Wednesday, August 22, 2007

It's Our LOA Day!

It was a long morning. I knew that a package was due at our agency....I had the tracking number and was following it from China, to San Francisco, to Delaware. Then this morning there was a glitch in Delaware....incomplete address, and it was just sitting there waiting for someone to give them the full address. I was a bit worried that it might sit there for a day or two---and I wasn't ready to wait that much longer.

A couple of hours later, and the address was taken care of, and soon the package was delivered at the agency. So, I waited for the phone call I was expecting....and waited.....and waited. Nothing. Figured that the package was something other than for us, so I decided to go help Richard lay tile at the new house.

Kitchen floor looks great....at least for a bunch of amatures. We got about 1/4 of the living room floor down as well. We both have aching backs, and no hot tub to go sit in, but we'll survive. I brought the kids home while Richard stayed behind to clean up for awhile.

Checked my email when I got home.....and saw one from the agency. Our contact person had been out of the office when the package arrived, had just gotten back, and emailed us the great news that our LOA had arrived this morning. She has sent it on to us---we have to sign that yes, we still want to adopt this child---and send it back to China.

Now, the wait for TA begins! TA is travel approval, and should come anywhere from 2 to 5 weeks from now. The average is around 3 weeks, but the last families in our agency waited 5 1/2 weeks, while I read today of someone who only waited 2 1/2. Regardless, we won't be able to travel until the October holiday is over, so that might be around the 4th or 5th of October, IF everything comes through quickly.

But, we are getting closer to bringing Janelle home.

Let the TA count begin......

Monday, August 20, 2007

Not Today, But Theres Still Hope

I was hoping for a phone call this morning, as I knew that a package was arriving at our agency....but it wasn't to be. Two phone calls were made, to the two families who had been waiting so long for their TA's. I was very glad to hear that they had that important document. They are now in the midst of making plane reservations and the myriad of details that come with TA.

I was definately disappointed not to get a phone call this morning, but a sweet little angel bird just gave me a bit of information. She let me know that there is another package on the way from Beijing to our agency, and it should arrive on Wednesday. So, hope is not lost for this week yet, and I'll be sitting by the telephone again on Wednesday morning!

Sunday, August 19, 2007

Could This Be the Week??

We are now at the 87th day (Sunday) of our wait for our LOA. I heard this week that 83 days is average, so we have moved past the average. Tomorrow will be two weeks since the last large batch of LOA's arrived, and they do tend to come every two weeks or so, so maybe we are in for another batch to arrive this week.

Two families with our agency have been waiting for TA for almost 6 weeks now, and were told that a package is on its way from China to the agency and should arrive Monday or Tuesday. I'm praying that their TA's will be in it, since they have waited soooooo long, but would be more than happy to see my LOA there too!!

The LOA will be sent by DHL to us here in Mexico. We will pick it up in the city, since it takes an extra three days to deliver it out to our pueblo. That way we can also send it right back to the agency the same day, and they can return it to China. LOA stands for "Letter of Acceptance" where we have to sign saying that we do accept the referral of our daughter.

Once that is back in China, it will be anywhere from 3 to 5 weeks until we have TA--or travel approval.

Stay tuned for news of the LOA's arrival.........

Friday, August 10, 2007

A Beautiful Poem

My kids would probably laugh at me to hear that I found a poem I liked. I was the homeschool teacher/mom who skipped the poetry section year after year because I just don't get into poetry. But, I found this poem months ago and thought that it pretty much reflects how we felt about God's call on our lives to add Janelle to our family.

Every call has a beginning...
A quiet moment when God whispers a promise to a mother's heart
A holy place where a father bows and faithfully accepts the journey set before him.
A miraculous morning that unexpectedly dawns...
Casting its first light on a chosen threshold,
A gentle knock...a closed door opens.
A sacred invitation sent by the Father...
Leads to the other side of the world.

Where lonely hearts stare out orphanage windows
Praying for someone to care.

An then one morning...
On an ordinary day
An orphans life changes...
God sends them a second chance...

Through you.

Thursday, August 9, 2007

God's Timing Will Be Best

Here we are at day 77 of the LOA wait. Though I am not overly anxious about the wait this time around, I still find myself doing the calendar shuffle, wondering when we will travel. LOA's arrived on Monday of this week, and were received by those who were LID up until May 17th. Of course, there are always those who fall in to these dates, but are still waiting. Our LID is 7 days from the 17th (24th) so we SHOULD be included in the next batch, which MIGHT arrive on Monday, the 20th, or some time close to that date. Those with our agency who received their LOA's last month, are now on day 29 of the wait from LOA to TA, so if we would get our LOA on the 20th, that might mean TA around the 17th of September. So, that brings us up to the Chinese holiday of October 1-7, and means that we couldn't leave for China until the 5th or so of October--a bit later than we had hoped. Another complication during the month of October is the Trade Fair in Guangzhou, when prices for hotels there go from $60 to $300--obviously we won't be staying in Guangzhou during that time. So, right now our best guess is travel after the holiday, maybe leaving the 5th or so of October, and staying out of Guangzhou with travel into the city for appointments.

Of course, all of this speculation is just that.....and doesn't mean a thing until we have the LOA, then TA, then tickets.