What A Difference A Year Makes

A year ago today, I got the news that Vietnam was closing and we were not far enough on the waiting list to get a referral. We were 20 spots short. I remember reading the email at work and feeling like someone had punched me in the stomach, having to leave work early because I couldn't hold in the grief and heartbreak. Our "last chance" had fallen through and I had no hope and I didn't understand why God was allowing this to happen again. I remember feeling SO HOPELESS and now a year later, here we are with pictures of a little girl from China( the country we always felt we were supppose to adopt from) and a pink bedroom in our house. Our God IS Awesome and truly Amazing.I couldn't see this plan all those night I cried myself to sleep but he already knew he had picked out this little girl for us and what a long and crazy road we would have to take to find her. When we started on this adoption road, we would have never considered a child with a repaired cleft lip or an older child. We wanted a perfect little baby, like most parents. Now I look at Lianqing and she looks perfect to me and I wonder WHY I insisted on a baby, which brings me to a poem that was sent to me by a Mom we may be traveling with when we go to China. She said it reminded her of Abby and when I read it, tears came to my eyes because I am sure Lianqing has seen this scenerio played out many times.
The Waiting Child
An Adoption Poem
By Debbie Bodie
I saw you meet your child today
You kissed your baby joyfully
And as you walked away with him
I played pretend you'd chosen me.
I'm happy for the baby, yet
Inside I'm aching miserably
I want to plead as you go by,
"Does no-one want a child of three?"
I saw you meet your child today
In love with her before you met
And as I watched you take her out
I knew it wasn't my turn yet.
I recognize you from last year!
I knew I'd seen your face before!
But you came for a second babe.
Does no-one want a child of four?
I saw you meet your child today
But this time there was something new
A nurse came in and took MY hand
And then she gave my hand to you.
Can this be true? I'm almost six!
And there are infants here, you see?
But then you kissed me and I knew
The child you picked this time was me.
Copyright 1997
I can not wait for Lianqing to know,that indeed it is her turn. Please continue to pray for her and the adoption as we go through the last two stages, The letter of Approval and the invitation to travel. Thank you God for showing us the way to Lianqing and getting us to where we are.