LID

I started my morning off with an early flight to Charlotte. After I landed and was checking out my rental car, I received a call from my social worker, Sarah. Every time her number shows up on my caller ID, I have that moment of panic/excitement and my mind immediately races through all the possibilities of things she might have to tell me!

I am happy to announce that I am LID today! LID stands for "Log In Date". This is the date my dossier is officially logged in at the CCCWA (Chinese Center for Children's Welfare and Adoption). This is also the last step before I am able to be matched with a child! I am essentially just waiting on a phone call! For those of you who know me well, you know that I like to know what's next and when! This part of the wait is hard, y'all! Absolutely nothing is in my control! God is definitely using this journey to teach me a few things! 

I am choosing to be patient and content with HIS timing, but I'm obviously very anxious to "meet" this little one! I've been told that I could be waiting days or months - there is just no way to know! I am so ready to see the face of the little girl who I have been praying for for so long! Please continue to pray for her health and that God would prepare her little heart to become part of a family! 

Until next time...

The Paperwork Begins

These past few weeks have been extremely busy. I got sort of used to doing things at a leisurely pace the last several months since I had time off work. Well…that is a thing of the past! To catch everyone up, here’s what’s been going on.

February 18^th – I received a call from the China Program Director at Lifeline letting me know that my application had been accepted. I spent about 30 minutes on the phone with her, and left feeling encouraged yet overwhelmed about what was to come.

February 20^th – I received a call from my social worker for the first time. Of course, I wanted to make a good first impression. Well that’s not what happened! Remember how I said I was working in the middle of no where? Well I had cell service that’s to be expected in the middle of no where! I know she thought I was a complete crazy - I could only hear half of what she was saying! (I called her back later in the day to apologize!)

March 3^rd – I had my Orientation Interview call with my social worker. During this call we talked all about me, China adoption, and what to expect going forward. I was sent 3 manuals by email, and talked through those and what I needed to accomplish over the next couple of weeks. My mind went into full paperwork mode!

March 4^th – I completed my fingerprinting for my Alabama DHR Child Abuse and Neglect clearance. It was pretty anti-climactic - no black ink on my fingers…it’s all biometric live scan these days!

While all of this was going on, I was also interviewing an accepting a new job! I came home from my California project on February 20^th, by that next week I had 4 job offers for long term projects! This is one of the ways I have seen God’s hand in this process. I accepted a Monday thru Thursday job in Charlotte, NC. We will be bringing up 40 OB clinics on EMR and I’ll be doing training for OB nurses and physicians! So, not did God provide me a job - He made sure it was only an hour flight, I would be home on Fridays and I still get to use my OB skills! I found out on Tuesday that they wanted me to start the next Monday. So in addition to all the adoption paperwork, I have spent the rest of my week doing new job paperwork, drug tests and lab work! Busy, busy, busy! But I wouldn’t have it any other way! 

Valentine's Day 2015

Usually Valentine’s Day is not really special for me. Let’s be honest. Valentine’s Day without a valentine is pretty lame. But this year, I wasn’t allowing the "day of love" to stop me from having a little fun. I’m out in Northern California working on a short term project in a city called Chico, California. Have you heard of it? Yeah…me neither. It’s tiny. Remote. Isolated. My cell phone doesn’t work. My first hotel had bed bugs. I itched. It rained. So after a pretty rough week, I was determined to make Valentine’s Day fun!

One thing pretty great about California is the weather. It’s February and it’s already warm and the trees are blooming!

I planned a little road trip, and after my co-workers decided they just wanted to rest at the hotel…I decided to go alone! I’m pretty sure God has this planned all along. The 3 hour drive to San Francisco gave me lots of time to think, thank Jesus for putting me on this journey, and to pray for my girl! There was also plenty of time to think about all the things that worry me about this process. But when I start down that road of worry…I do my best to redirect my mind!

I’ve never been to San Francisco, and because I just had a few hours...I did the typical tourist things! I parked and walked towards Pier 39. I watched the sea lions with about 4,000 of my newest friends. (Apparently everyone else had the same idea for today!) After that, I ordered some fried calm strips from a popular Pier 39 restaurant and took my food to a quieter part of the pier to eat. I ate lunch with an amazing view of Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge.

After lunch, I did a little shopping and grabbed a slice of cookie cake for the road. I drove around the downtown area, got to drive down Lombard Street (aka the crooked street), and wished I had had more time to explore the festival that was going on in China Town.

After the long drive home, I made one finally stop before I headed up the mountain to the hotel. In Starbucks, over a Chestnut Praline Latte, I spent a couple of hours finishing up my application for the Lifeline China Adoption program. One of the little details that I don’t want to forget is that when I was submitting the online application, I looked down and there was a lady bug crawling up the arm of my chair. Ladybugs are sometimes called Chinese beetles. Sign of good luck? Maybe? But I just saw it as one of those things God was using to make me smile!

So excited to be getting this process going!