Questions

On almost a daily basis, I am asked at least one of these questions, "When are you going to go get your kids?", "What are the next steps?", Why is it taking so long?" "Do you know anything new about your kids?"

So for those of you who have had these same questions, let me try to answer them.

Question: When are you going to go get your kids?

As soon as we are told we can!!  If we could get on a plane tomorrow, we would.  In all reality, it will probably be late fall before we can travel to Thailand to bring our kids home. 

Question: What are the next steps? 

The next step for our adoption is called First Approval. We were matched with our children by our U.S. agency, Holt International.  We are now waiting on the Thai Adoption Board to officially approve that match.  All of our paperwork is done, it has been done since late 2012, but there are many cases ahead of ours, and so we wait. 

Once we receive First Approval, we will receive some important documents that we need to file with the United States Citizen and Immigration Services (USCIS) office so we can get permission for our children to become U.S. Citizens.  Once we get that approval (called the I-800 approval) we will be able to travel to Thailand.

Question: Why is it taking so long?

If only I really knew!  One reason is that the Thai adoption board only meets two days every month and there are many things that they have to do when they meet.  Another reason is that, since this past fall, there has been a lot of political unrest in Thailand that has slowed a lot of government work down.

Question:  Do you know anything new about your kids?

No! The last report we received on our children was in December.  We only get updates on them every four months and the updates really tell us very little.  We know that they are together in foster care, and we are told they are happy, otherwise we don't really know a whole lot. We should get a new update in the next few weeks, and we will definitely share what we can from the update.

I am so thankful that others are interested in our adoption.  I hope that people always feel free to ask questions, it shows that they care. Probably the best question I have been asked though, is a pretty simple one... 

Question: How are you doing? or How are you doing with the wait?

The Answer:  Some days I am doing just fine.  I am able to focus my eyes on Jesus and feel so very blessed by so many people and things in my life.  I know that it is just a matter of time and our children will be home with us.

Other days, I am not so fine.  Other days, I get down, I look around me and see people with their children and long for that to be me.  Some days I feel like it is never going to happen, and I am tired of waiting. 

This "How are you doing with the wait?" question is definitely the most helpful one.  It gives me a chance to share where I am at, whether it is an easy day of waiting or a hard one.

Thanks for reading along, asking questions, and being interested in our journey....our journey to get Beyond the Wait!

Thai Tuesday

Today is Tuesday! And what my husband and I are declaring "Thai Tuesday". 

What does this mean, you ask?   Let me try to explain.

First of all, note that Thailand is 11 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time, so when it is Tuesday night in Virginia, it is Wednesday morning in Thailand.

Every other Wednesday morning in Thailand the Thai Adoption Board meets.  The Thai Adoption Board is who we are waiting on to officially approve our children being matched with us.  Once they officially approve our match, called First Approval, we will be two-three months away from traveling to bring our children home. 

The Thai Adoption Board has a lot of things to accomplish at these meetings, one of which is to grant First Approvals.  There are many families who have been matched with children who are waiting on First Approval. A year ago, most families got First Approval about six months after they were matched.  Now, it seems to be taking a year or more for families to get First Approval.  It has been eight months since we were matched with our children and began waiting on First Approval. Eight. Long. Months.

There is not much we can do while we wait for First Approval, so we have decided that every other week, when the Board meets, we are going to eat Thai food for dinner (Yum!) and pray for the Board.  We pray for them other times too (and eat Thai food other times as well!), but Tuesday nights we make sure to spend extra time in prayer for this group of Board Members. 

Tonight we ate Khow Soi, a Chicken Curry Soup with Thai Egg noodles, for dinner.  We are praying that today in Thailand, the Thai Adoption Board will grant many First Approvals, that God would give them great speed as they go through files, that they would sense an urgency to get children with their families, and that they would even decide to have an extra meeting or two in the months to come. 

Khow Soi (Pronounced-"Cow Soy")

Please pray with us (and eat Thai food too if you can!).  You can help us bring our kids home!  Prayer makes a difference!