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Our Journey to You
“And all
things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall
receive.”
~Matthew 21:22
We have always wanted a house full of children...well that has
not happened...but we do have one very special girl that has
just brightened our world in ways we never expected and we
wanted to experience it again. We had not been home very long
when Mel asked if I thought it was possible for us to return to
China to adopt again and really I did not. He is an only child
and has always said he wanted a sibling for Ellie Lu.
While we waited for Ellie Lu the adoption rules for the
"standard process" changed and we are no longer eligible under
those rules. In addition the process has lengthened so it could
be years upon years even if we were eligible before we would be
matched. While we were waiting for Ellie Lu we inquired several
times on if we could be considered for children with mild
special needs but there really wasn't a clear cut program at the
time to allow this to happen.
The good news...now there is...our agency is one of 12 agencies
that participates in a special program where children with mild
correctable special needs are matched with families. We have
several friends who have expanded their family in this way and
our hearts have been opened to this option for our family.
However we still were very unsure whether we could participate
due to our ages...but Mel kept asking every few weeks and
finally the later part of October I came across a letter we had
received in late July and apparently I had read it but in my
"new Mommy" fog had not comprehended what it said...it was
encouraging us to adopt again. Was this a form letter that goes
to everyone or did it apply to us and by God's grace could we
return to China to be united with another child....on November
3rd I sent an email to our agency to inquire and braced myself
for the disappointment I expected....
On November 4th I received a response and the email said to call
immediately. I did and never in my wildest dreams did I imagine
we would be encouraged to begin the process right away...for one
reason we thought we had to be home a year with Ellie Lu before
starting a new process. We found out that we needed to start
right away as we needed to be matched with a child prior to Mel
turning 55 on May 17, 2009.
As you can see we still had a very short time to complete a
process that is loaded with paperwork, somewhat different than
before and during a time when we were finding our "legs" as new
parents...but start we did. Forms, forms and more forms,
meetings with our social worker, taking adoption training
classes, educating ourselves about various medical conditions
all the while living and preparing for the holidays and trying
to enjoy life.
It was so hard to pursue something not knowing for sure if we
would even be approved, but I also couldn’t bare to think a
child was waiting for us and but for trying we might miss the
opportunity to be their parent…that is what kept me going when
at the end of the day my tank was empty…feeling that a child was
waiting for us…This feeling created a a faith in me and caused
me to put one foot in front of the other …and put it in God's
hands. In March of 2009 we received a phone call and it seemed
that the process would end for us as some new processes were
being followed and we did not meet the criteria. I insisted that
we began this process with encouragement and that someone could
work everything out because a child was waiting for us and they
deserved us. I am not sure where my assuredness came from, but I
truly felt that someone could make a difference for a child…we
were trying and others could make it happen or end our journey.
We did not get matched by Mel’s birthday and I really thought
that was the end of the road for our journey, but I made a phone
call and spoke as if I thought there was still hope and to my
surprise continued to receive encouragement. Then less than 10
days after Mel’s birthday we got the call that brought us our
new daughter and brought her a family….ironically she has a
birthday 6 months after her daddy and they share the same day of
the month….the 17th. Our story truly is a story of asking and
believing and receiving….we have been so blessed to be chosen
for you…we can’t wait to hold you for the first time and begin
our life with you our chosen child. |
Our family of 3
waiting for one more…
Sisters
Our fur
babies
Emma Lynn taken May 15, 2009 |
An invisible red thread
connects those who are destined to meet, regardless of time or place.
The thread may stretch or tangle, but it will never break.
~Chinese Proverb
Our Timeline
• Started the process: November 3, 2008
• Referral: May 26, 2009
• LOI: June 12, 2009
• PA: June 17, 2009
• Holt LID: October 2,2009
• Fingerprinting : August 20, 2009
• I-800a approval: August 27, 2009
• DTC: October 9, 2009
• LID: October 20,2009
• LOA/LSC: December 21, 2009
• I-800 sent off: December 31, 2009
• I-800 approved: January 16, 2010
• Cable: January 23, 2010
• NVC Letter: January 28, 2010
• Article 5: March 4, 2010
• TA: April 5, 2010
• Travel Dates: May 11 thru 29, 2010
• Emma Lynn Day: May 17, 2010
• CA: May 25, 2010
• Arrive home: May 29, 2010
Website by
myadoptionwebsite.com
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