Article 5

Awesome!  We just received an email from the consulate in Guangzhou, China!  They have finished processing our article 5! This is a huge and final hurdle!  We are now officially waiting for China to issue our travel invitation!  After 4 very long years, we are approved and just a few months (perhaps less) from meeting our son!

Back in January, 2010, we saw MingJian was still in the orphanage.  We couldn't believe it.  We immediately sought information about him.  First we learned that his file was available, only to find out a short while later that his file was gone.  We prayed and were so excited that he might have a family and would be joining them soon.  Well, in June of that year, we found out that he was still there and his file was available again.  This time we began our homestudy.  We finished 3 of the 4 required meetings only to realize the time wasn't right.  Tearfully, we released his file.  It was heartbreaking!  I actually ended up in the ER with chest pains, but was just anxiety.

Now fast forward to 2012. We went on a fabulous vacation to Estes Park, Co.  We stayed at a Christian guest ranch.  It was amazing.  The picture above is from there.  We had bible study each morning and time to reflect.  We were reading Crazy Love by Francis Chann.  We decided to listen to our hearts and adopt again.  In November we contacted our agency to tell them we had decided upon China and wanted to adopt MingJian.  We started our homestudy and paper chase in January 2013.

Along the way and even when adopting Hanna, we've been inspired and encouraged by many people, but most importantly by Jesus Christ.  This just feels right.  We are so humbled and excited that He has chosen us to be parents to 3 great kids already and now one more!

Everyone shout to the wind so MingJian might hear, we are coming!

Travel dates next!

What a week!

Wow, what a crazy week we have had.  We feel crazy blessed by getting to be the family of the week for Give 1 Save 1!  What a joy to be able to share God's love and the idea of adoption.  We love to talk about adoption if you haven't noticed!  I feel so blessed to have married a man who loves kids as much as I do!

Thank you all so much for stopping by our little blog this week and donating. Since early last fall, we have received $1473, counting what is on the pure charity site.  That is amazing! We appreciate it more than you know.  Our donate button will be up for a little longer, so if you are so inclined, feel free to share with others in case they want to help bring home Chazz!  I so can't wait to get him home.  I get more excited by the minute ;)

News, well we have just a little.  We know now that our DS-260 paperwork was dropped off at the consulate in Guangzhou, China on March 10 and is due to be approved on March 24.  Then the CCCWA can issue our travel invitation, 2-3 weeks later. I think we could travel as early as April 21!  We also know that there is a trade fair going in Guangzhou in April which triples the hotel prices, so we will not travel during that.

Keep checking back for more updates and travel dates!

Monday Morning

We are the Long's and we are anxiously waiting for our travel invitation to adopt our son, Chazz, from Shenyang China.  Chazz lives in the orphanage from which our daughter, Hanna, was adopted.  They were friends and shared the same nanny.  Hanna was adopted in 2008 and we've prayed for Chazz since then.  We are so excited to be able to bring him home.

This week, we are the featured family for Give 1Save 1 website.  Would you consider donating to help bring him home and share our blog with your friends?  

Give 1 Save 1

      This week, God has blessed us by allowing us to be the featured family of the week for Give 1 Save 1.  This website's goal is to help adopting families raise the necessary money to complete their adoptions.  The site asks people to donate at least a dollar, and to share the site with others.
      We will use our blog as our travel journal, so you will be able to watch our adoption story unfold.  Tomorrow morning, we will post the video that Brooks and Reese made about our family.
      Please check back in during this week to check our progress.  Our God is mighty and powerful and we see that through adoption.  Thank you all so much!

Love, the Long's

Music video

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/308215168218528971/

Feeling Blessed

My mom's sorority, Beta Sigma Phi, seriously blessed us last night.  Before how they blessed us, you need some background.  My mom has been a member of this sorority for like forever.  They always meet on a Tuesday night (I think it is the first Tuesday). Anyway, growing up, sorority night always meant meatloaf night!  My dad would joke around that it must be sorority night.  He wanted to give mom a hard time about leaving, but he secretively enjoyed knowing she was having a good time.  He always had that twinkle in his eyes when he was kidding with her.  So this group of women have been important to mom and as close as true sisters forever.  They've been there for the good times and the not so good.
Ok, so last night was sorority night.  They decided to make their love offering for our family and our adoption!  They blessed us with over $300! I don't know how to adequately thank them all.  Thank you doesn't seem good enough.  Besides the money, and more importantly, they are praying for us, our journey, and our son!  How incredible is that!  So if you know anyone in my mom's sorority, please give them a hug for me and tell them thank you!

