FAQ about our switch to the China program

1) Why didn't you start in China to begin with?

- When we decided to pursue an International adoption with our agency, we received a sheet with all of the countries that they worked with. Each country listed certain qualifications such as length of marriage, age, financial status, time in country, cost, # of children in home, etc. When we looked at that list, we did not actually meet the requirements for China. We did however meet the requirements for Ethiopia. We actually knew a few people who had completed adoptions from Ethiopia as well. It seemed like the logical thing to do. All of our qualifications pointed us to Ethiopia.  It wasn't until recently that we found out about the waiver that was offered to some families for the special focus program through the webinar that our agency invited us to. Also, we started out wanting to adopt a fully healthy child ages 0-3. Through time (because we had a lot of it in Ethiopia), God has opened our hearts to adopting a child ages 0-6 and being open to some special needs.


2) What about all of that money that you already poured into Ethiopia?

-The wonderful news is that most of that money is transferring over. Our agency recognizes the huge change that has occurred in Ethiopia as far as time frame goes and allowed us to transfer our agency fees over to the China program. There will be some money lost, money that was paid directly to our placing agency in Ethiopia to be able to translate all of our paperwork, and some money for documents that we needed for Ethiopia. So while we will need to redo paperwork for China now, we were actually going to have to redo paperwork several times in Ethiopia because the wait was so long and the paperwork expires after a certain time frame. All in all, not that much was lost, which is a huge blessing! We wanted to make sure we were being wise financially when we switched programs. We recognize that so much of the financial part of this adoption has come from many of you through fundraisers or just your generous giving. We wanted to be sensitive to that, while also following the road God has laid out for us.

3) Why did things slow down so much in Ethiopia?

-First of all, you are dealing with a foreign government here that can change laws and processes at any time. Apparently, what has happened is that more steps have been added in the process to adopt a child to better ensure that children are not being trafficked. This is a good thing! The not so good thing is that this significantly slows down the process of getting these children into families. The lack of organization and efficiency within the government to be able to move through these steps in a timely manner is not in place. So while a good thing was implemented, it is not being executed in the most efficient manner, thus the slow down aka the "new normal". With the way things were estimated, we were potentially looking at several if not more years of waiting before a child was matched with our family.

4) What is the estimated time of a completed adoption with China?

- A China adoption is typically completed between 12 to 18 months from start to finish. That is a much quicker time frame than we were looking at in Ethiopia. Our hearts have been ready to welcome a child into our family for quite some time now. This new timeline is great news! Likely, our son will be home in 2015 or early 2016. Yippie!


5) When will you be matched with a child? When can you share about him?

-Since we are adopting from the special focus program, we could be matched at any time now. We are actually in the process of reviewing files while we pray and discern about what needs our family feels equipped to handle. Once we decide to pursue a child, we will send a LOI (Letter of Intent) basically telling the Chinese government that we want to pursue adopting that specific child. The CCCWA will then hopefully approve us to move forward with the adoption of that child and issue us a LOA (Letter of Approval) to continue on with the adoption process.


6) Will your child be special needs?

-Yes, since we are adopting from the special focus program in China, he will be considered special needs. That may be physical or mental special needs. Every child is different and unique, which is why we are praying through our decisions as we review files. Like I said before, we were not open to special needs when we started the process, because we were scared. God has softened our hearts to so many more needs as we have sought after Him over the past 2 years. Once again, we want to be wise with what our family feels equipped to handle, but also step out in faith. We will see what child He leads us to.

7) What about that Africa puzzle we donated to? What are you going to do with that?

-So many of you supported our family through that puzzle fundraiser. That was such a sweet time of God reassuring us that he was going to walk us through this and provide. We are going to keep the puzzle as it represents that part of our journey. As I said in my last blog post, we do not feel like the time we poured into and waited in Ethiopia was wasted because God worked on our hearts in that place. Maybe that is why he had us there. Evan calls all of our Ethiopia items that we have collected (books, puzzles, bags, etc.), "souvenirs of obedience". Ethiopia represents us saying "yes" to adoption. It is still very much a part of our story and our hearts.

8) How long will you have to be in China?

-Once we are at the end of this process, we will travel to China for 2 full weeks. The trip that we meet our son on, will be the same trip that we bring him home on. This fills my heart with so much peace. In Ethiopia you have to take 2 trips. One to meet your child and be declared their parents in court and then another several months later to bring your child home once paperwork is complete. The thought of having to meet our child and then leave them in Africa was heart wrenching. Any parent who goes through an Ethiopia adoption could tell you that has to be the hardest part. I am relieved we just do 1 trip with China.

9) What stage are you in now?

