Well less than twenty four hours after my last post, we got the call we have been waiting for...TA had arrived! We leave in two weeks and Gotcha Day will be 6/16! In this time, we are finishing up trainings, applying for our visas, arranging flights and gathering everything else necessary for China. I am in full nesting mode. Cleaning, sorting, purging and shopping. I don't understand why my mind thinks that cleaning the master bedroom helps but somehow in my nesting mind, it does.
Keep those prayers coming. Please add traveling mercies to our prayer requests as well as Daniel's health. I spoke with our agency worker this morning and she warned us that over half of the children coming home right now have an icky cold bug. I guess it has much to do with the weather and pollution this time of year. Both of the girls' Gotcha days were in June and July and I remember them both having runny noses. Please especially pray for Daniel as he will be leaving all he knows behind. We know it is all good but for him, this might be a scary and confusing time. We thank you for surrounding us in prayer. I know many of you have been faithful prayer warriors on our behalf and I just want you to know we have felt them.
If you would like to help with our adoption costs, tax deductible donations can be made at our family sponsorship page on Reece's Rainbow at this link: http://reecesrainbow.org/?s=Rakoczy . I can't thank you enough for the prayer, support and love y'all have shown our family throughout this adoption.
Thursday, May 29, 2014
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
Not Long Now...
We are in the final stretch...our Article 5 is now at the CCCWA. In the next week or two we should receive our TA (travel approval). Last week I was having a pretty rough morning and honestly would have preferred to
hop back in bed and avoid all the stress that plagued me, but I received an
email that changed all of that. We received our final update of Daniel! He hasn't grown much but is 3cm taller. The best part of updates are getting new pictures. Upon seeing his beautiful smile and bright eyes, I immediately went into nesting mode. I don't have time to crawl back into bed or dwell on my difficult day. There is still much to do. My boy is coming home next month and there is no time to waste.
Would you like to help Daniel get home? First and foremost, we appreciate and covet your prayers. Over this last year, prayer has sustained our family. I know because we have felt nothing but peace with every step and hurdle in this adoption. Specifically, we pray for our paperwork to be processed without any issues; for Daniel's preparation to join our family; for our older children to prepare for a new sibling; for travel arrangements to fall into place; and for all the remaining funds to come in. If you feel led to help with funds you can donate to our tax-deductible Reece's Rainbow fund at http://reecesrainbow.org/?s=rakoczy. Also we have one last fundraiser selling the popular Usborne books for children. The Usborne consultant generously donates her profit to our adoption.
Click to Usborne Books For Daniel's Adoption
Please know that we are so grateful to those who have have supported us in prayer, finances, or emotional and physical aid. We feel so blessed you chose to come along side us on this journey. The Lord has been faithful to surround us with such a loving and caring community. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
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| Isn't he the cutest? |
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| I love this gorgeous picture he drew. |
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| Can't wait for him to run into our arms! |
Click to Usborne Books For Daniel's Adoption
Please know that we are so grateful to those who have have supported us in prayer, finances, or emotional and physical aid. We feel so blessed you chose to come along side us on this journey. The Lord has been faithful to surround us with such a loving and caring community. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
Monday, May 5, 2014
What a Difference a Year Makes
As the children and I wind down our school year, anticipating our long awaited summer break, I cannot help but reflect on where we were this time last year. Last May, we had not found Daniel yet. We did not even have China on the radar. This time last year I was still talking to multiple agencies, watching various waiting children lists, and praying for the Lord to reveal our child to us. We were cautious to commit, as our hearts were still hurting over the loss of our Archie with the Russian ban on adoptions, but we knew the rough road behind us was not happenstance and our God had a plan for our family. Archie is forever in my heart. He paved the way for us to open our home to another child. Please pray a Russian family sees him as theirs. I still think of him as our son, but he needs the love of a family that can adopt him.
What a difference a year makes! We are closing in on the final steps before we travel for Daniel. Right now we are awaiting the preliminary visa approval for Daniel. The paperwork bundle for that step is called the Article 5. Today our agency team walked our bundle into the US consulate in China. It takes exactly two weeks to process. So two weeks from today, the team will pick up our Article 5 and overnight it to Beijing to the CCCWA (China Center for Children's Welfare and Adoptions). We then wait for our TA (travel approval). Based on the timelines of others who recently traveled the time frame from Article 5 to TA is approximately 2-3 weeks. This puts us traveling in June! I cannot wait to wrap my arms around this sweet boy and call him ours!
Please continue to pray for Daniel's preparation to join our family. He has many huge changes in his future. His entire world is about to be rocked. I love him already and pray he will love us soon too.
