A Little Girl From China

The last time I wrote a blog post was in March 2014. My, oh my, so much has happened since then. I'm going to start with our exciting announcement and then backtrack to tell the whole story.

We are adopting a little girl from China! She is a waiting child, which means we didn't wait to be referred or matched to her. I found her on the website Reese's Rainbow which fund raises and advocates for the adoption of children with Down Syndrome. Her name is Brenna and she completely captured my heart.

So how did we get here?! I left you in 2014 and that was a year of waiting... waiting for the referral of a child from Ethiopia. There was turmoil in the Ethiopian government at that time and referrals were suspended for a period of several months. Our wait time went from 6-9 months to 18 months and up, essentially an indefinite wait. This was frustrating for us but we continued to trust in the Lord and His plan for our family.

In early February 2015 we got a wonderful surprise- I was pregnant! This pregnancy was by far my hardest. My morning sickness was awful and I had other concerning symptoms as well. At 16 weeks after a trip to the ER we found out that I had gallstones. I was unable to manage the attacks by changing my diet. No matter what I ate, I was in severe pain. We found a great surgeon at UMD Medical Center and I was scheduled for surgery in May. Surgery went well and God protected Collin through it, but my recovery wasn't easy. I ended up severely anemic and required IV infusions of iron in my 8th and 9th months of pregnancy.  We were in total survival mode, just doing one day at a time. Pat was the rock that held our family together, taking on most of my responsibilities as well as his own.  In the midst of all of this it became obvious that we would need to put our adoption plans on hold. Our agency was very understanding and so our file was placed on hold and we planned to reevaluate several months after our baby was born.

Collin Thomas Hourigan was born October 19, 2015. He is a joy and a blessing and we are so thankful that God gave him to us when He did! His birth was wonderful and we bonded beautifully. As time went by and Collin passed certain milestones, we would reopen the conversation about adoption, but for a long time we didn't feel ready. In August of 2016, we even wrote a letter that we planned to give to our family and friends and those who had donated money to our adoption, explaining that we were ending our adoption process and the reasons why. But I never had peace about sending that letter. We had the okay from our agency to remain on hold, so we did.

It was at the beginning of this year, 2017, that God stirred our hearts again towards adoption. We were ready! We contacted our agencies and started the process to update our home study. It went so much more smoothly than it had the first time around. Everything was falling into place and we fully intended to pick up right where we left off. We were told that we'd have a referral within 12 months and so we expected that our Ethiopian daughter-to-be would be home by the end of 2018. We were excited!

Then in April we got news that the Ethiopian Ministry of Women's and Children's Affairs (MOWA) was suspending the processing of all adoption petitions and in May it was announced that all open petitions would be issued denials and no new petitions would be accepted. This news was shocking and I struggled to process it. Honestly, it felt like a loss. We had picked a name back in 2013- Tirzah Faith- and I used to picture her in my arms. I didn't know what her face would look like so I would think of wearing her in a ring sling and looking down at her black curly hair. I prayed for her and I had made space in my heart to love her. And just like that, I knew it would never happen.

We decided to go ahead and finish our home study because we had already paid for it and it was halfway completed. We toyed around with the idea of domestic adoption and researched a few other international programs, but nothing seemed to fit. We felt unsure and in limbo.

A few other things were going on in the lives of those around us that helped to lead us to where we are now. Our friends the Parlers brought their son Hudson home from China. They shared a lot on Facebook at every step of their process and it was neat and inspiring to watch their story. One evening, also on Facebook, I scrolled across a post from MOPS International about a family who had adopted children with Down Syndrome. It struck a chord with me and Pat and I found ourselves researching the adoption of a child with Down Syndrome. I shared this at a prayer meeting with two close friends, and one friend also shared that was something her and her husband were talking about.

