Travel Approval!! YIPPPEEE!

YES! The news we have been waiting for! We have our travel approval!!! It came so much earlier than expected by us, but not unexpectedly for my Lord. He knew before I did...well He knows EVERYTHING before I do!!! LOL!
I want to give Him thanks and praise for all of the blessings He has given  to me. I do not deserve a single thing He has blessed me with, yet He keeps on giving. To Him goes all of the glory in this adoption. He has given me the strength to endure all I needed to endure. He has given me peace when I needed rest. He has given me insight and wisdom when I remembered to ask for it. He is my Lord and Savior and I want everyone to know that without Him, I am nothing.
Joey is waiting for us in China. Not for much longer!! I will e-mail the head nanny when we know our exact travel dates so she can prepare Joey for our coming. I have so much to do, yet here I am typing away because I want to be able to save this in time. This moment of awesome wonder, as I stand on the precipice of a new beginning. I am enduring the final stage of my labor. Joey will be born into our family very soon. My heart is all soft and squishy inside as I contemplate what it will feel like to actually touch his soft skin and smell his hair and feel his little body embraced in a hug. I pray that the Lord has prepared Joey to receive the love we offer so willingly. I pray the Lord will make known to Joey His power and strength. Joey will need to be brave and trust us who are strangers to him. I pray the Lord will ease Joey's transition and give Joey a sense of familiarity with us, so he will somehow "know" us even when we first meet. I pray...always I pray.
Momma's coming Joey. I am almost there...

The Last Step!!

Hello fellow waiters and those curious onlookers too! We have confirmed it officially that we were submitted for travel approval on July 12th!!! This news just takes my breath away!! The last step!!! The next event will include packing and boarding a plane!! It is amazing how God has worked to bring Joey into our family. This precious little boy, who was not known to us until almost a year ago, is now about to officially become our son. He has only seen us in pictures. We have had the ability to see him in pictures and live on a webcam. The nannies at his center have told us that he is waiting for us to come.

" Please Lord prepare Joey's heart for the huge transition he is about to encounter as he meets his new family for the first time. Please prepare him for a change in his culture, language, and caregivers. Place in his heart a sure sense of peace that only You can give him. Please let him feel the love that will be poured out on him and let him "know" that we are his family right from the start. Please remove all fear from his heart as he transitions into our family. Help us bring him home and into Your family and into Your church! Amen"

Joey!

I want to squeeze him to pieces!! That face is always on my mind. He is waiting for us to come and we are waiting on permission to go. The Lord has a time prepared for us to travel, and when we go, I will rejoice! For now, I gaze upon the most beautiful set of brown eyes I have ever seen. He melts my heart!

Awww. How pretty!

This is a bit off-topic as far as adoption is concerned, but I had to share. Last weekend my daughter went to her first Spring dance at school. She was just so pretty all dressed up! I am amazed at how much growing up she has done this year. I know she is only 12, but sometimes she gives me glimpses into the young woman she is evolving into. Our kiddos grow up way to fast! I sometimes long for the "princess" outfits when I see her dressed and ready to take on the world! Lord Jesus, bless the sweet daughter you have entrusted to me. Please give me wisdom to parent her and to keep her in a close relationship with you! Amen!

WOOHOO!

Greetings my friends!!

You have certainly been more patient than I have been waitng for updates! I have a BIG ONE for you! Please join me in praising God for the gift of our LOA (Letter of Acceptance)!!! YES! That's right! We have been officially approved by the CCCWA(China Center for Children's Welfare and Adoption) to adopt Joey! That is what this piece of paper is all about .(It looks pretty cool too with all of the Chinese characters on it!) I am moved beyond words. God is so good!

I now have a fresh, new stack of documents to mail on Monday morning. I love each stack of paper. I know, it is a crazy thing to say, and I stress over every single form, and it is a pain in the patootie to fill them all out, but really, seriously, each form brings me one step closer to boarding a plane bound for my little boy. How cool is that?!!