What a difference a year makes! We are closing in on the final steps before we travel for Daniel. Right now we are awaiting the preliminary visa approval for Daniel. The paperwork bundle for that step is called the Article 5. Today our agency team walked our bundle into the US consulate in China. It takes exactly two weeks to process. So two weeks from today, the team will pick up our Article 5 and overnight it to Beijing to the CCCWA (China Center for Children's Welfare and Adoptions). We then wait for our TA (travel approval). Based on the timelines of others who recently traveled the time frame from Article 5 to TA is approximately 2-3 weeks. This puts us traveling in June! I cannot wait to wrap my arms around this sweet boy and call him ours!
Please continue to pray for Daniel's preparation to join our family. He has many huge changes in his future. His entire world is about to be rocked. I love him already and pray he will love us soon too.
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
Snoopy Dancing at the Courthouse!
I am on a break right now for my jury duty, so I don't have a ton of time, but I am doing a little Snoopy dance right now because I just got an email from our agency and we have our LOA (Letter of Acceptance). This is huge as it dictates how soon we will travel to adopt Daniel. Once we sign and return all of the documents with the LOA, we should receive TA (travel approval) roughly 9-10 weeks after. So I am expecting TA in early June and hopefully travel soon after. :) Hang in there, Daniel! Mommy and Daddy are coming soon!
Thursday, March 13, 2014
Progress: Better Late than Never
I know. I know...I haven't blogged in nearly two months. Life has just been busy and I have struggled to find time to blog. I am currently taking two college classes in hopes of eventually completing my Bachelor's degree. My Couch to 5K training program is challenging but I am still plugging along and plan to fly to Texas next month to run in the race. Apparently the Lord didn't think I had enough to keep me busy. This last month I also have been serving on a jury for a murder trial. The case is very interesting but the timing sure is inconvenient. I believe we are expected to have another two to three weeks in court. Jury duty is like a full time job with no pay. Well it isn't zero pay but it might as well be zip because by the time I eat lunch and pay for gas, my $18/ day is gone. In the midst of all this chaos, we have had some wonderful visits from several out of state loved ones and have enjoyed catching up with each of them. We are very grateful to have friends and family that continue to enrich our lives.
So now that I have caught you up on the last two crazy months, I'm sure what you really want to read is how our adoption is progressing. Well, our dossier, the gathered papers we have been working on for the last eight months, was officially sent to China on January 31 (DTC). This happened to coincide with the Chinese New Year which means it then sat on someone's desk until the holiday was complete and folks came back to the office. We found out our dossier was logged in on February 14, Valentine's Day. As of right now, we are eagerly awaiting news that we are out of translation. I know several other families who share the same log-in-date (LID) and are already out-of-translation (OOT). I have hounded our social worker multiple times to recheck our progress on-line and she continues to report there has been no change in our status. I can only guess we must have landed on the slow worker's desk. Oh well! I know God has got this and His timing is always perfect and never late. So I will continue to trust that our next step will happen exactly when it is suppose to and that our Daniel will be home when our Father has all the details in place. As it stands right now, we are still on track to travel this summer!
Well, now you're all caught up on our progress. Please continue to pray for Daniel, that our Father is preparing him to be in our family and for continued maintenance of his health. Also, continue to pray for our dossier progress, fundraising efforts, and preparation for us to receive Daniel into our family. We cannot thank you enough for all of your prayers. We appreciate and covet each one.
So now that I have caught you up on the last two crazy months, I'm sure what you really want to read is how our adoption is progressing. Well, our dossier, the gathered papers we have been working on for the last eight months, was officially sent to China on January 31 (DTC). This happened to coincide with the Chinese New Year which means it then sat on someone's desk until the holiday was complete and folks came back to the office. We found out our dossier was logged in on February 14, Valentine's Day. As of right now, we are eagerly awaiting news that we are out of translation. I know several other families who share the same log-in-date (LID) and are already out-of-translation (OOT). I have hounded our social worker multiple times to recheck our progress on-line and she continues to report there has been no change in our status. I can only guess we must have landed on the slow worker's desk. Oh well! I know God has got this and His timing is always perfect and never late. So I will continue to trust that our next step will happen exactly when it is suppose to and that our Daniel will be home when our Father has all the details in place. As it stands right now, we are still on track to travel this summer!
Well, now you're all caught up on our progress. Please continue to pray for Daniel, that our Father is preparing him to be in our family and for continued maintenance of his health. Also, continue to pray for our dossier progress, fundraising efforts, and preparation for us to receive Daniel into our family. We cannot thank you enough for all of your prayers. We appreciate and covet each one.
Saturday, January 18, 2014
Changing My Mind
Over my forty plus years, I have seen how my likes and dislikes change over time. As a child I hated broccoli and zucchini. At some point in my teens, I made a conscious decision that I was going to eat vegetables so I might as well find a way to enjoy them. At first, I faked it pretending to like them on the outside but gagging them down with each swallow. Over time, I found I was gagging less and enjoying them more. Today, I love those vegetables. It is such a simple example of how, our minds can be retrained to think differently.
