LOA!

This is the big one guys! I know all of the adoption acronyms are hard to follow but I feel like if you should know any, it should be this one. The big LOA (letter of acceptance)! After 45 days of waiting (which is about an average wait for others at this time) our LOA finally came!

And I cried ya'll! Happy tears...

And that's when our agency said, "you should travel in 2 months"

2 MONTHS?! All of the sudden I didn't feel ready. Of course I would go over there in a second if I could, pick her up and take her home without any bags packed so she doesn't have to spend one more day in an orphanage! But since I've known it would take awhile I have put all the packing/ trip planning/ coming home planning on the back burner. And pretty much she said "time to get moving!"

 

So what does LOA exactly mean? It means you are now officially matched with your child. It means China has approved you to adopt this specific child.

And in our case that's Mae.

 

Let me introduce you to Mae (Chinese name Jia Yi)!

She is 3 years old (2 months younger than Jackson)

She likes dolls, balls and "loves to eat" says her orphanage.

This picture was taken in August. We didn't have many pictures of her and I was thankful to see any more that came.

Look at those lips!

Our agency guide in China sent her a care package for us. It included a birthday cake (only a month late and her first one in her life), pictures of our family and a stuffed animal. I think the paper crown was an extra bonus ;)

Her file says she smiles a lot but we barely saw any in these pictures. I'm sure she did not know what to do with all that attention.

 

 

And lastly the picture that initially stole our hearts! This was her file or referral picture with our agency. Each child is given a name with the agency (Victoria) and if they are not matched with a family after 3 months, they return to the Shared list and then start new with a new agency and a new name again. I'm ready to give her an identity, one name, one family and love that abounds. God knows who she is and soon we will too and we hope to meet her needs, provide her a safe place to call home so she can heal and be loved in a family.

 

I'm not very eloquent with words, so I like to keep it short and sweet when I type and speak. I want to share our reason for adoption:

Because God adopted us into His faith family when we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior. If you knew me before I became a Christian at age 21 then you know how far I've come. That change inside of me was driven by a new light in my life. A new drive and a new mission. Jake and I welcome you on this journey as you see the realness, the struggle, the beauty in our adoption journey. We don't have it all figured out but we believe in a God that does. And His plans are perfect. This was His plan/ His mission He placed in our hearts.

 

And since we are wrapping up the "waiting stage" I thought Jen Hatmaker summed it up best:

 

"This is the stage you realize God can put a vicious fight in you for a kid without your blood coursing through his veins. Those early doubts about loving a child without the helpful instincts of biology are put to rest. Of course, you don’t know this kid yet, but you love him in your heart, in your bones. You’ll fight like hell to get to him. You can’t think of anything else. You are obsessed. You dream about him like you did when you were pregnant. You realize that when God said He sets the lonely in families, He meant it, and He doesn’t just transform the “lonely” but also the “families.” He changes us for one another. God can create a family across countries, beyond genetics, through impossible circumstances, and past reason."

 

So, what's next?!

i800

Visas

Article 5

Travel approval (TA)

Consulate (CA)

 

Let's see if we can bring her home by Christmas!!!