Have Visas, can travel

Well, we could travel, but unfortunately we haven't been invited yet!  Though, we could leave very quickly once given the word.  It is a relief to have our passports back in our hands instead of traveling around with Fed Ex.

Next week is the big week!  We are so excited to share the video the boys made and so excited to see what God has in store.  Please pray about donating, even just $1 and sharing our blog with everyone you know.  All donations are tax deductible.

We have no new information about travel.  Our paperwork should be in Guangzhou, China with the American Consulate.  Hopefully we will hear good news sometime next week.  Then just travel invitation.  Patiently waiting! ;)

Thank you all so much for prayers for our family and for Chazz.  They are greatly appreciated.

update

I didn't receive the letter today either, so I sent the NVC an email at 4:51.  They promptly replied at 5:04 that we would receive our letter shortly, but included the information I needed to do the online submission for our DS-260.  SO, I have finally officially submitted our DS-260 for MingJian.  This is his immigration paperwork so we will automatically become a US citizen when we land on US soil.  This is the paperwork that gets sent to the consulate in Guangzhou, China.  I am however, still waiting on the letter.  I will upload a confirmation page to our agency tomorrow morning and hopefully the letter will magically arrive in my inbox by then so I can upload it as well.  Then we will finally be in the wait for Article 5 and Travel Invitation.

God is at work, I know he is.  Listen to this story.  My friend, neighbor, and co-worker has children living in Shanghai.  They have offered to have a driver meet us at the airport and invited us to stay with them in Shanghai during our visit.  We found out where they live and told them about our Australian friend who is in Shanghai right now teaching at a local university.  Would you believe that she is teaching at the university that is just mere minutes from their house?  How incredible is that?  Coincidences like that don't just happen!  Then, we received an email from our agency stating that they are already putting together the travel group for April for families with Article 5 and Travel Invitation already.  There is a chance that we could still make it into that group or we would wait until the May group.  Are you kidding?  We need prayer.  I know that this is in God's hands and His timing is perfect, but May!  Seriously.  That was depressing.  Our friend is leaving China to go back to Australia on April 13.  We need to be in Shanghai at least by the 12 so we can meet her!  Pray for that, please?  The next few weeks will no doubt last forever while we wait for this anticipated news.

Thanks for listening to me whine!  Please feel free to share our blog with your friends and loved ones and don't forget to check back with us the week of March 17 for the Give 1 Save 1 donation week and to see Brooks and Reese's video!

And still waiting!

Once we received our provisional approval, I got to send most of our Article 5 documents to our agency while we waited on the last pieces.  Well, We're still waiting.  We are needing a letter from the national visa center so I can do an online submission.  The letter is supposed to take 10-14 days.  Tomorrow will be day 14!  If I don't get it tomorrow, I can email them to request an electronic copy of the letter.  I was so hoping to just get the letter, but no.  Jerry is so much better at waiting than I am.  Waiting is hard.  I feel like we've already waited long enough. I'm ready!  I know I need to be patient and I need to quiet myself so I can hear God speaking.  I know that I need to rely on Him for He knows what the future holds, and His timing is perfect.  I know all of this, but it sure is hard to live with.  In our bible study, we are working through James.

         2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,[a] whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. James 1:2-4.  

I need to recite this over and over.  Consider it pure joy!  Progress will be made. We will receive our travel dates. We will meet and bring home our son- in His time and not mine.  

We'll have another update soon!

Don't forget to share our blog with everyone you know!  Our week to be the family for Give 1 Save 1!  Help spread our story and be a part of bringing home Chazz!  God Bless