Happy Day After Christmas

Christmas is my favorite time of the year, but I've been thinking about "time of the year" ever since I heard this song today~  I just thank God for giving all the Christians artist the gift of writing and playing songs that just really SPEAK~

It is true..."The Light of the World is still HERE."  Happy Day after CHRISTmas and Merry rest of the Year!

Christmas Morning

Christmas Morning...HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESUS!

The angel said to them, "Do not be afraid.  I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you;  He is Christ the Lord."

Luke 2:10-11

We are so very thankful for this day because it brings HOPE and PEACE to this world because God sent His one and only Son to this earth to live and die and be raised from the dead and He is ALIVE today for all, not just for some people but for all people, if we ask Him to come and live in our hearts and forgive us of our sins and believe this; Salvation is given and we will live with HIM forever!  Jesus is and forever will be what Christmas is all about, Christmas is all in the HEART!  

I couldn't have asked for a better gift years ago then my salvation and the change that only HE can bring in my life and the lives of my family members~ We are so blessed with such a wonderful family and we are truly thankful.

From our family to yours; Merry CHRISTmas!

Not this time around...

Our message from BCS was: No China referral match for this round in December. So we wait until January~


"Wait patiently for the Lord. 
Be brave and courageous. Yes, 
wait patiently for the Lord."
Psalm 27:14


This verse is exactly what WE will do~

We Are Praying...

Since our last post in November we have had our conference call which was on December 5th and the call lasted about three hours.  We went over the whole process of adoption for the Waiting Child Program and it couldn't have gone any better, but boy it was a long conversation!  Sholey will have cleft lip and cleft palate and this is where we have been lead from the beginning.  
It was shared with us that we could get a referral as soon as December 26th! The China team shared with us that they match families every last Monday of every month and so now we wait with so much anticipation with our hearts very ready for this moment to come when we finally get to put a face to our little Sholey Joy. 


GREAT news has come!!!  As of last night (December 19th) we had received information that the CCCWA notified agencies that the special needs shared list (only agencies can see this) will be updated Tuesday, December 20th in the evening (8:30 pm - 4:30 am EST).  So what this means is that our family could be referral matched TODAY, December 20th! We will find out later tonight!
All our friends at Bethany Christian Services have been so wonderful and we thank them so very much from the depths of our hearts for the journey to our daughter.  God KNOWS all and CONTROLS all and we praise God for all HE is doing and trust HIM.  


We wanted to share a song with you ("Merry Christmas" by Third Day.)  
This song really fits our family in this part of our journey to OUR LITTLE GIRL IN A LITTLE CHINA TOWN.

November-National Adoption Month

Before this month is up we wanted to share that November is national adoption month and ask you to pray for all the 140 million orphans in the world who deserve a forever loving family.  
God doesn't call the equipped He equips those He calls...
We wait patiently for our "Sholey Joy" and know that God has called us and He will equip us...He has already been at work and we see this everyday we wake up and let HIM lead us.  We love you and thank you Jesus~

Our Next Big Day...

DECEMBER 5th is a BIG DAY for the Woolverton's!  We will be sharing more after this day, so please be praying for us and we thank you in advance.

Our Adoption Process Update

Here is where we're at in our adoption process, SO MUCH closer to knowing who our little Sholey Joy is and we couldn't be more exited!

The last date posted on our blog was on October 14th, which we were sharing that  October 13th was our confirmed DTC date (Dossier To Country).  From this point it happen really quick...even the words from our local case worker said "That was fast and your dossier must have been perfect!"

I just couldn't believe how fast we received our LID (Log In Date) which means officially marks our wait for a referral (a picture of a child with their history and medical information).

OKAY OUR LID is 10/25/11!!! TWELVE days from our DTC date, we got a message about our LID!  I couldn't believe it when I got a texted from our local case worker saying "Congrats on your log in date!!"  I had been trying not to check our portal everyday so I wouldn't have anxiety, so at that point of receiving that text I had no idea that we had our log in date, so I pulled my vehicle over and checked my email and sure enough we had our LID!  My heart was beating so fast from the joy inside me and immediately called William to tell him the great news and then following, calling our children to let them know!  
It truly was an exciting day!

dreams we're dreaming

September 18, 2011 - 

Met with Janna from Bethany to go over our dossier to make sure it was ready to send to Grand Rapids.  

September 19th - Scanned the Dossier through our Bethany portal to see if it was ready for the Chinese Consulate for dossier authentication. 

September 22nd - Approved to go and have all dossier paper work state sealed.  After that we made all the necessary copies and took it to FedEx for next day mail. 

