What lies ahead

June 1st is Children's day in China. I am hoping that means some fun is in store for Lianqing. I am really going to concentrate on praying for her this week. Her world is about to be turned upside down and though we all know what good lies ahead for her,she does not. She will only know that she has been taken from the only "home" she has ever known,away from her nannies,friends and routine and handed over to two strange looking people that don't speak her language, who supposedly are her new mama and daddy. I know she will be very scared especially that first day and night. My prayer is that God will send her peace and understanding,that her little confused,broken heart will be able to feel the love and compassion we have for her. Please pray in the days and weeks ahead that God will help Chuck and I to have patience and love that surpasses any situation we may be put in. I already know I could never do what lies ahead on my own..this is a God thing. He will be my strength.So please pray for all of us as we begin this incredible journey..especially little Lianqing.

CHINA OR BUST!

Only one more week until we leave for China. I can't believe it is THIS close, that in 10 days I will meet Lianqing. Her life as an orphan will end and our life as a family will begin. The Road to Abby-Grace has almost found it's final destination and what a LONG, bumpy road it's been.There is a Third day song that says, "I must go through the valley to stand upon the mountain of God!"
I am thinking about changing the name of the blog once we are home. I will post another voting poll on the side. I am thinking I may include info about the whole family on the blog and so some of the names reflect this. The web address will stay the same regardless of what gets decided for a new name. Gotta go pack!!

Gettin Closer

Well,We are getting closer and we are down to less than 2 weeks until we leave. We received our paper tickets in the mail. I didn't even know they still gave paper tickets. I got really excited when I saw Lianqing's. I guess because I wasn't expecting it but it only makes sense,she is going to need a ticket HOME.That sounds so awesome.
The local fire dept was doing a car seat safety check today,so I took advantage and went ahead and put in Abby's. It's so strange to see it back there.Cameron's face was priceless when I picked him up from his friends, he opened the door to get in and there was a booster seat staring him in the face.:)
We have some packing done but we have a long way to go. When I really stop and think about it, I can't believe this is all really happening and we are SO close. It won't be long and I will be blogging from China:)

One Year Ago Today

One year ago today I first saw Lianqing's sweet little face. This photo was on a waiting child list sent to me and I remember looking at it and wondering if she could be the one.. and now I am 3 weeks away from flying half way around the world to call her mine. What an amazing 365 days it has been, something tells me the next365 are going to be even MORE amazing. Thanking the Lord for this road, only he could have put before us.

We're going to China!!!

We received our consulate appointment( the finalization of the adoption), it is 9AM on June 16th,which is just what we wanted!! We will be leaving June 5th. We are not sure if we are coming home on the 18th of June. There are some problems with flights that day and if we came home then it would be $$$$$$$. We might have to stay an extra day or I am checking in to the possibility that we can leave on the 17th after we pick up her VISA. It is all very exciting but also making my head spin! 3 weeks from Friday we will be leaving..in the meantime let's have 2 graduations, an
8th grade dance, a broken car and an extra dog..I don't care I'm JUST SO HAPPY!!!!!
I will keep posting as things progress!!

IT"S HERE!!!!

Our Travel approval arrived today! We will find out in 1-3 days our exact travel dates,it all depends on if we can get an appt for our adoption proceeding on June 16 If we can we will have our original dates. If not, it will only be off by a day or two. It is looking like a month from now,I will be in China with OUR ABBY-GRACE!!! I can't believe after all this time,all the tears,heartache,and paperwork..it is finally going to happen. I am going to have a daughter:)

Good News

I heard from the adoption agency and they finally got a response back from China. Our Travel Approval was sent out yesterday from China. It should be here early next week. I am really hoping we can keep those orginal dates but only God knows what is best. Thanks for your prayers and support. I will post when I have more info to share..just wanted to keep everyone updated:)

Joy,Sorrow, and Hope

Well, this week has been like a roller coaster,and anyone who knows me, knows that I hate roller coasters. I'm afraid of them because I don't know what is going to happen next...just like my week. The week started off great with an adoption shower at church for Abby-Grace(sorry I don't have pics, our real computer is broken.I promise I will post soon). It was so wonderful and I was so full of joy being able to finally answer the question"When will you get her?" We received a bunch of stuff for her but what really touched my heart was the excitement and support everyone had for her arrival. I could see the finish line right in front of us. As the work week began, I started hearing about the swine flu but I had know idea how much it would effect my life. The week went on and I started hearing rumors that it may start impacting travel in the adoption world. I emailed our agency but before I received an answer, the Chinese Consulate of Adoption Affairs put out a statement. They are taking this very seriously and some agencies are not allowing their families to travel. One I know of was to leave a week from today and had tickets etc.What a crime in my mind. I took this statement from the CCAA to mean they would not be sending out any more travel approvals. Which we don't have yet. Some people were saying it could be 3-5 months until things are back to normal. Let's just say I had a mini breakdown with all this information swirling around. I have SO been dreaming of finally seeing her sweet face,of her NOT being in the orphanage for her bday,of having the summer off to spend outside with her. This time was the closest I have ever felt to her,it felt SO good but made the idea of a set back hurt SO bad. Thursday afternoon I talked to my adoption coordinator - She told me that they have not received any word that Travel approvals have stopped being given and that there is still a chance that we could possibly keep our tenative dates. It is hard to get accurate information because it is a holiday in China and everything is closed. So there is my tiny ray of hope,that I am holding onto. We should have received our TA by now,it is usually 2-4 weeks and it was 5 weeks on Thursday. I am trying so hard to trust God and believe that he has it all under control. It is times like this I feel like such a weak Christian. I am scared and worried and don't understand why this is all happening. I'm annoyed that this swine flu is being made such a big deal of, when according to my friend in the health profession,over 20,000 people die a year from just the regular old influenza we get every winter. It's ridiculous to have these children in orphanages wait longer,they've already waited TOO LONG. I am trying to put my focus and prayer into HOPE and see what next week brings. It is either going to be really good news or really bad news. PLEASE pray for this adoption and Abby-Grace, that God would put his protective hand around this adoption.