Welcome to our “Journey to YangZi”. So many people ask how we “found” our new daughter. It’s a long story, but here it goes.
We adopted our daughter, Alanna, in Nov. 2004 from Hefei in the Anhui province. On Thanksgiving Day, we visited the Hefei SWI. That visit was so emotional for our family. I cried through out most of our visit.
The cutest little girl with pigtails captured my heart. She followed us around with the biggest smile on her face. When we left the orphanage, she was standing at the top of the stairs waving bye. It crushed me to leave her there! I made a silent vow that day to come back and bring her home.
Fast forward 9 months – I started to get the “tug” to adopt again. I started looking at different agencies and their waiting children lists. I reviewed several different files, but no one really captured my heart. I contacted several adoption professionals about the little girl with pigtails. They all said it would be virtually impossible to find her (I had zero information – no name, birthdate, ect..) let alone adopt her.
One of the agencies I had been watching was CHSFS. I had logged onto their site one day to check on a few cuties, and guess whose faced popped up as the first picture?? The little girl with the pigtails!!
Was getting the “tug” to adopt at that time a coincidence? Was being in contact with CHSFS at that time a coincidence? I don’t think so. It was all part of God’s plan.
We sent in our LOI (Letter of Intent) to adopt YangZi on Oct. 27, 2005 and China approved us on Dec. 14, 2005 (one day before YangZi’s 5th birthday!).
Our dossier was sent China on June 2, 2006. I hope to travel sometime in August.
June 20, 2006
Some of you may have noticed a name change. Our son, Michael, wanted to name YangZi "Jade". We couldn't agree on a middle name so decided to name her Leah instead. After having some discussions with Michael, we decided to change Nicole to Jade. So, YangZi's official new name is Leah Jade.
June 22, 2006
Praise God!! Our dossier went to China on 6\2 and I found out it was logged in on 6\7!!!! That's only 5 days! At one point, LID's were taking close to a month. We are 2 weeks closer to bringing home our Leah!
Random thoughts, Red Threads, and the Wait!
As we wait for our travel approval, I've been thinking about how awesome our God is. I prayed, begged and pleaded for three years to adopt. If God would have answered my prayers earlier, Alanna would not be our daughter. If Alanna wasn't our daughter, we never would have found Leah. God does have the most perfect timing...... even though the wait is hard.
Speaking of the wait - 30 days down since our log in date!!!! I'm hoping on travel approval in about 6 weeks. Once again, I'm trying to be patient for God's timing. It's not easy, especially when I think of our little girl waiting in China. I pray daily for her - for protection, health, strength & understanding of what she's about to go through. We will be her 5th set of caregiver's in less than 3 years! She stayed with her birth family for the first 3 years, then the orphanage for one year, foster family #1 for 1 1\2 years, then foster family #2.
There's a Chinese proverb that states:
An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet, regardless of time, place, or circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle, but will never break.
How true that is with Leah. We give God all of the praise for leading us to both of our daughters. He blessed us with two wonderful boys and brought two wonderful girls into our lives.
There's a song by the Christian group Newsong titled "When God Made You". It's really meant to be a love song, but I think of Leah when I hear it. Here's part of the song:
I wonder what God was thinking
when he created you
I wonder if he knew everything I would need
because he made all my dreams come true
when God made you he must have been thinking about me
He must have heard every prayer that I've been praying
Yes, he knew everything I would need
When God made you,
when dreams come true,
When God made you,
He must have been thinking about me
I love you Leah!!!!!
August 17, 2006
Today is day 71 of our TA wait. Our agency is expecting our TA in about 3
weeks. I was really hoping to travel in Aug\Sept due to the events taking
place in China the month of Oct. I am praying for patience as I wait on His
perfect timing. The wait can be so hard & long. I feel like I am pregnant
and overdue
There were several things happening in our family that I could
not be in China for - the death of my brother-in-law, Michael's birthday,
and Alanna's surgery. Sadly, we lost Chip on May 16. He would have loved
Leah so much. Michael's birthday was 8\8 and Alanna came thru her surgery
on 8\15. I am now ready to go and bring home our Leah.
We sent Leah a care package and it was delivered to the orphanage on Aug.
9th. I hope she received her goodies we sent.
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This
photo was taken in Nov. 2004 when we adopted Alanna. This is the
first time I saw Leah.
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I hope to have great news to post - SOON!!!
August 29, 2006
We're so excited to announce that we received our travel approval today! I may
leave on Sept. 8 and meeting Leah on Sept. 11.
In less than 2 weeks, I will be with Leah!!
Please pray for my friend Kathy & I as we travel, for Leah - that God has
prepared her, and for our family that's staying home - that God blesses them
and keeps them safe.
Mommy's coming Leah!!
September 4, 2006
I can't believe I'm less than a week away from holding Leah! Here's our itinerary for the trip:
Hold on Leah!! I'll be there soon!
September 8, 2006
Well, this is my last post before we leave. The next time you hear from
me I'll be in China (hopefully!) I will meet the lovely Leah on Monday morning,
Sunday night US time. I'll post updates and pictures as much as possible.
Talk to you all soon!
Just a little bit longer Leah!
