I just received a call from Anna at Children's Hope! They received their copy of our 171-H Approval. That means ours is sitting in our mailbox at home!!!!!!!!!! I can barely believe it. I am praying that work lets me out early today, so we can get our documents notarized today! We may actually have all of our documents ready by the end of the year! Everything is really falling into place. It is so wonderful, but a little scary! After we get our documents completed then I have to start applying to grants, start the nursery, and make sure we have everything to travel at a moment's notice.
It is all worth it though! 2008 looks like it will be an exciting year. Thank you to everyone who has been praying for us during this time.
Kristin
Friday, December 21, 2007
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Great News!
Children's Hope International has received their accreditation in Russia! Well, you are probably wondering why this is good news and what I am talking about. I never really went into this issue because I didn't want to add any confusion into the process. Basically, each adoption agency that works in Russia needs to be accredited by the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation. Children's Hope was, but like so many other agencies, theirs expired. Without accreditation the process slowed down immensely. Some regions even shut down. Now Russia has issued us a non-expiring accreditation, so things should start moving! Not only will some of their regions begin opening up, but they are also planning on opening up new regions. This should lead to more referrals. My adoption consultant won't say how much things will pick up, but I do believe that Nicholas will be home sooner than we thought.
We also plan on having our documents notarized either this weekend by someone at our bank or on the 31st by someone at our adoption agency. It all depends how are schedules pan out. Once everything is notarized and certified, Evan will take the documents to the Secretary of State in Columbus to have them apostilled. We'll have everything ready and waiting for our 171-H Approval from Immigration. Then our papers will be Russia-bound!
It feels like things are really starting to move. Even though we will have to wait for our referral an undetermined amount of time, I feel more hopeful and excited.
I want to leave you with one final question. I purchased something last week from Amazon.com. The question is: A toy for Nicholas or a toy for Evan? You decide.
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
The Big Reveal
Since I have not posted in about two weeks, I figured it was time to reveal our son's name. I, personally, wanted to name our son something that had a special meaning, not just something that sounded good with our last name. With that said, his name will be Nicholas James.
Now for the meaning behind it . . . We have had a boy's name picked out for years. Nicholas was not that name. However, my father-in-law mentioned it and we liked it. I had to look up its meaning before I agreed upon it. Nicholas means "victory of the people". Maybe I am stretching it, but I think the name's meaning is great. 1 Corinthians 15:57 says, "But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through the Lord Jesus Christ." My prayer for our son is that no matter what trials or tribulations come his way (including spending the first year of his life in an orphanage) that he turns to Christ for the victory.
The middle name "James" also has a special meaning to us, but not because it means "supplanter". This past March my grandfather passed away. Years ago, he began a spiritual legacy for our family. He chose to accept Christ as his personal savior. His decision led others in our family to make their own personal commitment. I will be forever grateful to him for this legacy. Nicholas will never personally know his great-grandfather, James. However, I pray that he also will make the decision to accept Christ as his personal savior and continue this legacy.
So, that is the name we chose and the reason behind it. I wish I had other news to share in this post about the adoption process, but things are at a standstill now. We are still waiting for our 171-H approval from Immigration. Hopefully, after the 1st of the year we will know more about our wait.
I will try not to let this much time lapse between posts. I am hoping next year Nicholas will be home for Christmas.
Kristin
Now for the meaning behind it . . . We have had a boy's name picked out for years. Nicholas was not that name. However, my father-in-law mentioned it and we liked it. I had to look up its meaning before I agreed upon it. Nicholas means "victory of the people". Maybe I am stretching it, but I think the name's meaning is great. 1 Corinthians 15:57 says, "But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through the Lord Jesus Christ." My prayer for our son is that no matter what trials or tribulations come his way (including spending the first year of his life in an orphanage) that he turns to Christ for the victory.
The middle name "James" also has a special meaning to us, but not because it means "supplanter". This past March my grandfather passed away. Years ago, he began a spiritual legacy for our family. He chose to accept Christ as his personal savior. His decision led others in our family to make their own personal commitment. I will be forever grateful to him for this legacy. Nicholas will never personally know his great-grandfather, James. However, I pray that he also will make the decision to accept Christ as his personal savior and continue this legacy.
So, that is the name we chose and the reason behind it. I wish I had other news to share in this post about the adoption process, but things are at a standstill now. We are still waiting for our 171-H approval from Immigration. Hopefully, after the 1st of the year we will know more about our wait.
I will try not to let this much time lapse between posts. I am hoping next year Nicholas will be home for Christmas.
Kristin
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