Travel Dates Confirmed

Well, once again God has another agenda laid out for us than we had planned for.  We will be leaving for China on December 14th, and returning on the 29th.  Leaving three behind over Christmas and missing our Hopi's birthday was not our ideal plan, but obviously it is God's plan for us.  I've been continually reminded recently of God's sovereignty and my short-sightedness.  Whatever He has in store for Jada and the rest of us must need a couple more weeks to work itself out.  My chest literally ached most of the day, giving way to my realization that I care more about this timing issue than I even care to admit.  I've been waiting for my heart to catch up to my mind, you know?  I'm trying to choose to trust and waiting for the feelings to follow.  I hate it that I'm not just excited to be going.  5 weeks just feels so far away!  It's silly I know.  But we have set dates now, so we can plan, prepare the kids, and get things ready for our sweet Jada girl!

Travel Approval, also known as: TA, also known as: The day the heavens opened!

  

Praise You Father!  We have our travel approval!!!

December 16th

My agency, Holt International, is working hard to get us to China earlier, but it is likely that we will not get to China any earlier than December 16th.  This is bittersweet news.  We have a date to fall back on and our agency is planning this before we have travel approval, which is wonderful.  The down side is if we were going to any other province, we could be heading out on Dec. 2nd and returning in plenty of time to be home for Christmas.  So unless the actual director of the agency can pull some strings for us, we will be gone over Christmas and miss my little girl's 7th birthday. 

So I'm praying for favor with the public affairs office in our province.  (They are hard to schedule with.)  And so I'm asking for a Christmas miracle.  I want to be home for Christmas, with my Jada in my arms.

This shames me as I have scoffed that someone would make it their goal to have their kids home by a certain date because of the absolute (ridiculous) uncertainty about adoption.  Yet here I am eating some humble pie, and begging God to let us bring her home by Christmas.  You see this was never my plan.  I thought that the adoption would be completed last summer, but as we moved through this process it slowed to a screeching halt for a couple of months.  So no more scoffing for me. 

And I'm praying for a Christmas miracle.

I can't think of anything else!

I am consumed.  I can think of nothing but adoption, and when this adoption will finally take place.  I dreamed last night that while my mother stayed with my other children while we were in China, she repainted the girls' room a bright yellow color...OVER the lovely flowered blocks handpainted around the room.  I was horrified and then woke up.  If you know my mother, you know this is not a real fear of mine because there is no danger of my mom repainting my house.  It does show, however, that I am starting to get nervous about leaving my babies.  They will be fine without me.  Maybe that's it.  They will be too fine without me.  I've never been away from them for longer than 3 days!  It's hard to give up control and trust someone else to do my job, even though it's the perfectly capable grandparents who managed to raise us somehow! 

Holt sent a generic email today saying they're planning for a group of us to enter Beijing Dec 16th.  That is no dang good in my mind because we won't be home before Christmas.  God, I'm crying out!  Please, please let us get there and back before Christmas!

Officially waiting for travel approval!

We got confirmation that our Article 5 went through on Friday, so we are now waiting on travel approval!  YAY! 

Now the trick is calmly waiting to see when we'll be leaving with 2 major holidays and 2 of my children's birthdays coming up.  Good grief.  So glad to finally be here, but this is the worst time of the year for us to travel!  I never dreamed we'd be in a race before Christmas.  I just finished all of the birthday and Christmas shopping for my kids though.  That's a huge relief.  I sure wish we could be home by my Adler's birthday on December 3rd.  From talking to Holt, I guess that would be nothing short of a miracle though.  A mama can dream though, right, and definitely pray....  God, could we please leave and come back before Ad's birthday?  In Jesus' Name, Amen

Visas, Article 5, and waiting for TA!

We got our visas back last week on Friday!  It's a lot of money just to get a sticker in your passport!  This means we are completely done with paperwork on our end.  I'm sure there will be something that comes along that will need to be filled out, but nothing that I know of!  Our Article 5 should be done today but we won't hear anything until Friday because Holt doesn't hear anything until Friday.  So if I can assume that the Article 5 is done (play along here, I know what assuming does) then we should be waiting for travel approval now!  This is our last step!!!  The consulate appointments are made quickly so it seems, so this is the last real wait for paperwork then it will be the rush for packing & travel, buttoning up things here so we can be gone for two weeks!  The travel approval will be expedited.  PLEASE PRAY that China will honor the request for an expedited TA!  Many have gotten theirs quickly, so I'm hopeful.  You could also pray that I won't be consumed with this so much that I forget I have other children!  ;o)  Those other children of mine really are doing so well with all of this...oh may that continue!

And this is just for a dose of cuteness:

More pictures of sweet Jada

With her class...

They must be learning about leaves.  Isn't that a great smile?  Oh my prayer is that she is being prepared for the changes she will be experiencing soon.  How do you ready a 3 year old for leaving everything she's ever known though?  Please Father, prepare this girl.  May she somehow be able to trust us and know that we will love and protect her always.  In the Name of Jesus we ask!