I-797C? I thought we were awaiting an I-171H!

Well it finally came! Yes,it came last week in the mail, that long awaited envelope from the Department of Homeland Security, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. I had tears in my eyes! :-) And, although it was a different number form than we expected, it was correct! We've been approved to adopt 2 children from Taiwan! It even came with a note of congratulations! That was unexpected. The paperwork from USCIS does not make it seem like the type of agency that would congratulate people.

“Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done.”- 1 Chronicles 16:8

Face to Face Interview and Learning Along the Way

A face to face interview with a U.S. Immigrations officer sure sounds official and intimidating. Since my second set of finger prints were rejected I was notified by phone on Oct. 31 that I would need to have the “Face to Face Interview”. It was nice of them to call, since they’d scheduled my appointment for the following week at 11 AM. on my son, Daniel’s, 7th birthday! I was super glad I could go to the nearby field office and did not have to go into the main office that is hours away!

It was an adventurous morning for me in more ways than one. What if they asked some question I couldn’t answer? What if the police department had mixed up someone else’s record for mine? What if I couldn’t find the place--after having been there twice I wouldn’t think that would be a problem, but maybe I knew something. . .

Just as I left the house I looked on line to get the directions and of course I could not find the right page and ended up leaving later than anticipated with just an extra 5 minutes to spare. So when I passed the exit I knew I was in trouble! When I got off the next exit to turn around and realized I was on a one way street heading downtown--I knew I was in REAL TROUBLE! It was at this point I should have paid more attention to that “still, small, voice” For that voice kept reminding me that this was all in God’s hand and His plans and NO plan forged against His plan can win. Well that OTHER voice kept telling me, “you are going to be so late, you are going to miss the appointment, they are going to reject the petition, you are going to be entangled in some legal battle for failing to report. . .” My very bright, now 7 year old son, quickly informed me when he heard the story that, " that VOICE was Satan." Wish I’d realized it sooner.

So after a few frantic and rather rude calls home to Tim, to try and find the phone number, so I could at least be responsible and call and tell why I was a no-show, I found myself at a main intersection leading to the highway! I took the turn to the south, forgetting I’d already passed my exit, and just as I got REALLY mad at myself, I realized I was right on the road I should have exited onto! All the dumb mistakes in between had gotten me to the right place! Now I’m not advocating for dumb mistakes in life. But isn’t nice to know the God we serve can get us to where he wants us to be despite ourselves. I am so thankful to Him!

The interview went fine. I arrived at 11:02. The immigrations officer was very official and very nice and chatted with me a while after taking my sworn testimony about the criminal offenses I did not commit. So hopefully we are one step closer to our I171H and permission to bring 2 orphans into the country to adopt!

I'll keep you posted and you try to listen to that "still, small voice." Hope you do better at it than I.

An Imaginary Phone Call

The other night, my Mom and I were discussing how odd it would be to talk to the kids on the phone before we meet them. I'm really not a phone person, and I wasn't sure I liked the idea. I realized though, that my parents will call while they are in Taiwan, and won't I want to say hello to my new brother and sister then? So, I imagined a phone conversation in my limited Mandarin. It goes like this:

Ni hao. (hello)
Wo shi ni de jie jie. (I am your big sister)
Wo jiao Annie. (my name is Annie)
Wo ai ni. (I love you)
Zai Jian (good bye)

Now I need to learn how to say "come home soon" . . .

And pronounce the words well enough that someone other than my mother can understand me. . .