Our Christmas Miracle!

We have some news!!

Friday we found out we have...

Jensi, Anneli and Oliver spell out "LOA" for "Letter of Acceptance"

This is our next GIANT step toward bringing Toby home! We anticipated the LOA to come anywhere from late February to early March!

SHOCKING!! To say the least!

The Letter of Acceptance is the official approval from the CCCWA (Chinese adoption authority) that we are specifically able to adopt Toby from China.

The letter is a very fancy, official looking paper that we sign and courier back to China.

We got so excited that we nearly forgot to check, "We accept the adoptee mentioned above," and what a mistake that would have been!

We at one time believed we would travel to adopt him in June...


...but now with this CHRISTMAS MIRACLE...

...we are anticipating traveling in MARCH!!!!!

Wha??? 

Hold everything.

While this is INDEED amazing news for our family...I hesitated to share.

Why?

Because I have been on the other side.

I've been the one waiting.

The one watching others get what they pray for.

Been the one in tears while others are dancing.

I held our news in (and I was about to burst!) because of the fellow adoptive mothers I know who ACHE to hear some good news.

To know a month when they might travel to meet or finally adopt the beloved children God has grown in their hearts.

To finally get a picture, a name and a story of the child they've been praying for.

To hear that they've finally been chosen by a birth mother.

I've held off for those whose hearts might be crushed by our advancing adoption.

Dear one, if this is you, I've been praying for you. I've been praying you would be filled with the grace that comes when we are forced to wait far, far beyond what we ever dreamed we would be forced to. The ability to hold on to hope. To hang on to faith when Jesus doesn't do what we expect Him to do.

Yes, I've prayed that you might find the ability to rejoice as you wait.

And in that spirit, I pray that you will keep your eyes on Jesus Himself. He has the perfect plan for each family. For us, it has included losing three babies. And now, it includes a second adoption that runs jumps and skips ahead of planned timelines and man's forethought.

We don't write our scripts, He does. Although we have choices that impact our lives the ultimate control is in the hands of our God.

"We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps." 

Proverbs 16:9

And so, we forge ahead!

We work on a final approval from immigration...the one that is called "Permission to classify an orphan as an immediate relative," the form title that threw my heart into shock last time!

And then we work on visas and plane tickets and a few other approvals!

Please pray for us as we adjust to this big TIME JUMP! I feel like I found out I'm in my 3rd trimester rather than my 2nd! AH!

Please pray for our fundraising. We still need to raise $17,000 between now and go time. That's huge. That's gonna be another miracle.

And so because of the God who writes our stories and is in the business of redeeming hearts and lives...

Merry Christmas!!