-We are in my favorite part of all (NOT!)...paperwork! I feel like I have done enough paperwork to last a lifetime. But at this point, I laugh in the face of paperwork and sometimes cry. But, we are now familiar with how much paperwork this requires and it is no longer intimidating, just another step on the to do list. So, while we are drowning in it AGAIN, we are pressing forward knowing it needs to be done. We are also beginning to review files, which is exciting and yet so heartbreaking. To see these children's stories, to realize the trauma they have been through is yet another reminder that we live in a broken world. It breaks our hearts that these kiddos are not with their biological families. It breaks my heart to see what they have had to overcome in their short little lives so far. But God is a God of redemption and we pray that each one of these kiddos can be placed in loving homes.


We hope this brings some clarity for those of you who have been faithfully following our journey. We are excited about how God is leading. If you have any other questions for us, feel free to send us a personal message. We will be sure to update on our FB page as this story unfolds, so stay tuned.

A BIG CHANGE!!!!

I am about to write words that I never thought that I would write in this adoption journey. It still seems surreal and yet God has guided and led and we have ended up in this place. So, here goes:

We are no longer adopting from Ethiopia. Wow, to type that out feels so strange! I could be sad, but I am not, because this was a God thing. In fact, I have some exciting news...

We have transferred to CHINA! We are adopting from CHINA! Our son will be from CHINA! Now, that feels even crazier to say!

I know I may have totally lost you and you may have a ton of questions going through your mind, so let me fill you in on how we got here.

If you have been keeping up with our story, you know that the Ethiopia program hit a new normal of VERY SLOW last year! We found out that the time frame that we were given when we started this adoption process had significantly increased (and I am talking years). We were upset, frustrated and confused. We knew that we were ready to welcome a child into our home way sooner than that time frame was offering us. We were told that if we wanted to transfer to another program within our agency, that most of our agency fees would transfer over.

That is when I started to panic and started researching every other option out there: other countries, domestic adoption, foster care, etc. We had never felt like we were called specifically to Ethiopia. We did feel like when we started we were called to a foreign country (my Haiti trip had much to do with this) and we happened to qualify for Ethiopia, so we went there. Our heart has always just been to give an orphan a loving family and home. The place was not specific to us.  I was spinning my wheels trying to figure out what to do and I hit an emotional break down on our way to Texas for Thanksgiving (my poor sweet social worker, got to hear me sob like a baby about how frustrated I was). She encouraged us to take a season of prayer over all of it.

Here's the truth, I didn't want to take a season of prayer. I wanted to move forward. We had been waiting in Ethiopia for a year and in this process for 2 years. We had prayed long enough! Now I needed to see some movement, some action, some progress. Yea, I won't be winning a gold medal for best attitude here. It was not a shining moment for me. At the same time, Evan had decided he felt led to teach a sermon series at our church. I asked him what he felt God was leading him to teach and he said "prayer." BAM...smack in the face!"OK God, I hear ya." So, I decided to stop researching and trying to fix this problem and Evan and I dedicated the rest of the year to being on our knees in prayer together over this adoption, over our son, over which direction God would want us to move, if he wanted us to move. I told myself that I would stop searching and if God wanted us to change directions, HE would reveal that to us. As soon as I came to this decision, I felt this insane peace that I had not felt in quite some time. All of my anxiety about what we were going to do had vanished. I KNEW this was HIS story and HE would make things clear to us when HE was ready.

On December 11th, we received an e-mail from our agency inviting us to a webinar for families in the Ethiopia program to be informed on what transferring to the China program would look like. I almost ignored it because we had already looked at the China program and we knew that based on some of the qualifications, we did not qualify. However, we signed up and figured it couldn't hurt to be better informed.  Five days later we were logged into the webinar and hearing about the China program. We were reminded of what the new Ethiopia expectations should be, which just kind of reiterated God closing the door for us in Ethiopia. We also found out that some families may receive a waiver to be able to enter China's special focus program, which includes children 3 and over with more moderate to severe special needs.

After some prayer, we decided to send in an application to see if we would qualify. Beforehand I prayed, "God you seem to be opening doors here, you brought this opportunity to us. If this is the direction you want us to take, please move mountains and let us qualify for this waiver. If this is not the path you have for our family, please close the door here by not allowing us to receive a waiver."

Well, as I am sure you figured out, we were granted the waiver and accepted into the China Special Focus Program. I almost could not believe it. We were transferring out of Ethiopia and into China. I could not have written this story this way. I thought my son would be from Ethiopia, but God had other plans. Both Evan and I had a peace about the move.

