LOA's

We was so excited to find our LOA's (letter of acceptance) this morning when we opened our email.  Literally hours before a 10 day shut down in Ch*na.  Now everything that needs to happen is in the states.  We are still hoping for a January 5 gotcha day for Selah and January 12 for Shane.  It's in the hands of the Chicago consulate to decide that for us now.  If they can't get our visas processed before January 1st then we will do Shane's January 12 gotcha day first and then the following week would be Selah's.  We are hoping for the first plan since it would mean one less plane ride in country which equals less money.  Things have been hitting at a very fast pace which is good so we can bring home Shane in time but this picture I had in my mind when we first started the adoption process has totally been destroyed.  I don't look at it as a bad thing but only preparation of things to come.  God wants me to totally trust Him in all areas of my life.  That's truly what I want but sometimes I try to grab it back thinking I can work it out faster or better.  This adoption thing has been totally out of our control.  We have been running to catch up with the amazing things God has been doing and doors that He has been opening.  Clear back in Feb on my way home from grocery shopping God told me to get a big jar to start collecting money in it for the adoption.  The only jar I had was a 2 gallon one.  I laughingly pulled it out of the cupboard and showed it to Andrew.  We decided to dream big and deemed that to be our jar.  Through the months that jar has been filling and filling in amazing ways.  The most touching was two cousins dumping in all their piggy bank money to bring home two new cousins.  Several times through the months we would be tempted to pull it out and count it just for our own peace of mind about where we was at in the funding of this adoption but every time we would go to do it God said wait.  Wait until when?  Until God said it was time which was Christmas eve.  We counted the jar which weighed over twenty pounds and was 3/4 full of cash and change.  We estimated that there was $2500-$3000 dollars in there.  The stocking total was $4801.  Why was it stocking?  This is God we are talking about.  I believe that this jar has been like the story in the Bible of the loaves and fishes.  It just kept multiplying.  In two weeks we have went from needing $18,000 to probably around $5000 from being 100% funded.  This has all been because of all of you who have understood what it takes to bring home orphans no more.  You have been the hands and feet of Jesus to us and them.  We stand in awe!

The money jar

 

Missing two at Christmas

Updates

Friday December 19th we were DTC and today we are LID with hopes of having our LOA by Friday before the week long China shut down.  We spoke with our social worker this morning who is committed to working on her Christmas break if need be to make all this happen in time to hopefully be traveling in less than 2 weeks in pick up Selah first and then Shane a week later with a total time in China being 3 weeks.  I will have to say that we are a mixture of weary and excited all rolled into one.  I'm hoping to finish up a couple things today and then take a couple day break from adoption things to focus in on our family before the final crazy push.  Merry Christmas everyone!

Photo credit goes to https://annewithanephotography.wordpress.com/

His name is Shane

I'm finally getting around to sharing the story behind Shane's name.  We had been struggling with coming up with a name that we liked that was short and yet strong sounding and was beginning to wonder if maybe we would use his file name of Haden.  We liked Haden but yet it didn't seem special to just use the generic file name.  One night we decided as a family to have 10 minutes of quiet time together with the Lord to listen to what He would tell us for a name.  About 4-5 minutes into it the Holy Spirit says to me his name is Shane.  Then starts the 5 minutes of me arguing because it's not my pick of names and I could list more reasons.  (I'm sorry if your name is Shane!)  When time was up Andrew asked if anyone had heard anything and I'm sitting there thinking I'm not going to speak what I heard because then it speaks it into action.  While the family is talking I'm looking up the meaning of the name Shane.  His name means God is gracious; gift from God.  After reading that I knew I had no choice but to share with everyone what I had been told.  We talked about it off and on for a couple days and then one night I had a dream.  In my dream the Holy Spirit is saying over and over his name is Shane in a very strong way.  I still was being stubborn about this whole name thing and had to argue in my dream again.  Then He said you like the name Laine how is that different from Shane and then I knew that HIS NAME IS SHANE.  We are still getting use to it and are learning to like it.  God has been putting this together in a perfect way and I know that I can trust Him but somehow I thought I had a better name!

