LID!!! Today is our official "log-in date" with China! This means our dossier has been authenticated, sent to China by our social worker (DTC), and officially logged in to the CCCWA (China Center for Children's Welfare and Adoption) database. For the past several months we have been working state-side through the home study process, Immigration approval, required coursework, etc. and now we enter a new realm... relationship with the Chinese government. Thankfully, our social worker will continue to act as a liaison. She, and the entire China team at Lifeline, are very experienced in all that needs to happen moving forward.
The next step will definitely end up being the most emotional experience thus far. We wait. But this time, we're not waiting on paperwork, government officials, stamps of approval, or reports. We now wait to receive a referral (deep breath). Not just a referral but a life. A little girl from halfway around the world will step in to our hearts very soon. I can only imagine the emotion that will overcome me when I stare in to the eyes of the little girl in that picture. They will be the eyes of our Emily Hope, the daughter we've been talking about, praying for, waiting to meet. Our lives will change drastically when we meet her on paper. Our world will be rocked. All of a sudden, we become terribly vulnerable yet incredibly sustained by our dependence on Him. It's at this point we realize there is no turning back. And we don't want to. God's call for us to adopt has suddently shifted to God's call to fight for our daughter. No, legally she won't be ours yet but at the moment God places her in our lives (even through a picture), she is ours. Period.
Will you please pray for us as we now wait for a referral? My prayer is first, for Emily Hope, wherever she may be. I pray that she is safe, protected from evil, that someone may hold and love her until we can get there. I pray for discernment on the day our referral arrives. I pray that God unites us with Emily Hope according to His will and timing.
No comments:
Post a Comment