I would like to thank.....

Several weeks ago, maybe it has been a month ago already - time keeps slipping away from me - I watched a part of the Oscars on T.V. and I noticed as soon as the winners came up to accept their award they had a list of thank yous to share with the watching world. So I am going to take this time and blog space to thank everyone and organization that comes to my mind who has helped us throughout this adoption journey. I will refrain from mentioning any specific names because I do not want to forget anyone and/or embarrass anyone. So imagine me walking on stage to accept, no not an Oscar, but my daughter. Here is my thank you speech...... : )

I would like to thank the academy for........oh wait, sorry! Seriously, I would like to thank my Heavenly Father who has adopted me into His forever family because of His grace and mercy given to me, a guilty sinner. He is the ultimate example of what an adoptive parent looks like. He has also brought me through this journey, not that it is over with yet, a new and changed person. He has taught me things that, if I would have listened to my selfish desires and not obeyed His calling to adopt, I would have never learned. He has also provided for our every need, more than we could have imagined, throughout this process. Thank you Father!

I would like to thank my husband whom I have grown closer to through this journey. He is my sounding board. He is the one that puts his arm around me when I am struggling the most with life issues. He loves me despite my flaws. He is the one that helps me to be a better parent. He is the one that works so hard to provide for our family and yet finds time to spend with us. He is the one I go to when I need a shoulder to cry on. He is an example to me of a man that stands for truth and will go to battle when this world starts to lose its grip on what truth really is. He has sacrificed dreams in order to obey where God is calling. He is a leader in our home. He is my friend, my love, my man! (I could go on and on about this amazing man, but I said I wasn't going to embarrass anyone....oops! probably too late for my hubby! : )

I would like to thank all those that have been praying for us and with us. I am convinced that those prayers have been heard and sometimes I didn't even know how to pray and you prayer warriors held us up, especially during our very long wait. We continue to pray for our upcoming trip, the travel, the adjustment Lucy will have to cope with, and the adjustment our kids will have to cope with. We have coveted all your prayers. Thank you!

I would like to thank those that have given financially to this adoption, some of the people we know and some who chose to be anonymous. We are forever grateful to you for listening and obeying where the Spirit was prompting you to give. May you be blessed in ways that are unimaginable for your acts of service to us. Not only have individuals given monetary gifts, but also organizations. I do feel I need to mention these wonderful organizations if, for nothing else, but to promote them to anyone reading this: Show Hope, Just Love Coffee and all those that have bought our coffee (yes we are still selling coffee), and Mayo Clinic Health Systems (my employer gives a significant reimbursement for adoptions). These are just a few of the organizations that have helped us tremendously with the financial burden of international adoption. Oh, also I would like to thank those individuals that took the time to write a reference letter for our grant applications. Thank you!

I would like to thank all my close friends and family for your love and support. Each of you know who you are and how you have encouraged and helped us. I do enjoy talking about this process. I have had several people say, "you are probably sick of talking about this, but....." and then they ask their question. No, I am not sick of talking about it at all. I am thankful for those that ask and are interested.....or at least act interested. : ) Thank you for caring and loving us! Our families (meaning both my hubby and my own family) have supported us in so many ways. In fact, our kids will be staying with Grandma and Grandpa Penner during our 16 day trip to China, so that in itself is priceless. (Oh, there's more people to be praying for, grandparents being the parents to our 3 children for 16 days.)  I would like to thank my close friends that have prayed for us, listened to us, cared for us during this process. My adoptive parent friends that I have met with over coffee while we wait for our children to come home to their forever families. Waiting is HARD and having people that are in the same situation seems to give you an instant bond. I am thankful for these waiting partners. : ) I had one friend give me a framed Chinese writing that says Jesus Loves You in Chinese. I have it in the girl's room along with other Chinese decorations. It goes so well in their room. Thank you! I had a dear (and very creative) friend give me a plaque she made. It brought tears to my eyes when I opened it and read what it said. Here is a picture of it:

After I thanked my friend for this wonderful gift, she said, "you needed that saying in your house somewhere." Yes, yes I do. Thank you so much! I think one of God's greatest creations was the creation of relationships and ultimately, the relationship He created between us and Him through the work of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection. This life can be hard and it can be joyous. I am glad to have relationships so that I know I am not alone in this life, in the hard times and in the joyous times. These thank yous needed to be said.

