That Paper Pregnancy Thing

Waiting, waiting, and waiting some more. That’s where we are right now. And this place is one that we’re all too familiar with. We first got familiar with this whole waiting thing during our adoption journey with Sophie, and now we’re getting reacquainted with our friend once more.

Much of the international adoption process is often called a paper pregnancy, and there’s a lot of truth to that. Paperwork here, and waiting some more. Paperwork there, and waiting again. But, we’re getting a little closer as every day passes.

A few weeks ago, I posted a Facebook picture of our family on the day that we mailed our dossier to our China Team at Bethany Christian Services. I think there was some confusion about this pic because some people thought we were traveling to China when we took that pic, but we were actually just at Pony Express in Hendersonville paying for shipping.

Some of you may be wondering exactly what a dossier is, so I thought it might be helpful to explain what a dossier is all about. The dossier is the application of all kinds of important paperwork that eventually goes to China. In our dossier packet, you’ll find everything from a copy of our home study, birth certificates, marriage certificate, medical exams, reference letters, financial statements, and the list goes on and on.

Many of the documents in the dossier have to be notarized by a Notary Public and then authenticated at the county clerk’s office. But, it doesn’t stop there. Several of the documents (13 actually) then have to been authenticated with the state seal from the Secretary of State’s office in downtown Nashville. On top of that, many of the documents are time sensitive and have to be finalized within a certain time period. So, as you can imagine, it’s an ordeal to get all those documents together, and this is definitely one of the most stressful parts of the adoption process.

But, we did it! Our dossier has been shipped! And since we mailed the dossier to our adoption agency, it’s been sent to the Chinese Embassy, returned from the Chinese Embassy, and finally sent to China. And just last month (another drum roll please) we just got word that our dossier was logged in on March 29^th in China! That means we’re finally eligible for a match!

We have no idea when the match will happen, but we expect we’ll get a referral within the next few months. The actual matching process happens once each month. So, we wait for the day when we’re matched with our son. We wait for the day when we open that email and see his picture for the first time. We wait for the day when we travel to China to bring our precious little boy home to be a part of our forever family.

Again, we invite you to join our family in praying with us during our adoption process. There are still lots of things that will need to fall into place even after we get our match and before we travel to China, but we’re trusting in our faithful God to work our everything in his time just like he did with our adoption with our sweet Sophie.

Our adoption journey with Sophie was an emotional roller coaster to say the least. I was excited some days and absolutely scared to death other days. But so far, this adoption journey that we now find ourselves on now has been a little different. I haven’t been as scared of late, and God’s peace has been much more present. And you may be wondering why this adoption experience is different. Well, I’ve been wondering the same thing. The thing that I keep coming back to is a passage in the Old Testament, a passage that God uses to speak to me time and time again.

Isaiah 41:10 states, “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” This is the verse that we memorized as part of our homeschool memory work last year, and for 2016 we’ve adopted this verse as our family verse for the year.  And these are the words that I remind myself of often. When I remind myself that God is with me, that he is near, things just aren’t as scary. When I remember that God will help me and give me strength, courage seems to win out more often.

Whatever you’re afraid of right now, take courage, my friend. Remember that our God is near, and he will give you the courage and strength to press on. So, let’s press on together.

The Johnson Family of Four?

Well, it’s hard to believe that we’ve been a family of four for a year and a half now. And as the days go by, it gets harder and harder to remember what life was like before we became a family of four. And honestly, that’s totally okay with me.

Since we brought our sweet Sophie home from China, we’ve experienced some of the most wonderful and yet some of the hardest times in the history of our family. But I’m understanding more every day about how that’s how it’s supposed to be. That’s simply part of God’s plan for us during this season in our lives. God has taught us so much during our adoption journey, and the teaching continues. Lessons about love and marriage. Lessons about sacrifice and loss. Lessons about joy and hope. My plan is to write more about our adoption journey as a part of my professional blog in the future, and Lord willing, I’ll finally get that going soon.

For now, suffice to say that we are so very thankful for our precious Sophie. God has  changed us forever through our little girl, and I can’t imagine life without her.

I often think about all of the people who helped bring Sophie home, and honestly, that’s been one of the hardest parts of the adoption for me. I often feel like we haven’t been able to communicate just how thankful we are. My hope is simply that it’s been evident during our adoption journey just how thankful we are for so many who’ve helped to make our dream of adopting a reality. Our family has been overwhelmed time and again by the kindness and generosity of countless families who have loved us so well. And as we’ve said many times before, we say “thank you” yet again.

