bodner003

It's been almost 2 months since I've written anything here but that's not to say big things haven't been happening. Since our immigration approval, we received our LOA (letter of acceptance) from China. In previous adoptions, this step took 60-70 days. It was a surprise to hear of our LOA only 25 days in to our wait! Today, our 800 immigration application will be overnighted to USCIS. This is asking permission for our specific child to immigrate to the U.S. This step should take about 2 weeks. After that, there are several little steps (and lots of paperwork) that happen in order to complete the process. We are pretty confident that we will be traveling in March but hopeful it could actually be sooner. Travel time after LOA is generally about 10 weeks out. We'll be on our way to get Maggie before we know it! In addition to a quick timeline, God has worked other miracles on our behalf. We shared on Facebook that we received a couple large donations recently, leav...

One of the most exciting parts of journeying through an adoption is being able to witness to God’s faithfulness. For those who have adopted, it’s clear that this life is a war zone, that the ministry of adoption is a raging battle between the unseen, spiritual forces among us. It’s real. I could literally tag a hundred people in this post who can witness firsthand to everything seemingly going wrong as they seek to bring a child home (can I get an amen?). When the evil one sees our good, good Father bringing precious children out of slavery and into a loving home, he rages. And God allows much of it, for now (Job is a great biblical example of this). He allows it because it reminds us that this is not our home and it magnifies His grace! His faithfulness is always bigger than the evil that the prince of this world would have us fall under. Today, a little of this warfare reared itself. While I won’t share details, I can say that we were reminded of the people among u...

I've been thinking about this post for some time. How do I passionately yet delicately express the burning in my heart on the topic of adopting a child with severe special needs? While it is my desire for grace to meet truth, most of you know that I am shamelessly authentic. That being said, I am unapologetic for the fervor you may encounter here (a-hem). Seamus and I are currently in the process of adopting a little girl in China who has Down syndrome and a congenital heart defect. Entering this journey was not taken lightly. Adopting a child with DS has been on our hearts for years. Much discussion and prayer has centered around this matter. We finally came to a place of knowing that God wanted this for our lives. The struggle has been real, the one where our flesh recounts all the reasons it's not a good idea. Do we know what we're getting in to? What will life be like with a "mentally disabled" child? Are we aware that she will likely live with us for t...

I wish this was the "TRAVEL APPROVAL" post but we are still many months away. We are currently (still) waiting for immigration approval (sigh). Our best guess is that travel will occur in March or April. That doesn't mean, however, that we haven't spent hours talking, contemplating, praying over the details that involve travel. Specifically, who will go this time, what is the best scenario for our family? China requires that we are there for about 2 weeks. There's no way around this and in some ways we are grateful. During our time there, we take every opportunity we can to immerse ourselves in the culture and retain as much as possible to share with our children later. The trip is not easy though. It's long and exhausting. The jet lag alone is enough to make a person sick for weeks. The emotional toll of meeting your child and dealing with her trauma is intense. The paperwork, site seeing, meetings with government officials, all while being clueless about wha...

It's incredible to ponder that our friends have raised $6,000 for our adoption so far. There's no way we could be where we are in the process without this help. There are few words to explain how grateful we feel. THANK YOU, precious friends! It is with great excitement that we kick off our next fundraiser to help bring home our baby girl! We want Maggie to have something personal and handmade when she comes home and we would love for you to be a part of it. Our idea is to have a quilt made in a very unique way, and a local friend has offered her quilting expertise as a gift! Here's how it'll work. We have chosen material for the quilt, and squares have been cut. Our idea is to sell a square to anyone who would like to be a part of her homecoming quilt. Each square sells for $50. You will receive a permanent, black, fabric marker to write anything you want on your square. It can be a Bible verse, words of love and encouragement, anything to make that square personally y...

We were so blessed to attend our local "Run for One" event last night. Wonderful people came out to support Lifeline's ministry and specifically to rally for "Rafe," the little one we continue to advocate for. The Pounders family organized the entire thing and it was a huge success! You can read more about "Run for One" HERE. If you weren't able to join us last night but would still like to register, in order to support the work of Lifeline and receive a really cool t-shirt, you can click on "run where you are" and sign up. As I mentioned, last night's run was in honor of Rafe. This is an opportunity for me to share, again, who this amazing child is. Rafe is a little boy who lives in an orphanage in China. He has no one to call "Mama" or "Baba." He was born with Down Syndrome and a congenital heart defect, left abandoned, and remains in this circumstance with little hope. The Lord put his precious face in front of...

You may be wondering where we are in the process and when we expect to travel. We are wrapping up our home study this week! The home study is always the longest part of the process but we have a rock star social worker and we are pretty familiar with all the paperwork and checklists. The past few weeks have looked a little like this... Really. This week we will be submitting our Letter of Intent to China, asking for pre-approval to adopt this particular little girl. God-willing, they will respond in a couple weeks telling us we can proceed. It's at the point of receiving pre-approval that we will be able to share her picture! While we are waiting for pre-approval, we will submit our I-800a application to Immigration. This is requesting permission to adopt an international child. The entire 800a approval takes about 2 months from the time of application. A little side note on funding... When we receive pre-approval, we will have fees of $1,210 due. Part of this goes to the orphanage...