Bringing Jade Home

Good Morning!

We are still in the process of building this journal, so we'll be posting updates before we can get some of the basics done. What I mean by this is that I am going to type an explanation of terms & how China adoption works, but first I want to tell you our current information.

In the meantime, please feel free to email us with any questions that you have about all of this.

Usually by this time of the month, there are rumors about when the next batch of referrals is going to come out, and what dates it will include.
(Referral = a baby being matched to a waiting family. Waiting family = us.)
We are hearing nothing but a few speculations from those who are also waiting. We suspect that agencies are hesitant to speculate with their clients because there was such a great disappointment last month when the CCAA (China Center of Adoption Affairs) gave referrals for only 12 days. Frankly, I appreciate my agency's refusal to speculate. False hope ain't any fun!

If the timeline remains as it has been for the last few months, referrals should come in anywhere from March 25-28. However, as I often say these days, There is no "should" in China. So we wait.

If the amount of dates in each batch of referrals remains the same (except for last month), we should be included in this next batch of referrals. But there is no "should" in China. So we wait.

If we do not receive our referral this month, we should be in the next batch which should come at the end of April. But there is no "should" in China. So we wait.

We are learning how to wait. It doesn't get easier. In fact, it get harder when you are in the "next" position and you are not next after all.

Our comfort in all of this is that, although it appears that our lives are in China's hands, they are truly in God's hands. We know that He has His best plan for all 3 of us, and that it is only for good. Sometimes delays & disappointments don't appear to be good, but God's will is always right...always good. He is the only one who knows which baby is ours & when she will be ready for us to bring her home. And we can count on His wisdom & His timing, and that is good. We know that the Lord is holding our little Jade in the palm of His hand. That gives me peace about the longer-than-expected wait.

Last night the leader of my small group mentioned giving us a baby shower as soon as we receive our referral (our referral will tell us her age, size, weight, etc.). That was exciting to think about, and is a very happy thing to look forward to!

Well, thanks for visiting us today. We will update this journal as often as we can and certainly with each new bit of information we receive. I am hoping that we will have BIG news to give you by the end of next week! In the meantime, I am going to try to post pictures of us, pictures of Jade's room as we are working on it, even pictures of our cats Jack & Baby, and lots of other things. I have the greatest picture of the cats on different levels of the changing table. It looks like they are breaking it in for her!

If you are someone that we know (and not just surfing the web), then you know that we love you dearly. Thank you all for your love and support and interest in our adoption.

Theresa