Saturday, February 16, 2008

We Have A Referral!



Well, we do, but not for Olivia. We are still in the process of adopting from China, but we also are adopting another little girl as well. God has brought us Patricia (pronounced Pa-tree-see-a) who is from Haiti. Because of the long wait for China, the CCAA (Chinese Center for Adoption Affairs) has now opened it up for waiting families to pursue concurrent adoptions. We weren't looking for another child, but God had something else planned for us!

Her adoption will take place after Olivia comes home from China, as the Haitian courts process paperwork very slowly. But as with all things, and in this hurry-up-and-wait world of adoption, it is in God's hands and His timing.

I found her on the internet on December 5, and we received her referral on January 24. Above is the first picture we ever saw of Patricia, and below are photos that another adoptive mom sent us.



My favorite quote during our journey to parenthood is, "Out of difficulties grow miracles" (Jean de la Bruyere, 1645-1696).

A couple of verses my brother Paul shared with us to help us on this journey are Hebrews 10:38-11:1: "But my righteous one shall live by faith,and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him. Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen."

There is a devotional by Os Hillman that I printed out and put on our fridge entitled "God-Inspired Delays". In it he refers to John 11:6: "Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, He stayed where He was two more days." The main message is that sometimes God makes us wait to accomplish His purpose, and in the case of Lazarus, he waited for him to pass so he could raise him from the dead for the miracle to have it's full effect. God also did this with Abraham and Sarah with their long-awaited child, Isaac. Read the rest of the article here.

Lee said to me recently, "If we had the kids we thought we'd have in our 20's, we probably wouldn't be on this adoption path in our 30’s." My mom, in a completely different conversation, said, "If it wasn't taking so long for Olivia to come home, you may not have found Patricia, and she needs to come home!"

And so our adoption adventures continue...

21 comments:

Jenny said...

Yaaaaaaaahooooooo!! Love her, love you.

Waldemar Family said...

Wow! We had no idea. Yay!

Adam said...

You guys!! That's such wonderful news. Both of your daughters will be so blessed to have you and Lee as parents. Congratulations!

Lori said...

Dawn,

Patricia is just beautiful! Congratulations. She is just so cute. Good luck with the wait for Patricia.

Hugs,

Lori H**
Lakeland, Florida

Barb P. said...

That is wonderful!! What a lucky little girl! I look forward to the day that we can meet both of your girls!! What a change this will make in your house!! Keep us posted!! Hugs! Peace and Prayers
The Pentecost 6!!

Tracy said...

So happy for you that you found Patricia and she has found you. May 2008 go by very quickly for you and get you to Olivia and Patricia!! Congratulations :)

DiJo said...

Dawn & Lee!
Congratulations! We met you at your house over a year ago when you hosted the AWAA Christmas event! Anyway, do you know the Coughlin family from EP? If not, they have 2 siblings from Haiti, Cullen 6 and Callie 3. I would be happy to hook you up! And, our daughter Ainsley's teacher was just in Haiti last week working at an Orphanage. Wouldn't that be amazing if she was with your precious girl!! If I can help, please don't hesitate to ask!
Blessings,
Diana
dd Ainsley 6.5
dd Ruby Mei 5/8/07 Ruby Tuesday

Anonymous said...

Congratulations, she looks like a lovely child.

Blessings to your family - and I hope the proces to get her home goes quickly.

CG said...

She's gorgeous! This is wonderful news! The question now is- when do you get to meet her?

Mom said...

Congratulations! Patricia is adorable. Hope things go smoothly and that she is home soon.

Hugs,
Heather C. & Keira

AmyO said...

Congratulations on your referral! She's adorable :) Best wishes on your China referral too!

Kathy Cassel said...

Hi. We are adopting Fredlin and Frednise from the same orphanage as Patricia. I met her in August and I think she's on some of my video of the trip that I posted in August and September.

OziMum said...

Congratulations! Patricia is just beautiful. What a miracle!

(saw your BIG news on the yahoo board!)

Love
Lee-Anne
LID 22 Feb 2006
aust2china.blogspot.com

Robby, Tonja, Caitlin and Marissa said...

I haven't checked in your blog in awhile. Congratulations on your new daughter. I am so happy for you.

Fliss and Mike Adventures said...

How excellent is this... it has been a while since I dropped by... hope that all is well with you - take care and once again - congratulations...

Ava's family said...

Dawn,
Congratulations!!!! I'm so happy for you and your husband!! =)

Maddy and Zeke's Mom said...

Congrats on your referral! Patricia is beautiful.

Spirit of Adoption said...

We have that pic on our fridge, and we are praying for her and ya'll!!!!!

Unknown said...

I just discovered your blog. A huge congrats on your referral. We really enjoyed meeting you are our house last fall and hope to see you at the next get together. Would love to hear about Patricia and how the china wait is going too. Patricia is adorable. You must be over the moon! Nicole, Mark and Ava Larson

Mom 2 six said...

What a blessing !!

Dan and Karen said...

Holy buckets! This is what I get for not checking "my" blogs more regularly!!! Congratulations on Patricia!! This is very exciting news and we are happy for you!

-Karen & Dan

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