Addie and I have been in Beijing for 3 days. The flight over was painfully long. We arrived at our hotel and crashed hard. Yesterday we toured with a guide Tiennamen Square and the Forbidden Palace. What did I take away from this day? 1) Beijing is scorching hot in August, 2)being white we were asked several times for people to take their picture with us. 3) people here still revere Chairman Mao and make a pilgrimage here and wait in a line that you have never seen, all day, to see Chairman Mao’s body lying in state. 4) there are cameras EVERYWHERE. 5)China has soooooo many people and everything is shoulder to shoulder crowded...and sweaty hot. 6)How to use a squatte potty successfully (we read a tutorial online before we went out, thank goodness! Still, you can never really be prepared for that experience.)We were still heavily jet lagged yesterday, so we cut tour short, came back to hotel and showered and tried to stay awake! We slept heavily and awoke free from jet lag today, and today we went to the Great Wall. Addie turned 22 today, and visiting the Great Wall will be hard to beat in the future, as far as birthdays go! First we rode a ski-lift up to the top, it was soooo far off the ground, it was magical. It smelled so so fresh and good and clean. It was stunning there, and you just keep saying to yourself, “I am standing on the Great Wall of China!”, it was unreal. And there were poisonous giant (!) millipedes all over it. And so many beautiful butterflies. To get back down they had this great toboggan ride, it goes on forever, it was so fun! We are so overwhelmed by how beautiful it is here, and how ancient it is. Tomorrow we leave early for our flight to Lanzhou. 3 more sleeps before Elsie is with us! I cannot comprehend that, I can say it with words, but I just cannot believe we are this close. Thank you for your prayers, they carry us through the rough bits!
You see this beautiful, worthy, wonderfully made child?
She has 14 days left as an orphan!!! On August 20, she will walk out of her orphanage and into her family. Forever. Beloved daughter, sister, grandaughter, neice, cousin.
Adelaide and I leave Omaha next Monday, the 13th, to drive to KC for our flight out on Tues. We arrive in Beijing on the 15th,Wednesday. We acclimate to the time difference and travel to Elsie's province during the next couple days. We rest up on the 18th and 19th. Then we meet our beautiful girl on Monday the 20th. We have more paperwork in her province for the remainder of the week, and then we will fly down to Guangzhou to complete the necessary steps and paperwork and her visa to bring her home. On Aug 30 we will take the train over to Hong Kong, where we fly out on Sept 2.
I havent posted for awhile, but basically all you missed was my whiny drama about how long this wait is. So its probably for the best.
Elsie's Gotcha Day is Aug 20. Last year on Aug 20 Neil and I asked for Elsie's file to begin this crazy wonderful HARD-but-oh-so-worth-it journey.
God is so so good. He blows me away with His deep, profound, tangible love.
So it's a big prayer request with this blog post, obviously. Safe flights, prepared hearts all around, and good health. Please pray for a hedge of protection around Addie, Elsie and me. And please pray for Neil and Oscar, Finn, and Zinny that they survive well while I'm gone for almost 3 weeks (!) 😢
Thank you for all your prayers that have carried us this far, may God bless you well.
And keep your eyes out for a soon to be orphan-no-more!!
This is the beautiful and heartbreaking and redemptive story of a little girl abandoned as a tiny baby in a bus station. For 5 long years she lived without the love and sweet care of a mother or father. No kisses on owies, no bedtime stories, no celebrations of her birthdays. No soothing during thunderstorms, no long warm bubblebaths. No girly pedicures, no riding bikes. No toys or clothes to call her own.
But....on Monday in China, her father and mother,who labored so long and hard, a whole year almost, SET HER FREE. Welcomed her into their hearts FOREVER. She is no longer a 'foundling' but a daughter, a sister, a grandaughter, a niece, a cousin. And do you want to see what that looks like??
This....
This is freedom . This is love. This is hope realized. This is God.