Then on Tuesday, June 6th I was scrolling through photo listings of waiting children and found her...It was a lightning bolt to my heart. I've never felt anything like it. Her name is Brenna, and I just knew she was my daughter. I cried and prayed and loved her instantly. And from there, the rest is just a whirlwind of emails, applications, research and prayer. I prayed like I never had before. We encountered a significant financial obstacle immediately and I thought it wouldn't happen, and then God did a miracle. That's all I can say, but trust me, He heard me and He answered mightily!

So now just 3 weeks later we find ourselves waiting for a pre-approval letter from China, which our caseworker says we can expect in 1-3 weeks. And once we have that letter, she is ours, barring an extreme unforeseen circumstance. And it is possible that she could be home with us in just 8 or 9 months! Also once we have pre-approval, I've been told I'm allowed to share pictures on Facebook so definitely stay tuned for that :)

I have so much more to share about Brenna and hope to do that in future blog posts. I want to tell you about how I've always wanted to adopt from China and how the Lord is bringing everything full circle for me. I want to share about Down Syndrome and why Pat and I are intentionally choosing to embrace a child with that diagnosis. I want to tell you about all of the wonderful things Pat and I have learned during our adoptive parent training and through the ups and downs of the last 4 years. And if you have any other questions, I'd love to answer those too!

The Lord Will Provide

Friends,
I write to you today with news that I never expected to be able to share. Something that I thought impossible...something that I still cannot wrap my head around...something that only our glorious Lord could accomplish...

Our Adoption is Fully Funded. The Lord has Provided.

To those who have given to our adoption through their time, prayers and finances, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Your reward is eternal. And if there is anyone who was planning to give to us or help us fundraise, please don't! :) Please give to another cause to support orphans or help another family with their adoption expenses. Our financial needs are met, though we would always gladly accept your prayers for the rest of this journey.

As for where we are in the process, our dossier is in Ethiopia. We are told it is being translated and registered. We were told this would take 2 weeks, though now it has been longer than that. This part of the waiting is hard, because we have no control over it. I find myself becoming easily angered and impatient. I need to remember that it is the Lord who holds all of this in His hands and trust His timing for everything.

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
Ephesians 3:20-21

Update...Finally!

Hi Friends. I have not used this blog in the capacity that I originally intended. Lots has happened with our adoption and I hope in the future to do a better job of updating as things happen. I'm going to do my best to summarize things from the past several months :)

Our homestudy was officially finalized on September 30th. It took MUCH longer than we were told that it would. Some of that was because of us, but a lot of it was because of the agency we selected. We applied to the homestudy agency at the end of March and had our first meeting with them in the beginning of April. I (Sarah) had a difficult time understanding the process and was hesitant to relay the depth and nature of the personal information they were requesting from me. I'll just say that if you have ever seen a therapist for any reason or had any level of anxiety or depression, whether clinically diagnosed or not, be prepared to share that if you are planning to adopt and be prepared to have to prove yourself fit to adopt. I could say a lot more here, but that's another topic for perhaps another day.

So, we were able to work through that, but it took about two weeks. Then we had a list of documents we had to gather before we could be assigned a social worker. This took us another 3-4 weeks. By mid-May we were told that we had been assigned a social worker and should hear from her within the next few days. A week went by and we hadn't heard anything. We contacted the agency and they assured us we should hear something soon. Another week went by and the social worker finally called to tell us that she was traveling for the month of June and wanted to start our interviews when she got back. WHAT?! We did not want to delay an entire month. We contacted the agency and asked to have another social worker, but alas, the other two were both on leave so were stuck with her. So we waited. The interviews were completed tin July. This part was actually much easier than I had expected. I had cleaned my house top to bottom and was so worried about what she would think of me, but she walked in, sat herself down on the couch and didn't get up for the entire 2 hours. She actually asked Pat to fill out and sign the safety checklist! Can you believe that? Honestly I wonder if she was a bit negligent in her duties- I mean, surely, she should have at least looked around a little bit or checked out where the baby would sleep? But anyways, all was well and we passed with flying colors.

