Medical Letters and Home Study Approved!

Some good news and some sobering news (ALWAYS!!). First, the good. Our medical letters were approved and therefore our homestudy is complete and was also approved! This is VERY significant to have this step done. Now we wait for our I-171H. I can't even figure out a way to explain that right now, so just pray that it gets processed efficiently, as it can take 4-6 weeks, but the office stated that it is taking the full 6 weeks right now.

Ok, the bad. As you may recall in an earlier post, China is anticipating some delays for referrals (when we get our match). The time frame from Log In Date (LID) to referral is typically 6-7 months. With the CCAA (China Center for Adoption Affairs)
moving offices THIS MONTH they are anticipating referrals to move to 9-10 months from LID. Our social worker went through everything with me today on the phone, and just so we ALL have managed expectations, worst case scenario is that we may not be going to China until 2007. This made me a little sad since I had decided that I'd be ok with anything as long as she was home for Christmas next year and for our 15th wedding anniversary on the 21st of December (thinking that I was being generous with the time-frame).

BUT and this is the big but, I will KEEP reminding myself (and you can remind me, too, as long as you're gentle) that our daughter will come home when God is ready. All of the bureaucratic red tape in the world couldn't stop His plan, and if that is for us to go by next fall, WONDERFUL! If that means we wait and wait and wait, I guess I will have to learn some patience, eh? Really, as Lee says, "We've waited this long to have kids, what's a little longer?"
Har-dee-har-har! (good-natured laugh)

Well, lots of love to all of you. Thanks for prayers, thoughts, and emails. Don't forget to leave your comments after you read. Just mark "other" instead of "blogger" and you won't have to log in. It encourages us.

-Dawn