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Our journey began in September of 2003. We were out with a group of friends for dinner when we heard that
friends of ours were starting the process of adoption. We were all so excited for them. Later that night, Ron
and I began to talk about it .......... again. We had known for a long time that "someday" we would like to adopt
and had talked about it with each other on many occasions, but it never seemed to be the right time.......we
were either too newly married, too young, too financially strained (aka poor), etc. etc.
Finally, we thought, the time might be right. So we put in a call to Kristen (China Program Director,seen above)
at All God's Children Int'l in Portland, Oregon. She quickly sent us the China Program info and a short
adoption video that ignited a fire in us to start the process immediately. We quickly scrambled to fill out, gather,
notarize, county certify, state certify, and copy a small mountain of paperwork required to complete the
"paperchase" phase of the process. It then only had to be translated before being officially logged in to the
CCAA (China Center Of Adoption Affairs) which happened on our sons birthday. When the referral finally
came through we kissed our kids goodbye and boarded a United Airlines flight, anxiously awaiting "Gotcha Day"
(the day commonly known among adoptive families as the day we get to meet our children for the very first
time.) And what a day it was ~ every bit as powerful as holding our other children on the day of their birth.....
a true miracle!
I decided soon after seeing that first video that I wanted to make one of our own. After weeks of research,
buying hardware & software, downloading and editing, it was done. As I began to show it to family and friends,
it sparked so many conversations and helped them to get a better glimpse of the amazing journey. Our hope is
that the Lord will use our experience to "ignite fires" in people, and encourage families to consider adoption for
themselves.
We are so thankful for the love and support of our family and friends throughout the process, and of course to
the Lord for blessing our family so richly with this precious little girl of ours...
friends of ours were starting the process of adoption. We were all so excited for them. Later that night, Ron
and I began to talk about it .......... again. We had known for a long time that "someday" we would like to adopt
and had talked about it with each other on many occasions, but it never seemed to be the right time.......we
were either too newly married, too young, too financially strained (aka poor), etc. etc.
Finally, we thought, the time might be right. So we put in a call to Kristen (China Program Director,seen above)
at All God's Children Int'l in Portland, Oregon. She quickly sent us the China Program info and a short
adoption video that ignited a fire in us to start the process immediately. We quickly scrambled to fill out, gather,
notarize, county certify, state certify, and copy a small mountain of paperwork required to complete the
"paperchase" phase of the process. It then only had to be translated before being officially logged in to the
CCAA (China Center Of Adoption Affairs) which happened on our sons birthday. When the referral finally
came through we kissed our kids goodbye and boarded a United Airlines flight, anxiously awaiting "Gotcha Day"
(the day commonly known among adoptive families as the day we get to meet our children for the very first
time.) And what a day it was ~ every bit as powerful as holding our other children on the day of their birth.....
a true miracle!
I decided soon after seeing that first video that I wanted to make one of our own. After weeks of research,
buying hardware & software, downloading and editing, it was done. As I began to show it to family and friends,
it sparked so many conversations and helped them to get a better glimpse of the amazing journey. Our hope is
that the Lord will use our experience to "ignite fires" in people, and encourage families to consider adoption for
themselves.
We are so thankful for the love and support of our family and friends throughout the process, and of course to
the Lord for blessing our family so richly with this precious little girl of ours...
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link to our adoption agency
Aren't they precious??