Favorites Friday

*if you are "jumping in" in the middle of this journey, please read Wednesday's post first, then the one from this morning. It will all make more sense then! And if you've not read about our journey to today, please check my archives by searching "adoption" in the upper left corner of this page. Our family's story can be read there, oldest posts first . . .

My Favorite Things

The Lord Has Done
In The Past 48 Hours

• He has shown us His direction. Believe me when I say, over the past 2 days, His plan and His will for our family has been made abundantly clear. He has used our family, our children, and of course, His Word to point our feet on the path which He has laid before us.
• He has given us His peace. Thank you to those who have particularly been praying this peace over us. Whenever our minds got to racing or our hearts to worrying and fretting, we felt His presence move in with gentleness, calm and "the peace that passes all understanding."
• He has reminded us of our calling and our purpose. Through times in prayer and in the Word separately, The Boss and I keep coming back to each other and to the kids with a renewed sense of what our mission has been, since we started this journey in January 2006 (and really, in our spirits long before that!)
• He has given us unity and confirmation. All 6 of us have consistently been of like mind and like spirit in these past two days, and as word is getting out we are discovering that those we trust and admire and respect keep confirming our steps.
• He has given us great joy! We are BEYOND thrilled and excited to share with you that we have accepted the referral that was presented for our consideration on Wednesday morning. We have a new daughter! Aidan is coming home!
  

An official Letter of Intent (LOI) will be sent with our file to the CCAA today telling them that we are officially requesting the privilege of adopting this beautiful toddler. We thank our Special Needs Coordinator, Miss Ashley, for her tireless efforts on our behalf. This young woman deserves a post all her own, and believe me, I feel one brewing! Once that LOI (woooo hooo, I get to throw around those abbreviations now too!) is on its way, we will talk with Living Hope about travel estimates, final balances due, and further documentation that is still necessary. The whirlwind begins now!!!!!

Stay tuned for more information on our precious Aidan. I'm working through what documentation I have now, to be able to share with you a little about our girl. (Lord willing, I may even be able to post pictures.) For now, please know that we still crave your prayers, for financial provision, for quick paperwork exchanges and approvals, and for smooth travel plans - as soon as they can happen!!!!! I can't believe it, I'm going to China to get my girl! Suddenly, excitement about our summer has just taken on a whole new meaning!