I haven't really been posting very consistently. The biggest reason for this? On any given day, my thoughts and emotions are so all over the place that by the time I would be able to finish the blog post, they would have changed so many times that you all would probably be ready to have me evaluated for schizophrenia. Seriously. It is not pretty inside an adopting momma's heart and brain. ;)
However, as we are nearing the finish line, I thought I would give you an update and invite you to join us in praying over these last few steps. :)
Right now, we are waiting for our Article 5 to be picked up which is a two week process. The Art 5 is basically visa information so that Ellie will be able to come home at the end of our trip. We are a week into that wait. Our Art 5 is scheduled to be picked up on the 14th. From there it is forwarded on and we will just be waiting for China to issue our TA (travel approval). This is our formal invitation to come to China! Once we have this in hand, our agency can call to schedule our Consulate Appointment that happens at the end of our trip and then we book our tickets!!!! (This happens in just the day or two after our TA comes).
TA 'normally' takes 2-3 weeks. Like most of our experience with this adoption, there is no real rhyme or reason for how things actually end up going with timing. Right now, we are SERIOUSLY praying for our TA to come before Thanksgiving and for us to be able to get a CA the week before Christmas so that we can leave on December 5th. There are several reasons for this. First of all, we are just plain tired of waiting. We want our baby girl home and we don't want to wait another week. Second, we really, really, REALLY want to be together for Christmas. If we leave later than the 5th then we will still be in China during Christmas and will be missing our other two littles like crazy! Thirdly, ticket prices jump significantly between the 5th and the 12th (with the way appointments and such work out, we will fly out on a Thursday whenever we go). We are talking at LEAST $600 or $700 a ticket! Ouch. Soooo, we are praying for a little miracle for our family. :)
The other thing that we are REALLY praying for is that friends of ours will receive the same miracle. They are on the same timeline as us to bring their little girl home and are from Grand Rapids as well. I have been praying for some time now that we would be able to travel with someone or at least meet someone while we were there that we could connect with that will be going through the same experience as us. Well, just a couple of weeks ago, our agency connected us with these very people. :) We have been on the same timeline since receiving our LOA on the very same day and it has been such a blessing to walk through these last steps with them. Jodi and I have fussed over all the little details of paperwork and process together and we have been able to share the roller coaster of emotions and encourage each other to hang in there. :) Their Art 5 pick up is a couple of days behind ours but we are hoping to get our TA at the same time. If we can go at the same time, we would be able to spend the second week, after we have our girls, together in Guangzhou. What a blessing it would be to have that support from each other on the other side of the world!
So the reality is, we are getting close. Though I have to admit that most days it feels like it is still so far away. It turns out, four weeks feels about the same as six. The closer we get, the more time seems to stretch out and slow down. The wait for our Art 5 is seeming to take forever and I imagine that when we begin our TA wait, time will slow down even more. The closer we get, the more desperate I am to just go. I don't want to wait anymore. I am trying to remind myself that within a month, I should finally know when I am going to hold my little girl for the first time. I am trying to remind myself that I don't want to miss out on these last few weeks with my little family as we know it. I am trying to remind myself that the time will indeed pass and before I know it, I am probably going to be freaking out because we are leaving in a matter of days.
I don't want to miss out on this time now, but I don't want to miss out on another second of my daughter's life either. It is a strange paradox to live in, this adoption world.
Please, pray for us? Pray for my sanity! Pray for our hearts to be prepared for however life is about to change. Pray for patience and trust in God's timing. Pray for finances to continue to work out as the bulk of the expenses come to a head. Pray for God to show us His favor in bringing TA quickly. And please, pray for our little girl. We are so excited to be able to bring her home but these next couple of months are going to mean so much loss and confusion and fear for her. I just want to be able to love her and help her grieve and adjust the best that we can.
Like I said on FB, I hope that you will join us in sending up a deafening chorus of prayers to God asking Him to move on our behalf. There is so much power in prayer and we are asking for yours!
"I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?" Jer 32:27