During this family's meeting with their new daughter, they had to all leave and take an official photo for paperwork purposes. Their new daughter, quite happy up to this moment, suddenly started crying and being stubborn. She misunderstood what was happening and was frightened because she thought she was going back to the orphanage...She would rather stay with these white strangers that she had known for less than an hour than to go back to the only place she has ever lived.
Just sit with that for a moment.
Orphanages are no place for children. Even the 'nicer' ones are no match for a family. And even though she had friends there, Elsie for one, she was going to fight to not go back. And she and Elsie ARE friends. Here they are together on Elsie's birthday party we sent to her....
The orphanage director, at the Family Day (or Gotcha Day) meeting told my friend that the girls are friends. My friend's new daughter has watched the birthday video taken with this photo above 20 times a day. Our poor Elsie's friend has left, and we won't be there for over 2 more months. It is enough to make a mother's heart cry.
My friend gave me permission to tell their story and share their pictures with you. Please pray for their travel and their transition. They are still in China, I talk to her every evening,( morning for her). She is my trailblazer! What a precious gift she has given me, letting me walk alongside and be a witness to a most beautiful and delicate moment in their life. Their holy ground. And that gift I give to you. Let it break your heart for these orphans.
Prayer request: please cover this beautiful family in prayer!
" I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you. ". John 14:18
We received the hard copy of our LOA all the way from China! We had to sign the letter of acceptance, and check the box for accept (there was a box to decline...). It was so....huge...beautiful...holy. Her name and birthdate were on it, and a line that read 'Identity' and in the space provided was the word 'Foundling'. Elsie is a foundling, meaning that she was found. That word pierced my heart. It is such a lonely word. A lost word. It speaks to her profound loss...7 years a foundling. I wept. I weep. It just cracks my heart wide open. Way back in Sept when I was talking to the adoption agency about her, I asked them if there has ever been anyone else that asked for her file or inquired about her. They said no one, ever.
The weight of this is nothing short of tragic.
BUT! Today she has a mommy and papa that are scrambling as fast as God allows us to get to her, she has an army of prayer warriors (you!) praying her swiftly home! HOME. Forever home. Hallelujah, Praise to our good good Father!!! It is nothing short of a miracle that He has chosen a little girl all the way around the world, her, out of billions of children, to be our daughter!!
I have another blog post that I am excited to share. My good friend is in China now and she picked up her new daughter (Elsie's friend!) on Monday. She gave me permission to share her story and pictures, it is redemption in a little girl's smile. But I just ask that we sit in deep gratitude for His mercy and grace and love in this day of days. This beautiful, wonderful day that brought to us paperwork that will bring her home.
Thank you for your prayers and love.
This LOA is on its way as I write this blog back to our agency in MD via FedEx,and will be Fedex'd tomorrow to US Immigration office. This is the I800 paperwork phase. It is asking our government if we can adopt Elsie specifically. Previous immigration said yes to our request to adopt *a* child,and this paperwork is for their ok to adopt *this* child, now that China said yes to *this* child (!). This should hit the USCIS lockbox on Thursday (!) And then we wait 3 ish weeks for the approval.
Prayer request is, of course, for safe handling of our LOA all the way to USCIS, and prayers of immense gratitude that we are so blessed to be on this journey and we got to sign papers saying yes! we want Shi Qing, (Elsie).
Hallelujah! Praise be to God! A Mountain begins to crumble!
We were informed that we have moved into *matching*!!! This is the last step before we are issued LOA! Typically people wait 1-3 days *in matching* and then are issued the LOA. The most recent families waited 2 weeks from matching to LOA, so we will hopefully have it in the next week or two! We are over the moon!!
Please keep praying that LOA arrives soon soon soon!
To God be the glory!!
Deep within the earth tectonic plates shift and collide in a constant struggle of might and braun. Powerful opposing forces war against themselves,shoving,grinding,lurching toward the sky in chaotic upheaval. Mountains are born and mountains climb ever closer to the heavens above.
Mountains divide countries, peoples, cultures for millennia. Only the foolhardy dream of what may lay on the other side. They know not the true cost of crossing those mountains. Reaching the summit of one mountain reveals an entire range, as far as the eye can see. The moment all at once exhilarating and discouraging. 'Look how far we've come!'.....'Oh. Look how far to go.' And quiet whispers of 'I don't see the end, do you?'