So here we are, a CHINA FAMILY now! It has been so crazy to see how our journey is unfolding. We are so excited to see how and when God leads us to our son. While there was so much time spent in Ethiopia, we do not feel like that time was wasted. God worked on our hearts in amazing ways during that wait. He pressed on us to be open to things that we would have never been open to when we started this journey. He prepares us, even when we are unaware of what He is doing.

Nothing is wasted, He works all things for good! His promise remains, forever He reigns!





We know that there will still be many questions that were not answered in this blog post and we want to answer those. So, if you have any, please send them to us via our FB page or email. We will be following up this post with a question and answer post to give you all a better idea of what all of this entails. So stay tuned in the next couple of weeks if you are wanting more clarity.

Thank you to everyone who has already shown us so much love and encouragement as we took this leap of faith!

Slowing Down...Experiencing Peace

I know some of you only check out our blog and I often forget to keep you posted on things here unless they are big. I tend to do mini updates on our FB page. If you don't follow us on FB, please be sure to do that. Here is a direct link to our FB page: McGinty Adoption: 8,568 Miles.

After our last post, I felt hopeless, stuck and confused. I expected no real movement any time soon. In November, there were no referrals. We have been searching other programs and trying to figure out where God wants us in this whole adoption journey. I have cried a lot and expressed my frustration, especially to my husband (poor thing) over and over. I felt like we needed to make a decision and a move quickly or else we were wasting precious time. There was no time to waste!

We both finally got to the point where we felt so overwhelmed with it all. Through a series of events and people speaking some truth to our hearts, we both came to the agreement that God wants us to slow down, stop looking for another program right now and spend a season in prayer, getting back to the roots of it all, HIM! So, for now, we are not rushing to find a new direction. If God presents something, or makes an obvious call to us to move, we will. But for now, we are staying right where we are, and really seeking Him, taking time daily individually, as a couple and as a family to pray specifically for everything involved in this adoption. We prayed before and we prayed individually a lot, but the longer we waited the more sparse it got and to be honest, we weren't really taking the time to have consistent prayer as a couple, which is vital!

As soon as we both talked about it and realized God wanted us to calm down, just sit and saturate in prayer and stop stressing over it all, I felt this crazy sense of peace. I don't know what the future holds. We may feel after a while that we do need to pursue another route. This is a daily walk and we intend to listen for His voice to guide us each step of the way. If he says move, we are willing to move. If he says stay, we want to stay. Right now, we feel like he is saying SIT at my feet and pour into me so I can pour into you.

The morning of December 1st I posted this status update:

It has been a while since I have felt peace. That afternoon we received our monthly update, this time with some good news. Eight children had been matched with families and we moved down the wait list 14 spots (some families did drop out of the program, so we moved a few extra spots)! WOWZERS! That was not what I was expecting! That is the most movement we have seen in a while. We were very encouraged by this news. We are still very far away from a referral as we sit at the top of the wait list inching our way down, but we are glad to see children being matched with their forever families again.

During this season of Advent, we are really focusing on this whole idea of slowing down. In the season that tends to be the most chaotic and stressful, we are making a conscious effort to go against the stream and really focus on Christ and the HOPE that comes along with the birth of the Savior, placing our plans in his hands and surrendering to His voice. We pray that as each of you are dealing with your own chaos this season, whatever that may be, that you will also take the time to just be still, seek Him, give Him the time He so deserves and desires with you. The craziness of life won't slow down. It just doesn't. There is never enough time. There will always be something to do, somewhere to be, answers we want now, things that need to be done. We have to choose to go against our flesh, to be still, and I truly believe he will give us the peace we ache for, the peace that ONLY He can give.

Stuck

If you have been following along on our journey, then you know that referrals have been slow in Ethiopia for a while. Not just slow... real slow, sometimes no movement at all. I told you all that our agency was taking a trip in September to meet with the Ethiopian government to find out what was causing this "slow down" and when things would pick back up. We were so anxious for this video, so that we could get some news. Whether encouraging or not, we just wanted to know the reality of the situation.

In October we received a video update from our agency that explained many things, including the fact that Ethiopia made it very clear that this should not be referred to as a "slow down" but a "new normal." There was a lot more to the video, but for blogging purposes, this is what it boils down to. Children are not being matched with families as quickly and smoothly as they were when we entered the Ethiopia program.

As Evan and I watched that video, we cried. We knew that this being a new normal meant a CRAZY, SUPER LONG time frame that we did not expect when we started this process. Many families have been hit hard by this news and after prayer and exploring other options, have decided to pursue adoptions domestically or from other countries. Some families have also stayed in the program, especially those that were close to the top of the wait list and expecting a referral of a child sooner rather than later. We are so far away from being matched, due to the lack of movement, so with a heavy heart, we are exploring our options.

