We're going to China!!

Today we received our Travel Approval from China to go get our little Lena!  That means we're leaving in 3 1/2 weeks for China!  Wow, I've got a lot to do!  I cannot believe we are in the home stretch.  It seemed like such an impossible task when we were considering taking this leap of faith just a year ago.  However, with God all things are possible! "One step at a time" is what I kept telling myself as I persevered through the paper-chase that seemed to be such a daunting a task, with no end in sight.  Then, a little over 4 months ago we saw our daughter for the first time.  It is such a strange experience to know in your heart of hearts that a child you've never met is actually your daughter.  It's amazing, the love we already have for her!  Thank you to everyone who is supporting us in this journey to Lena:  for letters of recommendation, for support through our puzzle fundraiser, for our wonderful notaries, for a generous supply of clothes for her, for the use of a crib / bed, for offers to help with the boys while we are gone, and for prayers, kindness, and encouragement along the way.  All these things mean so much to us.  We have truly been blessed and are so grateful.  Please continue to pray:   for Lena, for her adjustment to her family, for our safe travel and our time in China to go well, for Seth and Kyle  as they are home without us for 2 weeks, and for our family to adjust to our "new normal" without a hitch.  Most of all, please pray for Lena as she will certainly be confused and will be grieving her losses.  Pray that she will be comforted by the love she feels from our family and will bond with us in time.  Pray that she will "know" us and feel comfortable, loved, and safe with us.  Please pray earnestly and expectantly for these requests.  Giving God all the glory and praise!

Waiting for her new family!

It's so exciting to see her sitting with her photo album of her new family!  I pray that she is being prepared for us and that she will recognize us.  If all goes well, we should be going to pick her up in 5 short weeks!  Unbelievable!  I am so ready to have her in my arms.  Looking at her sweet picture with her boo-boo on her knee, makes me sad that I wasn't there to wipe her tears away and make it all better.  Soon, very soon.  Around here, I'm going through some major "nesting".  We are preparing a room in our home for her, but our hearts are all ready!

Looking at her new family pictures! :)

New pics!

Lena's new room!

Puzzle fundraiser / Bringing Lena home soon!

Thank you so much to everyone who has contributed to our puzzle to bring Lena home!  If you would like to add your name to the puzzle, you can donate through our PayPal button on the upper right of this page.  We hope to have the edges completed with the names of everyone who helped to bring her home.  :)

God is so good! But we already knew that!

Time for an update!  Lots to catch up on.  As I said from the beginning, I'm not an enthusiastic writer so my posts are pretty sparse.  We have had a lot of amazing things happening lately.  We were waiting on our LOA (Letter of Approval) to come from China.  The average wait time has been 80 - 100 days.  We were on day 50 when I received a phone call from our agency telling us we have our LOA!  It was so amazing because it wasn't even close to the time I thought it would take.  This considerably moved our travel time to sooner than we expected.  We are now looking to travel at the end of August!  Unbelievable!  Time to make preparations... room, crib, clothes, car seat, etc.  Hopefully not diapers!  :)  So much to do...so much to do...

Now, for more good news!!   I got an e-mail tonight from the amazing, wonderful organization, JSC Foundation, telling us that we were awarded an adoption grant!  This was for a significant amount, which  means that our agency program adoption fees are now paid - in- full!  Amazing!  I love seeing the evidence of God working in our lives.  Though we actually can see God at work every day in small and in big things.  He is faithful! He is Jehovah-Jireh!  Thanks to the initial grant our agency awarded us and now this recent grant, our whole agency adoption program fee was completely paid for by outside provision!  We, of course, have paid many other fees and costs but the entire adoption program fee was a gift!  We are so humbled and grateful beyond words.  At this point, we only have our travel expenses to pay.  I'm looking forward to seeing God's hand in the remainder of our journey.

Thank you to everyone who has been praying for us and supporting us in this journey.  We look forward to bringing our sweet girl home!