Happy Chinese New Year!!

happy chinese new year
Originally uploaded by photocello2006

The Chinese New Year began February 7th. It is the year of the rat!!
If you were born in 1912, 1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996 - you were born under the sign of the rat. Li Li was born during the year of the rat and will be adopted in the year of the rat. Pretty cool!

Like the rat, you are always busily pursuing a personal goal or ambition, and are thus known as one of the hardest-working signs in the Chinese zodiac. For rats in 2008, any recent setbacks or obstacles can be overcome, so look forward to a year in which to really shine, either personally or professionally.

IT'S A GIRL!!

We have a daughter in China. A beautiful, happy, energetic daughter full of life. She lives in Xining City which is in the province of Qinghai (which is right beside Tibet). I know everyone was expecting us to get a baby/toddler, but the Lord was really pulling us in another direction and we followed. Our daughter is turning 12 on February 13th. Her name is Yang Li. Yang is her surname and Li is her first name. We will slowly transition her into her new name by calling her Li Li as a nickname and slowly easing in to Anna Li. We ask that you all keep us in your prayers as we make preparation to bring our daughter home. There is still lots of paperwork to be done, classes to take, books to read, and travel arrangements to be made. We ask that you pray for Anna Li. We can only imagine the things this little girl has been through in her 12 years of life. Abandoned as a baby, tossed around in orphanages and foster homes, we just can't fathom the pain and loss this child has experienced. She is a child of God and we just feel so honored and blessed that the Lord has chosen us to be her parents. We know it is not going to be easy. We know we are taking a broken child but we have faith in God to heal her broken heart and spirit. We started this adoption with a step of faith. We had no money saved, no plan of how we were going to pay for the cost of this adoption. All we knew is we were doing what the Lord has called us to do and the good Lord has provided us every step of the way. We just want to give him the thanks for this wonderful blessing. We thank you all for your love, support, and many prayers. "And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name, welcomes me." Matthew 18:5 Love, Chad and Kristy

Halloween Updates

The Gray's Annual Halloween Picture

This year Bethany was a sorcerer and Colin was a dragon. As always, one was sick. This year it was Bethany running a fever and last year it was Colin with strep. Luckily, it didn't slow neither of them down. We went out and did the traditional door to door trick or treating and got lots of candy!!! I hope to add pictures of Chad's pumpkin carving talents and the kids in their costumes soon.

LOG IN DAY

It has taken 7 months but we have finally received our log in date (LID)!!! Our dossier was logged in to the system on August 23, 2007. We can officially begin the waiting process!! I have listed the steps below to give you a better understanding of where we are in the process. Step 1 and 2 is complete and we will be stuck in step 3 for quiet sometime.

1. Our dossier was sent to the China Center for Adoption affairs (CCAA) by the Children’s Hope Int. Beijing Office. COMPLETED
2. Dossier enters the office and can wait for up to 1 month to be logged in. Once you receive your log in date (LID) your wait officially begins. COMPLETED
3. Your dossier waits to begin the process. WAITING AND WAITING AND WAITING... THIS MORE THAN LIKELY WILL TAKE A YEAR.


4. The CCAA administration passes your dossier to Bridge of Love where they verify your dossier’s translation. This process takes 2-3 months.
5. Your dossier waits for its turn to be reviewed by department 1.
6. Your dossier is passed to Department 1 for review and approval (2-3 months).

I AM SURE SOME MORE WAITING HERE TOO!!
7. Your dossier is passed to Department 2 for matching. This too can take many months. Your dossier is matched several weeks before step 8.
8. Your referral is sent to the administration office to be signed by all of the CCAA directors and then mailed to CHI. This can take several weeks.
9. You receive your referral. (A very happy day!) A referral is a picture and brief medical history of the child CCAA has matched you with. You send your letter of acceptance to CHI who then quickly sends it to CCAA.

ALMOST THERE!!!
10. The CCAA sends you travel approval to come to China and complete the adoption. This process takes about 1 month.
11. You travel to China to meet your child and complete the adoption. This is approximately 6-8 weeks after the referral.


Once again, we ask for your prayers throughout this long process. Pray specifically for: 1) guidance for our family during this process, 2) for the orphaned children in China and around the world, 3) the biological family my daughter will come from, and 4) the finances needed to complete this adoption.

We are so thankful for how the Lord is working in our lives. Even in the early stages of this adoption we have seen His handy work. Because of His perfect timing we have been ahead of schedule. We have received money when we were least expecting it, we received our I-171H a month earlier than expected, and we got our LID (log in date) 3 months earlier than expected. Thank you sweet Jesus!! Now, we begin the hardest part of all and that is the long wait!!!

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Welcome

For those of you who haven’t met us, we are the Gray’s (Chad, Kristy, Bethany (8), and Colin (2)). We live in Alabama. We would like to share an amazing story with you and ask that you be part of our journey.

Before Chad and I ever met, when we were both just teenagers, the Lord placed on both of our hearts the desire to adopt internationally. For me, it was a show about orphans in Romania that made me aware of the conditions these little children live in. For Chad, it was just a soft spot the Lord placed in his heart, the desire to help these unwanted kids. I believe it was no mistake how the Lord put the two of us together, both with the same desire to reach out to these children. We have been praying for the last 9 years that the Lord would one day give us the opportunity to make a difference in the life of at least one of these orphans. For the last 12 months, we have been in prayer specifically for a baby girl in China, a girl we one day hope to hold in our arms and call our own, a girl we have already named Annalee.

We believe a family’s love for a child begins long before his or her first breath is taken or the first cry is heard. Our love for Annalee began in January of 2007 when we signed the adoption application with Children's Hope International. Long before Annalee is born; her waiting family (Chad, Kristy, Bethany, and Colin) are praying and preparing for her journey home. Many months, even years, will pass before this application is approved. Birth and marriage certificates were ordered. Passports were issued, seminars attended, documents notarized, certified and authenticated, all as a part of the journey to bring our baby Annalee home. We hope by the end of September we will have our paperwork and home study complete and ready to send to China. From there, it will be a waiting game that could take 2 years to complete.

We ask for your prayers throughout this long process. Pray specifically for: 1) guidance for our family during this process, 2) for the orphaned children in China and around the world, 3) the biological family my daughter will come from, and 4) the finances needed- the cost of this adoption will total $25,000.

If you would like to be a part of our monthly e-newsletter you can send your email address to grayadoption@yahoo.com.


Thanks so much for all your love, prayers, and support.


God Bless,

The Grays