loa :)

it had seemed liked the 21st was a good date in our adoption timeline.  and it is for sure now :)  our LOA from china arrived yesterday and we got the fun call this morning.  expected travel:  may 17th, Lord willing.  i am definitely more excited than nervous.  let the nesting begin :)  below is a sweet note that we just received yesterday too from lu cai qi's teacher.  love getting a glimpse into her personality.   

Teacher's Comment on Lu Cai Qi

You are a very lovely and innocent child. You are polite. Whenever seeing me, you say Hello to me. You are good at the subjects and there is no need for me to worry about your study. I enjoy reading the short compositions you wrote. The sentences are smooth and the composition is interesting and your handwriting is neat. I couldn't help sharing your short composition on the class. I suggest you read more, which will be very helpful to your writing. If you keep reading, maybe you will become a writer in the future. I admire your tenacious and persistent personality. You have your own unique views on many issues. You are my good helper. You have done great job in helping me to deal with daily issues of the class. You will be better if you can be more careful. Please do more reading. You'll learn more from reading and it will keep you to be outstanding always. 

we took a winter break this week and i have LOVED reading, reading, reading, and sleeping, sleeping, sleeping.  two of my favorite things which it seems i'm always in short supply of getting.   and a little thing that meant so much and i want to remember it -- i had a girls' night out monday night with suzanne, lydia, and kristen.  we peeled ourselves out of our seats at applebee's at 11:45 pm and probably could have talked another 3 hours, truth be told.  i had dropped ben off at josie's house at 7 and was actually going to be somewhere early!  i was driving to plainfield and thought, "'how could i have forgotten to grab a book?" i needed to drop a big load off at goodwill and i thought maybe i will have time to run in dollar tree or family Christian bookstore to grab one.  when i pulled into goodwill, i saw their book rack was in the front window.  so i swung around and ran in.  i grabbed four books that i knew nothing about.  one of them was exactly exactly what i needed.  it is called "the case for faith" by lee strobel (atheist turned believer well-know for his book "the case for Christ").  he addresses the "big 8" obstacles that keeps so many people from following Christ.  two of these are things i've struggled to understand better for a very long time.  and someone very close to me struggles with several of the 8.  lee interviews several highly-esteemed experts in each area -- people who have spent their lives studying them.  it gave insights into God that spoke volumes to me.  i thank Him for allowing me to draw closer and for His love for me in spite of all the shortcomings and questions.  He is the Best.  

the expression

her expression, in realizing she really has a family, spoke volumes.  i see joy.  i feel relief.  i realize that my worries over whether she dreams to be adopted were unfounded.  and i think i see dimples :)

in my heart, i imagine that she is thinking... ."yes, me.  i was finally picked!"  lu cai qi has been waiting on the waiting child list since 2007.   we were told not one family had inquired about her.  is it because of her eye?  i'm guessing that it was.  my mom once embroidered a picture that read "the eye is the window to the soul."  it always stayed with me.  

our new girl, little hannah lu cai qi, is 9 and lives in jiangxi, china.  from the pictures we've received, it is a very poor area.  she lives with a foster family and has for a long time.  from what we've been told, her foster family tells her often that she will live a happy life if she can be adopted."  i hope she has had some happy there too.  

this photo came with a note that said "she also told the elder people her neighbors that she would have family and parents would pick up her several months later."  brag, sweet girl, brag!

so why call this blog "finally picked"?  when we adopted abigail two plus years ago, there was a vimeo video clip that showed a little chinese orphanage girl hoping to one day be picked.  each time an adoptive family would come to the orphanage, she would hope that she would be picked.  but her time didn't come.  and didn't come.  until one day she was 'finally picked!"

the heartbreak is that these kids think something is wrong with them causing people to not pick them.  nothing could be further from the truth.