Steven Curtis Chapman Concert

A couple of weeks ago, our adoption agency contacted us about volunteering at the Steven Curtis Chapman concert. Some of you know that he and his wife have adopted three daughters from China, and have started Shaohannah's Hope an organization that helps defray adoption expenses by granting money to families. If you've read previous posts, we were very blessed to receive a generous grant from them.

We got T-shirts, and basically "manned" the table to answer questions about Shaohannah's Hope, and adoption.

It's so exciting to have someone like SCC have such a strong passion for orphans and adoption!! I really feel like the Lord is starting a movement of awareness, and a growing recognition of His heart for the fatherless.

Much of the concert focused on orphans and what people could do to help. The slogan, "Change your world for orphans," was a theme of the night. There was an intermission to collect peoples' change, bills, checks.... to go toward a grant for a local family.

Here we are counting the money. Most concerts have been collecting $3-5,500. Our concert collected over $7,700!!!

At the end of the concert, SCC introduced a family from Wichita who are in the process of adopting a daughter from S. Korea. He gave them a grant from the money we had raised. It was truly exciting for the people to be a part of changing this little girl's life in such a tangible way.

Our unexpected surprise was that we got to meet Steven after the concert and thank him for blessing our family by helping us bring our daughter home (someday)!!

If you want to know more about this organization, check out their website at www.shaohannahshope.org.

Blessings to Shaohannah's Hope and so many generous friends!

We have been blessed by an enormous outpouring of monetary gifts towards our adoption!! Most of you, if you are reading this blog have probably already invested in our daughter's life by giving toward our expenses. We are sooooo very grateful!
We were also thrilled to receive a letter from Shaohannah's Hope, the foundation started by Steven Curtis Chapman and his wife, Mary Beth. Months before, we had filled out their application for a possible grant. As you would expect from any responsible charitable organization, they wanted to know every penny we had in the bank, every penny we owed to anyone, and what we were doing to cover the adoption expenses. We weren't sure if we would receive anything from them, because we felt like our friends and family had already blessed us so much. Well, we were shocked to read that they had awarded us a large grant of $3000.
Shaohannah's Hope recently awarded its 1,000th grant. They have over 150 applications monthly and are able to award grants to only about 40 of those applicants. Their highest grant awarded is $4000. We were truly grateful to receive such a nice gift!
If you would like to read more about this organization, you can visit their web-site at www.shaohannahshope.org.

I didn't think fingerprints had an expiration date!

One of our frustrations with this extended wait period is having some of our important documents expire. Our home study will expire next month, and will not have to be re-done, only "updated." We're not sure what "updated" means, only that it will cost us about $400. Ugh! We'll also have to have new FBI and KS background checks done, as well as be "re-fingerprinted." These processes all have price tags too and are time consuming, but will be worth it when we get to bring our little sweetie home!

Waiting, Waiting, Waiting

Many people ask us regularly, "Have you heard anything about your baby?" Unfortunately, the answer is, "no," and will probably be, "no" until next fall. When we started the adoption process in October 2005, the wait time for China to process our paperwork was about 6-8 months. As China has been making decisions and changes, their wait time has increased, and is now about 15 months. Our paperwork was logged into China's system mid-June of 2006, so we're hoping that we hear back sometime this fall. Our prayer is that we get to go get her no later than November. This long wait time is definitely difficult, but the Lord recently reminded us that even though it appears that China is in control, He is still Lord, and ultimately the timing is in His hands!