Our lives have been changed...we have seen his face. On April 14th, 2014 we were officially matched with our son!!! It all happened in a way that was unexpected...much like the rest of our lives. The last five days have been such a whirlwind...but here is how it happened...here is how we met our son.
In the world of China adoptions you can get matched with a child two different ways....the first is through the shared list of children which is released once a month....the second is through the waiting list of children. The waiting list is typically children who are either older or have more severe medical needs. It is through our agency and is constantly being updated with new kiddos. Brett and I were waiting in anticipation for the shared list to be released some time in April....and that's when God stepped in...and turned our world upside down.
Thursday afternoon our social worker emailed us letting us know that there were a few new little faces on the waiting list. She let us know that their medical needs were outside what we had listed as being open to, but that we might want to take a look anyway. I immediately pulled up the list....despite being in the pick up line at my daughter's co-op and needing to pay attention to my driving...and I saw his face...his beautiful precious smile was captivating.
My mind started racing and I'm sure that I broke several traffic laws on the way home. As soon as we were there I pulled up his file again and started reading. Thankfully Brett was actually home from work so I called him into the room to show him. It was evident that this little one's medical needs were things we had not considered but we decided to ask for his referral anyway. Brett drove all of the paper work to our pediatrician's office and I immediately called my favorite physical therapist (my big brother) to ask his opinion. When I went to bed that night I was pretty nervous and quite honestly terrified!! This wasn't what I had pictured....he was not referred to us from the shared list...his medical needs were different and involved more unknowns....so before I fell asleep I asked the Lord for clarity...for peace...and for wisdom. The next morning when I woke up I knew that it was going to be a life changing day. I was filled with joy and peace that can only come from God...and I knew that I wanted this little guy to be ours!!! Through out the whole day the Lord gave me peace through songs, through scripture, and through the words of friends and loved ones. Brett and I had decided that we wouldn't make a decision until Sunday evening but I think throughout the weekend we both new. We wanted to move forward!!!!
Sunday night we emailed our agency and requested to be matched with this little one. We knew there were still some hoops to jump through and some unknowns. Because he was on the waiting list it was possible for another family to see him and request to adopt him....and even when we did ask to be matched with him we had to receive approval from our agency. Monday morning Brett went to work and I was a complete nervous wreck. I went to the gym and sat on an elliptical machine for and hour and literally checked my phone every 3 minutes. I thought I was going to vomit! I tried to occupy myself in every way imaginable then finally at 2:00 in the afternoon I got the email saying that we were officially matched with our little guy!!!!
Sadly...for several different reasons we cannot share any details or pictures about him on the internet until we receive a letter of acceptance from the Chinese government. We have heard that from here on out the process to go get him can take anywhere from 4 to 6 months. Please continue to pray for us as we ramp back up filing more paperwork and working through all the details to bring him home. Also pray for our hearts....I know it's hard to imagine...but we are already in love with this lil guy. To us...he is ours...and it hurts us knowing that he is half way across the world waiting in an orphanage. It blows our minds to know that he has gained a family....he has a wild and crazy big brother...and three insanely precious sisters....all who cannot wait for him to get here....his whole life has changed....and he doesn't even know it yet. Tonight one of our daughters kept saying "he is such a gift to us"...and it's true...he is such a gift!!! Thank you God for letting us be his family.
Hang on precious boy....we are coming!!!!
