It has been quite some time since my last post. For a time it seemed that this adoption was stagnant; more like at a complete standstill. In all of this, I have learned to expect anything and everything: wait, hurry up, paperwork, more paperwork and the void of information. It is quite an emotional rollercoaster.
Keith and I had been in Dallas for 3 days when upon our return we were SHOCKED and EXCITED to find a fed-ex package which contained our Letter of Acceptance (LOA) from China. This is the piece of paper that we have been waiting on since the end of the summer. Although it feels like we have been waiting on it forever, in actuality it has only been 56 days. For those of you who are not familiar with the adoption process - the LOA is the official document that when signed and accepted signifies the finality of the child referral. This is a momentous hurdle that we have crossed! This milestone also begins the journey to our travel approval and eventually travel dates. To get there we must complete and file more paperwork, which I already had completed and fed-ex'd out to arrive on Monday (10/5/09).
When we received the LOA we also received some preliminary information from our adoption agency regarding travel. This information states that we can expect to travel in approximately 8 weeks. 8 WEEKS! I haven't even had to time to absorb this information. 8 weeks - I keep repeating this time frame in my mind. How quickly 8 weeks will fly by.
Our family has been quite busy over the course of the last months - getting settled back into the routine of school, sports, etc. This has kept my mind occupied and has made the wait a little more bearable. As a family we have a few things that we need to get in order before traveling to get Madelyn. Keith's Office Manager, Rachel, is expecting her first baby and announced that she would not be returning to work after the birth of her baby, which is due in November. Rachel has been part of our business for 4 years and thinking that we would now have to replace her and have someone new in the office to handle our business, especially for the time frame that we were in China was a bit overwhelming. However, God has his hand completely intertwined in our family and this adoption. He blessed us with a wonderful person to replace Rachel. We hired her on September 30th and she starts this Monday. Gods timing is perfect!
We are still waiting for the answers to our questions and updated pictures. There is no guarantee that we will receive this information before we travel. Although I would love to have updated pictures of her - I would love it even more to have her in my arms. I can finally see the light at the end of this tunnel....
Please keep praying for us. We should have our sweet baby girl for the Holidays! What a wonderful blessing.
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