There are earthquakes and rumblings of new mountains in this adoption journey. 'Look how far we've come!' We are so close to having that golden ticket, the letter from China saying YES to our request to adopt Elsie. We have battled the horror story of the home study agency, US immigration, State Dept, Chinese consulate. We have come so far!
'Oh. Look how far we have to go.'
Our timeline has sadly shifted to instead of traveling to pick up Elsie in June, then July, then Aug...to now Sept AT BEST, but realistically October. October. This will be over a year. And leaves much time for those in power to change rules again.
Whispers 'I don't see an end, do you?'
The full explanation follows for those who are interested in the mechanics of this marathon. Feel free to skip to the prayer request at the bottom.
LOA (the golden ticket letter) has been taking about 50-53 days from the date a dossier is logged in. They have done LOA in 18 days, so it doesn't NEED to take that long, but that is how they have been trending for the past few months. We are currently on day 63, but....We need to be moved into the *matching* phase first. Matching has always taken 1-8 days. Until this last batch, the batch ahead of us. They languished in *matching* for 14 days. Big deal, you may say. But as you will see, these extra weeks here and there add up to months of delay. Typically China waits 2-3 weeks in between batches, so we likely won't move to *matching* for at least 7-14 days. Then we may spend a couple weeks waiting for LOA after matching. At that point we are told 10-12 weeks until travel. But....now there are several serious mountains in that 10-12 week paperchase that have arisen. First is our immigration here in US. There are two immigration officers that, rather than approve the paperwork in the expected 2 weeks, these officers take 3-4 weeks, inexplicably. Once we get past this, we move to some weird steps that include an *Article 5 drop off and pickup*. That is where the new mountain has arisen this last week. Out of nowhere, our US Consulate in China is flagging about 1/2 of dossiers to provide more information. This includes requests for orphanages to provide newer medical reports (this adds 2 weeks) to requests for home study updates....this adds 2 months. The article 5 has ALWAYS taken exactly 10 days, they even schedule the pickup date(!), but now if you are flagged, it can take 2 weeks to 2 months longer. These are all brand new mountains. Most of them are United States bureaucracy-sponsored mountains. We are the privileged explorers of this new terrain. I am not adventurous. I prefer to follow in a well worn path. Neil said "Its a miracle it works at all." Yes. If Elsie ever comes home, it will be a miracle . If my sanity remains intact...that will be a miracle. Neil also said these words, a balm to my weary heart, " She is worth it. Darkness wants to keep us in the dark and discourage us, but we must continually move towards the Light. " Our hearts are aching to hold our daughter.
Here's where I sing my theme song when we were in process with Zinny...Marvin Gaye's "Ain't no mountain high enough, ain't no valley low enough, ain't no river wide enough, to keep me from you (Elsie June)"
Prayer request. Please please pray for our endurance. Pray for Elsie. Pray for a miraculously fast end to the LOA wait.
" Truly I say to you, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself in the sea,' and does not doubt their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. ". Mark 11:23
" I lift my eyes to the mountains --where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. ". Psalm 121:1-2
It's official! It's final! It's really finally happening after exactly 1 year of reams of paperwork, the official adoption decree was signed in Lanzhou, China just moments ago and Lan Shi Qing is officially part of our family! Praise be to God! Less than 24 hours ago Katie and Addie finally got to meet little Lan Shi Qing and she melted their hearts. They called at here at 3:00 in the morning and we were able to video chat for a while and while there wasn't a lot of talking (some "ni hao's" and some awkward attempts at saying her Chinese name properly) there were a lot of smiles and laughs. It was so cute to hear her little voice say 'ni hao papa', talk about a melting heart! It was truly amazing to see her in 'real life' (across a digital communication channel, but it was live!) and not some dated pictures or video - she was actually with Katie and Addie, and no longer in an orphanage! She has a family, she has a home, she has our hearts...we are so blessed!