Once an avid non-coffee drinker, a young girl I was mentoring at church, opened up a whole new world to me with a simple white chocolate mocha. My conversion experience was partly due to the fact it was so very delicious. A stronger factor than its yumminess though, was my desire to bond with a high school girl who most likely felt she had nothing in common with me. What I had once thought of as bitter nastiness has changed to warmth and comfort. I now cannot function properly without a cup or two of coffee each morning.
In school I always was a hard working student, earning good grades even in subjects I disliked, like history. History felt like some cruel form of torture to me. I would at least try to stay awake through the lectures, try to do the assigned reading, and tried to prepare for the daily quizzes. All of my efforts were made with hope that I could earn a decent grade out of the class. I never anticipated I might possibly enjoy this subject.
Fast forward fifteen years later. I am homeschooling three of my children. We are using a literature based unit study curriculum for US history. Ya, the history I hated with a passion in high school. Reliving and relearning US history with my children opened my eyes to a subject I had long given up on. I actually had fun teaching history. I think my children enjoyed learning history. I'm grateful I did not let my own doubts and previous boredom with history deter me from diving into a curriculum that made history come to life for all of us.
When I was in high school, many of my friends took up long distance running. They made running look effortless, without pain, and boasted of a rush or high that came with running long distances. I not being a runner, decided to support our team and hang with my friends as a track stat. I helped with timing, measuring, and recording of the team stats. I had a great time. So the following year, I decided I could have even more fun by joining the team and running as well. I did like being on a team with all my friends but it was a lot of work. It is not effortless or painless. I never experienced the runners high everyone else boasted of plus I was the worst runner on the whole team. My very best efforts felt like failures. I typically ran a 7:00 mile and my best mile time ever was 6:25, at least a full minute slower than every other girl on the team. During practices, my teammates always left me in the dust. I ran out of fear that at any moment Coach would drive by in his white pick up truck, hang his megaphone out the window and yell, " pick up the speed, McAndrews!" Needless to say, after high school, I hung up those track shoes, grateful to never have to run ever again.
Again fast forward...our Texas home church family is doing a Bible based Couch to 5k, called Run for God. Had we been living in TX still, I would have signed up immediately just for the fellowship. Since we are now in CA though I felt off the hook. Which in a way saddened me because at the end of the 12 weeks of training is a 5k race that benefits a very sweet couple's adoption. I was messaging one of the organizers of the program on a totally unrelated topic one day, when she encouraged me to participate in Run for God. I was armed with an arsenal of excuses but none could stand up to the argument that I haven't left my couch in years and get winded climbing my stairs. I am way too young to feel this old! I knew I needed a change. So I am once again going to change my mind. I will enjoy running. I have decided if I think of running like it is a dance, I will keep putting one foot in front of the other. I have my interval timer programmed, the iPod on shuffle, and magical running shoes. I have let go of the mindset that a 6:25 mile is pitiful. I have let go of the fear, I will let my team mates down. The only way I could do that is by not showing up and going back to the couch. At the end of the twelve weeks, I plan to fly to TX and participate in the benefit race.
If you would like more information for that race, it is at this link: Waiting 4 Dallas 5K. The money raised from that race will go toward the adoption of baby Dallas. We are so very familiar with the high cost of adoption but know all our efforts are so worth it once our children are home.
So would you like to join my team? I need folks who can encourage me and support me. Prayers and notes of encouragement would be greatly appreciated. I am also looking for personal sponsors for race day. Every person who sponsors me, regardless of amount will get their name written on my race T-shirt. You will go with me as I train and race. Also, for every person who sponsors me at least $25, I will send you one of our custom adoption t-shirts. So you would be helping me get healthy while helping us raise the necessary fees for Daniel's adoption. You can donate to our tax deductible account on Reece's Rainbow or PayPal to rakoczy_99@gmx.com. Remember to leave t-shirt size and shipping address either on paypal or in the blog comments.
As a parent, I have sacrificed much for my children. Parents seek ways to insure their children have the things and experiences they need to grow into mature, loving, compassionate, responsible people. My hope is that my children will now witness mommy taking care of herself. I have done a poor job modeling regular exercise to my children. I want them to learn stewardship of these bodies we have been given. In addition, I have Daniel coming home soon and it would be nice to not be winded chasing him up the stairs. So I am changing my mind. I am making exercise a priority in my life. Maybe it will be my next side of vegetables, cup of coffee, or history adventure. Maybe not, but I will never know if I don't try.
