GOING TO CHINA!!!!!!!

We are going to CHINA!!!! We got our travel approval on Tuesday March 27th!!!! This week has been amazing to say the least... After getting our TA we had to put in for a consulate appointment! This appointment is the finalization of our adoption on China soil - it is the LAST step before we come home.  I asked Kelsey if she would put in for the week of April 17th because we REALLY wanted to travel to China around April 6th! Trade fair is quickly approaching and everything will cost more, so she agreed to try for that week!!! We were celebrating our amazing news that evening, when my phone rang again, it was Kelsey!!! She told me that she could not believe it but that our CA was already approved and they approved April 18th! We were elated and began dancing in the living room one more time!!! That meant that we could officially leave April 6th and meet Jackzhen for the first time April 9th! I still can't wrap my head around the fact that this is it, this is it!!!  We are finally leaving!!! It has been 9 months of a paperwork roller coaster.  It put the saying "hurry up and wait" to true meaning for our family! God's hand has been all over this adoption from the beginning! He burdened our hearts, led us to this perfect child, and has carried us through this process the entire way! There were times when I would fall on my face crying out to God, "Please hurry!".  I would remind him that Jackzhen needed us and we needed him, but He knew all that.  He would comfort me through my amazing husband, supportive family, a song on the radio, a friends kind words, and remind me to focus my eyes back on Him and let Him continue what He had started!  Though sometimes just a glimmer, my faith never failed! I chose to trust God and He indeed carried this awesome adoption through! I heard a song on the radio yesterday and again found myself blubbering away behind the steering wheel - it hit my heart and spoke to me in such a way that I could not contain myself.  The words to the song went like this....

Welcome to your life
You’re everything you’ll someday be

There’s a weight off my shoulder
There’s laughter in the air
You are the answer to every midnight prayer

You’re mine to love
We have all been waitin’ on you
You’re mine to love
Come into these open arms
It took some time to wait it out
But I see it now, you’re worth all the dreaming of
You’re mine to love

SERIOUSLY!!!! This was written for my Jackzhen, because he is mine to love!!! And he is worth all the waitin'! Thank you Jesus for loving me even in the midst of my doubt, thank you for never giving up on me, and for allowing me to mother this amazing little boy! I have heard the adoption quote many times through this process that says, "not from my womb, but born in my heart!" And I contend that this is true to the fullest meaning of the phrase!

Blessed beyond measure to be given this love in my heart~ In a few weeks there WILL be ONE LESS orphan in this world ~  Now I have to do laundry because we are going to CHINA!!!!