And So The First Paper Chase Begins

After the shock and excitement became containable, and I was not on sensory overload, we narrowed down the agencies we would use down to two. Through many prayers I felt very confident using Bethany Christian Services. We were actually beginning.

On December 15, 2003 our social worker mailed us our preliminary application. From there we went to a formal application and finally received an International Adoption Assessment Packet, which is part of what they use to form a home study. Scott and I had a total of 4 interviews and each of our children were interviewed once. Through all of this scurrying about I could not believe we were actually doing this!!! I knew it was the right thing to do but at one time it had seemed like it was completely unattainable.

Our home study and dossier (a host of legal documents) was complete and made it to China! Our LID (log in date) to CCAA (China Center of Adoption Affairs) was September 2, 2004. It was awesome that it was that date. I knew I could never forget it because it was my oldest daughters 13th birthday and 3 years before I had first learned of abandoned children in China! We were overjoyed to be in the system. China had our file and we were now in the long waiting process. Some called it the "slow boat to China" which came from the movie "Big Bird in China." I spent my time praying so many things for our child in China. I prayed for bonding and acceptance between our children at home and our new little one in China. We all prayed for her health, safety and protection. The wait was long but I knew God had brought me this far on faith He was going to get me further with deeper faith!

Finally on March 18, 2005 after reading all the posts on the forums I saw that people with the same LID as we had were getting their referrals. I waited with anticipation for the phone to ring. I kept watching the forums and reading all the posts of those who had received "The Call."
The boards were hot and posts kept coming in one after another. Still no call!!! Suddenly a post appeared that caused my heart to sink. It stated that the LID group for September was very large and CCAA only sent half the September group in March and would send the other half in April. I contacted my social worker after hearing the news to see if maybe I was the last on the list to be called. She had told me they have not received any word from the main office but normally they would have heard something as it was late in the morning.

I didn't have it in me to read any more posts so I figured a long hot shower would help relax me and prepare me to begin the wait for one more month. As you wait months seem to drag but I knew I had no choice I had to accept that I wasn't in this batch and now I at least knew we would be next for sure. As I put the conditioner in my hair the phone rang.....and like any typical woman waiting for a miracle I had the phone right next to the shower!!!! It was Cindy and she didn't sound good at all. Her voice was flat and I couldn't figure out why she was calling because she was just asking me what I was doing and how I was feeling. I tried not to say what I really wanted to say but I couldn't help it--I said it "Cindy I am just so sad that ......." but she stopped me mid sentence. "Well you don't have to be sad anymore....WE'VE GOT HER....WE'VE GOT HER PAPERWORK RIGHT HERE!!!!" I started to scream with excitement and complete joy!!! I told her I would call Scott and have him come home as she read the paperwork that contained all of our sweet babies information. I called Scott and he rushed home!!! We called Cindy back, listened and wrote down every bit of information she gave us. All we had to do was wait for everything to come Fed Ex the next day and sign a letter of consent in order for us to wait for our TA (travel approval). This day also held great significance just as our LID, as it was our twin sons 10th birthday!!! I spent the rest of the day calling everyone I knew and told them all about the wonderful news. I was so excited that I never did get the conditioner out of my hair. That evening I have to say my hair was the softest it had been in a while!!!!

The next day our paperwork came just as promised. We finally got to see photos of who our daughter was. She was absolutely beautiful. She was so petite even in the photos of her bundled in a pink snow suit. Our angel had a face. We were so amazed with her and we still are! I brought her pictures to the kids at school. They were all struck with awe just as I had been. All the paperwork and time really did have an outcome. At times we felt like we were just spinning our wheels but this day proved that we truly were in forward motion.

The lesson I learned through this part of the process is that God really does have a perfect plan for all of His children. Even though I am on the right path with Him, I can still be distracted with my own plans and how I think things should work out. In the end it doesn't matter how I think it should play out, God always has the last word! My mind always goes to this scripture when I think about this time in my life:

I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to PROSPER you and NOT to HARM you, plans to give you HOPE and a FUTURE! Jeremiah 29:11