Overall, Sophie has done great with adjusting to our family. She is silly, fun, sweet and affectionate. The longer she’s with us, the more of “the real Sophie” we see as her guard goes down and her personality shines through. We’ve worked so very hard to form a secure attachment with her, and we’re seeing some of that hard work pay off. Like when Kelli and I took our first overnight trip without either of the girls in August. That was Sophie’s first night without either of us since we got back from China, and that was 15 months at the time of the trip. But Sophie had a loving grandmother and sister with her while Kelli and I were gone on our little trip, and she did just great.

Attachment is still the name of the game for our family these days as it is with so many adoptive families. For Kelli and I, it’s all about making up for lost time and those important moments that Sophie should have experienced during the first year or two of her life but likely didn’t. Like someone to give her undivided attention as we play the same Paw Patrol and Hot Wheels script over and over and over. Or someone to hold her tight and speak soft words of comfort when she’s hurt. Or someone to gently rock her to sleep at night. Or someone to tell her how precious and loved she is.

When we started this adoption journey, the plan was for our journey to continue even after we adopted Sophie. We had always planned to adopt again, and God continues to put that plan on our hearts. So, just in case you haven’t heard, the Johnson’s are adopting again! All of us (even Bethany and Sophie) will be going back to China later this year, and this time we’ll be bringing home a…drumroll please…little boy! We don’t have a match yet, but we’ll certainly get the word out when we do. For now, we continue with our “paper pregnancy” and anticipate meeting Bethany and Sophie’s little brother soon.

As the word gets out about our current adoption, some of you have already asked if we’re doing any fundraising and how you can help. We may do some fundraising in the future, but for now, we humbly ask that you join us in praying for our precious little boy that God has chosen for us. Pray for his safety and protection. Pray that God will use his caregivers to show him how special and loved he is. Pray that someone will feed him when he’s hungry and comfort him when he’s hurt or scared. And pray for us as we make the transition to a family of five. We just can't wait to introduce you to the newest member of the Johnson family some time later this year!

China, Here We Come!

It’s hard to believe Kelli and I are leaving for China this Friday morning. We’ve been waiting for this day for over three years since our adoption journey began, and that day is almost here. And as we prepare for our trip, we’ve experienced a roller coaster of emotions this week. Excited. Check. Scared. Check. Overwhelmed. Check. I actually had to do some deep breathing yesterday to get me through a little trip to Kroger. You know, that same deep breathing technique I encourage some of my therapy clients to do. And yes, it does work. At least it worked for me yesterday.

I prayed again last night that we wouldn’t miss out on what God is doing during this part of our journey, and I still wait in anticipation to see all that he has in store. I really don’t want to miss a thing, and my prayer is that I won’t. I’m thankful that I did see him yesterday. God worked it out for us to get a interest free loan from Abba Fund for a huge chunk of our adoption expenses! What a huge blessing and relief that was. And as I was thinking about that last night, I remember the first time I ever heard about Abba Fund. It was a Christian counselors conference around 13 years ago. I remember seeing their booth at the conference, and I think I stopped by briefly to pick up some information. Little did I know that thirteen years later God would bless us through their ministry. If I hadn’t been at that conference, I might have stumbled across some information about the Abba Fund as we were considering options for the financial part for our adoption. But then again, maybe not. I like to think that God planted that seed years ago knowing that he would use the Abba Fund to bless us right now. Pretty cool, I must say.

Kelli and I humbly ask that you join us in prayer this week and in the weeks to come, and below are a few things that you can pray about specifically:

For safety as we travel

That we’ll be able to recover quickly from the crazy long flight so that we’re ready to meet Sophie on Sunday!

That we will be able to bond with Sophie quickly and that Sophie will be able to receive our love from the moment we meet

That there will be no problems with all of the legal hoops that we have to jump through while in China

That Bethany will be filled with peace while we’re gone and that God will protect her and her caregivers

For all of the friends and family who will love on Bethany while we’re in China

For good health for Kelli, me, and Sophie during our trip

For Sophie as she grieves the loss of everything she’s ever known

For the transition after we return

We boldly ask God to work in all of these ways, and we eagerly wait to see all that he will do during this chapter of our amazing adoption journey.

Well, we haven’t done the best job at keeping you updated on our puzzle fundraiser, but as of today, 54 puzzle pieces have been purchased through your generous donations. If you’d like to purchase a puzzle piece (or puzzle pieces) to help with our adoption expenses, we would be forever grateful. All you have to do is click on the Pay Pal "Donate" button on the right of this page. We look forward to putting together the puzzle of sweet Sophie’s face to hang in her bedroom after our trip. And we look forward to introducing Sophie to all of the wonderful people who helped to bring her home.

