We got THE CALL!

I have been waiting for "the call" for months.  The moment when my phone rings and my agency says they have a child's file for us.  I thought it might come shortly after our LID, considering that there would be twice as many children available to us once we had our files logged in with China.  Then I started hearing of people waiting for a little girl, even with minor special needs just like ours, and they were waiting 18 months for their "call".... and I was discouraged because we were only 13 months along, but I settled into another patient waiting period.

Then China made this big announcement about having older children available, and like I mentioned in our last post, our family got very excited about the idea of having a 6-yr old girl who would be the same age as our daughter.  They advertised an "immediate match" and we eagerly signed up, waiting in both lines, and praying God would send us the right child from either program.  :-)  I was constantly making sure my phone was with me and the ringer was turned all the way up, and every time it rang I would hope the screen said "CCAI" for our adoption agency's office.  But it didn't happen...for 6 weeks.

Then, on an evening while I was out and my phone was silenced in my purse, I missed a call.  I didn't know it until 2 hours later, and the missed call was from CCAI.  The voicemail was vague, but I listened to it about 50 times and played it another 5 times for Curt.  It said something like, "Call us back at your earliest convenience."  But the offices had just closed so I had to wait until morning.  THAT WAS TORTURE!

That night I was so antsy I knew I'd have to take a sleep aid (for the 3rd time in my life... and each during this adoption) and it knocked me out for a whole 2 hours.  I spent the rest of the night and morning waiting for 10 am to roll around.  I reached out to my family & friends on Facebook, as well as my new friends in my Facebook adoption groups who are in this same journey with me or have already been through it.  I think I caused quite a stir and had many people waiting in suspense with me.  (THANK YOU, by the way, because by the grace of God and your support I survived the night!)

Pretty much all of my adoptive friends said that when THEY missed a call from CCAI it ended up being "the call" because there aren't many other reasons for them to call you unless there is big news!

So I fully expected to find out we had been matched with a 6 year old girl, because the estimated wait for our Special Needs line was still about 5 more months.

Imagine my surprise when 10 am FINALLY came around and I was  able to return "the call", and she said they had a little girl's file for me to review, and she was under 2 years old!  She told me about her medical need then asked if I was still interested.  YES!YES!YES!  So she e-mailed me the little girl's file.

When I saw her sweet face, my eyes welled up with joy.  What a darling!!  The pale, round face.  The dark hair and eyes.  The slight smile of amusement.  She was beautiful and my heart melted.

BUT, I knew that meeting this girl's medical needs were very important for her future and well-being, and I knew that Curt & I needed to do some research before we committed.  For her sake even more than ours.  We spent pretty much the entire day examining her photos and medical file, and reading up about her condition online.  We learned a lot, and both of us felt very comfortable about providing the care she would need.  (I can share more about this when everything is official).

I had been praying throughout the day... and another 2 hour night... that God would make it very clear to Curt & I whether OUR family was in His plan for this little girl.  I am not claiming I heard an audible voice, but I felt God speak to my heart and say, "Do you CHOOSE to love this girl?" and I immediately knew that YES, I did love her and was choosing to love her unconditionally.  And I felt His response in my heart... "Then she is yours."  (Then I cried.  While I was doing dishes.)

Nevertheless, our agency highly encourages everyone to have the child's file reviewed by a medical professional, so the next day we made some calls and sent some e-mails and (miraculously!) got a reply later the same day!  We got a very helpful response from a Pediatric Dermatologist in our area.  We had already discussed it enough to know that we were both fully onboard to move ahead with her adoption, but felt even more at ease after hearing that the doctor agreed with the diagnosis from China and mentioned the same type of care that we had been reading about and felt comfortable with.

So at dinner time tonight, when I received the doctor's e-mail, I gleefully ran to my phone to tell CCAI that we were ready to move forward with our adoption!  Then I got the voice-system, reminding me that they close 30 min early on Friday... and now I have to wait the entire weekend.  Are you KIDDING me?!  LOL  So I e-mailed them, and get to spend the weekend awaiting my instructions for the next round of paperwork.  :-)

I am not permitted to post many details or photos online yet, but I'm sure I will have lots to share over the next few days & weeks, so stay tuned! 

Thank you A MILLION TIMES for all of your prayers, support, and encouragement!!!  We are thrilled to be able to share this news with you!!