Part 2: The Journey: A Left Turn off the SE coast of China

So, we had begun our adoption journey!! We had heard God's voice loud and clear. He had confirmed His call on us to adopt. He had confirmed that we were to go to China. And, we took the plunge to "go forth" to China with anticipation and excitement. We had no idea we were just taking the first step of what would become a 4-year journey. Perhaps, that was best left a mystery! ;)

We began the homestudy. . . the meetings. . . the cancelled meetings. . . the rescheduled meetings. We did our education requirements. It was truly like we were going to get our Master's degree. Classes, books, online coursework. . . For those of you going through the process. . . you are chuckling right now because "You KNOW" what I'm talking about. ;) Even when we sprinted through all of the educational requirements and paperwork (and MORE paperwork). . . THEN the hard part came. We had to WAIT on fingerprints to come back and child abuse and neglect clearances and medical reports. And, when I say WAIT. . . I mean WAAAAIIIT. It was delay after delay. . . and every bit of it was outside our control. It took 5 months for my husband's fingerprints to come back. And, we couldn't move forward with our homestudy OR adoption until it was back.

While this waiting period was underway. . . we were busy taking our classes, knocking out everything we "HAD" control over. And, that is when we began to learn how long the China "healthy child" adoptions were taking. The wait time was growing from 3 years . . . to 4 or 5 years. Geoff and I were sick to our stomachs thinking that we might all (Anna Grace too) have to wait 4 or 5 years for Anna Grace's sister to come home. AG would be close to 10. . . a HUGE age difference between them. And, HOW MANY times would we have to re-do and update this paperwork in the meantime??? We were frustrated. But, we knew that God had pointed us to China. . . so we continued to move forward.

It was February of 2008 (we had begun our HS first of Oct. 2007), and we were sitting in Dr. Chambers' IA clinic workshop, and we sat down next to the Coueys. We instantly made friends, and we learned that they were adopting from Taiwan. They shared all about their agency, the process, the wait-time. . . and all of a sudden we saw a wonderful opportunity that might allow us to adopt much sooner than 4 to 5 years. And, for heaven's sake, Taiwan is just off the SE coast of China. . . less than 100 miles!!! And, the children are Asian. That was still staying within God's plan, as far as we could see. China even still considers Taiwan to be a part of China. . . although Taiwan begs to differ. It was "just" a suburb of southern China. Right, God???

After some discussion and thought and prayer, Geoff and I decided to change our course (last second. . . because our HS had been completed for China and our SW was ready to write it up and send it off for all of the US clearances). And, we asked her to write it up, instead, for Taiwan. This Taiwan road should take less than a year. People were getting to travel for their child, at that time, in about 6-8 months from the time they went on the wait list. The babies were 6-9 months of age when they came home. It all appeared to be a better choice. We only had to get our HS cleared on the U.S. side; then, we could go on the Taiwan wait list!! We expected to travel in under a year. Things were looking up!

So, we were OFF to Taiwan!!! That is about the time I created this blog. Thus, the URL name. :)

We were about to learn three things:

1. All that glitters is "not" gold.

2. a Left turn off the coast of China, even for less than 100 miles, was not what God had called us and confirmed for us to do.

3. Even in a desert, God can make blessings overflow.

Thanks for following!

Our Journey to Mei Li "The call" . . . Part 1 . . . a recap of our story

As we are approaching our 4 year mark since the beginning of our adoption journey, I think it appropriate to recap a little. Our story may be fuzzy to those who have followed over the past years. And, for our new friends. . . you may be downright confused about why our URL is "calledtotaiwan". So. . . Part 1 of our journey to Mei Li. . . in a nutshell. ;) The other parts will follow soon.

In the fall of 2007, Geoff and I were at a place in our lives where we were seeking God's guidance and direction strongly. We felt a pulling and restlessness. . . like there was something we were supposed to be doing. Yet, we didn't know what that was. We felt like we were "spinning our wheels". . . so to speak. We weren't miserable. . . we just had this restless, anxious longing to discover what it was that we were "not doing" that we were supposed to be doing.

So, we prayed this prayer. "Lord, you put us here on this earth for a reason. You gave us the gifts, the experiences, the passions that we have for a reason. You know how it all works together "for the good". You know how every part of who we are, without wasting a single experience, personality trait, or gift. . . works together to serve the purpose you placed us here for.

And. . . we are available. Use us and all that you've given us. . . to your honor and glory. Amen. "

Almost immediately. . . I KID YOU NOT. . . we began running into people (some strangers, some acquaintances, some friends. . . ) who began suggesting that we should consider adoption. In a period of about 2 weeks, we had about 8 different encounters. Adoption was not even on Geoff's and my radar up to this point. But, at the end of that 2 weeks, it was as if it were being shouted from the heavens. Honestly, I got a little irritated, at first, with folks "out of the blue" suggesting that we should adopt. Who were they? And, what did they know about us and what was best for our family?

