On Tuesday afternoon (May 25), Cori at our agency called to discuss some updates we made to our waiting child application. We talked for probably 10 or 15 minutes about specific needs we were willing to accept, age range, and the fact that I check the list every day. I stressed our desire not to "choose" a child from the list, but rather to wait on our agency's call with a match.
Wednesday's plan was to clean bathrooms. Mikaela had a student council meeting at the school at 9:30am, Jacob's orthodontist appointment was scheduled for 10:50am. I sat in my bathroom getting ready that morning (May 26) while Mikaela fixed her hair in the mirror next to me. I had noticed Steve's cell phone by my sink...he had forgotten to take it to work. My cell rang at 8:56am. I didn't recognize the number and answered the call...not realizing that it was actually THE CALL. The voice on the other end said,"Hi, this is Cori at Great Wall. I bet you didn't expect to hear from me so soon!" I didn't, and couldn't figure out why she would need to reach me by phone. When she told me she had a little girl's file and she thought she might fit well into our family, I grabbed a pen and a church bulletin from my Bible and started to write. I sounded completely matter of fact and calm, but I felt dizzy and a little stunned. I tapped Mikaela on the arm and mouthed the word "Referral" to her. She bugged her eyes out and tried to read my notes. I knew the little girl that Cori was talking about. I had seen her photo and writeup on the pending list for quite awhile. She was a little older than I had originally hoped and had more needs than the one that was mentioned on the site. Cori said that she would email us the files and photos and we could consider this child.
Months ago Steve and I had decided that we would wait on a call from the agency, allowing them to make the match. We didn't feel comfortable about looking through the list and picking ourselves. We felt we might be choosing based on the wrong things. The call was to signify God's choice for us. It seemed like a big leap of faith when Steve had proposed it originally, but soon I agreed with him. And now here it was...God's choice. We asked that the file be locked that afternoon shortly after forwarding the information on to Maimie's "Dr. Handsome".
Some interesting things that we found in the files: She likes music and dancing (perfect for our family), her birthday is in the same month as Maimie's, and the western name that the agency used to identify her is my Grandma's name.
Needless to say, all of the necessary paperwork was submitted within a couple of hours' time. The kids were all excited except Maimie. I think she was expecting an infant. When she saw the photos, we asked her if she thought this little girl might make a good little sister. Maimie said, "No, she's going to take all my toys."
Of course this same child's availability was removed from us a week later. Anyone with an LID could choose her and lock her file even though she had been on the shared list for several months already. We trusted that this was our child and that God would remove any possible doubts when her file remained unlocked until she was available to us again on the 19th of June. It's been a long few weeks of prayer and consideration. But the time has finally come. I received a call from Cori this morning at 8:50am letting us know that this little one's file has been made available, and our agency has locked her file in our name. Yippee!
In addition, our completed dossier arrived in Texas at our agency this week. On Jessa's advice, we decided to delay sending our dossier to China until we receive our preapproval to adopt our new daughter. That way both will go together and this should actually speed up the process. And wouldn't that be a foreign idea in this adoption--speeding up the process. Of course we are prepared to wait on God's perfect timing, but hopefully that will be before the end of 2010.
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