God's Provision and a Little Bit About Ellie

It’s been a little while since we’ve blogged.  We’ve been chasing papers back and forth between here and China.  During this time, though, God has been providing in amazing ways, and I am so excited to announce that we are fully funded!!  J  That’s right, that huge number ($30,000) that sounded so daunting just eleven months ago, and God has provided every single penny of it!  We are so very thankful to our HUGE God, and to everyone who allowed themselves to be His instruments!  And to those of you who might be reading this and are considering adoption, but the cost seems so overwhelming that you feel like you wouldn’t even know where to start….please don’t let the finances hinder you!!  If God is calling you to it, He will provide what is needed!!

 

So many of you have asked where we are in the process and how much longer until we can go get Ellie.  Every step in the process bring us just a little closer to her, and thankfully these steps at the end are going pretty quickly.  We are currently waiting for our I-800 (the petition to classify Ellie as our daughter) to be approved.  We are hoping we get that approval at the end of this week, but it could be longer.  The next step will be getting the information to have our Article 5 put together and sent to the US Consulate in China (this is to ensure that she will qualify to obtain a visa so we can bring her home.)  A couple of weeks later this will be picked up from the consulate and then we’ll be waiting on TA (travel approval) – this step will hopefully take about a week – and then our Consulate Appt (CA) will be made, our travel dates set, and we will purchase our plane tickets and get on the plane about a week later!!  We are getting close, folks!!  We are looking to travel sometime in March at this point, but there are still many delays that could happen.  It’s just all in God’s timing.

 

In the meantime, I wanted to share a little bit about what we know about Ellie, which is not a lot.  Ellie is very small.  When she was found, she weighed 3 lbs, and she had a hard time getting nourishment and growing for many months at the beginning of her life.  You may know that many long-term difficulties can be associated with low birth-weight, so we will just take those as they come, knowing that she is exactly the little girl that God intended her to be!  Ellie just turned a year old and she is currently in foster care at night, and goes to the orphanage to be cared for during the day.  We found out that behind her orphanage there is a large apartment complex with retired folk, and they foster the babies.  So while we don’t know specifically about Ellie, it is likely that she lives with a “foster grandma.”  I love the idea of that, by the way, that Ellie may just be bringing joy to an elderly lady, while the lady is providing love and safety for our girl!  Just my mama mind wandering, though, we likely won’t know her situation until we get there. 

 

Ellie’s paperwork describes her as “a very pretty, active, and happy baby girl.”  She can roll, crawl, and sit alone for awhile and is very noisy when she is happy or upset.  She is not shy with strangers and loves to be held (YESSSSS!!!!!! J)  Her nannies feel that she is a very happy and easy-going baby.

 

Can’t wait to go get that sweet baby!!!

 

-allison

 

Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord! Psalm 27:14

A VERY Big Day!!

So, the next step of our journey has happened and we are one HUGE step closer to Ellie!!!  As some of you know, since we got matched with our Ellie the next thing we were waiting on from China was something called LOA (letter of acceptance.)  Basically, LOA is the official paper that the Chinese government issues to say we’re definitely going to let you adopt this child.  It’s usually one of the longest waiting periods during the process – some families wait more than 6 months for this step to happen.  Well, since we waited a few months to get matched, we were hoping that this step would be sped up a little, as some of the processing can actually occur before matching.  So, January 3 in China began around noon yesterday for Georgia, and January 3 is Ellie’s birthday!!  It was sad to think that she would spend her birthday without her family, but it’s such a happy thought to know that this is the last she will spend without us!  J  We sent a little party with a cake and a present and some candy for the kids and nannies to her orphanage, but I just wish I could hold her while she blows out the candles and laugh as she rubs cake all over her face like I did with Kate!  Anyway, Kris and I were talking about how much longer it might be before we get LOA, and we decided that I should just go ahead and email our social worker to find out if she had heard anything.  So, yesterday afternoon, I did that.  She immediately emailed back and said she’d spoken with China just a couple of days ago and our case wasn’t even out of translation yet…….  That was a crushing blow.  I was expecting to hear that she didn’t know anything, but hoped it would be soon, but to not even be out of translation???  Who knows how long it could take to be approved from that point!  So, I began redirecting my thoughts to how she might be celebrating her birthday.  A few hours later I got an email from our social worker again that said, “Call me.”  Ummmmm, ok. My heart dropped…..no smiley face?  No explanation mark? No hint of what she might say?  Well, I’ll just tell you that Kris and I haven’t been the family that is calling our social worker for updates every other day.  God has proven over and over again that this is in HIS timing, not ours, so we’ve really been resting in His sovereignty as our excitement builds.  So, the times we’ve actually talked to our social worker have pretty much been the couple of times that she’s given us really big news.  So, with a very heavy heart I called her.  And of course she didn’t answer…..  So, I left a message and then I emailed her back and then I called again.  Not that I’m OCD or anything….  The next 15 minutes was grueling….thoughts raced through my head….did they lose our LOA?  Did something get messed up and now we have to start all over with the paperwork?  Is there a chance we might lose Ellie before we even meet her???  Finally, FINALLY she calls back.  And then she wants to chat about Christmas for crying out loud!!  I’m all, “yea, yea, it was great, yea yea, happy new year and all……now WHASSUP??????”  And she says, “well, I just called to tell you that I’m sitting here with your LOA!!”  Whaaaaa??  And I’m standing there with the phone in my hand going, “did that really just happen????”  I’m crying and jumping up and down and I pretty much didn’t hear a word she said after that.  Then I’m in a hug with my sweet husband, who I’m not sure even knew exactly what was going on at that moment, but could tell something good had happened!  Then Kate is dancing around and singing a song about Ellie!  And that’s how it happened!!  That’s how WE GOT LOA ON ELLIE’S BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!  Whoooooo-hooooooo!!!!  We are going to China!!!  We’re coming as fast as we can sweet baby girl!!!!!  We are looking at about 10 weeks until we hop on the plane now.  :-D  GOD IS AWESOME!!!!!!!!  Here are some pictures of LOA arriving at our house and of us signing.  In full disclosure, the Fed Ex guy actually dropped it off at our door and was back in his truck and halfway through the neighborhood before we realized it, so don’t think I didn’t go running after him barefoot in the rain in my jammies to get him in the picture that marks a milestone in my baby girl’s life!!! 

Psalms 33:20-22 “Our soul waits for the LORD; he is our help and our shield. For our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name. Let your steadfast love, O LORD, be upon us, even as we hope in you.”

Blessings!!

-allison