Wednesday, June 23, 2010

DTC.....finally!

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pur and fautless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." James 1:27
The other day while in a store with Emily, a stranger asked me why I adopted Emily. I never quite know how to respond to those "out of the blue" questions from people whose intentions I don't know. Sometimes people can be rather hateful so I am very careful as to how I respond. I am usually quick and to the point but I got the feeling that this lady was truly interested so I shared a little more than I usually do. It ended up being a nice conversation and throughout the day I found myself dwelling on the intentions of my heart as it relates to adoption. It is a passion that runs deep and I am so honored that God has birthed within me this love for orphaned children. We are all instructed to care for orphans and widows but not all are "called" to bring them into their homes and call them their own. How creative is our God that He builds within each of His children different gifts and talent as well as passions so that His purposes can be accomplished. I guess I was just thinking about the fact that I am so thankful that He has gifted me with a passion for His precious children who haven't known the love of a mommy and daddy and I have the joy of being a mommy to 2 of those little ones. This lady asked me, "how did you grow to love her?" My answer was, "well I didn't actually grow to love her, I just loved her." I could tell that this woman was baffled at my response but as I thought about it I could see how she would be confused. God gave me a love for Emily even before I knew her and it was supernatural and cannot be explained in human words so although I try I don't believe that it can ever be understood by someone who has never experienced this incredible love for someone. That love has been once again duplicated within my heart for my sweet little boy. I think about him, I even dream about him and I cannot wait until my hearts desire of holding his little body in my arms is real.
Finally, I am thrilled to report that we are DTC (Dossier to China) as of yesterday, June 22, 2010. So we are one step closer to our boy. Now the second leg of the wait begins. The process has been exhausting and frustrating simply because we so desperately want our brown eyed boy home where he belongs and everything seems to have taken longer than necessary. Nevertheless I am confident that God is orchestrating every little event and will complete our journey in His perfect timing. As I look at time-lines we are hoping that travel will be around October/November which would really be nice considering the fact that we will have him home before the holidays.

On another note, we were surprised with some updated photos of our little guy. It is so good to see him. I am still wishing to see that smile which I know he is hiding. My favorite photo is this one...
It is obvious that he is really checking out his brother and sisters. I am amazed at how much he has changed....must be the haircut. But then I am reminded of how fast time is passing and all that I am missing in his life. Oh I can't wait to snuggle him.


Saturday, June 5, 2010

USCIS Approval

On Tuesday, June 2 we arrived home after a little mini-vacation and waiting in our mailbox was our USCIS Approval. For all of my non-adoption friends that is the approval from the immigration service stating that we are approved to adopt our brown-eyed boy. I quickly packaged it up and Fed Exed it to our agency right away. Once this document is authenticated and certified our dossier will be on its way to China and we are in our final leg of waiting. I was thrilled to know that we are one step closer to our boy!