Why are you adopting?

So I have decided to continue the blogging experience after a few year break.  We have embarked on a new amazing journey, and I would like to document it so we will remember it.  About 10 years ago Mike and I heard about Chinese adoptions.  We heard that girls in China were not appreciated, and we both were intrigued.  Fast forward 10 years and 4 babies later, the thought of adopting seemed strange.  Why would a couple that has 4 kids want to adopt another one?  Strange, huh?  Well we both arrived at a point of realizing if God wanted us to do this, why would we be concerned with how many kids we already had.  Why would we question if it is was the acceptable thing to do.  So the idea began to grow in both our hearts.  I won't forget the day when Mike was out mowing the lawn, and he called me over.  He had been thinking and praying (great time to do it) and he asked me what we would name our daughter if we decided to adopt.  I looked at him and thought maybe this was a trick question, then I gave him the name Grace.  He just looked at me and said something to the effect of this being a conspiracy.  That was the exact same name he had been thinking as he was mowing away on the lawn.  Well, from then on, we knew we would be welcoming Grace into our home.  We submitted our application, and when we got the acceptance over the phone, it was like seeing a positive pregnancy test.  We were thrilled and scared and excited and scared and overwhelmed.  And did I say scared.  There were so many variables and unknowns involved in the process.  Financially, it can seem impossible, but God provided all the funds for the adoption.  Mike didn't receive a huge raise at work, we didn't win the lotto, we weren't given some huge inheritance, the money was just there.  We have cash money to finish the entire process.  God is amazing.  Emotionally, it can be overwhelming.  We are not patient people, so when we are told, ok, now sit and wait for 10 weeks for this to come back to you, we are not happy.  We want it done now.  I was an expert on quick turn around, so as soon as the paperwork came in, I would send it right back out.  We received some paperwork while we were in Hawaii on vacation, and we spent a day running around the island getting the paperwork notarized and sent back to our agency.  It was important for me to feel like I was accomplishing something.

Here is the stack of papers we had notarized, certified and authenticated over the period of about 6 months.  On March 19, our papers were officially logged in in China.  What a relief.  We were then ready to wait again.  We had constantly looked at our adoption agencies list of available children, but we never felt ready to move forward with any of them.  We just felt God would make it very clear the child who was meant to be our daughter, so we waited.  The wait wasn't long.  For some reason, we were together as a family, Mike stopped by the hospital to do a few things, and the kids and I went to the local Starbucks to get a snack.  While we were sitting there in their waiting room, after answering the, yes they are all mine question, I got a phone call from our agency.  There was a file they wanted us to look at.  We need to look her over and let them know in the next couple of days.  Well she had cleft lip and palate, and she was already over a year old.  After not a seconds hesitation, I said yes, please let us see her file.  It was within minutes I had our baby girls file sent directly to my phone.  I was crying as I looked at the email and realized there were pictures.  4 wonderful pictures, and without any sort of responsible checking with our doctor, talking to Mike sort of thing, I knew she was our Grace.  I did of course send her file to Mike, and we did send it to our pediatrician, as well as talking to a plastic surgeon friend of ours.  There were no major red flags, so by Thur. we had officially accepted Grace as our daughter.  We received word from China that they had received our LOI on April 10th.  We are now in the no news is good news waiting period.  China will take 2-4 months to translate our documents, then the US will have our paperwork for an additional 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 months.  After that, Mike and I will be traveling to China to pick up our baby girl.  She was born Feb. 9, 2011, which just happens to be the day we celebrated the life of Mike's mom after her very short battle with brain cancer, and on such a sad day, we rejoice that our baby girl was born.