To Hayden from Parker

 

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WE GOT IT!!! But it is wrong...

We got the I171H in the mail today from Citizenship and Immigration Services. We've been waiting for 6 weeks. The first time it took only 3 days and the second time only 4 days. This time, the only time it really matters, it took 6 weeks and now it is wrong. It says we are approved for a child 0-22 months. We were approved before for a child 0-42 months and this time we asked for 0-72 months. I have no idea what this will mean. Can they just correct the typo? Or will we have to start the process all over again? Because it is Saturday, I can't call and ask until Monday morning. Torture! Torture, I tell you!

Icing with a Cherry on Top--A HUGE Thank You

I have always envisioned our whole family in China when we meet our little girl. When we got news of Hayden, and that we'd be traveling this summer to get her, we immediately asked the adoption agency for information about the added expense for our other children to go with us. The answer was staggering. And we "knew" we could never make that happen. But, we also knew that if them going was something that God wanted, He could make it happen, so we just prayed.

Easter weekend Jay Martin, a friend from our first community group here at Fellowship, approached McKenna and told her that he and his wife, Terri, wanted to buy two of the plane tickets to China. That is HUGE! And, one of many times that words of thanks seem inadequate.

Well, once again, we have been blessed beyond anything I could've ever imagined. Many of you know exactly what I'm talking about because you are a part of it. I am referring to the secret emails that were circulated by a friend who strongly believes our kids are supposed to travel to China with us to meet Hayden.

Yesterday our dear friend, Clarissa, gave us an envelope containing $2,600 in cash and checks. She wishes badly that she could have remained anonymous (to us), but timing didn't allow that. For those who don't know about this, I'll fill in the details.

Clarissa told me that she and McKenna were talking a few weeks ago and Clarissa asked McKenna about the trip to China. McKenna told her that it was looking like they would not be able to go because the cost of the kids' travel is the same as Parker's first year of college (!) and we just knew there was no way to make it happen. Clarissa said that at that moment she felt strongly impressed that the kids were supposed to go with us. In fact, she said she's never felt more strongly about anything. So, she made a plan to have McKenna "hack" into my computer and Darrell's to get email addresses of our friends and family and sent a message asking people to consider giving $40. It was very important that we not know about it because she knew we would not feel comfortable with what she was doing.

Clarissa, and her husband Rodney, have a different perspective on money than most people I know, including me. But, I must say that after this experience, I may see things her way. She says that everything we have belongs to God, whether we have much or little. And that the very best thing we can do with it is use it for His purposes. I "know" all of that with head knowledge. It is much harder for me to live it. Here's the amazing thing. Clarissa and Rodney left this morning to take a team of teens to Uganda, Africa on a missions trip. Many of you will remember that Parker went with them on that trip last year. So, she has been raising support for their trip, along with all of the details that go into planning that kind of adventure. Oh, yeah, not to mention making arrangements for 9 of their 10 children who would not be going on this trip with them. I write this through tears of humility and gratefulness. How in the world--why in the world, would someone with that much on her own plate take the time and energy to do what she did for my family. And with the sweetest disposition. In fact, the only time she seemed rattled was when I questioned what she had done. She quickly chided me and encouraged me to have faith.

My only opposition was this: God, and the Church, have already given SO much to my family for this adoption. I don't feel like we deserve any more. There are so many other needs--other families adopting who need help with funding, even. Clarissa was not slow to remind me that this is not about me. It is about God. Always about Him. And, about allowing the Church the blessing of giving gifts for His purposes. She said it has been a huge blessing to her to hear and read how excited people are to have the opportunity to do this for us. I can't even see the screen right now for the tears.

So, to all of you who have contributed, a HUGE thank you. That seems so inadequate. I don't know how to say thank you for this. Knowing that Parker, McKenna and Logan will get to experience Hayden's home country with her is priceless. Everyone we know who has taken their older children on the trip to receive their child has said so. In fact, every one of them told us that they would do whatever it took to make it happen. We just didn't have the resources to do it on our own. This is a gift without end. It will not end when we return home. Hayden will treasure forever that we came to her world. She will remember that her siblings got to meet her foster family, eat her food, smell her smells and see her land, forever. The pictures we'll have of our family together in China will be a testimony of God's faithfulness--not just to us, but to the Martins and Clarissa and all those who felt impressed that the kids should go with us.

To Hayden from McKenna

 

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To Hayden from Logan

 

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Good News...Bad News

Good News - USCIS office has everything needed to process our I600a
Bad News - Person who gives the final approval is out on leave

Good News - More time to get our "things to do before we travel" list done
Bad News - Meeting Hayden is delayed

Good News - Plane tickets will be less expensive in July
Bad News - School starts August 2nd, too soon

Good News - God is in control and had this timing planned from the beginning
Bad News - I sometimes have trouble giving up my picture of "perfect timing"

Good News - GOD IS IN CONTROL.

Icing on the Cake

See that new "Our Adoption Timeline" over in the sidebar? And the new "Time in China" clock? I just have to tell you that I copied those ideas from my friend Julie's blog. She said I could.

Brandon and Julie Barnard have been friends of ours since they moved to Little Rock in the fall of 2007 to join the staff at Fellowship. We quickly learned that they, too, were waiting for a daughter from China. How fun! Even MORE fun is that their LID (Log-in Date: the day China registers a dossier and marks your "place in line," so to speak) is 08/17/07--EXACTLY the same date as ours! So, for a couple of years now when we see each other we compare notes, express sadness and frustration over the long wait, and try to say something encouraging. We had often dreamed of how exciting it would be to travel at the same time and fly back into Little Rock together with our new little ones.

When we received our wonderful unexpected referral phone call we wanted to share our news with everyone, but knew that it would be bittersweet for Brandon and Julie. I called Julie and she expressed such great excitement for us in her beautiful gracious way. But she was also honest. It IS hard to wait for something that God has placed such a desire in your heart for. It was good for us both to acknowledge all of that.

About 6 weeks later the kids and I were sitting at the kitchen table doing school in the middle of the afternoon, and we heard a knock on the door. It was Julie. She stopped by to tell us in person that they had received a phone call that day with the referral for their little girl!!! We stood on the front porch and hugged and cried and jumped up and down. The phrase that kept running through my head was, "my joy is made more complete."

A dear friend told me this week that God LOVES to put the icing on the cake. Perhaps that is why Paul describes Him as the One Who is able to do immeasurably more than we could ever ask or imagine in Ephesians 3:20. Getting to continue this journey with the Barnards is icing on the cake! We don't know yet if we'll actually travel at the same time, but we check in with each other nearly every day to get an update. I'm so thankful for a Father that loves to give good gifts to His children!

Another little bit of "icing" came as we were preparing a care package to send to Hayden. We made pictures of our family and then each one of us holding her picture. When I put them in the little photo album there were too many empty pages at the end of the book so Darrell suggested that each of us write a little note to Hayden to include next to our picture. Reading the notes written to her by our children was such a gift to us! They have given us permission to share them with you. We'll post them one at a time over the next few days.

I'm also working on the next "chapter" of our story.