June Update

Good afternoon ~

Happy June! I can't believe that we are almost half-way through 2008 already. As I get older, time seems to go faster. Unbelieveable.

Unfortunately, the time is not going faster on the adoption front, especially with China. In fact, throughout the entire year, China has only made it to January 12, 2006, with referrals. Our log-in date is November of 2006, so we have a ways to go (potentially 3-5 more years). The current wait time is 29 months.

Speaking of China, the earthquake devastation is so sad. Many orphanages were affected, and our agency is providing aid to the ones that were damaged. Fortunately, the last I heard, all of the children are safe and accounted for. Many folks have asked me if I think this will speed anything up with the adoption. Unfortunately, I don't think so. In fact, it could slow things down even more while they try and sort through everything.

As far as the Ethiopian adoption is concerned, we still have not received our I-171H back, yet. As soon as we get that back, we can move forward with completing our dossier and get that sent off.
On another sad note, as many of you know, there was a tragedy in Nashville a couple of weeks ago. Steven Curtis Chapman, well-known Christian musician, lost his adopted 5 year-old daughter from China in a tragic accident at their home outside of Nashville. He and his family have adopted 3 girls from China, and Maria was the youngest. He and his family have a heart for adoption and started a grant organization called Shaohannah's Hope where they assist families financially to adopt. We applied with them back in April and are waiting to hear if we were approved for assistance. We received an e-mail last week that said that the approvals were running behind since the tragedy (totally understandable). Steven and his family asked that in lieu of flowers, donations be given to Shaohannah's Hope, so in the midst of this tragedy, they are still trying to help children and families through adoption...very inspring. He has made several trips to China to volunteer in orphanages, and it is one of his passions. The adoption world and Nashville community mourn with Steven and his family.

I'm sorry that I'm not better at blogging. I guess that I don't have a lot to talk about since all we are doing is waiting at this point. For those of you out there who are also waiting, good luck and hang in there!!