52 Months LID, Another Update...and Good News!

The last several weeks have been so busy...and exciting! It's hard to know exactly where to begin but I will try my best to cover everything as concisely and completely as possible.

Our family continues to adjust as Rachel lives two hours away from home. She was here this weekend for the first time in a month. We were so thrilled to be together again. Of course, she will come home as often as possible and we will visit her and spend weekends with her when we can. But we are grateful that she is doing well and enjoying the opportunities God has given her.

Micah has moved into his new apartment and we have been working on it for the past few weeks. He continues to work at the pharmacy but after this week, it will be every other weekend for awhile. He will move "officially" to his apartment this weekend for his new year at the Univ. of KY. It sounds like an exciting year is ahead for him and we are thrilled. We're going to miss him here everyday but he isn't too far away and that is a blessing.

Tim has been very busy at work. It is highly suspected that there will be much overtime in the coming months due to new model changes beginning immediately. So we are thankful for his job and prayerful for his safety while there.

I have been very busy, as well. It's been much like "Grand Central Station" here all summer. With graduation, job searches, moves, updates, paperwork, appointments, the home study visit and many other things going on in our lives, our home is always busy and full of life, love and laughter. :) I am grateful that I enjoy multi-tasking! :) It's the only way I can get things done...but I am so blessed to be a wife, mom and all the other roles I have in this life. I can't imagine it any other way.

As of last Saturday, we have been "Logged In" 52 months in our adoption journey. We have been in the process for over five years and our paperwork has been in China almost four and a half years. It's been quite a journey. But so much is happening now and we are more excited than ever!

Just before our Home Study visit with our amazing social worker, I decided to look around on our adoption agency website. I noticed a new checklist for Special Needs and mentioned it to our social worker. We had never seen this before, for "some reason." We were approved for Special Needs during our 36 month update but had not heard anything about this form. From what we understand, the SN system had been revised after our 36 month update and we were not made aware of it until I discovered it. But we truly believe that God's hand was in this all along. Our social worker immediately connected us with the SN Advocate at our agency. We set up an appointment with her and had a wonderful meeting with her last Friday.

During all this time, Tim and I have been praying for God's direction...specific, obvious and unquestionable direction...in regard to His will and plan for our little one/s in China and our journey to her. We know we are NOT making a choice simply based on a time frame...and that we are very willing to wait as long as it takes to do whatever God leads us to do. We continue to pray for God to open the doors He wants us to enter and He has been doing just that.

There have been countless incidents of God's direction and assurance. Whether in doctor's offices, conversations with friends and family, notes that "just happen" to come to us in amazing perfect timing, our daughter's job at KDMC in a specialized area...or other areas, God has laid it on our hearts to consider Special Needs options even more seriously. The more we pray about this, the more peace we have and the more clearly God directs our path. We know that at our ages, we are not able to handle a severely disabled child. But there are children with "mildly correctible" special needs...such as minor heart defects that are correctable..and often done before we bring her home...or club feet (which tugs at my heart because of my brother's childhood experiences with this)...or a birth mark...or a missing finger...or a minor scar...or something else very small and treatable. Tim and I have completed the newly-discovered form and are sending it to the agency tomorrow. This does NOT affect our possibilities for "healthy" children nor does it commit us to a special needs option alone. It merely opens the doors even wider for us to be ready for God's leading.

The Special Needs Advocate told us that there are regular monthly lists that become available. Upon their receiving and acceptance of our checklist, we will begin waiting for opportunities quite soon. There is an estimated time frame for a Special Needs adoption referral for us somewhere between the next five to seven months! That is very exciting! The wait for non-special needs is at least another two to three years. Again, we are willing to do whatever God calls us to do. But for now, it seems God continues to open doors consistently and clearly for us in Special Needs, as well.

For this month's prayer request, I ask that you please pray for God to continue making His perfect will OBVIOUS to us. We have no doubt whatsoever that God is at work and making our path very clear. Please pray for the child/ren He has created and designed to come home to us. We know it will be a major adjustment for her and for us. Please pray for all those who are working so hard to bring these precious children together with their Forever Families. And please pray that we will honor Him in this journey, in the wait, in the process of special needs and healthy opportunities...and that He will protect and provide for all those involved. We are absolutely amazed at how He continues to take care of our every need when we simply don't know how He is going to work it out. But He always does. He called us to love and take care of His precious child/ren in China....and He has never let us down in this journey. I truly pray that all we do, say and share in this journey honors Him above all else!

JennaBeth...(maybe EmmaKate)...we are quite possibly MONTHS from seeing you and bringing you home! Hold on, sweetie/s. You are definitely in God's arms of love, protection and provision. We hope to see you soon...and we are holding you in our hearts until we hold you in our arms. We love you so much already!

To all of you...our family, friends, doctors, nurses, office staff, agency, USA government offices...and the PRC...thank you for all you are doing for Him, for our precious children in China...and for all the orphans and Forever families. You are truly blessing our journey more than we ever imagined. We thank each of you for your prayers and kindness. May you all be blessed on your journeys as beautifully as you are blessing ours.

I will continue to keep you posted as we learn more in the days...weeks...and months ahead....
Cherishing His perfect plan and master design,
Terri & family