LONG STORY SHORT, the two-week "peppering" culminated in a birthday party held in Gadsden of one of our daughter's friends. We went to it, and lo and behold, there were 3 internationally adopted children there. Two from Russia. . . one from China. Two of them, only home for less than 2 weeks. I remember nothing else from that birthday party of great significance. . . except that these children were absolutely beautiful. I realized that they had been (not two weeks before) sitting in an orphanage on the other side of the planet. . . a huge ocean and continent away. . . all alone with no family, no hope and no future. And, today. . . two weeks later. . . they are in a loving family, thousands of miles separating them from the orphanage that once held them and provided them with enough resources to survive--but no love and nurture to enable them to thrive. They now, have a hope and a future. I could not take my eyes off of them. And, that was the moment God popped me right between the eyes and opened my heart to His call to care for the orphan. And, His call on our family. . . to complete our family through this amazing thing called "adoption".

Geoff and I talked and prayed about it. It was on a Wednesday night at 10 p.m. that we prayed and asked God "to confirm" that He was, indeed, calling our family to step out in faith and adopt a child. And. . . if He was calling us to adopt. . . to please direct us to where we were supposed to go? There are orphans all over the world. . . over 200 million of them. . . in our own country and across the globe. We needed to know where "He" had a child chosen for our family.

THE NEXT MORNING, our answer came. I went for a walk with my friend, Amy, and took Anna Grace (who was 4 yrs. old at the time). After our walk, I took AG to the park for a few minutes to play. We were the only people at the park. Not 5 minutes into our playtime, a van pulls up and a family gets out. A beautiful girl, a couple of years older than my daughter (and resembling our daughter in a striking way), steps out of the van holding the hand of her two year old sister from China. . . My heart nearly exploded! I asked the girl, who looked like an older version of my daughter, if this was her sister? And, she smiled and answered, "Yes. We adopted her from China 8 weeks ago."

WOW! He spoke quickly and answered all of our questions in one powerful moment. The mother got out with their other children a few moments later, and shared with me that their little girl from China had special needs. She was adopted from a "blind" orphanage. But, when they brought her home. . . fully expecting to bring home a blind child. . . they took her in for vision testing and she was NOT blind. I watched her run all over that playground and climb and slide. . . Truly miraculous!

And, as if God were saying to us , "And, just in case you didn't get the message the first time, here's another "confirmation" for you!" :)

Later, that SAME DAY, Geoff got home from work and brought the mail in. He asked, "Kristy, did you send off for information about passports?" I said, "No, I printed off a passport application form last night (before our prayer asking God to confirm His call) from the us.travel.gov site. But, I haven't filled it out or even found out where to take it to get it processed. That's my goal this week. Why?" Geoff walks over and hands me a postcard from the US Post Office entitled "Passport Fair. . . this weekend. . . Bring x,y and z to the Roebuck post office and get your passport processed quickly". . .

Whoever heard of a "Passport Fair?" You better believe we showed up on Saturday!!!

So. . . Geoff and I began our homestudy paperwork to go to China in September 2007. We began our journey, however, going the route of a "healthy child adoption". We weren't quite ready to grasp that ultimately God was calling us to adopt a waiting child from China. That realization came much later. . .

But, now that we look back at the moment He confirmed His call on that playground. . . He was calling us to a SN adoption all along. We just had to catch up with Him.

And, He had some work to finish in us in the meantime. . .

Stay tuned for more of our "condensed version" of Our Journey To Mei Li. . .

Thanks for following!

Another Treasure to Share :)

Another gift from above!! They just keep coming! I got the sweetest email from another mom on the Yahoo Group from Shanghai adoptive families with this lovely picture of Mei Li with her beautiful friend at the orphanage! Her friend is already home! We are going to get these special friends together. What a blessing!! And a priceless picture of our daughter. Amazing how they both have come around the world to their new homes. . . and will be close enough to visit one another.

Oh, What a Gift From Above!!! :)

What a treasure to find this photo of our "happy" and lovely Mei Li!!

Get a load of that SMILE!!!!

Love that face!!!!

That face. . . . :)

Lunch must be a little "tough to take" today ;)

I know, I know. . . I've been terrible about updating over the last months. Even longer. . . But, that's truly because for SO LONG there was absolutely nothing to report. So, we busied ourselves with other things. It's a good thing to keep your life moving forward and yourself growing while you wait in this process. Otherwise, it's really easy to dwell too much on things completely outside of your control. Enough to drive one bonkers ;)

BUT, Ta-Dah!!!!! Our Mei Li is not long from coming home!!!! We have gone through all the hoops and peaks and valleys of a derailed Taiwan adoption AND the last 6 months, we have spent having our homestudy updated, fingerprints re-done, new Immigration approval on the proper China form. . . and HERE WE ARE!!!! :) Our dossier is being authenticated as I write this, and will be sent immediately, if not sooner, to China!!!!! WOOHOOOO!!! :D LONG time comin', ya'll!!!!

