Elsa's grief

Elsa had good relationships at her orphanage, which is such a blessing.   Since she bonded with folks there, she has the ability to bond...which is huge.

But because of this bonding, Elsa weeps at night.

She misses them, because she realizes that this is not just a day trip. 

The sound of her cry is not like a tantrum, not like she has hurt herself, but a deep internal wail, with her chest heaving and tears falling down her face.   As she weeps for the loss of her loved ones.  This is a normal grieving process.

The first night she was awake almost all night grieving, and Ken would sing her back to sleep.    

Last night, she was awake only a couple of times.

She wept again when we went for our adoption paperwork, and one of her favorite caretakers handed her back to us.   She must really love him.   

Elsa weeps whenever her new "beloved" Ken leaves the room, even if he leaves just for a minute.   She is so afraid of losing the beloved person in her life again.  She has to be touching him all the time- to feel safe.

I'm reminded of the book Kisses from Katie.   Where she says something like:  Adoption is painful.  But it is God's plan for redemption.   It is the Gospel in my living room.

Whenever Ken returns from his short absence, he reassures Elsa.   He tells her that he will always come back for her.  That he is her Daddy and he is not going to leave her.   She doesn't understand, but some day she will.

Elsa doesn't understand the reality that her loved ones at the orphanage will care for her until she is 14.   And then the reality is, they are not really her parents, and she will be alone.

The reality is that this change is the best decision for her, that her future is best with a family, in a country that will give her more opportunities for her eye sight situation.

Sometimes we don't understand our reality.    That our Heavenly Father has adopted us.  And sometimes that adoption process can be painful, when we yield to His will, when we say "no" to things that He doesn't want for us, when we lose relationships because we belong to Christ.

Adoption is painful.   

But it is God's plan for redemption.

God tells us that He will never leave us nor forsake us. That He will wipe every tear from our eyes.   He will sing to us...

"The LORD your God in your midst, 

The Might One, will save;

He will rejoice over you with gladness,

He will quiet you with His love,

He will rejoice over you with singing."

(Zephaniah 3:17)

The reality is our relationships here are temporary, except for those with our brothers and sisters in Christ.  Our real home.   Our lasting home.  Our home that promises us a future ... is the one with our Heavenly Father.

"I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you."

(John 14:18)

He does love us so.  

And He has such good plans for us (Jeremiah 29:11).

Hang on Elsa...your Daddy's got you.

More on Elsa

So kids often have a favorite parent when they are first adopted.   They just choose one that they focus on.   


Do you want to guess which parent Elsa chose??



Hmmm...  let's see ...  I guess it comes as no surprise.   :)

(I still need to find a USB cord for my camera..so these are blurry because they are from Ken's phone).

Elsa follows Ken everywhere...calling out Ba-Ba..that is Chinese for Daddy.

"A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows,
Is God in His holy habitation.
6 God sets the solitary in families...."
(Psalm 68:5-6a)

Elsa doesn't really like to share Daddy so much.   Iana has been doing so well with all of it...as we are working with Elsa to share her favorite person.  :)

Gotcha Elsa! And some interesting news....

We got Elsa today!!!    

And we also learned some interesting things about Elsa.

Three very nice folks from the orphanage including the director brought her to the hotel lobby.

First here is a picture:

So what did we learn that was interesting?

1.  Elsa can see!
They said that around her first birthday she started acting like she can see.  They said her vision also seems like it is improving as she is getting older.   
She has a type of cataract on her eyes, but if this can be removed, perhaps she can see more.    
For now, she brings items very close to her face...but wow, that was a blessing to find out.

2.   The orphanage director said that she is the most easy-going baby they have ever had.   He said she eats anything, plays with anything, just an easy baby.

3.  They said she is very smart.   She will go find a chair, put it against the door, turn the knob and run outside to play.   She is very curious and is constantly learning...it is fun to watch her.  She is self-entertaining and just on the go!

Tomorrow we are going to have a busy day getting adoption paperwork done.

