We leave in the morning!

My very kind father will be picking Sophie and I up in the morning at 4:30 a.m. to head to the airport. We will fly to Chicago and then at 12:30 p.m. fly straight to Beijing. We will arrive at 3:30 p.m. on Friday, which will actually be your 3:30 a.m here in the states. It will be a LONG flight and I hope we can sleep some!

I am having an emotional day because I am going to miss my family at home so much. I am not a seasoned traveler and I don't go many places without my husband and children. So going for 13 days without seeing them and kissing their cheeks will be hard for me.

We will be in Beijing from 9/19 to 9/23
On 9/23 we will fly to the province where Cate was born
On 9/24 we meet Cate for the first time. Please pray for us this day.
On 9/25 we sign the adoption papers and Cate will be ours
On 9/26 we are hoping to be able to visit her orphanage before we fly to Guangzhou
We will be in Guangzhou until we fly home on 10/1. There, Cate will have her medical exam, get her visa and we have a consulate appointment with the U.S. embassy. Please pray that our paperwork goes well. There is a LOT of it!

I pray that our next post will be from Beijing, China!

Gratitude

I have been thinking the past week how to put into words my thoughts about where we are right now in our adoption. There were many days that I doubted I would be able to ever say "We are leaving in 5 days!" I cried so many tears during this process...When we didn't receive our LOA when another family did, when we found out we were just in review after 4 months, when 90 days turned into 130 days, and I was sure something was wrong. Sometimes I would just lay my head down at the computer and cry..because another day was spent without Cate knowing us as her family.
I have loved God all of my life, though some times I felt closer to Him than others. God has shown me so much this year. He has taught me to be patient. That His delays are not always His denials. That He isn't here for us just when we want something. He wants us to want Him. And for that to be enough. I realized along the way that I had to be O.K. if we never got Cate. I prayed from day 1 that we would travel in record time. Oh, we got our LOA in record time alright! Probably for one of the longest waits! But I am so thankful for every day that we waited. We have grown so much as a family,we have prayed for one another and for Cate, and I wouldn't trade one day!
I am so thankful to our family and our friends who have prayed for us and supported us throughout this process. Your kindness will never be forgotten. Please don't stop now, though. The hardest part could be just ahead, but please pray for Cate that she feels our loves and makes a smooth transition into our family.
We will be meeting her for the first time on September 24.

We are going to China!!!!

It doesn't even feel real yet! We found out this morning that our first requested CA date of 9/29 is confirmed!!! We are so excited!!! We leave Columbia on 9/18 and return home on 10/1. I will post our itenerary when we get it. We would love your prayers during this time for those of us traveling and for those staying at home. We are going to miss our guys at home so much! Please pray for Cate that her transition will be an easy one for her. We are about to take her away from a foster family that I'm sure she loves. 13 days!!!!

TA!!!!!!

I am so happy to say that we have TA ( Travel Approval)!!! China has said that we can come to their country to adopt Cate. Now all we need is a Consulate Appointment(CA) and we can book our flights. We are soooooo excited!! Please pray that we will be able to get one this month. We're coming Cate!!

Waiting, waiting........

Today is 16 days since our LOA arrived. I'm hoping for any day now that our TA will arrive. There have been some posts that Consulate Appointments are filling up. We must have this during our last few days in China. At first I thought, why do we wait twice as long as some people do to receive LOA and then be faced with the possibility that we won't be able to travel soon if we have to wait for a CA? But I force myself back to the verse in Romans: "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him.." We're praying that our TA comes soon, and we will be able to get a quick CA!

Waiting for travel approval

I will never forget the pure joy of finally receiving our LOA! We waited a long time and we are so excited to be so much closer to meeting Cate. This wait for TA is NOTHING like the wait for LOA, but it is still a wait. TA's usually take 3-4 weeks. Please pray for us that ours will come soon. We would love to travel by the middle of September. Thank you for all of your prayers and support!

LOA

We have our LOA!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you so much for your prayers!!!! I'll definitely keep you posted when we know when we may travel! We have lots to do now!!! I am so thankful!! Thank you Lord!!!