It seems that when you’re waiting, the days drag on and on .
. .
And this wait, in particular, has been a hard one.
We were logged in with the Chinese government on October 8,
and on that day the wait for our LOA (Letter of Acceptance) began.
During that time several important things occurred.
We received a referral on November 4. Yay!!
Just look at those sweet cheeks!
We sent in our Letter of Intent on November 6. This is the document
that informed the Chinese government that we were interested in adopting this
particular child.
We received Pre-Approval on November 13, the first document
that linked our names and hers.
Around Thanksgiving we sent Baby Girl a package. . .
And we received these updated pics in return . . .
Can you believe that smile?
We amended our Home study and our Immigration paperwork and then
. . .
All was quiet . . .
utterly, miserably QUIET . . .
Somewhere I read that the average wait for the LOA was
52 days, with times ranging anywhere from 30-70 days. I read numerous blogs to
keep up with others’ progress and saw people getting their paperwork in 48
days, 35 days and some even in 22 days . . .
Needless to say, our QUIET became deafening.
When we reached the 70 day mark, I began to get concerned
and every day after became more and more difficult.
Some days, I handled the wait well, knowing that God’s
timing is perfect. But more often than not I was consumed, sad, worried that
something was WRONG. . . and sometimes I was downright hysterical.
After one particularly tough morning, Wayne contacted our
agency to express my our concerns. The next day, we learned that where we were in
the process was perfectly on track. My stress was based on my own
misinformation, and all my worry was completely unfounded. He explained that based on the timeline of
those just ahead of us, our wait would most likely last another two weeks.
Disappointing . . . but armed with
TRUTH, I was able to wait without worry.
Then out of the blue . . . Just 10 days after that email . . . on
Jan. 23 . . . we got THE call . . .
The wait for our LOA is OVER!! The paperwork was actually
issued on January 17, meaning that we had waited for a total of 99 days since
being logged in. Truly – an average wait.
Once the LOA arrived, we began another paperwork marathon .
. . filing for immigration in her name and applying for our visas. While it doesn’t
seem like much, completing these forms and getting them ready to be mailed took
several evenings - -not to mention the time we had to take Saturday to get new
passport photos (I think this is our third set!!!).
We are overjoyed that this wait is over but now a new one
begins. Please pray that I will focus on what is TRUE . . .
We hope to travel sometime in April, but there are several
steps to be completed before we will get an actual date. Every day we get more
and more excited, and the kids can hardly wait.
Please continue to pray for our sweet girl, that God will
prepare her heart for this unbelievable change. Pray that God will prepare us
for this transition as well, and please pray that while we wait, we will
remember to give God glory for the great things He has done.