A Story That Only God Could Write

About 4 weeks ago we realized that the young man that we had pursued before Selah still didn't have a family and he's aging out in January.  So we talked to our social worker about how we still felt about him and we were willing to consider bringing home two.  That started a journey of WAITING and answering questions and answering questions again that stretched us so much.  We understand why our agency was slow to approve us for two since this isn't something they normally do and we haven't ever adopted before.  Through this time we came into contact with a family in Utah that was raising money for a family to bring him home which lead us to connecting with her sister too.  These two connections and lots of other family and friends praying for us is what got us through the doubts, wondering of what the agency would say, and wanting to give up because it seemed so hard.  This Tuesday Dec 2 Lifeline said yes and today Dec 4 we received our PA (pre-approval) from Ch*na super fast.  Our last two days have been mountains of paperwork and sending so many expedited things.  We are so happy that the door was closed for this young man earlier because we found our daughter Selah which wouldn't of happened if we said yes to this young mans file back in May.  It will take a miracle to get him before his birthday but know that God is writing this story and we get to set back and watch it happen.  Not that we are literally sitting in case you wondered.  We have bedrooms to move around, paperwork, clothes to gather but know no sizes yet, paperwork, Christmas to think about for our family, probably more paperwork, more grants to fill out since we aren't completely funded yet, and the list goes on and on until my mind hardly will stop to get some sleep.  So we would like to introduce you to our new son who right now we haven't even had time to come up with a name.

His file name is Haden and we may end up naming him that because that is all we have known him as the last 8 months.  I really don't like asking for money but if you would like to help bring home our to children I'm going to share a link that where you can donate.

http://www.youcaring.com/adoption-fundraiser/help-haden-get-a-home-/262236

There are not enough words to even express this amazing experience so far and the community of people behind us.  Thank you for all you have done or are doing to help bring home our children.

Life After the Quilt

Today I parted with the Seahawks quilt which has been my side kick for several weeks now.  I really didn't want to keep it since I'm really not a football fan but yet there was a part of me that was sad to see it go too.  In a small way it was a tangible link to Selah.  Well anyway lets get past the sentimental things and move on to the fundraiser results.  From the bake sale, raffle tickets, and donations at the events we added $1500 to our adoption fund.  Thanks to each one of you that donated whether time quilting the quilt or money.  It was all greatly appreciated.  We can't wait to share with Selah how many people were behind getting her home.

The winner Jackie Doyle

 

And the winner is...........

JACKIE DOYLE!!!!  Congrats on your touchdown!

Raffle Drawing

We will be drawing a winner tonight at 6:00pm for the Seahawks quilt.  Details will be posted soon after.

Quilt Raffle

I want to share about this amazing idea that has totally been a God thing the whole way.  A few months ago I set out to make a baby quilt that we would raffle off for a fundraiser.  In fact I was at Joann Fabrics getting the finishing supplies when this idea came to me.  Make a Seahawks lap quilt.  First off I'm not a football fan and didn't even know their colors.  So home I went to check out Pinterest Seahawks quilt ideas.  I found one but no instructions came with the lovely picture so on to a geometry lesson and practice blocks to make sure everything was right.  I now have a pattern that maybe when I'm done with it I will share.  The quilt was finished with record speed for me and thanks to some lovely ladies from church for their machine quilting abilities. Quilt size is 65 x 72. Opportunities continue to open up for us to share this with different people like the local newspaper, a local TV station, and a donated booth at a craft bazaar.  Here's a picture of the quilt.

 

 

 

We are now selling $2.00 raffle tickets until Novemebr 22.  You can purchase tickets several different ways.  The preferred way is to mail us a check:

 

Andrew & Sherrie Miller

3512 Cedar Rd

Pasco, WA 99301

 

Another way is to donate through the Paypal link on the right side of this blog.  Then shoot us a email telling us how many tickets you purchased at

 

andshemiller@gmail.com

 

One more option is through this fundraising site:

 

 http://adopttogether.org/selahgrace  

 

You would need to email us and let us know how many tickets with this option too.  Then we will be out in the community at different spots selling tickets.  We will be out at Hapo Credit Union 4902 N Road 68 Pasco on November 15th 9-3 selling baked goods and raffle tickets.  November 22 we will be at Calvary Chapel 10611 W Clearwater Ave, Kennewick, WA 99336 with a table at their craft bazaar.  We will take custom orders for quilts with team of your choice also.  Contact us for more details.     509-727-7476

 

We are really excited about this fundraiser and see God show off like only He can do!

Benefit Chili Dinner

September 26 some of our good friends put together a awesome benefit dinner for us.  Early on we thought about doing something like this but every time Andrew & I would talk about it we would get overwhelmed with how to make it happen.  It was a night of blessing to us.  I think the biggest thing was to see a community of people from all walks of life there to support us in bringing Selah home.  Some day she will see the pictures and read all the messages wrote to her and understand the community that is behind her.  We had two fundraisers that weekend which brought in almost $4000.  WOW!!  Which now makes us a little over half funded for those who are interested in the financial details.  We have spent October applying for lots of adoption grants, compiling documents for the dossier, and biometric fingerprinting.  Everything is sitting in Birmingham, AL waiting fingerprinting results.  When that is in everything will be notarized and dossier will be sent to China.  From what I understand then begins the long waiting process.  We are probably 7-8 months from travel if everything moves the way it has been lately.  It feels great to be mostly done with the mountains of paperwork that I'm sure won't be forgotten anytime soon.  Here's some pictures of our benefit evening.

