WOW!!!

WOW, is all I can say!!!  We handed our Dossier (our family history/BOOK) to our adoption agency on December 16th... it was mailed to the Colorado office on December 17th... mailed to China on December 20th... Received Christmas Eve and Logged in to China on December 25th - Merry Christmas!  WOW.... that's fast.  We were told we would find out by the end of January what our log in date was.... Never expected a 24 hour turn around time.  So, what is a Log In Date --- 

LOG IN DATE and its importance!  When China receives all of our paperwork (Dossier) - ie:  Family photos, autobiographies, medical exams, police reports, petition for the Chinese government to adopt from their country, birth certificates, marriage certificates, health reports for kids, reference forms, job verifications and the list goes on.  In  a nutshell, its everything the government wants to know about us, in order to see if we make the cut to adopt one of their children.  When they review all the information, and approve us, they give us a Log In Date.  This date means that we are officially approved to bring a child from China home with us.  NOW.... the process begins for matching.  We have a list of medical needs that we are willing to consider and so now they will begin to search the children that are turned over to the American system to see if there are any matches.  When a child comes available that matches a health need, we approved then they will call us to see if we are willing to review that child's health file.  If we have this Log In Date ( LID ) then we are then able to accept this child and send a Letter of Intent (LOI) to China asking for permission to adopt this special child.  SO, here we go - Please continue to pray for the finances to come in - for God to help us to know which child that He has chosen for our family.  Pray that God will prepare little John for this process as well.  

John!!  January 6th is his mothers termination hearing.  The adoption process will begin with that date - we have all we need to complete everything for him, except a few pictures to take and our part is done and we wait for the state to set a trial date to finalize his adoption.  

I look back over the past year plus and never imagined where we would be today.  God set us up on this amazing journey in the summer of 2012.  We were willing to take in a few orphans if God so chose, but decided that with our lives that it probably wasn't wise to take on two medical needy babies so we settled in for the long haul with China.  God had other plans... I had always said that I did not want to do domestic adoption due to the chaos is seems on this side of things - but God said... Oh, just you wait.  John was placed in our lives in January of 2013 and became part of our family on February 26, 2013.  What was told us to be a short journey is still continuing today BUT we wait, knowing that He is a Malin and was born to be a Malin.  God has changed our lives and the lives of our children.  They have been fantastic through this transition and I can honestly say that it has NOT been an easy one but God's grace has sustained and given us strength to be patient and love this little child of God when days are hard and nights were VERY long and loud.  Now as we continue on with the process that God originally led us to.... we walk with peace but also knowing that some days might be hard.. and the nights might get very long again and the transition may not be as smoothe as we may have imagined.  We also pray for God to help us and prepare us to be able to care for this little girl that He will choose for us.  That He would be sovereign in the decision as well as in the illness she may have, knowing that He has already entrusted us with John.   Its a little intimidating but when God calls, He equips and His timing is ALWAYS perfect!! 

Thank you for your prayers and your love!