These are photos that we sent with our adoption paperwork to China in 2006.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Hopes & Disappointments
This year has held so many hopes and so many disappointments. In August we felt that we were close to receiving our referral. We completed home study updates, reports and immigration paperwork. Yet no word on a referral.
In mid-October we heard, through the grapevine, that Group 260 from our adoption agency had received their referrals. WE WERE IN GROUP 260!! The next day we heard from our adoption agency that we were not included in that batch of referrals. They were matched to March 28, 2006. Our L.I.D. (Log in Date) was March 29, 2006. We were so disappointed, but received encouragment knowing that WE WOULD BE NEXT. Our director for China Adoptions at our agency said, "You are the only family that I've ever been able to say this to with certainty. You will be included in the next referrals. China never matches less than one day. And you are the next day."
November was a busy month, but still we so longed to hear that our baby had been chosen for us. No word came.
On December 3 I was feeling blue. I had been struggling with cold/flu symptoms and needed a pick-me-up. I went to a website that I had never visited before. And lo and behold, there was a posting that referrals had been made to the end of March 2006. My "blueness" disappeared and I began to cry tears of joy. I couldn't wait until Roger came home to tell him! I gazed at the beautiful pictures other families had posted of their babies and my heart longed to see my child -- more than ever before.
We knew that it would take longer for us to receive our referral - due to how our province handles the process - but every time the phone rang my heart would leap a little in my chest!
On December 14 Roger called Adoption Services NB to find out why we hadn't received our referral yet. I had visions of paperwork sitting on desks somewhere being ignored or lost - reminiscent of our earlier fiasco with paperwork and the province. But the paperwork had not arrived from China yet. We were told that the best case scenario would be four days from the time it arrived at Adoption Services until we received it.
When we didn't hear anything by December 21, I knew that we would not be celebrating an addition to the family for Christmas.
On December 23, we received a phone call from our adoption agency. Unknown to us, our agency and the province had been searching to find out where our paperwork was! That was a relief to know that others were looking into it for us. Our agency received word from China that we had NOT been matched with a child - even though our paperwork would have been logged in during the matched times. The e-mail from CCAA gave no reason why we were skipped, just that we would be included in the next batch of referrals.
Needless to say, I was devastated. I couldn't stop crying. I couldn't understand why we weren't matched as our LID should have been included. It completely went against everything about how I believed China matched children and families.
After prayer and encouragement from family and friends, God's peace settled around my heart. I could talk about it without crying. And I knew that it was all in His hands. If I had ever contemplated about the "chance" aspect of our child joining our family it was forever gone. China had pulled our file...no reason given...and saved it for a later time. It WAS all in God's hands.
And now the wait continues...
In mid-October we heard, through the grapevine, that Group 260 from our adoption agency had received their referrals. WE WERE IN GROUP 260!! The next day we heard from our adoption agency that we were not included in that batch of referrals. They were matched to March 28, 2006. Our L.I.D. (Log in Date) was March 29, 2006. We were so disappointed, but received encouragment knowing that WE WOULD BE NEXT. Our director for China Adoptions at our agency said, "You are the only family that I've ever been able to say this to with certainty. You will be included in the next referrals. China never matches less than one day. And you are the next day."
November was a busy month, but still we so longed to hear that our baby had been chosen for us. No word came.
On December 3 I was feeling blue. I had been struggling with cold/flu symptoms and needed a pick-me-up. I went to a website that I had never visited before. And lo and behold, there was a posting that referrals had been made to the end of March 2006. My "blueness" disappeared and I began to cry tears of joy. I couldn't wait until Roger came home to tell him! I gazed at the beautiful pictures other families had posted of their babies and my heart longed to see my child -- more than ever before.
We knew that it would take longer for us to receive our referral - due to how our province handles the process - but every time the phone rang my heart would leap a little in my chest!
On December 14 Roger called Adoption Services NB to find out why we hadn't received our referral yet. I had visions of paperwork sitting on desks somewhere being ignored or lost - reminiscent of our earlier fiasco with paperwork and the province. But the paperwork had not arrived from China yet. We were told that the best case scenario would be four days from the time it arrived at Adoption Services until we received it.
When we didn't hear anything by December 21, I knew that we would not be celebrating an addition to the family for Christmas.
On December 23, we received a phone call from our adoption agency. Unknown to us, our agency and the province had been searching to find out where our paperwork was! That was a relief to know that others were looking into it for us. Our agency received word from China that we had NOT been matched with a child - even though our paperwork would have been logged in during the matched times. The e-mail from CCAA gave no reason why we were skipped, just that we would be included in the next batch of referrals.
Needless to say, I was devastated. I couldn't stop crying. I couldn't understand why we weren't matched as our LID should have been included. It completely went against everything about how I believed China matched children and families.
After prayer and encouragement from family and friends, God's peace settled around my heart. I could talk about it without crying. And I knew that it was all in His hands. If I had ever contemplated about the "chance" aspect of our child joining our family it was forever gone. China had pulled our file...no reason given...and saved it for a later time. It WAS all in God's hands.
And now the wait continues...
Starting a Blog
Well, we are hoping that we are near to the end of our adoption wait (how many times have we hoped that!). I've decided that I will start a blog so that we will be able to share our experience with friends and family.
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