Not "meant to be".

I'm not sure how to word this post. I've heard people use the words "meant to be" when describing an adoptive family. "They were meant to be yours." However I don't believe adoption was ever really meant to be. Death, sin, abandonment, loss, poverty, disease, starvation; none of these things were authored by God, or present before the fall of man. There is no adoption without circumstances that cause me to tremble when I, as a mother, think about them. I believe a better term would be beauty from ashes. Grace. God proving to us again and again that he restores what the locust have eaten. Thank you God for my children and the humbling and awesome privilege of being their mother.

For anyone who is interested in the birth cert. issue. A new bump in the road.

My second birth certificate was hand delivered to the Houston Consulate today and they are now asking to have a copy of my marriage liscense before they'll authenticate it. I am thanking God that we used a courrier to deliver it, otherwise it is likely we would never have seen this birth certificate again either. I hope the copy of my marriage cert. I emailed to her is good enough. It frankly looks like a cerificate someone printed off of their own computer. I know in the grand scheme of things this isn't a big deal, but to me in this moment it is. I want to bring Grace home soon, and I HATE counting the weeks that our trip is being pushed back due to a perfectly good birth certificate. :(

Paperwork Complete!! (almost)

I mailed our (almost) complete dossier to our agency this morning. I would have liked to have mailed it a week ago, but I was thrilled to be finished and sending it on. I just hope it doesn't get lost in the mail. (biting my nails) The birth certificate is still m.i.a. Our agency is trying to reach the consolate in Hous. to find out what is going on. In the mean time I sent a new B.C. out the the Sec. of State in Texas and will send it on to the Consulate a 2nd time (this time using a courrier service) if we don't see our other one in the mail. This could take a week or two or three, even if we pay to expidite it- further delaying our dossier being sent to China. I am grateful that God goes before us and loves Grace more than we do. He knows the perfect time for her to come home, even though our desire is to get her here SOON!

Unusual around here...

It was surreal to find this among the laundry today.

Happy Birthday Baby Girl

Happy Birthday Grace!

It's 11:00 am on 10-9 in China. Grace is two years old today! We love you and are doing ALL we can to bring you home! Praying you have a special day today.

If you really want to know about Chinese adoption...

this blogpost is incredibly informative:

http://chinaadoptiontalk.blogspot.com/2010/07/amy-eldridge-of-lwb-speaks.html

I wanted to add a quick quote for those who don't have the time or inclination to read the article:

The landscape has changed considerably from the days when Chinese orphanages were filled with healthy infant girls who had been abandoned because of the government's one child policy and the social preference for boys. Now, the orphanages are filled with special needs kids, many critically ill. She reported that 98% of newly abandoned children in China have serious medical needs, which explains why 60% of adoptions in 2010 were special needs adoption.

A Few Small Updates

I haven't updated much because there is not a lot to say. We have been pleasantly busy with homeschooling and life. P had to work in NYC and I got to tag along for the last few days of the trip which was wonderful. Our entire dossier is now out at various Chinese Consulates here in the US being authenticated. We should have it back by next week (we think the 13th at the latest.) Then it goes on to our agency and then to China!! Once it is logged in in China we think it will be little over 5 months until we travel, though that is a guess. Grace's birthday is on the 9th. It's bittersweet. How exciting we have a little girl turning 2!! We wish we could be there to celebrate and feel for her birth mother. I received an email of a letter from Amy Eldridge from Love Without Boundaries, and amazing humanitarian group that works with orphans. She actually thinks sending a care package is not the best thing to do for several reasons, including making other kids who aren't being adopted feel bad and the fact that it's too hard for the nannies to keep up with individual possessions and to keep them nice. So for Grace's birthday we bought 6 pairs of Carter's footie pajamas (both boys and girls) to be shared with Grace's friends and kept at her orphanage. We also sent candy for the kids, nannies and orphanage directer. If you'd like to pray for Grace here are some things you can pray:

1. For her safety and health in the orphanage.
2. That she will be loved and bonded to someone there.
3. That God will somehow prepare her heart for this huge change. That she will be resilient and strong.
4. That God will also be preparing me, P and the boys to welcome Grace home. That we will have wisdom and compassion.