Good News Today--Praise the Lord!

Praise God with us. Today we were notified by the Lifesong for Orphans folks with confirmation that we have been accepted for their matching funds program. They granted us $2500 in matching funds. We are thankful that gifts now will be matched as that will help a lot toward our needed travel expenses. Thanks for your prayers. We also heard from immigration today. They sent a note saying they got our paper work and are in process. This is a good sign as the last two times they just sent it back. We are hoping that the actual immigration form we are awaiting will arrive sometime this week and we can be moving forward in this whole process. Pray with us for that and for the remaining funds that we need for travel. God is good. Pray too that we can get travel clearance sooner than later so that ticket prices might be more reasonable.
To the right is a photo taken a few weeks ago when MeiLi and her mother and two Chinese siblings visited and spent the day with us. She is a sweetie and we are thrilled that she will get to see FuMei again. She loved showing us pictures that they brought and pointing out each of the friends from the orphanage and naming them by name. Pray for her too as she adjusts to a new life with her family.

My Little Sister

I'm soooooooooooooooooo excited for FuMei to come! I've always wanted a little sister, and right when I saw her beautiful picture I knew she was the one. I've learned to love her so much that I miss her. I cant wait to meet her.(even though I feel like I know her already.)I know God fit FuMei into our family perfectly. He has been providing for us all along and that is why we are able to have FuMei join our family.
Love Amy

More prayer needed

We were discouraged again today to receive for the second time, a rejected packet from US immigration. Not sure what is going on. The agency insists that we did everything right, and INS folks on the phone confirm that there should have been no problem, but the packet came back rejected. Pray we can sort this out and get approval for FuMei's immigration. Lynn sent the packet off a third time again this afternoon. This setback could delay our travel plans, which is a discouraging thought for us. Pray we can be patient and trust that God has his hands over all this as well. Perhaps there is some reason he wants to delay our travel. Appreciate your prayers so much.

We met MeiLi, FuMei's friend and roommate

We had an amazing afternoon last Friday. FuMei's friend and roommate in the orphanage came over with her mother and adopted Chinese sister and brother. The brother was also in the orphanage with FuMei and is pictured in some of the many photos the family has passed on to us. It was so amazing to see little MeiLi and think that just 5 weeks ago, she was with FuMei. MeiLi was quite shy and not very talkative, but she was eager to look through photo albums that her mother brought from their time in China, and point out the various friends, naming each one. She did not tire of this, and warmed up during the afternoon. The kids enjoyed playing together and Lynn had a great time getting to know Wendy, the mother, and hearing more about their experiences with three Chinese adoptions--they also have 4 of their own.

We are growing somewhat impatient these last weeks. It has been wonderful to learn more about FuMei through photos and others who have adopted from the same orphanage, but this just makes us all the more eager to have her here with us. Pray for the process. We have resubmitted the immegration forms to the INS and hope they will come through this time without any hitches. Appreciate your prayers so much for us and for FuMei as we wait to be together.