BIG NEWS!!!!

It's been a while since we have posted any updates.  This is not because there hasn't been anything going on.  There has been quite A LOT going on in recent weeks and we were simply waiting in hopes that we would be able to share BIG NEWS with all of you!

We'll start by summarizing what has been happening over the past two months and then we will reveal the SUPER EXCITING NEWS at the end!  Be patient....you'll be glad you read to the end! :)



In January we began working on the mountain of paperwork needed to start the home study process.  This paperwork requires numerous details about our lives, marriage, financial situation, upbringing, background checks, medical status, etc.  So, we were plugging right along on the paperwork and expecting to be able to start our home study meetings by the end of February (yes, it would take us that long to get all the necessary documents, notarizations, medical exams, etc. done).

Then on Monday, January 20th, I (Hiedi) received a phone call from Elyse, our case worker at Lifeline.  However, I missed the call because those play gyms can get pretty noisy!  A short time later, I pulled my phone out to check the time and saw I had a voicemail.  I listened to it and was shocked to hear that Elyse had a file of a little one-year-old girl that she wanted us to review.  I was caught off-guard by this news because we were not expecting to receive a referral until after our home study was complete or later.  We had no idea that it was even possible to receive a referral this early in the process.

Elyse stated that she was sending us an email with her file and this is where I went into "spaz" mode!  You see, I still own one of those old fashioned "dumb" phones.  I don't text, get email, have access to the web, etc.  Get this: I only use my phone to place or receive phone calls!  This was one of those moments when I wish I had let my tech-savy husband talk me into getting a "smart phone" so I could pull up the file and learn more about this little girl!  Instead, I not-so-calmly declared playtime was over and rounded up the troops to head home.  (The kids didn't mind since they had already spent a couple of hours playing.)

Once home, I tried to rationalize with myself and caution myself to guard my heart and review the information with a level head.  I did really well... until I got to the end of the file and saw the sweetest, chubby-cheecked angel peering back at me.  My heart was gone....it had already left for China.

The next few weeks were spent praying, researching, talking to doctors, and tracking down extra information about this sweet little girl.  We also finished up our home study paperwork and began our meetings (China requires a total of 4 meetings).  After much waiting to hear back from doctors and to get certain documents translated into English so we could read them, John and I felt great peace about accepting this referral and submitting our Letter of Intent (LOI) to China so we could match with this precious girl.    On March 11th we submitted our LOI and yesterday we were given the wonderful news that we have received Preliminary Approval (PA) for this precious angel:

INTRODUCING EMSLEY QIU!!!

We chose the name Emsley ("Gift from God") and kept part of her Chinese name as her middle name.  Emsley is 15 months old and is currently living in an orphanage in southern China.  We can hardly wait to get over there and hold her in our arms!  

We have completed our home study and are just waiting for the final report to be done so we can start putting together our dossier to send to China.  We, of course, are praying that things will move quickly but we are trusting in God's perfect timing.  We are using this waiting time to learn as much as we can about our new daughter's birth country and culture as well as learning about the various challenges involved in adoption so we can be well prepared for bringing her home.

The coming months will be focussed on fundraising and grant writing.  We have a couple of things in the works and will be posting about them soon.  In the mean time, please be praying for Emsley as she waits for her family to come get her.  Pray for her health, her safety, her nannies who are caring for her each day.  Also, pray for us as we work to raise the money needed to complete our adoption and bring this angel girl home!  God has been so faithful to go before us in each step along the way and we have already raised close to 1/3 of the amount needed but we still have a lot left to raise in the coming months.