WE HAVE OUR LOA!!!!

Holy smokes, I can't even believe it!

Our caseworker called to let us know that China issued our LOA.

Receiving the LOA is HUGE!

LOA stands for Letter of Acceptance and it means that China has approved our family to be formally matched with a child, and not just any child, our child.

Yup, you read that right!

We know who we are going to China for and we can't wait to introduce you once we receive permission from our agency!

At this point, the timeline to travel could be as soon as February.  The paperwork we're doing from here on out relates mainly to immigration; allowing us to bring back our Chinese child as our immediate relative, being recognized as a U.S. citizen in the same way that our biological children are.

Our agency is holding our hand through this process, helping to explain words we've never heard of and fill out paperwork that feels extremely complicated to a first-timer.  Praise the Lord for adoption agencies, and the men and women who walk alongside families like ours on a day to day basis!

I am a grab bag of emotions right now:

• excitement beyond belief
• intimidation at the next part of the process 
• daydreamy about there being five stockings next Christmas instead of four
• nervous to travel halfway across the world for two weeks
• disbelief that this is a real thing at all
• hopeful for what God has in store for the future
• fearful about the attachment process potentially being really hard
• terrified I will regret adopting depending on the circumstances
• tired; wow, this process does a number on you!
• thankful that God is allowing us to see a little bit more tangibly how He has adopted us into His family...

And I thought pregnancy hormones were intense!!

I feel like we're watching a tornado of crazy and unknown twist up the road, waiting for our turn to jump in.  And while I'm pretty darned scared of that tornado, it's beautiful.  And I want to know what it's like to come out on the other side; disheveled, dizzy, maybe even hurt, but to join the others who did the same and have said, "It's more than worth it," and "I wouldn't trade it for the world."

And I want to know my Father more, the God who adopted me into His family and sacrificed everything to get me there.

This thing is really happening,  I can hardly believe it!