We've been told it'll be approximately 4-5 months from now until we travel to bring her home. Fingers are tightly crossed that it will happen sooner. But, I've learned during this process to always err on the side of "later rather than sooner" ;)

Even more exciting. . . I just found an amazing Yahoo group of families who have adopted or are adopting from the same Shanghai orphanage in which Mei Li lives!!! And, after going through the photos in their database, I found about 5 pictures of our beautiful girl!!! In every one, she is happy and in several, she is absolutely "beaming"!!! Her smile is like the sun, no kidding. I am so grateful that our Mei Li is a happy girl, filled with joy. And, as far as orphanages go. . . we could not have hoped for a better, more happy place than the one she lives in!

I feel like that unexpected "finding" of our daughter through the wonderful Shanghai adoption Yahoo group. . . was just a gift from above. God knows how much we want to see her and hug her. . . and how we have longed to know that she is "okay" in our absence. What a treasure!!! My heart felt like it would explode last night!! I could not go to sleep!! And, I think I dreamed about Mei Li when I finally went to sleep. What a confirming gift from above that was. . . and COMPLETELY unexpected!!! :)

And, I sent one of my CDs to the orphanage nannies in hopes that they would play my music for her. I let them know that "Songbird" was recorded in honor of Mei Li. It is "her song". I hope they are playing it for her and the other children. I would love for her to know my voice. . . and even more, that she would know that one song on that CD is "for her" from her "mama". :)

I WILL do better about updating from now on! I promise! We now have something to blog about :)

Wohoooooo!!! We received our PA today!!

Well, Happy, happy Thanksgiving a few days early!! We have received our PA from China!! Looks like it is a "GO" for us to bring our our precious Mei Li!!! It's a good thing, too. . . she already has stolen our hearts! We've already made her a panda Build-a Bear with our voices in it, so she can hear us speak any time she wants while she waits for us. :)

There are some happy hearts at the White House tonight!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!!

Kristy

The Sweetest Little Face!! :)

Just had to share this pic of our sweet little Mei Li!

The Writing on the Wall leads us to the Great Wall. . . :)

This week has been an eye-opener for us. If there was ever a question in our minds about changing countries and switching programs, that question was put to rest yesterday. We received word from Journeys of the Heart that our program is still on hold, no definitive answer from TWCA about "start-up", turnover in JOH staffing. . . just an overall feeling of "bleh". It is even possible that TWCA won't start referring babies again. After almost a year of waiting after being given a 6-8 month timeframe from the start. . . this news just sits on your stomach like sour milk. And, for me. . . confirmation that my instincts were right all along. Something wasn't right. . . still don't know what. . . but, further proof that now is the time to change course.

What's more. . . the Lord already has led us to our new country---and most importantly, to our little girl! :) I have felt a joy and peace about Mei Li since we were shown her file, but the letter from JOH confirming the continuation of turmoil in our Taiwan program just seals it for us.

Last Saturday, we held a yard sale to raise some funds toward our adoption expenses. It was a great success!!! We will hold another one soon. It certainly helps, but much more is needed. I also began researching grants today, and plan to apply as soon as our homestudy update is complete. You see, Mei Li is on the waiting child list and will have some medical needs once she comes home. Definitely physical therapy, but may potentially need another surgery. We'll have to wait and see. So, we are beginning the effort to round up resources to bring her home and take care of her medical needs once she comes home. If anyone has any suggestions about great grant organizations, I'd love to hear about them!! :)

The song writing has continued to blossom. I wrote lyrics for another two songs the other day and have a meeting with Marc (my producer and dear friend) tomorrow to co-write with him. I can't tell you how thrilled I am to have music as such a vibrant part of my life. I pray the Lord will continue to bless our adoption and the music He has so generously poured into my life!!

I updated the blog on my music site tonight, and would love for you to read it! Check it out at www.kristywhitemusic.com. I believe it will encourage you.

As you begin to think about Christmas gifts this year, "Dancin' on the Wind" makes an excellent gift and stocking stuffer!! You can download it from iTunes, CD Baby and Amazon, OR you can email me and I'll send you a signed hard copy of the album. This album project has come to mean so much to me on so many levels. . . and now it has a whole new level of importance---its sales will help us bring our sweet, precious, long-awaited Mei Li home! Please share my music with you friends. Word of mouth is a great thing!! :)

I'll update soon! Our goal now is to get all of our paperwork for China completed by the end of this month so the dossier can be started. The race to Mei Li begins!! :) Can't wait to experience every moment of our journey to her!