We waited for the draft of our report another 3 weeks (thought it was only supposed to take 10 days). Once we got the draft we had to check it for errors, of which there were several. Then nothing happened for several weeks and finally by the end of August we were told that the reason our report was not finalized was because one of our references had neglected to return the social worker's phone calls. This was again very frustrating to us- why had the agency been sitting on this for weeks? All we had to do was contact the reference ourselves and explain to him the importance of returning this phone call. Long story, I know, but we do have an approved homestudy now, which means we CAN adopt :)

In October we completed and submitted an application to Show Hope, an organization founded by Steven Curtis and Mary Beth Chapman to help adoptive families. Their grant program helps thousands of Christian families adopt every year with financial assistance and helps families access resources designed to encourage and support adoptive families. Our application deadline was October 31^st and we were told to not expect to hear anything for at least 90 days, so hopefully we will find out in February whether or not we were awarded a grant. The average size grant awarded is $4,000. We really have no idea what to expect in terms of whether or not we would be selected but we are hopeful and, as always, trusting the Lord.

The next step was to submit our I-600A application to the USCIS (United States Citizenship & Immigration Services...I think...). The first time we submitted this application we got a bright pink letter back saying that there were two pieces of missing information, one being my birth certificate and the second being a section of the homestudy. Wow, this was so discouraging. We had both double and triple checked these documents before mailing and we were so confused, how could this be missing? We went back to the homestudy agency, who then reviewed the file and they didn't understand it either, so they contacted the caseworker at USCIS. We heard back from them that oh, nevermind, everything is there and they don't need any additional information. So this was a relief, but also a concern. How was my birth certificate not in our file the first time it was reviewed but then it was there the second time? And again we had an unnecessary delay in our process (I am beginning to think this is just going to be our reality…). Our trust in this government agency’s competency is hugely diminished which is very discouraging because of how the Ethiopian process is changing, more on that later.

We then had to be fingerprinted at the USCIS agency in Baltimore. They send you an assigned date and time and ours was December 2^nd at 9 AM, the morning of MOPS L I was sad to miss MOPS but happy to be moving forward with the process. Our fingerprints came back clean, of course, and we now have a “Favorable Determination Concerning Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition.” Hooray!

The next step is to put together our dossier. The dossier is a collection of documents that will be translated and sent to Ethiopia to be reviewed by their government agencies. Every document in our dossier has to be notarized, state certified and authenticated at the Ethiopian embassy and the Department of State. We have many of the documents already and are working on getting them together with the hopes of sending our dossier to Ethiopia in early February. Once our dossier is approved then we will officially be “on the list” so to speak, waiting for a referral!

When we send our dossier we also send a large check with it, and we did not have the funds to do that yet, which is why we had not worked harder to get everything done quicker. We have said from the beginning that we knew we could not afford this but we trust the Lord will provide, and provide he has! In October I did a Pampered Chef vendor event which nobody came to; there was not a single customer. It was a complete waste of my Saturday, or so I thought. I did meet the other vendors there and was able to talk with one woman who showed a particular interest in hearing our adoption story. This woman looked me up and called me before Christmas and told me that she wanted to donate to our adoption. I heard from our agency today that she sent them a check for $5,000. A complete stranger was so moved by God’s call on our family to rescue an orphan that she gave us five THOUSAND dollars. Lord, I hear you loud and clear! HE WILL PROVIDE! “And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus” Philippians 4:19.

I have more to share, but this post is long enough already. Stay tuned for more updates soon J

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and joyful New Year’s celebration! Blessings to you and your families!

