Monday, April 24, 2006

Life Lessons

I haven't been well over this last week and it's given me time to read. In the last couple of days I've finished a book called "The Waiting Child" and in the last 1/2 day have read the book "A Treasury of Adoption Miracles". I have learnt SO much. Now - finally - it all makes sense. Now I see how we are the lucky ones - God chose us because He knew we could do it. He knew we could love a child from a different culture - one that has grown IN our hearts - although not under it. Deep in my heart I have felt that a lot of my purpose has been to fill the empty place in my heart - now that is a an added blessing. What an amazing God we have - what an awesome journey it has been over these years - and what a privilidge to know that God knew all along what I didn't. I have cried many tears over the past days - each page I have turned has opened my eyes to the struggles and challenges that lay ahead - but they are tears of joy, expectation and readiness. Praise be to God.

Wednesday, April 12, 2006

A taste of excitement......

I had to do a quick post to share my excitement that our friends Leanne and Hao became a "family" at about this time yesterday. I mentioned them in my last post and it's so exciting to hear that 2 have now become 3! Little Gabriella is settling in well. Apparently she is tiny - fitting into 00's when Leanne expected 0's. I'm just so excited for them and having this happen at this time really does give me a ray of sunshine. I can't wait to see them as a family and to finally meet tiny little Gabriella. This journey is amazing and as I said to my friend Lyn this morning, I find myself shifting between so many different emotions - and at times just pushing down any feelings at all - but at the moment I feel lots of joy for Leanne, Hao and precious little Gabriella.

Wednesday, April 05, 2006

And another month goes by......

Here I am - a month later. It's hard to know what to say. Work is so busy at the moment I'm really not having much time to think.
We've recently completed 3 weeks cleaning at the Commonwealth Games Village. That certainly made time go quickly. During that time we also had a weeks holiday up at our favorite place - Mount Beauty in NE Victoria. A place to find peace and rest. It was wonderful.

It really does seem that the adoption process has slowed down dramatically. At the end of March the next lot of allocations were posted on the CCAA website - this time there were only 5 days of files - the close off was 30th May LID's (see previous post for explanation!). This has been devastating for our dear friends in Vic Batch 20 who have been waiting since November for their allocations. They missed out on the last lot by 8 days, and now by 3. The only ray of sunshine I could give them was that they would definitely be in the next lot.
We really don't know what is happening, but I'm holding on hard to the fact that our local Department and the overseas Agencies are saying that the wait from LID to allocation is now about 12 months. That means we would get allocation in about August and probably travel September/October. My upside is that the weather will be much better then!
I've really had to have a good talk with myself and find peace in the knowledge that this will happen in God's timing - not mine. And His timing is always perfect.

We had a wonderful get together at our place on March 25th with our "travel buddies" who we will travel to China with. Our dear friend Lyn Smith (Manda's mum) came along and talked to us in depth about what to expect from here and the various processes we will encounter along the way. It was an amazing afternoon. We all really enjoyed getting to know each other better and also learning more about the process.

The other exciting thing is that at the time of the last allocations, the CCAA website also changed to reflect the fact that all files with a LID in August passed through the review room and are now in the matching room. That's exciting - that is where we will be matched with our precious daughter Ebony. It's just so exciting to see some change and some progress.

It's also exciting to know that our friends Leanne and Hao leave TOMORROW to meet their precious daughter "Gabriella Grace" - this is such an exciting time for them and I can't wait to hear of their journey and to see their darling baby daughter when they get home. I wish them every blessing on their journey.

Till next time......