"See, God did it"

We are officially approved by USCIS to bring home a 3rd daughter from China!!! My agency has just emailed me the news, and will be working quickly to send my dossier to China!!! On Monday, I was fingerprinted. I prayed that my fingerprints would not be rejected and need to be retaken. Last night, the girls and I prayed that the I800A would be issues soon. And now, as I told my sweet 6 year old sitting next to me that it was issued, she confidently replied "see, God did it" And indeed He had :)

A sweet surprise!

I received some precious photos of my sweet girl. Anyone who has adopted knows what a gift photos are during the long wait. Photos where we can get a glimpse into what life is like for our children as we dream to get them home. Photos to let us know that our children are ok as they wait for us to come get them.




I LOVE Mia's little hint of a smile, and the shine in her eyes.




I wonder what she is thinking.



And can't wait for the day when I can see a huge grin on her beautiful face.

Blessed and lucky

There are some days when all I can do is sit back and wonder how did I ever become so blessed and lucky? My older daughter, now 9, said today how much she can't wait to get Mia. It was honest and from her heart. She can't understand why it is taking so long. If it is so hard for me as an adult to wait, how much harder it must be for my girls who at 9 and 6 can't understand how these processes work. Our documents have gone to the USCIS and we are waiting for the fingerprint appointment and to then be approved by the US government to bring home a child...our Mia. This phase alone can take up to 90 days. The girls are already arguing over who will sit next to her on our flights home. I keep trying to remind them we've got a lot longer to wait before we will be flying home.
As my sweet girls prepare and wonder about their youngest sister each day, I grieve that another day has passed that Mia isn't home. Time is such a funny thing, it's something I wish would slow down right now as the girls get older and yet it's something I wish would pass more quickly so that we can all be together.
How is it even possible that I can be given the gift of another daughter from China? From the same area of China which stole my heart twice before! From the part of China which has come to feel like a second home for me, and has been the first home for 3 precious little girls. From the same area of the country where we go back with Knowing Hope (www.knowinghope.blogspot.com). China hasn't even been open to single parents for adoption again for more than a few months. How is it that this sweet little girl, to be named Mia Aona had still been waiting? And that the waiting child coordinator with the agency which allowed me to be a mother for the first time could help me bring her home? That I could get pre-approval from China within 4 working days. There is only one explanation. I am one person who is enormously blessed and lucky. And for that, I am so incredibly grateful.

The agony of waiting

The waiting in adoption is hard. Once the decision is made to adopt, and a match is made, the wait becomes excruciating. I learned of Mia on April 2nd. Ten days later, I was matched to her with the pre-approval by the CCAA. The waiting has been hard. Really hard. My social worker has finished my homestudy in record time. The draft is done. But, the form we sent to one state I lived in at age 27 was returned as incorrect to release the background check to a third party. I quickly sent the correct form to the state by overnight mail on Tuesday. Hopefully, it will arrive to my agency on Monday and I can submit the homestudy and other necessary paperwork to the USCIS for official approval. The wait for USCIS approval is said to be up to 90 days. My prayer is for Mia to be home before the end of 2011.

Mia is all I can think about. She is in my thoughts when I am awake and when I am asleep. I study every detail of her photos. I wish she could come home right now. A dear friend has said that in many ways adoption parallels pregnancy. There is waiting in pregnancy too. But, the main difference is the level of peace, since in pregnancy the unborn child is with the mother at all times. In adoption, the child is not with the mother until adoption day. This makes waiting, and the sense of peace, much harder. Being in the adoption process for the 3rd time in 10 years reminded me of this. The unrest. The yearning to be with the child. The desire to move all mountains and make time pass quickly until that day comes.

And then, in the wee hours of the morning, as I awoke thinking of Mia, my heart stopped. Some children have been waiting YEARS for the announcement that they now have parents who have chosen them. That they have a mom, or dad, or both to finally call their own. In China alone, there are children on the special focus list who have been waiting since 2009. Two years! And I am rediculously complaining about the agony of waiting 1 month!
It certainly puts things into perspective. The following children are just a few of the nearly 2000 who are currently waiting in China for their parents to find them.








Creating a family through adoption is not for the faint of heart. It is hard. Agonizing at times. But is must be even harder for those children who continue to wait....

The story of Mia

There are currently over 1500 children waiting for families on the waiting kids list. Some kids have been waiting a long, long time for a family to call their own. Two weeks ago, I learned about a little girl, now 4 year old, who has been waiting on this list for a year and a half for her family to find her. Her eyes reached into my soul, and as I looked at her sweet face I wondered, is she mine? I prayed. I asked Him to speak loudly and clearly, since sometimes I am a bit thick. He answered. Loudly. Clearly. She was meant for me, and for my girls who will be her big sisters.
I wrote my letter to the central agency in China which matches families together. Four working days later, I received a YES!
I was not expecting this. China had been closed to single parents until just last month. When I learned about the re-opening, I thought maybe in a few years. Maybe. But God has a sense of humor. I am meant to adopt NOW, not in a few years. Mia is waiting now.
Mia lives in the same area of China where my other 2 daughters were born. Just another red thread that connects us all together as a family.
The paperchase is on again. I am just as excited this third time around as I was for the first and second. My homestudy has started and the mad dash to get all of the papers to China has begun. Mia's been waiting and needs to come home soon. We all are so excited to have her join our family.
And today, there is one child less who waits for her family.