 

 

Beautiful setting

 

The chili server

 

Kiddos bobbing for apples

 

The cotton candy tent

 

The community of people

 

 



So Many Questions

So many questions having been running through my mind about Selah.  What did she think about finding out she has a family?  What did she think of all the pictures we sent her of us?  Is someone taking good care of her while she waits?  How long is this going to take?  Can we be there before her birthday in the spring?  Are just a few of the non stop questions running around in my mind.  Someday I know we will have the answers.  Until then we wait and pray for her everyday.  God did the calling and someday I expect to find out how He was encouraging her while she waited and wondered if anyone would pick her.  Sounds crazy but I miss her and don't even know her.  That's a God thing!

Benefit Dinner

Some of our wonderful friends are hosting a benefit

chili dinner for us.

 

Everyone is invited!

The Long Silence

This blog has been silent for to long!  The craziness of summer, visiting family, and adoption paperwork/education has kept us BUSY!  We do have some exciting news.  Yesterday we received our PA (pre-approval) to adopt this sweetheart. 

 

 

 

After many name discussions and a family vote her name is.......SELAH GRACE which means "to praise, pause, reflect the grace of God".  Today we have our rough draft of our home study in our hands after 8 long months.  Hoping to get that finalized soon and then on to our dossier since we are now on a ticking 6 month deadline to have that submitted. 

 

Another exciting piece of news is we received our first grant from http://belongandbeloved.blogspot.com/

 

We are hoping to have some fundraisers coming up to help with our expenses.  If have you ideas on that or wish to help with your talents let us know.  There's also a link to our paypal account above if you would like to invest in bringing home a child. 

 

Thanks for all your support and prayers on this exciting journey with all its many twists and turns!



John Waller "Orphan"

Haden

In the past couple weeks we have become interested in a young man in China that is aging out in Jan 2014.  We are very interested in him but not sure how it's going to work out because of timing and insurance problems thanks to Obama Care.  So we are going to advocate for him in hopes that someone can give him a home.

 

Haden - 13 year old, male.

13 year old Haden is a handsome, bright boy who desires a family. Haden is healthy, and developmentally on target for his age. He loves sports and especially track. He enjoys math is described as very friendly! Please email Emily.Flynt@lifelinechild.org for more information.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's a video of him:

 

http://cristchronicles.wordpress.com/2014/05/24/a-family-is-warm-and-inviting/

 

 

 

Another Fundraiser

My sister-in-law is putting together a Pampered Chef fundraiser for us.  Here's the link to order if you would like to help out.  Thanks in advance!  In case you are wondering it costs $35,000-$40,000 to adopt from China. 

http://new.pamperedchef.com/pws/conniebuescher/guest-landing/8872676736155

Real Life

We are in the crazy home study part of our adoption journey.  When we first starting thinking seriously about getting started on our home study I thought it would be a perfect time since it was winter and Andrew would have more time.  Well everything has taken longer than expected mostly due to things on our end.  We find ourselves ready to start the education part and Andrew’s so busy that I don’t want to give up our precious time together to do training.   So we are on hold again until farm work slows down.  It’s hard to be patient yet I know God’s has got this perfect timing thing figured out.  One thing that we have experience firsthand already is the spiritual attack to discourage us on this journey mentally, in our marriage, and on our finances.   So thankful that Jesus delivers us out of ALL our troubles and that He has a marvelous glorious plan for this journey!  We covet your prayers for clear direction and courage to continue to fight to for a life/lives when it feels like all hell breaks loose in our home.

The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.                Psalms 34:17  

                                                                                                                                         

 

Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:             Philippians 1:6

 

Adoption Fundraiser

Andrew's niece Alyssa Minter is donating 10% of her sales in March-April toward our adoption fund.  Check her web site for cute Jamberry Nail selections.

http://alyjo89.jamberrynails.net/party/?uid=4825bfda-d2c4-408a-9f4a-f2bcc61096d4

Meet the Miller's

We are a happy farming homeschooling family of seven who loves Jesus Christ and was transplanted from Indiana to Washington sixteen years ago.  Along this journey has come the gentle knocking at the door of our hearts to open them up for the orphans around the world.  We have stepped forward in faith and said yes to our first adoption from China.  While life seems busy, money seems tight, and reason would say no faith says yes.  We are so glad we can trust Him on this new exciting journey

 

But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.  Philippians 4:19