Right now, we are in a stage of prayer and research. We are looking at our options and trying to be wise and follow God's lead on what he wants us to do. We do not want to react strictly on emotion, but with the guidance of the Holy Spirit and using discernment. I am saddened, frustrated, overwhelmed and feeling stuck to be honest. I do not have answers right now, but I ask you to pray for us please. Pray for direction, pray for peace, pray for finances, pray for all of those kids in Ethiopia stuck in orphanages. Our heart is still so FOR adoption and we still long to bring a child into our family. We feel like we have given our "yes" to God and he has been faithful in this walk, this is just a big speed bump in the process. The good news, there are other options, we just have to figure out how to get to them and which one we should pursue, if we should pursue any.

I have been dragging my feet on this update or lack of an update I guess, because sometimes I don't even want to think about it. Sometimes I pretend that everything is fine and we are moving along. Sometimes, I just don't know what to say or how to say it. Sometimes, I fear everyone giving me their opinion about what they think we should do. Sometimes, I am so emotional and stressed and I just cry and shut down. And sometimes, I thank God for this waiting period we had in Ethiopia, because our hearts are at a point where they were not when we started this adoption journey. God has stretched us and opened our hearts so much more than where they were when we got on the wait list a year ago. He's drawn us closer to him, and has still been refining a lot of the ugly in me. Good gracious y'all, I am a MESS! Thank God for his grace!

While this is not an update that I am happy to report, I feel like I need to let you guys know where we stand because you, covering us in prayer, would be so appreciated. When we come to a decision, I will be sure to update again. I don't know when that will be, but until then, thank you for lifting us up to the one who has this all in HIS hands. Love you guys!

Apparent Project Bracelet Fundraiser

I am so excited! I got the best package on my doorstep over the weekend. I opened it up and squealed with glee as beautiful colored beads poured out  onto my counter top. We will be selling beautiful paper bead bracelets from The Apparent Project. These bracelets come from a place near and dear to my heart, Haiti.

The Apparent Project works with local artisans teaching them how to make paper bead jewelry in order to provide them with jobs, so that they may provide for their family. They help keep families together by providing income, so that these mothers and fathers don't have to resort to giving their children up due to poverty. Many orphans in this world are "poverty orphans" simply because their families cannot afford to provide for them. That just saddens my heart.

We are thrilled to partner with them and sell these beauties for only $8 a piece ($10 with shipping). These bracelets are handmade from discarded cereal boxes, cracker boxes, oil drums and trash paper. How cool is that? A beautiful reminder of how God makes beauty from ashes.

When you purchase a bracelet, $4 dollars will go towards the Apparent Project and $4 will go towards our adoption. So, for a mere $8, you are really making your money stretch and making a difference for us and for families in Haiti.

Every bracelet is unique and full of color. Each bracelet also comes with a picture and short description of one of the artisans who makes them. It gives a great opportunity to pray over that person.

Now, I know it is only September, but I have already seen the Christmas decor in stores. These bracelets make great gifts and are super meaningful. Stock up for your family, friends, co workers, gift closet, etc.

May I also add that while these bracelets are beautiful on their own, they really make a statement when paired together with 2 or 3. I know you are getting that fall wardrobe ready, add that pop of color on your wrist. Check out how great they look together.

You can order by clicking on the Pay Pal "donate" button on the top left side of our blog. (If you are on a mobile device, you will need to click "view full web version" at the bottom of your screen.) If you need your bracelet shipped please pay $10 to cover the cost of shipping. Include how many bracelets you want and your shipping address.

Check out this video to see how the bracelets are made in Haiti and learn more about Apparent project. Thanks for your support!



Apparent Project- Beauty Changes Things from Corrigan Clay on Vimeo.

Abounding in love

For several months now I have been toiling over the idea of discerning God's will. I have wracked my brain trying to figure out the balance between discernment and lack of faith. Like how do you make a right choice sometimes when there doesn't seem to be a bad choice, but you need to make a choice?
How do you know when to just sit and wait and trust or when God is calling you to step up and step out, to be bold and make a move? How do you know if you are where He wants you? Am I lacking faith? Am I not stepping out enough? Am I not being patient enough or trusting enough? So many questions can drive a mama cray cray!

Many times lately I have verbalized that I wish God would just write the answer to my questions in the clouds. I have even been so silly as to look for hidden messages in things thinking maybe they hold the key to what God is trying to tell me (You know you have done that too at some point. I have been desperate y'all!) As if God has to be sneaky about His will. I am sure he is cracking up laughing as he hides secret messages to me all around and sees if I can figure them out like Nancy Drew. Yea, I doubt it! The truth is though, I have been searching for answers anywhere I think I can find them. God is not some mystical fortune teller, he is not playing scavenger hunt with me. He is a pretty forward God.

