Journey: 1 Year Ago today... (it's long and wordy :)

My, oh my how in one year can your life change in so many amazing ways!!! It was one year ago today, October 3, 2012 that I got a call that would change our family forever. We are so very thankful for our family and friends who had been praying for us and our adoption for so many years. After waiting for more than 4 years I was getting to the point where I was beginning to wonder... would I ever be a mom, would be ever get to go to China, was there a child out there waiting on us? God answered me in a BIG way and how blessed we are!!

I am so thankful for my mom and sister. My sister knew the road we were traveling down having adopted Hannah in 2003. She was always encouraging me to remain positive and seek God and His timing. My mom would ask those questions that I didn't want anyone to ask, moms get to do that :) Thanks to both of them we worked on getting our paperwork in order to seek a child from the Waiting Child list. For years my mom and sister had suggested I look into the list and for some reason, a reason only He knows, I hesitated and waited.  I understand more now that God's timing is perfect even when I can't understand it!

Fall was in the air and Steve and I had spent many days looking over list and working on getting the paperwork to our agency. From financial records to doctor visits we were ready to get things moving! We had prayed about the checklist and for the child that God would bring into our lives. We prayed that we would be the best parents for that child and that we would be ready to be a family and that we would be prepared for whatever medical condition the child faced. On Tuesday night (10-2-12) I finally submitted the paperwork to our agency. What relief I felt, we were finally moving forward!! Steve and I talked that night about how long we thought it would be before we got a referral from the agency. I was hoping within 6 months, God had other plans!

The next day I can home a little early from school thanks to an early release day. Since we had spent several nights up late working on the checklist I was exhausted, a nap was in order! I had no sooner sat on the couch when the phone rang. Sure enough it was our agency. They had some questions about our checklist and what plans we were already making for our child, lots of general questions. After about 10 mins. I was off the phone and ready to rest. I dozed a little and then the phone rang again. Honestly, I was very tempted not to answer it but I am thankful I did. This time it was another person from our agency. She said the words I thought we might never hear, "we have a referral for you." What?!? Less than 24 hours later the agency had already matched us with a child? I thought it was too good to be true. I shook myself awake and started taking notes about the child. I learned that it was a boy, a boy, wow!!!- we had checked either gender- that he had a heart condition and that he was from a province I had never heard of. Then she told me his birthday, August 2nd and I knew a God-incidence had happened as August 2nd was our wedding anniversary. She then said she had some pictures and asked if I wanted to see them and read his file- Yes and Yes! She gave me a warning though, that he was awfully cute, and she was so right!!! I got some details of what we needed to do and hung up.

I was in shock! I pulled myself together and called Steve. He was on his way from Baylor to teach at MCC for the evening. I told him I had some very important news and that as soon as he got to his computer he needed to call me. I forwarded the email I got from the agency so we could look at it together. So, we were on the phone with each other when we learned his name and saw his face. Oh My Word!! My heart was leaping in my chest. We read through the medical jargon as best we could and talked about what we needed to do. We prayed together and for our family, which in my heart had just grown by 2 little feet. Before hanging up Steve asked, "how am I supposed to go teach now?" :) I called my mom, of course, gave her all the information I knew and asked her to pray for our decision. Then it was off to GAs. I downloaded David's picture onto my ipad and when my sister came in I told her I had a big surprise. I showed her his picture and we cried together for this precious little boy who was on the other side of the world. We did manage to make it through GAs and teach something that night.

Our letter of intent, to officially adopt Xin Zheng Yuan, was off to our agency within a few days. The hardest part was I wasn't supposed to tell anyone. I blew that within the few days but I knew I had prayer warriors around me. 6 1/2 months later we were in China meeting our son for the first time!! As David hugged and kissed me goodnight tonight I had tears of joy for the life that God brought to us. For the family that He has provided. For the desire that He put in our hearts many years ago to adopt. What a Mighty God we serve!!