Visas and the waiting game ...

Today our passports carrying our Chinese Visas will arrive. Yesterday James, Tacia, Claire and myself received all the medication we will need to take to China with us. My dad gets his immunizations next Wednesday and James has permission to leave next Friday at the earliest. The only thing left to do is get Special Power of Attorney's for my mom and Jenny to get medical care for Jace, Jordon and Tori if needed while we are away. Now we just need travel approval and a consulate appointment.

Please pray with us that this little piece of paper and the appointment line up in perfect timing. We have faith that the Lord is going to have us travel when He knows it is best. We can see with our human eyes that right now seems like the best time for James, but we will trust in the Lord's plan. He will be the one to open and close doors.

Keeping faith through this very long wait and being "passed up" by those who were behind us in timing has been humbling and difficult. You rejoice with each child that gets to come home, but you question why your child has to be in orphanage care longer. All of these circumstances have drawn us closer to the Lord. Some very hard lessons have been learned and we finally have a peace about all that has transpired and what is to come. That does not mean that we will not be disappointed if we are not able to leave very soon, but we will trust that the Lord has a perfect plan and perfect timing.