Believe, Faith, Trust

Not much to update...David has been sick with a bad cold this week so we have not been too active. Our Washington State background check came back and we are in good shape. All of the vital documents that we ordered came in the mail this week. So we are waiting on our California State background check and are mailing off David's background check for Minnesota on Monday. Some of the reference letters are coming in already too! So once all the background checks come back and are reviewed, we will move on.

A Name...

David and I have chosen a name for our little one...Eva Elizabeth.
David chose Eva as her first name..pretty cool...and sure sign that she will definitely be daddy's little girl. I absolutely loved it when I first heard it. And Elizabeth of course, after her momma and grandma...because my mom and I share the same middle name, it seemed like a perfectly natural choice our little girl!
There is another special story behind the middle name before it was even chosen that makes it even more special. I will update that when I have a little more time.

We also just got our first baby project...check it out at www.salvagegarden.blogspot.com...

Eva Elizabeth Wagner...we pray for your every day...

Home study...

We sent off our Home Study Packet today and our fingerprints went to the FBI. We are mailing out our letters of Reference and gathering all our other vital documents.
I am attending an on-line adoption webinar with Great Wall China Adoptions today from 4pm-6pm. This is a free seminar that will give us two hours of credit toward the required 10 hours which is a requirement of the Hague International Adoption Treaty...so things are underway for us as much as they can be at this point.

" Those who wait on the Lord will gain renewed strength;
They will mount up with wings like eagles,
They will run and not get tired,
The will walk and not become weary".
Isaiah 40:31

Burr...snowy and cold today! I had the day off so we went downtown to the courthouse today to get our finger prints taken. These are required as part of the Home Study to complete the FBI criminal and background check. Its all computerized now...probably has been for a long time... Anyway our paper chase is officially underway. We've sent off for vital documents and are preparing to send out our referral letters and our physicals are scheduled for April 17.

Passing the time...

Hi all...This last week has seemed like a very long week! So glad its Friday...well, nope...its officially Saturday! Our couples study tonight was a welcome break and a blessing! Thanks everyone for your prayers and encouragement!

We are preparing to start our home study with Lutheran Family Services. A local agency here in town. The social worker we've chosen as brought many families through the home study process and on to successful adopted from China so we are excited to work with her. Please keep her in prayer. Her name is Nora and she comes recommended. Secondly, we will be choosing a Great Wall China service package.
Right now we are waiting on the Lord on which step to proceed with first or to try to do both the home study and service agreement simultaneously.
In the mean time we are busy retrieving our vital documents. We are getting our fingerprint cards done on Monday the 9th, taking an online parenting seminar on March 19th (will count toward the 10 hours of training required by the Hague Adoption Treaty) and our health physicals are scheduled for April 17th. Never a dull moment! Love and hugs to all!


"Lord, in the morning you hear my voice. In the morning I pray to you. I wait for you in hope." Psalm 27:14

We Are Approved & Expecting!

For those of you who don't already know...we received the phone call today @ 2:17pm -our adoption application has been approved!

I was sitting at my desk when I got the call from Kerri at Great Wall China Adoptions. I instantly lost all sense of reality, a mixture of excitement, joy and fear...emotions impossible to express in anything but tears of happiness and amazement that the door to our journey remained wide open! Gods has a plan and its way bigger than us and way bigger than the happiness and challenges that lie ahead!

After coming back down to earth...I had to restrain myself BIG TIME!
I called David immediately,then mom! I was utterly exhausted for the rest of the day and it was impossible to get anything done. Praise the Lord there was nothing pressing that required my attention...I just proceeded to stare at my computer, smile, pray and cry.

Now the real work begins...health physicals, fingerprinting, document gathering, fund raising and building up savings, FBI background checks, the home study and parenting courses, just name a few!

Neat reminder...

This is a dream I had just last week... I shared with with a few already but I was so encouraged I thought I would post it as it is a part of our journey. It was so awesome since I never remember my dreams and this one was so clear I could actually recall the details and write it down! This dream was a great reminder of where our trust lies and to live in that...where the Lord guides, He provides!....I was so comforted.

I was driving down Park Street, near our home on a beautiful summer day and just as I crossed the railroad tracks, I slowed down to take note of a very large and festive celebration taking place in the park, adjacent to Victory Faith Fellowship.

For some reason I was drawn to the crowd, I needed to see what all the hoopla was about. As I turned onto the cross street and pulled up to park parallel to the chain link fence surrounding the parks open field, I notice a banner hanging there front the fence....

I got out of the car, headed toward the opening in the fence and red the banner;
" We need $91,000 to build our new community pool area - Come help us celebrate and give thanks for what the Lord is going to do!"

I was stunned and thrilled to see such a crowd gathered for this bold statement of faith and celebrating as if it was already "the grand opening"...but there was nothing there but a large green field.
As I turned to walk through the gate into the park I was approached by a man, he was all smiles and he reached out both hands to greet me.
"Welcome, welcome!" he exclaimed. He proceeded to ask me my name and then asked "So what is God doing in your life?"

Thinking I had never been asked a bolder question, I gave my response saying, "Well, my husband and I are going to adopt a child from China." The man ( whose name I didn't get) just beamed with joy...so much so that he seemed to be utterly glowing! The man then said, "Oh, then Praise the Lord! It appears you need for God to provide for you too!", he invited me to spend the day with everyone saying "Join us and give thanks with us for all that He is doing to do in our lives!"

I was so filled with hope and joy I didn't even try to make an excuse as to why I didn't want to spend the day with all these strangers...so I happily found myself a folding chair and opened it up in a sunny spot just outside the main crowd. I sat down, looking over the festivities, noticing how happy and joyful everyone was, how happy and joyful I was! The sky was so blue and the grass was so green. As i took in the clean air, I thought indeed, this is a great place for a pool! It was then I met the gaze of a grey poodle with one of those fancy hairdos...it was grinning at me from ear to ear...and I smiled back. Accepting my invitation, it trotted over and sat down next to me in the sun.

And there we sat....the dogs fur was silky soft and the sun felt so warm on my skin. Everything was so right, I felt at home with my heart, with my needs and my hopes, in fact, I had never felt more at peace, nor had I ever seen a more perfect day.
The sun felt so much warmer and comforting than I remembered feeling before and then I realized, it was coming from the inside!

Then I heard my husbands voice... "Laura, Your running late, you'd better get up."
And that, is how I started my day today! (Wednesday, February 25)