There are many lessons that I have learned in life through this adoption. The depth of love. Friendship. The power of family. Financial sacrifice. Patience. I have grown so much as a person over this past year and I look forward to the day when I can pay our blessings forward.
Of all of these lessons, learning, understanding, and accepting patience has by far been the hardest for me. I feel God working through me though and I know that one day being, stronger in my patience and understanding that events in life are not made to happen to our own timing, will help me in my future endeavors in life.
Today we are on day 35 of our wait for our LOA (letter of acceptance). There are websites out there that calculate the average wait time of this step in our journey, and the average wait time went from 62 days to 61 days recently. That brought a big smile to my face. One day, on average, closer to the next step, right? Not necessarily. I belong to a facebook group consisting of people very similar to us - adopting from China and hoping to travel between late summer and early fall. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to how fast or slow this step goes for people. I have seen some wait well over 100 days while others get moved on day 27. So, you can only imagine how often I check my email every day. The day that I get "The email" that we have a "soft LOA" will mean that our documents are in the mail and almost ready for us. Then we start the next cycle of paperwork (immigration approval). I have heard this period of time until we can make travel arrangements is ranging from 55-70 days from LOA, and when we receive our travel approval (TA) we need about two weeks. SO - what I keep doing in my head multiple times every day is play numbers games. I think through, "okay, today is the 19th... we are day 32 in our wait for LOA... best case scenario, we get our letter today, and best case from that we need 55 more days until TA, which puts us at ____, then another two weeks, and we could go as early as August ___"... then I think through the worst case scenario, then somewhere in the middle. I forget the numbers and a few hours later start thinking through things again. Not very productive, but the fun thing is every day, no matter how I spin numbers, we are one day closer to bringing Christian home.
Daily we continue to be blessed by our friends. On Thursday of last week my coworker gave me a beautiful necklace that she made. Of course, I cried. It has a charm with two birds on it. They are both looking expectantly at an empty nest. Cathy told me that when she saw the charm she immediately thought of our family. The birds are like AJ and Abby waiting for their baby brother to fly home. Attached to the nest is a link with three jewels, representing our three children. She joked that she could always add another charm if we decided to have another. Ha ha. I actually feel such peace and comfort over our family being complete. I also think that Adam might have a heart attack if I were to even propose the idea of adopting again.
Last week we shared our fundraising page. In the past week we have been gifted with $625. Our friends, Matt and Sarah, gave us their beautiful crib and matching dresser. Our church told us on Sunday that they would like to throw us a baby shower and to have us register at target. A coworker this morning walked into my room with a sweet note and prayer for our family with a gift of money. I just feel like everywhere I am turning we are being blessed. God is working through our friends and family, and continues to show us that we are doing what He has wanted us to do and has provided every step of the way. I honestly don't know if I can handle all of these gifts and acts of kindness. I might just burst (in public I mean - I feel some days like I have more hormones that a woman in her 9th month of pregnancy).
The Lord has also provided through providing us with work opportunities. Adam's work has been busier than ever and my tutoring schedule is filling up! I will be sending the kids to daycare twice a week and tutoring from home while they are gone. I think this will be perfect for our needs because not only will I pull in some extra money, but I will also be able to keep up with the house, run errands, and keep up with paperwork needs during down times. I LOVE my children and love every second with them, but I am feeling right now like some quiet time will be a good thing. Plus, they love going to their daycare. I find I am the best parent I am able to be when my time with my children is a little more focused and I am not so distracted and driven to get big things done. Hopefully by sending them off twice a week and using my time effectively on those days will enable me to just love on them and help create a great summer experience for them the other five days a week.
Abby is doing gymnastics this summer and a jumpstart kindergarten class. AJ is doing soccer and t-ball. Other than that, we have NO plans. I normally love to fill our summers and to keep our kids active and engaged, but they are at a great point in life where they love to just be home and play with some great neighborhood friends. My parents are putting their house on the market and are living on a lake in Sauk Center in their RV. They have offered for us to come and stay there whenever we want - so I am sure we will enjoy some time there. I think that will also help the kids transition to having Grammy live at our house and watch them when Adam and I are in China. We might be gone a full three weeks, so anything to help with this transition is a good thing.
So, as I hope this journal conveys, life is good. God provides. Friends and family are crucial. Perseverance and faith are crucial. Did I say that life is good? :)
Now, I am off to go and spin some more numbers :)
My Little Sweeties
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