The truth is, I have all that I need to discern what his will is for me. I have his word (the Bible) and I have the Holy Spirit (God within me) to guide me. I also have amazing family and friends who encourage and challenge me to seek Him more. Because the reality is, the more I seek Him, the more I will know Him. The more I know Him, the more I will want to look like him and act like him. The more I look like him and act like him, the more that I won't be waiting around for a sign. I am not saying we shouldn't be patient and careful and wise and pray about decisions we make, but if we are lining things up with God's word and really being led by the Spirit, it isn't so tough.

I have been reading in Philippians lately and this verse popped out to me and was kind of like my writing in the clouds, except it was in the Bible. Gee, who would have thunk it?

Philippians 1:9

"And this is my prayer, that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, SO THAT YOU MAY BE ABLE TO DISCERN WHAT IS BEST and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ---to the glory and praise of God."

The knowledge and depth of insight all stem from LOVE. Love helps us to discern what is best. Now I am not talking about love like we throw love around these days, "I love pumpkin scented candles," "I love pumpkin cheesecake," "I love pumpkin spice tea." (I may have a slight pumpkin obsession right now). We are talking LOVE like Jesus demonstrated. If I look at the gospel, Jesus' idea of love was a lot different than our typical idea of love. He was out there, loving on people, really seeing them and relating to them, responding to their needs, healing them, hanging out with those that people despised or didn't want to be around, serving, teaching, pointing those around him to his Heavenly Father, laying down his life. The more I love, the more insight I have to what God wants for me. Love God, Love People...simple as that!

So for me, it comes down to this: Am I loving like Jesus? Am I being bold and brave and really LOVING the way he loved, the way he loves? Am I risking it all for the sake of Christ? See when we start to love like the Father, the answers to our questions of God's will become more obvious, I just think sometimes we don't really want to know the answer because that makes us uncomfortable and sometimes that just totally jacks up OUR PLANS! I think if we were really filtering our questions/decisions through God's word, our lives would look MUCH different, don't you?

 I am no longer waiting for some answer in the clouds or trying to close my eyes and open my Bible right smack to the passage God wants me to read so I can have a definitive answer on the direction he has for us. My challenge to myself is to seek Him more, look more like Him, act more like Him, LOVE more like Him and I am confident that I will be right where He wants me...in His good and perfect will.

Waiting for some clarity

 I thought I would update everyone since it has been a while. The truth is, there is not much to update. Like every first of the month, we got a new wait list number and a monthly update from our agency on August 1st. We BARELY inched at all up the wait list for a referral. We are so far away guys, like so far away that I really wonder if this will ever happen. Things have just slowed so incredibly much in Ethiopia. When we started this process we were told 18-24 months wait for a referral. While we have only (it seems like forever) been on the wait list for 9 months, that timeline has changed. In fact, wait list times have increased a good bit since then. If I do the math based on the average amount of referrals given out each month, we could potentially be waiting 7 years. I just don't think I have that in me guys! Of course it could always move faster than that, but based on what we have seen so far, I am  trying to prepare myself.

While, yes, we desire to have another child, and if we did not feel led to adopt, we would have been pregnant by now, we also want to meet a need. There are so many children out there who need good homes, good families, who are ready to love them, give them care, stability and teach them the gospel. We are ready for that. It is hard to sit back and WAIT knowing we could be that for a child right now.

We were told in our monthly update, that in September, the director of our agency will be traveling to Ethiopia to meet with government officials who handle adoptions, in order to see what the future of the Ethiopia program looks like. Honestly, I am a little nervous to see what they find out. Until then, we are sitting still, trying to be patient, not making any moves. We are hoping that after we receive word about their trip, God will give us clarity about how to move forward with this process. If he wants us to stay put and wait it out in Ethiopia, or if he wants to move us in a different direction. I have no idea what that could even potentially look like, but we want to be open and willing to go where God wants us. We are simply HIS instruments and He is writing this story, not us. We do not want to make decisions based on emotion only, but filter everything we do through His word, prayer and encouragement from those we love and trust.

We are confident that we are in his will and we still have such a strong desire to adopt and love a child. Things are quiet, but our hearts are still aching and our son is somewhere out there. We continue to pray for our little (or big) guy every day. We know God will continue to direct our steps and we wait with anticipation to bring Brother home when God matches us with him and says it is time. Prayers for clarity, direction and peace are always greatly appreciated!