All this talk of thanking people makes it seem like we are done with this journey. We are not. The waiting is almost done, but the journey of raising a child as God has called us to do will just begin when Lucy comes home. I just needed to thank all those that have gone through this with us.

 So, where are we in the process, you ask? As of today, we are waiting on our Article 5 letter and then travel approval. Here is the best explanation I have found for where we are in this process:

"The consulate needs to review your new child's visa application (the DS-230), make sure it meets the qualifications for an immigrant visa, and then signs off that everything is in order for the adoption to be completed. This is called the Article 5 letter. You cannot obtain custody of your child until the Article 5 letter is issued!
The consulate takes a standard two weeks to complete this process. If your paperwork is dropped off on a Monday, it will be picked up from the consulate by your agency rep two Mondays later.
Once it's picked up from the consulate, it will be delivered directly to the CCAA for Travel Approval!" -China Adoption Online resource

So our estimation right now is that we will get our travel approval in about a month and then we travel 7-14 days after our travel approval. We will be there soon, Lucy!

Soli Deo Gloria!

Choosing to Trust

February 21st was the beginning of another great week. We recieved our LOA (Letter of Acceptance) from China. This is another huge milestone in this process. This came a whole month earlier than expected. Praise the Lord and truly an answer to so many of those that are praying for this process to be expedited on our behalf! There were a lot of emails sent this day and overnight FedEx deliveries the next day. The next few days I sorted through all the emails from CCAI that contained travel packets. Yes, that is right, TRAVEL packets. This is CCAI's way of communicating, "get ready to travel because that will be your next step." Yahoo! We also received new pictures of Lucy the week of the 21st, which I posted in the last blog post. We recieved updated information about Lucy with these pictures. Apparently, she had her palate repaired back in May which was never communicated to our agency until I asked about it. We have her discharge paperwork from the hospital and we are wondering if an organization like Show Hope had anything to do with her surgery because she was in a "charity hospital" for her surgery. It will be something we ask when we get over there. Now we are waiting on more immigration paperwork, visas, approvals, etc. in order for Lucy to leave her birth country and for Jason and I to travel to China. I have looked at several timelines of families that have adopted from China and at this point we are cautiously anticipating being united with Lucy in late April to middle of May. So our time of waiting is gradually coming to an end.....

Now, as I review all these travel packets, I start to get anxious. Yes, I know, what is wrong with me? I have been waiting and longing to be with Lucy for so long and now as the end of our wait approaches I start to get anxious. If you ask my parents they could tell you how much of a "worry wart" I was growing up. I remember my dad once pointing me to Matthew 6:25 and on where Jesus teaches about worry. (However the things I worried about growing up is nothing compared to this.) I thought I pretty much had that under control until now. Maybe I just placed myself in situations that I didn't have to worry about things or something, but this situation brings on new anxious thoughts. What is life with 4 kids going to be like? What if Lucy doesn't connect with us well? What if something happens to our other 3 kids while we are half way around the world? What if I forget a major paper we need to get into China? What are all the items we need to take to China? What if........? On and on it goes. So, I have had to refocus my worriesome thoughts on the One who does not leave me. My God is sovereign and has had this entire process to this point in His mighty hand, why do I think He would leave me now to fend for myself? Yes, I can review those packets over and over to be prepared for the trip, but I need to trust Him for those things that are out of my control. I am choosing to trust Him with our other 3 children while we are gone. I am choosing to trust Him with preparing Lucy to be a part of our family. I am choosing to trust Him with my life and all the details of it.......

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. "   Philippians 4:6-7