Once an avid non-coffee drinker, a young girl I was mentoring at church, opened up a whole new world to me with a simple white chocolate mocha. My conversion experience was partly due to the fact it was so very delicious. A stronger factor than its yumminess though, was my desire to bond with a high school girl who most likely felt she had nothing in common with me. What I had once thought of as bitter nastiness has changed to warmth and comfort. I now cannot function properly without a cup or two of coffee each morning.
In school I always was a hard working student, earning good grades even in subjects I disliked, like history. History felt like some cruel form of torture to me. I would at least try to stay awake through the lectures, try to do the assigned reading, and tried to prepare for the daily quizzes. All of my efforts were made with hope that I could earn a decent grade out of the class. I never anticipated I might possibly enjoy this subject.
Fast forward fifteen years later. I am homeschooling three of my children. We are using a literature based unit study curriculum for US history. Ya, the history I hated with a passion in high school. Reliving and relearning US history with my children opened my eyes to a subject I had long given up on. I actually had fun teaching history. I think my children enjoyed learning history. I'm grateful I did not let my own doubts and previous boredom with history deter me from diving into a curriculum that made history come to life for all of us.
When I was in high school, many of my friends took up long distance running. They made running look effortless, without pain, and boasted of a rush or high that came with running long distances. I not being a runner, decided to support our team and hang with my friends as a track stat. I helped with timing, measuring, and recording of the team stats. I had a great time. So the following year, I decided I could have even more fun by joining the team and running as well. I did like being on a team with all my friends but it was a lot of work. It is not effortless or painless. I never experienced the runners high everyone else boasted of plus I was the worst runner on the whole team. My very best efforts felt like failures. I typically ran a 7:00 mile and my best mile time ever was 6:25, at least a full minute slower than every other girl on the team. During practices, my teammates always left me in the dust. I ran out of fear that at any moment Coach would drive by in his white pick up truck, hang his megaphone out the window and yell, " pick up the speed, McAndrews!" Needless to say, after high school, I hung up those track shoes, grateful to never have to run ever again.
Again fast forward...our Texas home church family is doing a Bible based Couch to 5k, called Run for God. Had we been living in TX still, I would have signed up immediately just for the fellowship. Since we are now in CA though I felt off the hook. Which in a way saddened me because at the end of the 12 weeks of training is a 5k race that benefits a very sweet couple's adoption. I was messaging one of the organizers of the program on a totally unrelated topic one day, when she encouraged me to participate in Run for God. I was armed with an arsenal of excuses but none could stand up to the argument that I haven't left my couch in years and get winded climbing my stairs. I am way too young to feel this old! I knew I needed a change. So I am once again going to change my mind. I will enjoy running. I have decided if I think of running like it is a dance, I will keep putting one foot in front of the other. I have my interval timer programmed, the iPod on shuffle, and magical running shoes. I have let go of the mindset that a 6:25 mile is pitiful. I have let go of the fear, I will let my team mates down. The only way I could do that is by not showing up and going back to the couch. At the end of the twelve weeks, I plan to fly to TX and participate in the benefit race.
If you would like more information for that race, it is at this link: Waiting 4 Dallas 5K. The money raised from that race will go toward the adoption of baby Dallas. We are so very familiar with the high cost of adoption but know all our efforts are so worth it once our children are home.
So would you like to join my team? I need folks who can encourage me and support me. Prayers and notes of encouragement would be greatly appreciated. I am also looking for personal sponsors for race day. Every person who sponsors me, regardless of amount will get their name written on my race T-shirt. You will go with me as I train and race. Also, for every person who sponsors me at least $25, I will send you one of our custom adoption t-shirts. So you would be helping me get healthy while helping us raise the necessary fees for Daniel's adoption. You can donate to our tax deductible account on Reece's Rainbow or PayPal to rakoczy_99@gmx.com. Remember to leave t-shirt size and shipping address either on paypal or in the blog comments.
As a parent, I have sacrificed much for my children. Parents seek ways to insure their children have the things and experiences they need to grow into mature, loving, compassionate, responsible people. My hope is that my children will now witness mommy taking care of herself. I have done a poor job modeling regular exercise to my children. I want them to learn stewardship of these bodies we have been given. In addition, I have Daniel coming home soon and it would be nice to not be winded chasing him up the stairs. So I am changing my mind. I am making exercise a priority in my life. Maybe it will be my next side of vegetables, cup of coffee, or history adventure. Maybe not, but I will never know if I don't try.
Thursday, January 9, 2014
They're Back!
I have had several folks ask me to do another order of our adoption T-shirt. If you missed them last time, they're back! T-shirts are made from 100% preshrunk cotton and are available in sizes youth M-XL and adult size S-XXXL. $23 includes shipping. Paypal to rakoczy_99@gmx.com with payment, t-shirt size and shipping address. We need to sell at least thirteen t-shirts to place an order.
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