This is it!!!

     Aaagghh!!!! The week we leave for China is finally here!!! We are beyond excited!
     This is Maggie's final week living in an orphanage!
     We plan to update the blog while in China, however, we have a few specific prayer requests that we would love to have continually lifted to our great God!

• Maggie's heart. I can't imagine the fear this little one will feel next Monday, March 5. I am praying Numbers 6:24-26 over her (...the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.)
• Matt's stomach. For some reason Matt's stomach does not like the descent on airplanes. But this is no ordinary pain; this is doubled-over-grown-man-cry pain. Please pray that is not something he experience's on this trip.
• Matt's back. (I know. He is falling apart at 34. haha) 
• Shari's brain & heart. Enough said.

     The support we continue to receive on this journey is absolutely amazing. We continue to be humbled under it. We are so grateful.

     We have had so many people say that our faith is so great. But, we look at each other and say, 'But this hasn't been hard!' GOD changed our hearts and the rest just fell into place. Yay God. Truly. 

China itinerary

One week from today Matt & I will be in the air, flying to Beijing! Here is our schedule for those two weeks!

Thurs. 3/1 - Arrive in Beijing
Fri. 3/2 - The Great Wall
Sat. 3/3 - The Forbidden City
Sun. 3/4 - Fly to Nanjing (Capitol of Maggie's province)
Mon. 3/5 - GOTCHA DAY
Tues. 3/6 - Registration & Notarization (Making it legal)
Wed. 3/7 - Visit the orphanage where Maggie lived - we are really excited about this one! We can give back to other families by getting pictures of their waiting kiddos! Just like we received!
Thurs. 3/8 - Zhanyuan Garden & Confucius Temple
Fri. 3/9 - Getting Maggie's passport & flying to Guangzhou (Where the American Consulate is located)
Sat. 3/10 - Medical check for Maggie
Sun. 3/11 - The Safari Zoo
Mon. 3/12 - Visa appointment & Swearing in at the Consulate
Tues. 3/13 - Pickup Visa and take train to Hong Kong
Wed. 3/14 - Fly home!

A couple of hours later...

     My heart is better. I have been able to talk to a couple of friends who have traveled to China for adoption, as well as my China coordinator. My coordinator was able to help me figure where I could adjust some figures.
     My husband would tell you that I tend to be extremely detailed when it comes to our budget; I know where every penny goes. Well, in this case, I had to switch up how I looked at what was left to pay. Now we have a balance of $26!!!! Yeah! We are in the good!!!
     I am so glad that Jesus allowed us to be on this journey, even knowing that I would have these "freak-out" moments! His presence within me changed my perspective and I am grateful for that.

This one is for me...

     We received our travel itinerary today. Yay!!! I will post that on a later day, because today I need to blog out what I BELIEVE, not what I FEEL right now.
     Along with our itinerary, we received the financial numbers that remain to be paid out. Long story short, we are $2,000 short. The numbers I was previously given are different now.
     It's interesting that at the end of this part of the journey, I am returning to the first verse that caught my heart at the beginning of the journey.
     Psalm 56:3,4 "WHEN I AM AFRAID I WILL TRUST IN YOU. IN GOD, WHOSE WORD I PRAISE, IN GOD I TRUST; I WILL NOT BE AFRAID."
     At this moment I FEEL afraid, I do. But I will continue to quote scripture, knowing that God says it is alive and is a well that overflows. I KNOW that my God has not brought us this far to leave us depressed. I BELIEVE that God is NOT anxious about this like I am.
     Lamentations 3:23 talks of the Lord's great love and how that love is so big that nothing should destroy us. That His compassions and his mercies are new everyday. Because His FAITHFULNESS is great.
     I am going to be honest here...today I am hoping that His mercies are on the financial front. That the next blessing He has up His sleeve comes quickly.
     I WILL trust, because I am afraid. Good thing Jesus isn't.

T to the A, baby!!!!

We received our official Travel Approval! We are flying out on Thursday, March 1st!!! Isn't it gorgeous??

     We also received these pics of Maggie from last Thursday! We found out that she looks so sad because she was terrified of the ladies husband who was taking the picture! Haha!!

Then another lady who was able to meet Maggie months ago saw these pics and told us that Maggie is so sweet, so shy and so cautious. What a blessing to have that little bit of insight into her personality!

 

Well, we are closer to knowing...

We are closer to knowing the date of our "gotcha day".
Looks like it is a good possibility... although we cannot say anything for sure...I spoke with our China coordinator today...It's not the date we had our hearts set on, but after talking to a good friend I decided it will do just fine...Our Travel Approval has left China and is in route to California, where our agency exists...it should arrive there by Friday (this week)...our rep should be able to tell us for sure on Monday if we can fly out on Thursday, March 1st!!!

Two weeks from tomorrow! Only 14 days!!!

