Then and Now

Today I and two of my little group, got the chance to travel up to Kalamazoo to say farewell to a wonderful lady and friend, our social worker Jan Rachor. Social Worker seems like such an insignificant name for someone who not only united your children with you, but encouraged and held your hand through all the ups and downs of the adoption experience. We will truly miss this dear lady, who was such a blessing to our family. May God Bless Jan and her family as she starts this new life experience. The pictures above are her with our daughter Caitlyn about 6 months after Caty arrived, then the other taken today. Almost 10 years exactly apart! We look forward to introducing her to Jilei when he arrives. I wrote the following in 1999, shortly after Jon's arrival, Jan's picture is right next to it in his scrapbook!

Jonny's Little Prayer

It took so many helping hands
from half a world away.
They passed me oh so gently
to bring me home today.

They loved me from the very start
these precious angels did.
They held me close with open hearts
and kept me safe within.

Some gave me Hope, some gave me Care,
but all with arms stretched wide
looked for the perfect family
my home they did provide.

And now with humble thank-yous said
I send this little prayer
that God in all his graciousness
will bless you for your care!

step 2 of 4 complete !

So we have our notice from the National Visa Center, meaning things here in the States are done and the ball is back over in China's court. China has 2 steps it must complete before we can travel. The first is their Article 5, what ever that is, that can take from a couple weeks to a month, then they issue our travel invitation a couple weeks after the Article 5. So we are still looking at late Sept., probably more like Oct. to actually travel. A good week for us all in all!

Praise God!

We got great news today. An adoption grant we had applied to months ago was approved for $3,500! We already had a grant from our adoption agency, Bethany, for $10,000. We are so grateful for this assistance, it will pay the last of our adoption fees, just leaving us with the travel to pay for~no small amount, I'm told to expect that to be about $6,000. All the same this is huge blessing and demonstration of God's love of the orphan and downtrodden. We humbly thank Gift of Adoption and Bethany Christian Services for their generous help in completing Jilei's adoption.

Step 1 of 4 complete~Well, sort of..........

I'm happy to report the paperwork we have been waiting for is approved. At least our Social Worker got her copy yesterday and The Dept. of Homeland Security says it was approved the 9th. But it's still not in my mailbox. Hopefully it will appear in the next day or two. I don't think not actually having the paper in hand will hold up out next step, The National Visa Center. We expect that will take another week or two for that step to be approved and then it's China's turn to do their part of the process. That will most likely take another month, throwing us out to Sept. I have always said Sept/Oct. but I expect actual travel is looking more like at Oct. Please keep us in prayer that things will proceed quickly and that we will keep our spirits high. Most of all continue to pray for our Dear Jilei who waits for his family.

On another note I have yet another picture to share. The boy in blue is Liam and the goofy boy hiding behind his bag is Jiei! It is so wonderful to see his silly side. All we really can do is look at his pictures trying to decipher his every emotion. What I see is a little boy who can bond closely to his friend and isn't afraid to show it. I also a young man with a sense of humor. Something good to have in our home! These photos have been a wonderful gift and encouragement to us.

The Adoption Jackpot!

God was good to us this weekend. Another family recently returned home from Shanghai with their son, who was in the same orphanage as Jilei. It turns out Liam and Jilei were friends. They shared the same dorm room and took Tae Kwon Do together. Liam shared some tidbits about Jilei, which I'm just going to paste at the end of the blog update. The best news is that Jilei was in some of the pictures Liam brought with him! Liam is the boy in the pictures with Jilei. We really have to thank Liam and his Mom, Judy, for going to this extra trouble at a very hectic time in their lives. So this is what Liam had to say about Jilei:

Jilei knows he is coming to America.
He is a good boy.
He is in 5th grade.
He does Tae Kwon Do.
He gets along with other kids. He's Liam's friend and he's nice to Liam.
Jilei was Liam's dorm room.
Liam said he doesn't get upset or angry.

So all in all a very good report on our boy. He sounds like a keeper to me! Now if we could just get our doc.'s from Home Land Security so we could move on in this process! That's right, our tax dollars go towards checking out that no 10 year old terrorists are being adopted! Good Grief, enough already!!!

The Journey of Hope

A year ago this week, a group of social workers from several different adoption agencies, spent a few days in Shanghai, China. There they met, interacted with, photographed and video taped children from the Shanghai Children's Institute (orphanage). The children took part in brief private interviews with the workers, their records were shared, and the children put on a talent show for their guests. In these pictures if you look very closely you can see our Jilei, sitting with legs folded, and wearing a red shirt with yellow trim. He's the front row, next to a friend.In the other picture he's in the second row. What was he thinking at this time? They say of all children he most wanted to come to America. I'm told the children watched a short film about two Chinese children who were adopted and their new life in our country.

Many of the children were matched and are home with their new families, others continue to wait, as does our son, Jilei. Does he even know he has a family desperate to bring him home? Most likely not, most children are not told until just before the parents travel. Then they are given the letters and album we sent a month ago.

So time marshes on, the waiting continues at a snails pace. But as had as it is for us to wait, Jilei is the one who has waited 6 years to have a forever family. One who will never abandon him.

I think so often of our Father in Heaven, who waits and grieves for us to join him. China, being a communist country is officially Atheist. I eagerly await the day Jilei can hear and understand the Promise made by our Savior. That while he may be forsaken by man and country, he can be forever redeemed in Christ's sacrifice on the cross. I pray he will come to know his Eternal Father who will love and cherish him for all time and beyond.

Hot Dogs and Suchi

Yup, that's what my little group choose for the 4th and who am I to deny them! So what is an All- American meal? A little Korean, a little Chinese, and a lot of German (explains the German Potato Salad) on both Keith and my side. So it only seems proper to have an integrated meal.

Actually Keith and Jon didn't get to enjoy our feast, they left for Boy Scout camp about 9am. The rest of us enjoyed our picnic in the air conditioned house and then had a very nice swim in the pool. Our neighbor puts on a fireworks show that rivals any professional display. I don't want to know if it's legal or not, but it's great to just put a blanket out in the yard and walk in the house when it's done! I should add, if you don't know, we live out in the country.

Today is Jon's birthday and he turned 13. He's been acting like a teenager for the last couple years and now he really is one. Hope he's having fun at camp. I've tried to call a couple times but can't get them.

We continue to wait for the next piece of paperwork towards bringing Will home. But there's some news, William Jilei Knisely is his name, Will for short. We hope he will forgive us and understand some day why we didn't leave Jilei as his first name. I don't think it's unreal to expect Jilei would soon be turned into Jilly or Jelly, it's sad but true kids can be cruel, and I think Will will have enough to bear without being teased about the name as well.