September 23rd - They sent us a message letting us know that they had received our dossier.  We had one more piece of paper to sign and scan back and we took care of that right then and sent right back. Everything looked great!

September 26th - Got a message from Bethany saying "All set" and our dossier was sent off for authentication.

October 13th - Our DTC (Dossier to Country) date confirmed!  This is our official DTC date and we couldn't be more excited!

We are so excited and can't wait for our LID (Log in DATE) and receive

our referral of our "Little Sholey".  We cannot thank God enough

for what HE has done and continues to do in our lives.

We want to share a song with you by Steven Curtis Chapman

"When Love Takes You In"

This is how OUR (family) HEARTS sing, 

Our Journey to "Sholey"

Our journey started on September 30, 2010 when our daughter called to tell us about "A Night with The Chapmans" (a concert with Steven Curtis Chapman and his family sharing their story of adoption and healing)

We (William, me, Ashley and her husband Shane) went to the concert and that is where God forever changed our lives.  William and I claimed the verse 

James 1:27

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress.

 From that night on God has given us a LOVE to share that only HE can give. We cannot wait until that moment when we meet Sholey face to face. 

To me, the adoption story is amazing because it is exactly what God has done for us through Christ.

 October 17, 2010

William and I spent time in prayer and seeked counsel from our Christian friends to make sure this was God's will for our lives. We then shared with our children our plans to adopt.  God has spoke to us in many ways confirming that adoption is what He had planned for us.  The time has gone by so fast through this adoption process. There has been so many amazing ways that God has shown His direction for William and I. This experience in our lives will be one we will never forget because of God's comforting assurance. 

 February 1st, 2011

We began filling out our 10 page questionnaire. On February 15 our formal application was approved to adopt. 

May 7th 2011

Our "Home Study" began with interviews at Bethany Christian Services.  Along with all the paperwork to fill out.  

June 9th, 2011

Our "Home Study" in our home was approved.

July 16th 2011

We received our passports and started putting together all of the needed documents.  This also included going to the doctor many times.
July 22, 2011
Mailing off our I-800A form


August 2nd, 2011
We received our I-797C appointment notice to have our finger prints done for our Immigration approval and William, Colby and I traveled to Memphis on August 24th, 2011

August 27th we had our all day adoption class
and on September 14th we received our U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Approval in the mail!!!  NOW, we are getting our Dossier ready to be mailed to China and hopefully they will have it by the end of this month. We then will be closer to the moment we meet our little girl 
"Sholey"

It Has Been Exciting Around Here...

Colby & Bethany are Engaged!  

He asked her to marry him after church on August 21st on the school bus where he asked her to go out with him four years ago. He planned it so well and even audio recorded it.  Colby had our real good friend that is a photographer hiding taking pictures. 

(We will share those later on our blog)

Here's her beautiful ring~

Bethany's family, we have been so blessed with such a wonderful family to become a part of, we are thankful. 

We had lunch and enjoyed family time.

William and I are so excited for the two of them.

How blessed we are.  
God has so blessed us with our children and their soul mates.

These are the little cakes I had made for dessert!

Keeping Busy...

We went to the beach in Gulf Shores for a week and had a relaxing time.  This is just one of the pictures we took while we were there. 

Staying under the umbrella was our way of relaxing with a book and enjoy the breeze.

This is my family...

(from left to right): Bethany, Colby (our son), Shane (our son-in-law), Ashley (our daughter), and William & I 

We couldn't leave out Pa & Ma (William's parents)

Colby and Bethany

Shane & Ashley

I love this picture of Shane & Ashley 

I love this picture too of Bethany & Colby

We're about to go out to eat, getting a quick picture

of all four of us. 

Our last night at our favorite place.

Our kids love swinging, and enjoying their 

last night here.

I just love God for Beth Moore

God just seems to know what we need when we need it and I'm so thankful that He is my Savior~
This was my devotion from this morning and wanted to share...

She said to herself, "If I can just touch His robe, I'll be made well!"  Matthew 9:12

Perhaps like me, you have grievously failed God in the past.  Perhaps like me, your prior confidence was unknowingly in your own ability and determination to stay on track.
Then cast yourself today entirely upon His ability to succeed and not yours.  Blind yourself to all ambition except to Almighty.  Grab onto the hem of His garment and find the healing and grace to go where He leads.  In the place you will be equipped to do the impossible.  There you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you.

~I just love that God is using our family and I look forward to the impossible, but possible because He said we can and I know that He will equip us for the journey ahead~

Our Fun Loving Family

This is one of our church directory pictures which we chose to put in the directory.