If that happens, our gotcha day will be Monday, March 5th.

I have to admit, I am scared to hope for it. My heart is very vulnerable on this one.

This should be the week

     Earlier today Matt was praying for a meal and he told the Lord that we trust & REST in His timing for us getting Maggie. I told Matt later that I am not resting in that. That I can't even describe how much I lack rest in this timing. I JUST WANT TO KNOW WHEN WE WILL FLY OUT... FEB 23RD OR MARCH 1ST.
     This "last hour" has been the toughest wait on this journey. The entire journey is filled with waiting. Waiting for the homestudy to be finished, then I800A approval, then dossier, etc. But this wait, finding out when we get to actually check our bags that have been packed for weeks, and put feet to this journey, that wait has been beyond hard.
     I check e-mail constantly. Looking for that e-mail that says "travel approval." You would think the hope would leave, but it doesn't. Hope is a great thing, but in this circumstance it is also tiring. As crazy as that sounds.
      However, as I was lying in bed tonight watching a movie, the Lord placed a thought in my head that made my heart happy. This week that we are walking into should be the week that we find out what date our God has had etched in stone from the beginning. This is the week that His 'gotcha' day will be revealed to us! And, as only God can, He spoke a peace into my heart. Will we meet our sweet Maggie Mei on February 27th or March 5th?
     I know I am hoping for Feb. 27th. But my prayer is the Jesus would give me the faith to rest in what He has authored.

I cheated this morning...

     I was given a shower the other night for our sweet Maggie. There I was given a box of "blessings" for Maggie/us. I was told that I was to save them for the plane. Well, that's where I cheated. I read them this morning...and I am glad I did.
     When I get up in the morning and come downstairs I always grab my coffee and check my e-mail before sitting down to spend time with God. Well, this A.M. I also checked Facebook because a friend of mine is in China now, getting her son! Her post was about the first day with this little 5yo and how hard it has been for his world to change.
     I realized that I have been praying a lot for MY heart to be steadied when we get Maggie b/c of the very real possibility that Maggie will not like us. She won't understand. And, don't get me wrong, I don't think I shouldn't pray for that, but I want my focus to be Maggie's heart!
     So, that is where God used the "blessings" for my heart. There are four that caught my heart; made me pause. I thought I would share...

MAY GOD'S FACE SHINE UPON MAGGIE MEI AND HER NEW HOME!
     This one touched me b/c that is one of the verses my mom quotes - Numbers 6:24-26 "The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace."  I think I just found a life verse for Maggie.

FOR GOD KNOWS THE PLANS HE HAS FOR YOU, MAGGIE, PLANS TO PROSPER YOU AND NOT TO HARM YOU; PLANS TO GIVE YOU HOPE AND A FUTURE. JER. 29:11
     I grew up with this verse too, but to see Maggie's name in there...we will be teaching her that truth.

ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE WITH GOD - AND YOU ARE A REASON I BELIEVE IT!
     Wow. The way our God has used this journey to touch so many is amazing!

PRAYING MANY BLESSINGS OVER YOUR LIFE SWEET MAGGIE. MAY YOUR FAITH BE AS STRONG AS YOUR PARENTS.
     Another wow. Our faith is a GIFT from God. It is HIS doing, His working. That humbles me. All glory to God! We LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this journey!

The excitement is rising...

    The week started off kind of slow, until Wednesday. I was asked to join Matt at the staff prayer meeting at Forest Hill. At the end they called us up and told us that in leu of a baby shower, they took up a collection for Maggie's upcoming medical costs. We were given $1,900! Wow!!! God is taking care of us even before she is home! We are feeling overwhelmed by the kindness of our faith family, and extremely spoiled by the love of our God!
     Then on Thursday our "Article 5" was picked up! (The "Article 5" is the American Consulate's OK of Maggie's Visa. The A/C is in Guangzhou). That's when we really started to get excited b/c the Article 5 is then forwarded to it's last stop - the agency of our in-China travel guides!
     Then on Thursday night I was given a "toddler" shower! So much fun! And once again, we were spoiled by the generosity of so many friends!

     As many of you know, we have been praying to leave on Thursday, Feb. 16th; our next choice being Thursday, Feb. 23rd.
     Matt sent a request to our agency coordinator, explaining to her that he has a trip to Haiti at the end of March and would love to leave for China ASAP so he can be home for 3 solid weeks upon returning home from China, before leaving for 10 days. She thinks Feb. 16th might be cutting it too close and that the 23rd is more likely. We will take either, obviously, but we are still praying for the 16th. We are so anxious to leave!
     Natalie keeps saying that she is tired of waiting for her sister. : ) And Jaydn has shared that he too is a little nervous about us leaving, because we have never been gone together for that long. Prayers for them are appreciated!
     Hopefully my next post will be telling you we got "Travel Approval"!!!