Wonderful News!!!! And a Beautiful Reason to Pray!

Yay, God!!!! It is my pleasure to share with you some wonderful and exciting news! More than ever before, we ask your prayers for a precious little girl in China...and a family in Kentucky praying to bring her home!

Last Monday evening at 10:10 p.m., the phone rang and I answered, quickly realizing that it was our SN advocate from the adoption agency. Deep within, I thought..."Hmmmm, surely this isn't what I think it might be!" But...indeed it was! Our Special Needs advocate told me that she had a little girl for us that she had "locked in" on China's newly released list! She told me that she would email us this little one's pictures and medical records for us to consider. I was surprised, excited and yes...even peaceful as I realized that this may very well be our new daughter in the very near future.

Tim was at work for the evening. Rachel was working at the hospital. I was home alone...and Micah was in his apartment in Lexington. I immediately called Micah and told him to watch for the email I was sending that might be his future little sister. As I opened the email from the agency, I immediately saw several pictures...and my heart melted with overflowing joy, hope, peace and love. I listened as Micah opened the email...and he immediately said, "Oh, Mom...she's adorable!" :) We discussed each picture of her and then I began reading the records about her personality, behavior, health, etc.. I was so thankful that Micah was walking through this amazing moment with me! I messaged Tim to call home as soon as possible...and I called Rachel at work. Before long we were all "ooooohing and ahhhhhing" at the pictures of this beautiful, smart, adorable, petite little girl who needs a Forever Family....like us. :)

On Tuesday, we had to contact the agency and let them know if we were choosing to pursue the adoption of this little girl. (There is a very limited amount of time to do so or she would be returned to the list for others to consider her for adoption.) That meant we would need to complete more paperwork, consult our doctors to review her health records, and prepare for further steps in the process in order to request for China to "hold" her for us on an extended basis. It was a very special, exciting and yet stressful time, to say the least. But most importantly, it was time to pray for God's obvious and very clear answers as we decided whether or not to pursue this little girl to become our future daughter.

I am thrilled to tell you that all doctors we consulted were in agreement that this little girl should live a normal, healthy life. All the friends whom we confidentially asked to pray for this little one and the decision before us...felt peaceful and positive about the possibility. And each family member here...Dad, Mom, Sister and Brother...has felt that God has brought this specific little girl into our lives for a very obvious purpose.

So...we immediately began working on paperwork, continued to talk with doctors, our social worker, advocate, etc....and it is wonderful to be able to share with you that as of this moment, our paperwork has been sent to China to request their acceptance of our family to become this little girl's Forever family.

I cannot tell you that it is definite yet for we will not hear anything until next week. The CCCWA is closed this week for a holiday and they will not be back in until next week. But as soon as we receive confirmation, I will introduce you to more specific details and pictures of this precious little girl. I can tell you that she is absolutely beautiful and that she even looks like our family! As our children even said, she would fit right in! :) We have been advised to not reveal her name, pictures, etc. until we have definite confirmation. But I assure you that as soon as we have the word, we will share all we can with you about this little sweetheart.

Until then, we wait.....and pray that if it is God's obvious and perfect will, we will bring this little girl home sometime in the next few months...possibly somewhere between mid-December and February. Would you please pray that God will direct us in the way that honors Him the most and allows this little girl the kind of life and care she deserves?

Please remember that NOTHING is definite at this point. What we do have is a Referral which means that we have been given the option of accepting or declining a specific little girl from China. Until we accept and hear China's confirmation to allow us to adopt her, we will not be able to tell you that it is certain. But we are definitely very close to seeing this very long dream become a reality. We have been working over five years in this process and our Dossier was logged in 54 months ago! So it has been a long journey but one that is definitely in His hands!

Please pray for this precious little one as she continues to grow and wait for her Forever Family. Please pray for all those involved in the USA and PRC who work so hard to bring precious children and Forever Families together. Please pray for our family as we seek God's continued direction, protection and provision in this journey. Please pray that above all else, His plan, purpose and praise will be honored as we wait to adopt a precious child to call our own.

I will definitely keep you updated as we learn more. Tim and I went to Cincinnati last Friday to be refingerprinted again. We even received a phone call from Homeland Security this morning as they work to process all of our updating paperwork and latest fingerprinting information. We know that God is working on so many levels to bring about His master design and plan.

Thank you for your prayers. That makes all the difference to us in this long wait...and now as we move closer and closer to bringing this precious little one home with us! What an incredible journey of blessings...and walk of faith...far beyond anything we ever imagined. What an incredible God who knows just the right child for our family...at just the right time...in just the right way...for just the right purposes He has designed in all of our lives...for His glory! Please pray continually and specifically! We are so very grateful for you all!
Cherishing the blessings in the past, present and future!
Terri & Family