 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |
the process:
Dear children, let us stop just saying we love each
other; let us really show it by our actions.
1 John 3:18
other; let us really show it by our actions.
1 John 3:18
videos:
The Call
First Picture
FedEx Pkg
Marisa Mei-Lian Freeman
March 2005 - After much prayer and research, we decided to Adopt from China
March 22, 2005 - We submitted our application to America World Adoption Association.
June 2005 - We received our completed home study back and submitted it to USCIS
(immigration) as quickly as we could.
July 2005 - All of our dossier documents have been authenticated and certified at the
Chinese Embassy in Chicago. Now all we have to do is complete the photo pages and our
final paperwork is ready to send to AWAA who will then mail it all to China.
August 5, 2005 - We are DTC or "dossier to China". A very big day in the Chinese
adoption world meaning our paperwork is complete and all we have to do now is survive the
next six to seven months until we receive our referral (being matched with the daughter who
will join our family forever) and go get her. This will be pretty simple because "Back to
School" is just around the corner, then comes Gabriel's birthday, Thanksgiving, Nathaniel's
birthday, Christmas, New Year's Day, Matthew's birthday....hardly enough time to get
impatient with all that going on....before we know it, we will have our referral in hand.
August 26, 2005 - The CCAA (China Center for Adoption Affairs) has logged us in to their
system and we have our official log in date (LID). This date is really important, too because
our six to seven month wait doesn't really begin until the LID. We are a little disappointed
because it has taken three weeks instead of the standard of less than two. We are also a
little concerned that with our LID so late in the month we might miss the cutoff when we get
close to referral. Lately it seems the pattern with the CCAA has been to refer a complete
month of LIDs but cutoff somewhere around the end of the month - that would put us at a
seven month wait rather than the six months we are expecting.
August 2005 to November 2005 - The time from LID to referral seems to gradually be
increasing. The early November batch was 7 1/2 months from LID.
November 8, 2005 - We received the following email from the AWAA Asia Program Director.
To America World Families:
There has been an uncertainty regarding the timeframe from log-in to
referral that needs clarification. As stated on the Weekly update, the
CCAA is experiencing some delays for several different reasons. In the
beginning of October they had a national holiday; at the end of the
month the trade fair occurred. The Center is also expecting to move to a
newer facility to enhance their productivity and improve service to
families. This move will occur from the middle of November to the
middle to end of December. It is expected that things will be slowing
down in the coming months due to these changes. We do not have specific
confirmation on the length of the delay, but we estimate approximately
9-10 months from log-in date to referral. When we are given more
specific information, we will notify families accordingly. While this
is difficult to accept at this time, this delay will be of benefit to
increase productivity and efficiency.
We pray that the Lord will give you all peace during this time of
transition for the CCAA. Please feel free to contact your Family
Coordinator for prayer requests or questions.
God bless.
Still, we remain optimistic that things will turn around after the end of 2005 and we will have
our daughter by May or June at the latest.
November 2, 2006 - We found out today that the CCAA's cutoff for LIDs is August 25,
2005. Ugh! We missed it by ONE day!
On the up side, we are definitely next.
November 30, 2006 - We got the call! Lian Yuan Qiu was matched with our family.
Naptime finally came and Matthew and Gabriel were asleep. Nathaniel and Alexandra and I
had settled down to a long game of Monopoly. We had no sooner gotten all the money
passed out and each taken a turn when the phone rang. It was Laurel Ludwick - our family
coordinator with AWAA - and we had a baby!
*-*-* To learn more about the matching process click here. *-*-*
December 1, 2006 - Happy 12th Birthday Nathaniel! Next step: stare out the window and
wait for the FedEx truck so we can finally see her photo! Another snow day today, so not an
issue to decide whether or not the kids get to stay home and be with me when we first see
Lian Yuan Qiu's sweet face. You know the saying that a watched pot never boils? Well, it
applies to FedEx deliveries as well. Our plan was to get the package and then call Doug
home from work to open it together as a family, but we ended up getting the email
announcement from AWAA (way) before the package arrived, so we gathered around the
computer and the speaker phone and clicked the open button in unison. Wow! Amazing!
