday Vince & I are headed to China with a missions team from church. What are the odds of that!! I'm not sure if we'll be chasing our paperwork, or, if it'll be chasing us.

We appreciate your prayers while we're in China: safe travel, safety from unclean food/water, invisible to the authorites and divine appointments.

Saying Good-Bye

Happy 4th! Vince and I celebrated the 4th of July a little unconventionally this year, although we did celebrate. Several months ago you may remember I began painting Mayah's room. Well, I never finished it. Overwhelmed by the frustration of waiting on INS and the possibility that we may not even live in this house by the time Mayah comes home (does anyone stay in a home more than 5 years these days?), I moved the paint cans to the garage.

This Wednesday Vince & I decided to finish the task. We had previously been undecided about continuing to paint the walls 2 colors...would it make the house less marketable should we sell?? We finally came to the conclusion that we didn't care. This is where we live, so this is where we're preparing for our daughter. 'If' we sell, we'll deal with that later...one day at a time.

So we celebrated a very special freedom: living in a country that protects, and makes possible, the opportunity to grow our family the way God has directed us to -- by international adoption! Mayah, your walls are dry!!

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

On another note, it's never easy to say good-bye...as a matter of fact, I prefer not to say it at all! (Suppose that could be traced back to one of my personality flaws) But this past Tuesday I couldn't escape it. I had to hug a neck, and say good-bye. Some very close friends of ours here in Springfield, MO moved to Texas. Might I mention one of the most southern cities in Texas, Corpus Christie. We will miss Scott and Lori and their children, Caleb & Anna. Like Vince, Scott is a minister ( and, might I add an excellent Bible teacher). It's always a blessing to connect with 'spiritual' soul-mates, and the McDonald's are definitely that!! We'll miss you!!

Black Hole Vomits Paperwork

Thought that one would catch your attention!!

This morning headed to my Wednesday shift at the Pregnancy Care Center, I made my usual Starbucks pit-stop. As I was leaving, coffee in hand, I crossed paths with blonde-haired mom and her beautiful Chinese daughter, happily perched on her hip. Not allowing one moment for sadness to sink in, I prayed, "Lord, I know you didn't let me cross their paths accidentally...and since you are a merciful and loving God, I'm going to assume you allowed us to cross paths so that I would be encouraged."

God honored that prayer.

Vince beat me home this afternoon, and as I entered the kitchen, he called out from the living room. He said he had something I needed to see....(could it be?).....I tried not to get excited, but instead strolled over to the couch, where he handed me an envelope from USCIS!

Finally, our immigration approval has arrived!!

God Hasn't Forgotten Us

Encouragement when needed. No sooner, no later. God is faithful...even when discouragement sets in and faith waivers, He always graciously reminds us to keep our eyes on the prize.

And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. Acts 2:44-45

Almost two Sundays ago, a young couple and dear friends, approached Vince and I after worship and placed an envelope in Vince's hand. Though I was near-by, I only caught the end of the conversation. They mentioned selling something and wanting to share their profit for our adoption. Wow! I felt the tears well up...because, I must admit, I was beginning to feel forgotten; until that moment.

Things had been so frustrating because we're still waiting for immigration and we also had three documents returned because they were notarized incorrectly. We're so ready to get our paper work to China so we can relax...we really expected it would be there by now. God knew our hearts were breaking...he intervened and renewed our hope!

What a blessing this couple has been! They shared with us a significant amount of money that I'm sure they could have used for a million other necessities, but instead, they saw our need as priority. Wow, again. It's so amazing to see God's people in action: exercising enormous faith, and sharing sacrificially!

There's a passage in the Old Testament where King David declares that he will not give to God what costs him nothing. I have now seen what that looks like.

No News Isn't Always Good News

Still no immigration approval...tomorrow will be 8 weeks.

But let me tell ya about last week's fiasco...
Our family coordinator is off duty for 3 weeks for her wedding & honeymoon, so we've been assigned a temp coordinator for the mean time. Except for immigration, all of our paper work has been ready to submit to AWAA for several weeks.

Before our FC took off, she suggested we go ahead and send AWAA our paperwork for initial processing. And we did, but...I sent everything to the wrong person AND forgot to make copies of our original documents. That's a pretty big deal since I've been working on papers for 6 months, and if Fed-Ex were to lose them...oh, I can't even stand to think about that!

Anyway, our Fed-Ex made it to AWAA, and was located by the appropriate FC...thank goodness! But one problem was discovered, my OH birth certificate was county certified with the wrong date (06, instead of 07). Everything is time-sensitive! After several phone calls to OH (state and county) it has become evident they will not be able to help me in this lifetime, so I have to pay an agency to handle it for me, quickly. It's really not a big deal, it just stinks to pay for someone else's mistake...wow, suppose that's every-day life!