Our long wait is almost over. Barring some unforeseen international incident, we will be joining other families adopting children from China through our agency in Beijing on Saturday, May 5, 2012. We may even meet our sweet little Qu Yu (soon to be Mia Isabelle) as soon as Monday, May 7. We are so excited! It almost doesn’t seem real. While technically, we are still waiting for the final “travel approval” letter to be issued to us by the Chinese government, we also want to secure the tickets that will take us half way around the globe. Airline seats can fill up fast, and we had hoped to use C’s accumulated frequent flyer miles to buffer the cost. This is a risky balancing act we’re playing. On one hand, by booking tickets now, we can easily get the seats we want, and use the miles to foot the bill. But, on the other hand, if something unexpected happens and we aren’t granted travel approval in time for the May 5 meet-up, well let’s just say we’re going to be hanging out in China for a while. After a very lengthy discussion with the travel coordinator at our adoption agency, we decided to take the risk. So, yesterday, we bought and paid for our tickets. In 46 days, we will be on our way, ready for the next chapter of our lives to begin
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So much of this process has been a game of hurry up and wait. A year’s worth of hurry to get our documents compiled, and waiting for our match. Now that we’re at the end of it, the waiting is getting so much harder to bear. We have pictures, and information about this amazing little girl. We talk about her constantly, and we ache for her to join our family. We’ve seen the image of her orphanage on google earth, so we know where she lives. At this point, because she is older, she has been told about us and is likely herself being prepared to transition from her life in an institution to life with a foreign family. So why can’t we just go and get her already????? I am no different than almost everyone else I know in that I want what I want, and I want it NOW. I’d like to think that I’m a patient person, but in reality I acknowledge that I am not. This process has certainly been a lesson in patience, but more importantly, it has been an opportunity for me and my family to cultivate our faith. When the waiting gets to be too much, it has been so helpful to tap into our feelings of gratitude. We are so thankful for this chance to give our love to another child. We are so thankful that she is healthy. We’re thankful that even though the process has been long, it has gone relatively smoothly. We’re thankful for the endless support and guidance of our adoption agency. I think we’re most thankful for the love given us by our family and close friends every step of this fantastic journey. My closest group of friends are planning showers for me in anticipation of Mia’s arrival. Their acceptance and love means the world to me, so I can chuckle along with them when they tease me about this “virtual” pregnancy. While they are only being playful, I can easily draw a parallel to my previous physical pregnancy. Only this time, I’ve traded stretch marks for a paper trail, and my “due date” is ambiguous at best. Last time, I knew that once we had reached the magic 40 weeks, something was going to happen, and we were going to have a baby. Not that a physical pregnancy is completely certain, or without inherent risks. My comfort there, lay in the relative certainty of the timeline. This process is no more or less risky or certain. The difference is the timeline.
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Lisa LynchLisa is a world traveling mom that took the ultimate adventure Archives
December 2012
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