33

I'll bet you are wondering what 33 means... Well, it is the number of days we've been waiting for our LOA. An LOA is a formal letter from the CCAA saying that Griff and I have been officially approved to be Mia's parents. They issued us a Pre-approval (PA) back in December. Then our dossier was sent to China in February and was officially logged in on March 11. At that point, the timer started ticking. The average wait time in days is between 60-70 days right now. However, we are beginning to see approvals come in less time than that, so I am hopeful that we will be over this hurdle in a few more weeks. Once our LOA has been issued, we will then file more forms with the United States to get Mia's citizenship processed. This last stage usually takes two months. So, if my calculations are near right, it looks as if we might be traveling by late summer... hopefully July. Will we ever get there? I am struggling right now with an overwhelming feeling of discouragement. This is typical for this stage of the game, because we know we have a daughter that we can't get to, that we can't see or touch, or even communicate with. We are forced to trust that God is in control and that all will work out just as He planned. That is the ONLY comfort I can find these days. Please pray for us as we wait. I need them so much.