Since our last update, our paperwork has been on the move! Our Dossier was delivered to China on January 28 and we were officially logged in on February 11th which means that we are eligible for a placement in the eyes of the people in power in China. We had a conference call with our agency's China team on February 20 to discuss our openness to special needs in depth and it allowed for the team to get some information that will help them place our child with us. February 24 was match day and we were not placed with a child. I didn't really feel like it would happen that quickly but that still didn't make it any easier! Match days take place at the end of every month and our agency is hopeful that we will have a match by early summer....which would be AWESOME....the sooner the better!!!! While we have just been playing the waiting game, we have actually completed 2 fundraisers in preparation for our travel expenses. We ended up selling 165 "Choose Love" tshirts and it has been so amazing to see these shirts on so many of our friends!!! We are truly blessed by a wonderful village to help raise our family!!!
My friend Meaghan also hosted a Noonday Collection trunk show to benefit our family. This is such an incredible organization that helps provide sustainable income to people in poverty around the world not to mention it is absolutely gorgeous jewelry!!! Noonday has a heart for adoptions as well, so a portion of the show's sales were graciously given to us. A huge thank you to all our generous friends who chose to "shop with a purpose" and we were overwhelmed to have received $550.00!!!!
The Lord has truly been gracious to us over the last few months and throughout this whole process. A couple of weeks ago, we were told that we were the recipients of one of the Reclaimed Project adoption grants. This is truly amazing and I am reminded of that old song we used to sing "God will make a way, when there seems to be no way. He works in ways we can not see. He will make a way for me." (I can just see Larry Black in the front of FBCJ right about now!) All along as we have prayed about adoption, we have asked the Lord to make a way because we can not do this on our own, and once again it was like He just said "I've got this! Just trust me!"
Not only has the Lord been incredibly faithful in the financial aspects of our journey, but He gave me the opportunity to be a part of a retreat for adoptive mamas. The whole adoption world is a really neat little community and it is so nice to get to talk and share experiences with people who "get it" and "get me"(as much as anyone can get someone else). I was able to attend the Created For Care conference in Atlanta along with 450 other adoptive mamas. My goodness it was good for my soul. I did not know anyone going and I was a bit like a 7th grader on the first day of school in the feelings that I was having before going. I met my new BFFs when they got in my van in Jackson and we headed out on our journey together. We were involved in seminars ranging from attachment to how to deal with ethnic hair and everything in between. We were part of some incredibly challenging and encouraging teaching from a phenomenal speaker as well. The Lord really used that weekend to strengthen my understanding of parenting in general and helped me to put in to words the calling that the Lord has placed in my life to adopt. What a gift that weekend was!
So now, we just continue to wait and pray. I try not to dwell on the waiting but I can't help to think about my little girl on the other side of the world. Gosh, she is one loved little girl. Not just by us (which is so, so much), but her Heavenly Father that I can not wait to tell her about. His timing is perfect and tonight, I choose to rest in that truth.
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