Would you please pray that we can sleep -Iana woke up at 1 a.m. this morning, so we are all quite tired.

And also please pray for Iana and Elsa's relationship...there is a lot of changes going on.

So, I can't find my camera USB cord and so I'm using this picture from Ken's phone.   As soon as I find my cord I'll post more pictures!

We made it!

So far so good!

Our flight went well, although Iana wasn't so keen on sleeping...we survived.  :)

We're were blessed with a very nice man at the airport in Beijing, that helped direct us as we were going through security to our next flight.

The people seem friendly, and they all smile at Iana. Our travel guide said that the Chinese like to see the blond hair and blue eyes.

The 3 of us went walking down the street to buy more water, and we got quite a number of stares.   Lots and lots of smiles for Iana.

Ken thought it was amusing when a guy literally stopped in shock, with huge eyes, when he saw a 6' tall white woman walking down the street.  LOL

Our guide told us that she will bring Elsa to us at 11 a.m. tomorrow!!   We are all so looking forward to that!!

She said that she called the orphanage and they told her that we will really like our new daughter, that she is very easy to get along with.   :)  

We're leaving on a Jet Plane...

We're leaving for China!   

 

 

 

We have our flights and hotels all booked.   We should be arriving in Nanchang, China on Friday night...and they will bring Elsa to our hotel on Sunday the 30th.

 

After spending about a week in Nanchang- working on some paperwork, and hopefully visiting Elsa's orphanage and seeing some of her province we will head over to Guangzhou.

 

In Guangzhou, on April 9th, we will have our official adoption of Elsa.   We then should be able to pick up our visas from the U.S. Consulate on April 10th.   Just in case anything goes wrong with the paperwork, we will stay one extra day, and fly out on April 11th.

 

Elsa Mei- here we come!    :)

 

 

Thank you Mom, for coming to keep an eye on our animals for us.  :)

 

 

On a side note, I'm in the process of reading a book called Adopted for Life by Russell Moore.

 

 

 

Moore has a very thorough look at adoption and also at the similarities of earthly adoption as compared to our adoption by our Heavenly Father.  

 

In his book Moore calls the adoption process, "spiritual warfare" and he is right. 

 

John 10:10 says, "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly."  

 

Moore makes the case for God loving the orphan and desiring adoption for them versus the enemy's plans of destruction for them.

 

Moore also mentions how Joseph adopted Jesus.  

 

Jesus was not biologically Joseph's- and he knew that.  

But Joseph listened to God, and went where God called him.   Joseph loved a little baby boy and protected him, even moving to Egypt to do so. 

 

There was only one person that God called to be Jesus' earthly daddy...and that was Joseph.    And Joseph stepped into that role.  

 

Moore also delves into the various issues surrounding the decision to adopt.    It's a good read for anyone, but especially those interested, in any way, in adoption.

TRAVEL APPROVAL!!!!!

We just got Travel Approval from China!!!

We are working on setting up our consolate appointment ....and then we can buy our airline tickets!!

Waiting on Travel Approval !

We received this email today:

The Adopted Children's Immigrant Visa Unit (ACIVU) at U.S. Consulate General Guangzhou has finished processing your child's Article 5, and your file is ready to be returned to your adoption agency's facilitator today. 

 
Next, your agency will deliver the Article 5 and Letter of Seeking Confirmation to the China Center for Children's Welfare and Adoption (CCCWA), which will issue the Travel Approval (TA). 


So now we are on the last step...we are waiting on Travel Approval from China.  :)


Our agency is closed from March 19th-March 30th.   So we are praying, and please pray too, that we will receive our TA very soon...well before our agency closes.  

We would like to go sooner rather than later for 2 reasons:  First we want to get Elsa ASAP...and second, there is a big trade fair that begins April 15th which will drive up the hotel costs.  

It's in God's hands, and we need to trust Him for the right timing.   But as far as human understanding goes, it would be good if we went sooner rather than later.  :)