She is Officially Ours!!!!!

Original entry posted February 3, 2010

What an emotional and amazing day. Today brought to a close the adoption process for Madelyn (In China). We attended an official Oath Taking Ceremony at the US Consulate's Office today. There were many cheers and sighs of relief from all of the families present - including us. We have a little more to do to finalize her adoption in the State of Louisiana when we get home but it won't be too bad. She will become a US Citizen immediately upon landing in Newark on Friday afternoon. And once we get home I will file for her a US Passport for our future out of the country travels. We will pick up her Visa to enter the US tomorrow and off we will go by train to Hong Kong. We should arrive around 8:00 p.m. China time. We will catch our flight Friday morning at 11:30 a.m. and are still scheduled to arrive in Lake Charles on Friday, Feb 5th. As I look back on the long journey it took to get here I have to reflect on how wonderful my Lord and Savior truly is. He walked with me each step of the way. In the initial decision making process, he opened my heart to adoption and provided calm to my apprehension. During the months it took us to get through the home study he helped me reflect on his goodness and my many blessing and what I had to offer a child. In the many days and months after we received the referral for Madelyn he provided much needed comfort to my sorrow. I developed trust in his timing and the fact he can MOVE MOUNTAINS and he taught me Patience - a much needed lesson for me. Now that we have her in our lives he has once again shown his grace and mercy to us and allowed a seamless trip to China to get her and an easy transition for both Madelyn and us. God showed us that loves knows no boundaries, is unconditional and is all encompassing and the indescribable JOY that we feel as a family with now a new member. I am a different person because of him and what he has taught me and shown me about myself through this process. We can't wait to be home! We can't wait to reunite with Christopher and Elizabeth waiting at home for us - we miss them dearly! And one moment with Madelyn I must share with you. I woke up this morning to a little face in my face - sweet smile and little hands on my face. When I opened my eyes she was sitting on top of me waiting to kiss and hug me good morning - all with a smile. See everyone soon!