Merry Christmas - Third Day

You have got to listen to these lyrics...wow, talk about tears!!

Our Family

Ashley,

You are loved so much by your sisters already! Avery drew this picture at school last week and it had me crying in the carpool line! She said she didn;t want you to feel left out, even though you weren;t here with us yet. I pray that she is always that protective of you! Ally says that she has a baby in her tummy and it's coming from China :) You are going to have SO SO much fun with your sisters one day soon. We have lots of fun "girl" toys for you to play with and lots of dress up clothes! You are loved!

I'm official!

I recently applied for my passport and was told it could take up to eight weeks until it arrived...as I was walking out of the post office that day, I said, "Lord, we need that passport for our dossier, so we really would like it in 4 weeks if possible...."

It came TODAY. TWO weeks after I applied for it!!!!!

God is the God of surprises and the impossible! I have been reading so much lately about obedience...and I need that reminder all the time. God doesn;t want us to ask how, why, where and when..He just asks us to be obedient to what He has called us to do. When I finally release the control and let Him be HIM, things go so much smoother (duh?). People think we are crazy. Why not just have another kid? Why China? Why not be a foster parent? Isn;t that SO expensive? Because we are being obedient. Because Ashley is in China. Because that's not what God told us to do. Yes, God is taking care of the bills.

Adoption can be a lonely road (and is) for the most part. You can't imagine the emotions unless you are going through it. You can't understand the highs and lows. It's a struggle of faith, endurance, grief and obedience all rolled into one. Adoption is a God thing. It is His design.

Where was I? Oh, yeah..the passport. My picture is terrible.

Isaiah 43:5

"Do not fear for I am with you. I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west."

Home Study underway!

This AM we had our first "official" home visit (FINALLY!) It was really easy and I cleaned the entire house only for her to come in, go to the kitchen table, talk for awhile, and leave! Oh, well, the house is clean and I don;t have to worry about it being a disaster again for at least um, two hours!? Seriously, we are very excited as this is really the only thing other than USCIS clearance, that we need to complete our dossier! We should be finished with all 4 visits by Christmas! Next visit is next Wednesday.

The Dream...

Last night I had the first dream about Ashley that I actually saw her face. She was being handed to us and screaming her head off! She was about 2 years old, and she had really chubby cheeks that were really pink from the crying. In the dream I was crying, too and we were with friends who were adopting an older Chinese girl. We were calling her her given name and it had something like "Bi" (B-EE) in it. I'm just recording this in case this date is significant and the Lord put her in my dream for a reason. We'll see!

Amost done....

After the list I wrote below, here is all we have left....

Home Study Visits (supposed to have one this morning but Marisa had to cancel.)
Fingerprinting in Atlanta
Em's Dr appointment


THAT IS IT!!!!!!