Praise Him, Praise Him

God is faithful and He hears our cries!  We would praise Him regardless, but today we praise Him because He answered our prayers!  While His answer is always best for us, it isn't always the one we long for, but this time He has granted the desires of our hearts.  We got travel approval!  Emalyn will be in our arms at long last on Sunday, February 19! 

When we first began this process, almost a year to the day of when we will first hold our daughter, we never could have imagined what the road had in store.  We took a leap of faith, were obedient to His call in our lives and fell deeply in love with a child we haven't even met yet.  He has provided for all of our needs.  Whether emotional, financial, spiritual, physical, He has met each one in His own way in His own timing.  He has provided blessings and provision through many different people along this road and we are eternally grateful for each one.

Please continue to pray for us as we embark on this journey.  What seems like the end of this long road is really just the beginning.  As we approach our departure date I will post more specific prayer requests, but right now, please pray that God would prepare Emalyn's heart to meet us, pray that her nanny will show her our pictures and do/say anything she can to prepare her to meet us.  Pray for Him to also prepare our hearts to meet Emalyn and to be able to adequately express our love and desire for her.  And, finally, please pray for productivity as we plan and pack and rest in the nights ahead.

Thank you for your love, support, encouragement and prayers.  I wish we had time to respond to each email, text and phone call individually.  Each one warms our hearts!  We are so thankful for the amazing community of believers that the Lord has surrounded us with and cannot wait to welcome Emalyn into this circle of friends and family.

Prayer Request

This week is a crucial week in this process!  Our Article 5 was picked up and couriered to the CCCWA on Friday and we are officially waiting for Travel Approval (TA).  Our agency has requested that our TA be expedited due to my pregnancy and impending travel deadline.  In order for me to travel and be home by March 3 (when my OB has requested and feels is safest) we need to get TA this week.

Please join us in praying that God would move the mountains that seem to stand in the way of me going to China to bring Emalyn home and that the person who received the request to expedite our TA will have sympathy for our situation and see value in the adopting mommy coming to bring the child home. 

Families usually wait for 3-4 weeks for TA, so if TA is not expedited Hank will likely travel the last 2 weeks of March and arrive home with Emalyn a short 2-3 weeks before Myla Grant's arrival.  I know you can understand why this request is so important to us.  Not only would expedited TA grant me the opportunity to be there on Gotcha Day and for the 2 weeks of bonding with Emalyn in China, hopefully making her transition home a little easier, but it would also give us more time to adjust and attach with Emalyn prior to Myla Grant's arrival.

Thank you for your prayers, encouragement, and support that have brought us to this point in the process.  We covet your specific prayers this week!

Getting Closer

We received I-800 approval on January 2 and have been logged into the system with the National Visa Center (NVC).  Within just a few days the NVC will "cable" or email our file to the US Embassy in Guangzhou, China.  This is approval of our visa petition for Emalyn.

Once this step is complete we will receive a letter that will then begin the generation of our Article 5 letter.  Article 5 is a letter issued by the US Consulate in China stating that Emalyn's immigrant visa and all other paperwork is in order to finalize our adoption of her.  It takes exactly two weeks for them to issue this letter, however, in our case, Chinese New Year will fall during our two weeks, so we will likely wait 2 1/2 to 3 weeks for ours.  BUT, once Article 5 is complete and delivered to the CCCWA (China's Center for Children's Welfare and Adoption) we begin the wait for TRAVEL APPROVAL (TA)!  This is the long awaited final step before booking our flights to China, jumping on a plane and bringing our sweet daughter home!

TA is also the step that could potentially be expedited in our case.  My doctor has requested that I be back home by March 3 or not travel, so please pray that, if it is God's will for me to travel to bring Emalyn home, He would move these mountains that stand in our way.  In order for there to even be a chance that I can travel, TA has to be expedited, so please pray that the person who receives the petition to expedite is sympathetic to our situation and sees pregnancy as a valid reason to grant TA quickly.

God is all over this and I know that He is soverign, so I have no doubt that however it works out is exactly how He always intended it to be.  With that said, I still want to be the first one to hold Emalyn and I don't want to give up those two weeks with her when I've already missed her first 20 months.  So, with that said, we covet your prayers as we enter this final phase and inch closer and closer to having Emalyn home!