Joey so sweet. Last Sunday night, Monday morning for him as his part of China is 13 hours ahead of our local time, he drew me a picture. How do I know he drew it for me? Well, after he finished his drawing, he sat in a little yellow chair and held it up for me to see on the web-cam. He smiled at the camera and was saying something that I could not hear because the sound is never on on the web-cam, and well, even if it was, he speaks Mandarin and I wouldn't be able to understand him. (Personally though, I think he was saying,"Look at my picture Momma! Do you like it?) With tears running down my face, I called back to him,"Yes, Joey! What a beautiful picture you made! I LOVE IT! I cannot wait to hang it on the refridgerator when you come home!! Mommy loves you so much!!"

Addition To Our Timeline Family

Well hello there!
  I must be honest and say that I was prostrate yesterday asking the Lord some very hard questions. He answered them very clearly, "Trust My heart, when you can't see My hand". Okay, I will. I have been very anxious lately as I tried very hard to keep the lessons learned in the past all in my heart. We waited a long time for an update on our timeline, and I was about to despair..not a good thing. I knew I needed some extra "knee" time. I had to settle my spirit so that I could hear the words I needed to hear. His reaffirming voice, in my heart telling me to wait on Him.
I heard today that another waiting mother finally heard  good news and added another date to her timeline. I felt GENUINE joy for her and her family. It felt SO GOOD to feel that JOY!
Right after talking with her, my agency called and gave us our much awaited for date for our LID!! So, I will add that to our timeline family today :-)


July 1, 2010- Signed application with our adoption agency.
August 24, 2010- Saw our son for the first time! (Well, at least I saw his picture!!)
September 16, 2010- Our son's file was locked for us! (This is a blog post all it's own!)
September 21,2010- LOI  (Letter of Intent)
October 12, 2010- PA!! (Pre-approval).
November 26, 2010- Received completed homestudy in the mail.
December 1, 2010- Mailed in our I800A application to USCIS.
January 3, 2011- USCIS fingerprint appointment.
January 28, 2011- I800A approved!!
February 15, 2011- Sent dossier to our agency.
March 3, 2011- DTC!!! (Dossier to China).
March 14, 2011- LID!! (Log In Date)

I am humbled and in awe of how big our God is. Thank you Lord for your provision.

Bed time...zzzzzz

  I have been obsessing, I mean, searching for just the right bedding for Joey. It was VERY hard!! I am very picky...and on a budget....which makes things even harder. I had in mind something without a cartoon character/super hero/ action figure. I don't have anything against said things, they just didn't seem to "fit" the image in my daydream of tucking him in bed under the softest, most cozy bedding that I could find. I know that if I was being transported to "far,far away" with my new Mama and Baba, I would want everything that touched me to be all soft and cozy. With all of that being said, Joey is a four year old little boy. He needs a four year old little boy bedding set. It needs to be blue....and have something decidedly "boy" on it somewhere..don't you agree? I thought so! Well, I felt an inner voice urging me into a store on Thursday. I was told to look for bedding. Hmmm. Okay. I went, cause I can get in a heap of trouble if I don't listen to that inner voice! Well, at first, I didn't see anything. Hmmm. Um, Inner Voice? I thought there was some good bedding in here? "Keep looking" was the response. So I rounded the last aisle that had any bedding on it and there it was! All blue and everything! Rolled up snug and cozy, cradling a matching pillow sham in its arms. Ah, but, would it, could it, be as soft as it looked? YES!! Ooooh, ahhhhh. Just the feel I was looking for. Now, is it in the size I need? Yep! The word TWIN was written in bold letters! One more hurdle...$$$$$$. As I rolled the "roll" over to see the price I held my breath. (Gulp) Is that what I think it is? Dare I hope? Could it be? A CLEARANCE STICKER?? WooHoo!!!!! Jackpot! Needless to say, I tucked the mini comforter set under my arm like a football and took off to the front counter to pay. I was so exhilarated by this find! The sheets that I found matched perfectly and added just the right "boy" touch. Thank you Jesus for being in the details. You know exactly what we need, and you always deliver!! Oh. I did mention that I prayed for His  help while looking didn't I? No? Oh, well, I should have, cause I did!! I would not trust he details of my life to just anyone! Only Him who loves me best of all.
Sweet dreams Joey. I sure hope you like your new bed when you get home.