Updates

The past few weeks have been a roller coaster in our adoption process. Adoption is a full time job, and it is not for the faint of heart. You deal with your agency, your social worker, US government, and the Chinese government. There are so many departments, it makes your head spin. You have to fight for your child every step of the way and encourage everyone else in the process to do so as well.

First, we got all our authenticated paperwork back from the Chinese consulate in Houston, TX. Then,
we sent in our i800a application (immigration application to adopt internationally) along with paying a hefty fee to get fingerprinted. Approval can take over 30 days, and you have to wait to be scheduled an appointment to get your fingerprints done. However, we have a sick kid who needs some blood here! There is no time for that. Once we received our receipt, Steve and I walked into the office and got fingerprinted. I also emailed USCIS and begged and pleaded to be granted medical expedite. I sent the many letters written by doctors for Garrick along with his medical file documenting his medical need.

By that afternoon, our expedite was approved. Four days later, we had our i800a approval in our hands! That's what God and one persistent Momma can do! In about two weeks, our dossier (all our paperwork) will be in China! In the adoption world, this is called DTC (Dossier to China), and our file will be LID (Logged In Date).

There are many more steps to come, but this was the biggest... the one we have waited a year and a half for.

A few days ago we got some updated pictures. The Lord knew we needed them!

He looked happy, and that made my heart soar. However, after the initial happiness of seeing him, I started really looking at the pictures, and my heart dropped in my stomach. If you look at his forehead, you can see that it is slightly protruding. This is called "bossing." In people who have Thalassemia, their bone marrow production goes into overdrive as their body tries to produce more red blood cells. This causes bony protrusions to form. This typically happens when they are not being transfused as often as they need to be for their body to function at an optimal level. This is not reversible and it will be with him the rest of his life.

This was just more proof that though Maria's is doing the very best they can for him (thank you Lord!), we have to get him home! Just like our doctors have urged us, he needs to be at the Thalassemia center getting blood and medication to remove his iron buildup. His little body is being damaged. Please continue to pray that our paperwork will be processed quickly, and we will have the necessary funds to go get him as soon as possible.

The first time I saw Garrick's face my heart started beating out of my chest and my brain started saying "Oh my goodness" over and over again. We knew right away that God was saying "It is time". Some of you have known that Steven and I have wanted to adopt since 2010, but it never worked out. It was all in God's timing. God chose that time to prepare our hearts to move forward, and he continues to open doors and sometimes push us through them. We were scared, but we could not deny our call to step out and sign up with our agency. Then the little face we fell in love with was going to be ours, and that in itself was a true act of the almighty God.

There are many things in our life at times that feel uncertain, but our adoption has never been one of them. In all our uncertainty, God continues to bless our adoption. He has has connected us with an online community of adoptive parents that have helped us navigate the process and provide support and encouragement. God has given us doctors who have shown us how manageable his medical need can be and how we are indeed able to meet it and care for him and written letters on our behalf to get his medical expedite approved. He has blessed us with a community of close friends who have given up many hours helping us fund raise, holding our family up in prayer, or donating to our adoption fund.

We know that God is showing his glory, and in the end, that is the most important thing.

The Great Aslan

I got to read the newsletter of Garricks orphanage today and saw that one of the little boys in his room was adopted. My heart leapt with joy as it does every time they announce an adoption. Joy for this child and parents as they get to go become a family. A child who once had no one now has someone, who now belongs...

But then, of course, the Mama in me goes straight to my son. To think of Garrick on the other side of the world watching his little friends get adopted while he sits and waits for his family to come get him fills me with overwhelming sadness. To know that he has lost another friend that he will most likely never see again is another loss in my child's story. Another break in his already battered and bruised heart.

Once again I can do nothing but put my trust in the Lord and hold on to his promises.

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds- Psalm 147:3

The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.- Psalm 34:18

I grew up reading the Narnia books by C.S. Lewis. To this day I get bored reading books that do not have a fairytale or fantasy component to them. There is a passage from the third book in the series, A Horse and His Boy, where a little orphan named Shasta encounters Aslan the lion but he cannot see that he is a lion due to the fog. He tells how he had been orphaned at a young age and raised by a stern fisherman. How he had then escaped. How he and his companions had been pursued by lions at least twice, and how one lion had actually gotten to Aravis (his friend) and wounded her. He tells about all the other dangers they have faced on their journey to Narnia. And he also tells about their trek through the desert and how terribly hungry and thirsty and exhausted he is.

“I do not call you unfortunate,” said the Large Voice.

“Don’t you think it was bad luck to meet so many lions?” said Shasta.

“There was only one lion,” said the Voice.

“What on earth do you mean? I’ve just told you there were at least two the first night, and—”

“There was only one: but he was swift of foot.”

“How do you know?”

“I was the lion.” And as Shasta gaped with open mouth and said nothing, the Voice continued. “I was the lion who forced you to join with Aravis. I was the cat who comforted you among the houses of the dead. I was the lion who drove the jackals from you while you slept. I was the lion who gave the Horses new strength of fear for the last mile so that you should reach King Lune in time. And I was the lion you do not remember who pushed the boat in which you lay, a child near death, so that it came to shore where a man sat, wakeful at midnight, to receive you.”

The Lord is the lion protecting my son and guiding his steps. During my moments of fear, doubt and need for control I have to constantly say to myself in the words of C.S. Lewis:

“But courage, child: we are all between the paws of the true Aslan.”