Referrals are in ...

... to all those who are seeing their little ones faces today! You're almost home.

The CCAA has finished the placement of children for the families whose adoption application documents were registered with our office before July 28, 2006.

It's been 5 years...

Its official, we’ve been waiting for 5 years and 7 days for our referral from China! Never in our wildest dreams did we ever come close to imagining that it would have taken this long to bring our baby home. I can also say that I’m amazed that we’re still “waiting” at all. For those of you who that have followed this nerve-wracking journey you know that until a few weeks ago we were basically done, with a capital D.

As the wait has lengthened I slowly stopped posting here. How many times can you vent about things beyond your control and expect people to read them? After awhile posting even the good times was hard because this site was created to document the journey that would bring our daughter home. The conclusion to that journey seemed impossible; it felt like we would never be able to reach the end with our dreams intact. Time passed and exacted its toll on us. We grew older, the economy tanked and emotionally we had taken a severe beating. The doubt had crept in and taken root and I couldn't see my way past it anymore. Matt had given up a long time ago and I was hanging on by a thread. A thread that had been worn and frayed to the point that one more tug could have broken it.

So what happened? God did! Some close friends (thanks Jeni & Dave) introduced us a too couple who had adopted from China. Ever heard of people being put in your lives for a reason, a season or lifetime? We have met our reason people! Meeting Chris and Cathi have helped us to put things back into perspective. Their story is very similar to ours and watching them with their daughter has given us hope again.

There is still a long way to go and a lot to do, but for now hope and faith are enough to keep us going.