I hope to be writing in our blog and posting pictures on Facebook during our trip. So, be on the lookout for updates. Thank you again for blessing us through your gifts of prayers, donations, time, cards, and words of encouragement while we’ve been on this journey. God has known that we couldn’t do what we’ve done without all of those things, and we are truly humbled by your kindness. Friends and family, Sophie’s coming home, and we can’t wait for you to meet her!

It's Time for Our Little Trip

Well folks, it’s official. We’re going to China! We just got the news yesterday morning. Kelli and I will be leaving BNA early on Friday, May 23. Our flights will take us through Beijing as we travel to our destination of Nanchang (which is the capital of the Jiangxi Province).  After we arrive, we’ re not exactly sure when we’ll be meeting up with Sophie, but we keep praying that God will prepare us all for that initial meeting. I’ve prayed often throughout this adoption journey that Sophie had the experience of bonding with someone in her orphanage. You see, if she’s bonded before and formed an attachment with a caregiver, my hope is that she will then be able to connect quickly with us as she becomes a part of our family.

We’re so excited to know when we’re traveling, but the next few weeks are going to be hard. There’s so much to do to get ready for our trip, and the list of things to do at our home seems a mile long. And then there’s the emotional roller coaster of this part of our journey as Bethany anticipates us being away for two weeks. We covet your prayers for Bethany, and we ask that God will send her more peace than she’s ever known as she prepares to be away from her mommy and daddy for the longest time in her life. I know that God has this, just like he’s had every other part of this adoption journey. He’s come through again and again, and I’m confident he’ll come through this time. "God, I'm still trusting." 

The End Really Is Just the Beginning

In February, we celebrated being in our adoption journey for three years. Some days, it seems really hard to believe that it's been that long. Other days, it seems like we've been doing this forever. 

We so look forward to bringing Sophie home in just a few months, but I'm starting to realize more and more that this "end" of this part of our journey is really a beginning to something that will change our lives forever. I long for the day when Sophie comes home to be a part of our family, and I just can't wait to love on my little girl. But I also know that when she comes home, that's when the hard work begins. The hard work of helping her to get adjusted to a new culture and a totally new life. The hard work of helping her to grieve multiple losses as she leaves all she's ever known in China and makes the transition to living in a foreign place. I do look forward to bring her home, but at the same time I'm a realist. Our adoption journey has been hard, and it will continue to be hard. But God who keeps reminding me that it will all be worth it, and that's what I hold on to as I try to be faithful to him and follow his Spirit daily.

If everything goes as planned, it looks like we'll be traveling to China in May. We still have some hoops to jump through with Homeland Security and the U.S. Department of State before we can make our travel arrangements, but the end, I mean, the beginning, is closer than it's ever been.

This is a recent picture of Sophie from the orphanage. She looks so happy and healthy, and those chubby little cheeks tell me she's eating well. We sent the orphanage a list of questions about Sophie and her likes and dislikes, and they told us she's not picky when it comes to food. She will fit in just fine in the Johnson family.

Right now, we're knee deep in yard sale mode as we get ready for our Adoption Yard Sale for Sophie this Friday and Saturday, March 14 and 15, at our home (311 Raintree Drive in Indian Lake Forest) in Hendersonville, Tennessee. So far, over 25 gracious families have contributed items for our yard sale, and we are again humbled by the generosity of our friends and family. Our Adoption Yard Sale for Sophie is from 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on both days, and we'd love for you to stop by and see us. 

Our precious daughter Bethany will be selling some homemade sweet treats at the yard sale, and it would mean the world to her to sell out of everything she's made. So make it a point to stop by her little table and get a little (or a big) taste of something yummy. She'll even have some gluten-free options available.

And we are so grateful for our friend, Leah Tomlinson, an independent consultant at Thirty-One Gifts, who will have a table at the yard sale this weekend. Leah will be donating all of her profits to our adoption efforts. So, stop buy and check out her table at our Adoption Yard Sale for Sophie on Friday and Saturday. If you're not able to make it this weekend and would like to purchase some of Leah's great items, you can do so on her website at mythirtyone.com/leahtomlinson. All you have to do is click on "Place an Order," and then click on "Sophie's Sale." 

And finally, this is the progress of our Puzzle Fundraiser! Kind donors have purchased 26 of our 1000 puzzle pieces so far, and for that we are truly thankful. Any funds raised through our Puzzle Fundraiser and Yard Sale will go towards our travel expenses for our trip to China, and our orphanage donation and legal fees while in China.

You will be able to purchase puzzle pieces at the Adoption Yard Sale for Sophie, and you can do so on our blog page as well. If you'd like more info about our Puzzle Fundraiser, please check out our previous blog post.

God continues to amaze us through so many people who simply love us well, and we only hope our thankfulness and appreciation shines through. We love and appreciate all of you, and we are humbled that you would join us on our adoption journey.