Raffle Prize List

1.     $50 Gift Card to Madrones Restaurant

2.   Two rounds of golf with cart at Worthington Manor Golf course

3.   $50 Gift Card to City Magnolia Day Spa

4.   Silpada jewelry

5.    Set of 4 Pink & White Dot Martini Glasses with Strawberry Margarita Drink Mix (Pampered Chef)

6.   Brownie Pan, Mini Nylon Serving Spatula (Pampered Chef) and Ghirardelli Brownie Mix

7.    Snowmen Holiday Dots Platter & Red Snowflake Mini Bamboo Spoon (Pampered Chef)

8.   Free Dance/Fitness classes at To The Pointe Studio of Dance

9.   Fun Bus Party, 50% off

10.   $30 Credit to Peachy Pie Parties

11.   Size 4T peasant dress from Ps 139 Fearfully & Wonderfully Made

Pasta Dinner Fundraiser

We’d like to invite all of our friends, family, and adoption supporters to come out for a fun and yummy evening of pasta, salad and good company at the New Market Grange Hall on Thursday, October 24^th starting at 6:00pm. We would like to encourage ticket purchase prior to the event so we can make sure we have the right amount of food and we don’t go over the capacity of the grange hall. We’ll also be doing a raffle again as we did at the pancake breakfast.

Tickets are now on sale. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children ages 3-10. Children ages 2 and under are free. Family price is capped at $35. We support big families! :) Also, you can purchase raffle ticket(s) for $1 per ticket. We’ll try to post a list of the prizes a week prior to the event if possible.

To purchase tickets online, click the link to the right that says "Donate" and pay with a paypal account or any major credit card. There will be a place to include a message for the recipient - please indicate here how many adult and child tickets you are purchasing. Or, if you simply wish to make a donation, just indicate that on the message.You can also purchase tickets from us in person and pay by cash or check made out to Sarah Hourigan with "pasta dinner" in the memo line.

We are dotting the I’s and crossing the T’s on our home study and hoping to be able to have our dossier put together and sent off before the year is through. In order to accomplish this we’ll be gathering and notarizing lots of paperwork. Fundraising is a huge part of us being able to move forward with our adoption. Please consider investing in the future of an Ethiopian child. We are forever grateful for your love and support!

-Patrick and Sarah Hourigan, Weston, Nellie & Trevor

 

Raffle Prize List

Raffle tickets are $1 each. Winners will be chosen Saturday evening. Enter to win any of these great prizes:

 

*Thirty One Bags, donated by Stacy Delisle

*Premiere Jewelry, donated by Kendra McDonald

*Paparazzi Jewelry, donated by Wendy Sloper

*Ps 139 Fearfully & Wonderfully Made Hand-sewn Children’s Clothing, donated by Stacy Delisle

 

*$50 gift certificate to Powell Craft USA, English Children’s clothing, donated by Jen & Tobin Lehman

*Anastyn’s Bowtique, handmade children’s accessories, donated by Heather Pocius

 

*50% off a Fun Bus party, donated by Robyn Wheat

*$75 gift card to Monocacy Crossing Restaurant

 

*Photo session with professional photographer, Kelly Hahn, valued at $200

*While She Sleeps handmade greeting cards, valued at $21, donated by Annie Kim

 

*Creative Memories scrapbooking album with pages, valued at $72.50, donated by Annie Kim

*Family names crossword design by Cindy Moskowitz

*Mary Kay gift basket, valued at $50, donated by Donna Batchellor



Pancakes!

UPDATE: We have established a $35 maximum ticket price per family for the breakfast. We support big families! :)
Also, if you are able to purchase tickets in advance, this will be extremely helpful to us, as we are fronting costs for the event. Thank you.

Tickets are now on sale for the Pancake Breakfast & Raffle Fundraiser, June 1, 8:30 - 11:00 am, at the New Market Grange. The Grange is located on eight alley, off of Main Street in New Market. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children ages 3-10. Children ages 2 and under are free.

To purchase tickets online, click the link to the right that says "Donate" and pay with a paypal account or any major credit card. There will be a place to include a message for the recipient - please indicate here how many adult and child tickets you are purchasing. Or, if you simply wish to make a donation, just indicate that on the message.

You can also purchase tickets from us in person and pay by cash or check made out to Sarah Hourigan with "pancake breakfast" in the memo line.

Raffle tickets are sold seperately and are $1 each. We will hold the raffle drawing at the end of the breakfast, but you do not need to be present to win. We will post the list of raffle prizes soon.