To God be the Glory... our TA arrived!

This was a beautiful sunset on Saturday.


I don't know where to start. I'll just have to start at the beginning of this week, which is when this amazing story began. It was Monday, Cole had left for church camp, and I knew that our Article 5 letter had been picked up at the US Consulate and couriered to Beijing for our official wait for TA (travel approval) to begin. Our agency coordinator, Karla, had emailed me to say that the Article 5 was on its way to Beijing and she anticipated us waiting 3-4 weeks for the TA to be issued and then the consulate appt. would be scheduled, so we might potentially travel by mid-July. I was okay with that... we'd come this far... I'm busy with work right now anyway. But, I laid down Monday night and began to pray as I usually do. I specifically prayed for my Cole that this would be a special week for him, that he would be drawn closer to God, that he would be safe. Then, I prayed for Garrett and Nolan. A happy week, a relaxed week, a week of summer fun. Then, my conversation shifted to Mia. I began to plead with God. "Lord, you know my heart. You know I am desperate to go get her. I know you are in control and that you love this baby and that you want her to be with us. I pray that our paperwork will be processed quickly, that whoever is assigned to us will find favor on us and process us quickly. I ask you to let our TA be issued in record time and I promise that I will give you the glory for the mighty work you have done for our family. I know that your timing is perfect and I ask you to continue to give me the strength to wait..."

We decided last minute to go to Lake Martin to my aunt and uncle's condominium to enjoy some pool and lake action. I needed to escape for a day or two and they were gracious to offer us such a peaceful locale in light of the fact that we are only budgeting for this adoption... not for a family vacation. So a free luxury condo at Lake Martin was also an enormous blessing. So, we enjoyed relaxing at the pool with some old friends that joined us and I just enjoyed my kids and the sunshine. This condo is in a very remote area with little or no cell phone signal. I wasn't worried though, as my parents were at the beach, I'd talked to my sister already, and my TA wasn't due for several more weeks... (giggle... giggle)... Well, today, we all decided to go grab lunch before we all headed home and that's when I noticed I'd had two calls from Lifeline. I'm thinking, "No way... no way ..." So, I call Karla back... and she informs me that my TA arrived Friday night. Okay, what this means is that we were issued TA only 4 days after Article 5... For those of you who are new to this whole adoption lingo... let me just say that this RARELY happens. So, I started crying, called my mom at the beach, and then ran inside the restaurant to share my great news with my hubby, my kids, and our sweet friends. Then, it dawned on me. God said yes... he answered my prayer... we got this TA in record time. Why am I shocked when He makes details and impossibilities look enormously silly? I can only imagine God giggling at my little request that seemed like such a huge thing to me, but was such an easy little thing for Him? So, now, we are waiting to have our consulate appointment scheduled which will be the last step of this whole process and will be the last formality of Mia's adoption. This appointment occurs at the end of our trip and then we are cleared to come home. Praise God... we are so close. Unbelievable, really... It looks as if we will be leaving on July 1, so we will be spending July 4 in Hong Kong. We will more than likely meet Mia for the first time on July 5... If you had told me last July 4 that next year I'd be spending my next Independence Day in Hong Kong adopting a daughter I would have told you that you had lost your mind. I am so thankful that God chose us for such an amazing experience like the one we have been in the middle of this year. There is so much going through my mind right now and I just can't process it all at the moment. But I just want to praise God for His faithfulness, for His provision, for His love... and for the wonderful weekend we've experienced.