Wow, for the first week of January, 2012.....it has been good and eventful in our household and lives! We hung out as a family for the first 2 days, which was nice because our week nights are always really full and busy. We soaked up every minute of relaxation over our winter break! It was very nice.
Tuesday, Ty was back to work and I had dentist and dr. appts. By Tuesday afternoon I was screaming a happy scream and jumping up and down! We got our USCIS (United States) approval letter for our adoption! Basically it says that the US approves us to adopt one child from China. So, I went to work that minute! I ran around town getting it notarized and then planned our trip to Chicago. The kids (3 of them) and I left around 6PM and stayed in the Embassy Suites down town Chicago that night. I had the whole next morning planned out to get my documents certified at the down town Chicago Secretary of State's office and then be to the Chinese Consulate by the time they opened. My plan was to pay the hefty fees to get them done in one day so I could overnight our dossier to Colorado before the Chinese New Year hit. Well, things didn't go my way, but God paved a path for things to get done, just a different way. I made a mistake notarizing the copy of the approval, but it was easily fixed after several walked blocks to a currency exchange for a new notarization. 1 trip back to the Sec. of State, 2 trips to the Chinese Consulate, a trip to the downtown Chicago post office, and a few cab rides, all of the documents we need to complete our dossier are getting authenticated. No, I didn't get them back the same day because they needed more time to look over our long homestudy, but at least they'll be arriving next week sometime and then I can get them off to Colorado.
Thursday we were back to school, but the stress began with finding out we would have to update our homestudy due to our 2 oldest children turning 13. Long story short, after many high stress moments, USCIS told me that we would not have to send them an updated homestudy until we send them our I800 approval when we finalize the adoption. SIGH....thank you God! That was a relief because I started thinking everything I did on Wednesday in Chicago was for nothing and would also have to pay many more fees to get things re-done....
I have had some other blessings this week as well. God really is working behind the scenes to bring some restoration into our lives from some mistakes we made several years ago. I am so thankful and greatful He loves us so much.
Matthew 3:17
..."This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased."
God tells us He loves His Son, Jesus, and what He is also telling us through this verse is that He loves us too. He sent His son to die for us, so I would say He loves us just as much as well, and He is pleased with us too. That is such a comfort. I can surely feel His love this week. I know He does not have to continually bless me for me to know He loves me, but of course it is always nice to be reminded that He truly cares how things are going. I know He cares about that little girl in China and about showing her what the love of a family is like, and I am so very humbled He would choose us for any of our children. Thank you God for loving us so much, especially when we feel we surely don't deserve it.
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