Prayer Request

Our niece, my sister's little girl, Audrey, has been having health problems. Please remember her and the rest of the Washburn family in your prayers.

LIDiversary - March 13, 2007

I am officially overdue. I am over 18 months pregnant! So here we are…one year from our log in. Our LIDiversary. I wouldn’t be truthful if I didn’t say that this event is not as exciting as we had thought it would be. The reason, I think, is that with the wait increasing again, what are we counting down to? Rather than having the nursery done by our LID (like we said it would be), we feel like, “What is the rush?"

Now, before I hear from you all that God has the right girl picked for us, we realize that. Before you tell me that this is part of the journey of our adoption and of our walk with God, so that we can learn faith, patience and perseverance, we are aware of that. We do have faith that our daughter, the daughter chosen for us, will come home, but no one can fault us for wishing that it was at least a measurable time-frame.

People want to know why it is taking so long. We don't know! Based on the trends, it is a possibility that we will not travel to China until 2008. I tell you this to help manage your expectations. Here is the info from our adoption agency today: The current wait time for a referral is roughly 17 months from a family’s LID. This time frame is subject to increase, as this has been the trend since the fall of 2005.

SO, please continue to pray for the waiting babies and families. Please pray specifically that the process will speed up! Pray for the Chinese government employees. Pray for us. All three of us.
Psalm 34:7 says, "Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart." It is the desire of our hearts to have our baby home. She will be home, and as an adoptive mom from our church told me, when they placed her son in her arms in Africa, she thought as she gazed at him, "I would have waited a lifetime for you". I am sure when we finally meet our daughter, an event which will undoubtedly be sweeter due to these delays, we will say the same.

AWAA Referrals

From our adoption agency:

America World is pleased to announce the receipt of 19 healthy female referrals today! Families receiving referrals were logged into the China Center of Adoption Affairs on October 19th and 24th of 2005 (groups 233 and 234). These families waited roughly 16 months from log in date to referral. We also received referrals for 2 families who were expedited due to Chinese heritage who were logged in on April 14th, 2006. The little girls are currently located in the Jiangxi and Guangdong Provinces and range in age from 6 to 15 months. Please join us in congratulating these families, and in praying for them as they prepare to travel.

We are group 252.