How can a Chinese baby from half way around the world actually look like she belongs with
our family? She even has the Freeman kid big eyes! At naptime we still didn't have the
FedEx package, so we settled in the living room (with a view of the front door) to continue
our game of Monopoly. You guessed it - we no sooner got started with our game and the
package arrived. The poor FedEx man probably thought I was a crazy woman as I grabbed
the camera and ran sock-footed onto the snow-covered porch to snap his picture. I missed
him, but I did get the truck - he didn't realize that he was our stork delivering our baby.
March 22, 2005 - We submitted our application to America World Adoption Association.
June 2005 - We received our completed home study back and submitted it to USCIS
(immigration) as quickly as we could.
July 2005 - All of our dossier documents have been authenticated and certified at the
Chinese Embassy in Chicago. Now all we have to do is complete the photo pages and our
final paperwork is ready to send to AWAA who will then mail it all to China.
August 5, 2005 - We are DTC or "dossier to China". A very big day in the Chinese
adoption world meaning our paperwork is complete and all we have to do now is survive the
next six to seven months until we receive our referral (being matched with the daughter who
will join our family forever) and go get her. This will be pretty simple because "Back to
School" is just around the corner, then comes Gabriel's birthday, Thanksgiving, Nathaniel's
birthday, Christmas, New Year's Day, Matthew's birthday....hardly enough time to get
impatient with all that going on....before we know it, we will have our referral in hand.
August 26, 2005 - The CCAA (China Center for Adoption Affairs) has logged us in to their
system and we have our official log in date (LID). This date is really important, too because
our six to seven month wait doesn't really begin until the LID. We are a little disappointed
because it has taken three weeks instead of the standard of less than two. We are also a
little concerned that with our LID so late in the month we might miss the cutoff when we get
close to referral. Lately it seems the pattern with the CCAA has been to refer a complete
month of LIDs but cutoff somewhere around the end of the month - that would put us at a
seven month wait rather than the six months we are expecting.
August 2005 to November 2005 - The time from LID to referral seems to gradually be
increasing. The early November batch was 7 1/2 months from LID.
November 8, 2005 - We received the following email from the AWAA Asia Program Director.
To America World Families:
There has been an uncertainty regarding the timeframe from log-in to
referral that needs clarification. As stated on the Weekly update, the
CCAA is experiencing some delays for several different reasons. In the
beginning of October they had a national holiday; at the end of the
month the trade fair occurred. The Center is also expecting to move to a
newer facility to enhance their productivity and improve service to
families. This move will occur from the middle of November to the
middle to end of December. It is expected that things will be slowing
down in the coming months due to these changes. We do not have specific
confirmation on the length of the delay, but we estimate approximately
9-10 months from log-in date to referral. When we are given more
specific information, we will notify families accordingly. While this
is difficult to accept at this time, this delay will be of benefit to
increase productivity and efficiency.
We pray that the Lord will give you all peace during this time of
transition for the CCAA. Please feel free to contact your Family
Coordinator for prayer requests or questions.
God bless.
Still, we remain optimistic that things will turn around after the end of 2005 and we will have
our daughter by May or June at the latest.
November 2, 2006 - We found out today that the CCAA's cutoff for LIDs is August 25,
2005. Ugh! We missed it by ONE day!
On the up side, we are definitely next.
November 30, 2006 - We got the call! Lian Yuan Qiu was matched with our family.
Naptime finally came and Matthew and Gabriel were asleep. Nathaniel and Alexandra and I
had settled down to a long game of Monopoly. We had no sooner gotten all the money
passed out and each taken a turn when the phone rang. It was Laurel Ludwick - our family
coordinator with AWAA - and we had a baby!
*-*-* To learn more about the matching process click here. *-*-*
December 1, 2006 - Happy 12th Birthday Nathaniel! Next step: stare out the window and
wait for the FedEx truck so we can finally see her photo! Another snow day today, so not an
issue to decide whether or not the kids get to stay home and be with me when we first see
Lian Yuan Qiu's sweet face. You know the saying that a watched pot never boils? Well, it
applies to FedEx deliveries as well. Our plan was to get the package and then call Doug
home from work to open it together as a family, but we ended up getting the email
announcement from AWAA (way) before the package arrived, so we gathered around the
computer and the speaker phone and clicked the open button in unison. Wow! Amazing!
