If I'm Being Honest {TA}

If I'm being honest I've been struggling the last few weeks - a lot.

I did a post about waiting almost two weeks ago and things have been hard since then. We have been waiting on our travel approval (TA) from China since 12/3 which is the last piece of paper we need to move forward. I am on a couple of China adoption Facebook groups and they are while they are great in many ways and I have met some truly wonderful people, they have a major down side. You see, everyone posts their updates and stats on these groups so I knew that there were several other families with article 5 pick up (the step before TA) the same day and week as ours and that we all were waiting for TA. Well starting on the 9th and continuing through this past Wednesday all of them received TA - except for us. Talk about a blow to an already tender (barely holding on) heart! I cried. As the days stretch out with no news I cried some more, and by this past Thursday night I was cried out and had about given up hope that we would even get our TA by week's end.

The second week of our wait I had sent a few messages to close friends asking for prayer because I was having such a hard time and I was so vulnerable, and a dear friend (and fellow adoptive mom) sent me this text:

"Praying friend! I know the last leg can grow sooo weary! HANG on. Be reminded right now...Just as at the perfect moment Jesus was born in the most unlikely place, just as Moses went streaming down the river at JUST the right time, just as at JUST the right moment your sweet babies were ready to leave your womb---God will speak--say 'DONE' and you will get the  travel notice. Praying against every weapon formed against you--and claiming victory and redemption for that precious boy!! Love you!"

I needed this reminder so much and I needed it at just that moment! I read that text several times over the course of the week and it was such an encouragement! I am so blessed to have such amazing and supportive friends and I know several other friends were praying for me as well. All of the prayers were felt and so appreciated, but I dreaded facing another weekend with no TA and as Friday dawned I tried to prepare myself to accept the disappointment if God's plan was for us to wait some more. But God decided that Friday was just the right time to say 'done' and our TA arrived at our agency Friday afternoon! I was at Walmart when our agency called to tell me they had our TA and that they had already sent in the request for our CA (consulate appointment)!! I was so excited! We do have to wait until Monday or Tuesday for our  CA confirmation, but I am ok with that because this step takes a standard 1-2 business days which means that by Christmas we will have our travel dates!!!

This has been such a long journey and I can't even begin to get into all the emotions and what God has taught me through this, but I know it will ALL be worth it when our son is in our arms for the first time. Jason has been so amazing through all of this and never waivers (while I am wobbling all over the place), and there isn't anyone I'd rather be on this adventure with!! We are hoping to travel early to mid January, but it will depend on CA requests and availability. For now we are celebrating TA and being one step closer to meeting our little one!

As I Wait

I am doing a Good Morning Girls Advent study with three of my favorite friends and during my study on Friday's verses (Romans 15:12-13) I was looking at cross references for verse 12 and God brought me to these verses from Jeremiah 17:

5 Thus says the Lord:
“Cursed is the man who trusts in man
and makes flesh his strength,
whose heart turns away from the Lord.
6 He is like a shrub in the desert,
and shall not see any good come.
He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness,
in an uninhabited salt land.
7 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
whose trust is the Lord.
8 He is like a tree planted by water,
that sends out its roots by the stream,
and does not fear when heat comes,
for its leaves remain green,
and is not anxious in the year of drought,
for it does not cease to bear fruit."

 

As we are waiting on the last piece of adoption paperwork and praying that we can travel in January I needed this reminder that my there is no strength within my flesh (my strength comes from the Lord) and if I trust in Him (and not just IN him but my trust IS Him), I have no reason to fear or be anxious - He is in control and will work everything out according to His perfect plan.

 

As I wait I am choosing to focus on this special time of year and the true reason we celebrate CHRISTmas!
 

TA Wait Begins

There is that blasted word again - wait. I should be a professional at this by now, but waiting is definitely not my strong point. However, I have gotten better at waiting and since this is our last big wait of the adoption process I can't help but be excited and thankful. Our TA (travel approval) wait officially started today as our Article 5 paperwork was picked up at the US Consulate in Guangzhou and will hopefully arrive at the CCCWA tomorrow. Based on current timelines our TA is expected the week of December 16, but if I've learned anything about the adoption process its that there is really no predicting anything. Our TA is the last piece of paper we need before we can make our consulate appointment and travel arrangements, so now our big prayer is that we will get a super fast TA!

I can't believe we are finally at this point! Needless to say I have been a list making, errand running, supply buying machine the last few weeks and there is no end in sight just yet :)  But I am happy for all of it because it means we are another day closer to getting our son!

 

New Pics!

For your viewing pleasure this week when nothing is happening on the adoption front I present to you updated pictures of our little man!

 

Oh, my word! That is some serious cuteness and personality! I love him so much already!!

The Home Stretch

We are entering the home stretch of our adoption journey and although we still have some waiting to do, most of our paperwork is done (halleluiah) and we are getting so close!

After receiving our LOA and sending in our I800 we then had to wait for our I800 provisional approval which we received on 11/6. After granting us provisional approval USCIS sent our paperwork to the NVC (National Visa Center). The NVC replaced our original SIM number with a GUZ number and assigned our case to the appropriate US embassy (China). The NVC then cabled (electronically sent) our case and paperwork to the embassy (yesterday) and issued a letter (PDF) stating that they did so. NVC sent a copy of the PDF to us (today) and that was our cue to proceed with the next step which was forwarding the PDF to our agency and filling out the DS260 online (application for Justin's visa). Once they have the PDF our agency initiates our Article 5 drop off (this is when our agency's courier in China drops off our final paperwork at the embassy in China) which is scheduled for Monday.

Whew! So what could possibly be left you ask?! Well, we still have a few more steps :/  Our part of the paperwork is now mostly done except for applying for our visas which we will do in the next week or two. The remaining steps (which we have exactly zero control over) go like this:

1. Courier in China drops our Article 5 paperwork off at the embassy (and they give him a date to return to pick it up) - drop off scheduled for Monday 11/18

2. Courier picks Article 5 paperwork up at embassy and sends it to the CCCWA - approx. 12/3 or 12/4

3. The CCCWA processes the Article 5 and issues our TA (travel approval) - this step can take any where from 1 to 4 weeks with the average being about two weeks (please pray with us that ours will be in the 1-2 week range)

4. Once travel approval is received, our agency makes our consulate appointment, we make our travel arrangements, and then we go get our son!!!! (Our other prayer is that we will be able to travel before January 10 in order to miss Chinese New Year which would likely delay our travel until February.)

And there you have it in a nutshell!

So for now a little piece of my heart will be in China, but we are a little closer every day and for that we are thankful!

Praise the LORD. Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.  ~Psalm 106:1

New Blog Title & Pic

Check out my new blog title at the top (4 Potatoes) and the new pic in the right side bar!!