How can a Chinese baby from half way around the world actually look like she belongs with
our family? She even has the Freeman kid big eyes! At naptime we still didn't have the
FedEx package, so we settled in the living room (with a view of the front door) to continue
our game of Monopoly. You guessed it - we no sooner got started with our game and the
package arrived. The poor FedEx man probably thought I was a crazy woman as I grabbed
the camera and ran sock-footed onto the snow-covered porch to snap his picture. I missed
him, but I did get the truck - he didn't realize that he was our stork delivering our baby.
I have to share some thoughts I had in the midst of anxiously waiting for
this last referral batch....I had worked myself into quite an emotional state
of anxiety; the "not knowing" was really killing me! I was driving through
town somewhat numb (from a combination of anxiety and excitement for
sure, but probably more from lack of sleep) when it suddenly hit me that
many people in our world have this "not knowing" anxiety as a lifestyle.
Sure, I didn't know if I would see my baby's face this month or next, but I
did know what the final outcome would be, and, more importantly, I know
what the outcome of my life will be. I know for certain that when I die, I will
go to heaven and I will spend eternity with my Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ. Many people around me, however, have no idea if their good
deeds will outweigh their bad or if their surviving friends and family will
pray hard enough and long enough to pray them into heaven or if they
followed all the rules of their religion well enough, etc. That thought was
sobering to me and for a short moment I could feel the desperateness of
life that many others feel on a day-to-day basis. Is it any wonder the
world has so many addicts and people who just want to end it all?
this last referral batch....I had worked myself into quite an emotional state
of anxiety; the "not knowing" was really killing me! I was driving through
town somewhat numb (from a combination of anxiety and excitement for
sure, but probably more from lack of sleep) when it suddenly hit me that
many people in our world have this "not knowing" anxiety as a lifestyle.
Sure, I didn't know if I would see my baby's face this month or next, but I
did know what the final outcome would be, and, more importantly, I know
what the outcome of my life will be. I know for certain that when I die, I will
go to heaven and I will spend eternity with my Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ. Many people around me, however, have no idea if their good
deeds will outweigh their bad or if their surviving friends and family will
pray hard enough and long enough to pray them into heaven or if they
followed all the rules of their religion well enough, etc. That thought was
sobering to me and for a short moment I could feel the desperateness of
life that many others feel on a day-to-day basis. Is it any wonder the
world has so many addicts and people who just want to end it all?
What an incredible day! We knew the call was coming on Thursday,
and I couldn't decide whether or not to skip my morning Bible Study as
I really wanted to be home when the call came (we had the video
camera all set up). On Wednesday night Matthew got sick - no more
fretting over the Bible Study decision. We awoke Thursday morning to
snow and ice and therefore, cancelled school - took care of deciding
when and how to tell the kids about their mei mei...during school, after
school, one at a time as they arrive home or all at once. God is good
and he knows how I am about decisions, so he took care of them for
me. There was so much going on that day (did I mention that Doug's
dad had prostate cancer surgery, too?) that, thankfully, I didn't have
much time to just sit and stare at the phone - I did jump each time it
would ring and answer it with a rapidly beating heart.
and I couldn't decide whether or not to skip my morning Bible Study as
I really wanted to be home when the call came (we had the video
camera all set up). On Wednesday night Matthew got sick - no more
fretting over the Bible Study decision. We awoke Thursday morning to
snow and ice and therefore, cancelled school - took care of deciding
when and how to tell the kids about their mei mei...during school, after
school, one at a time as they arrive home or all at once. God is good
and he knows how I am about decisions, so he took care of them for
me. There was so much going on that day (did I mention that Doug's
dad had prostate cancer surgery, too?) that, thankfully, I didn't have
much time to just sit and stare at the phone - I did jump each time it
would ring and answer it with a rapidly beating heart.