Introducing.....

We were LID (log in date) to China on May 31. 

 I knew that we could get a referral anywhere from a little before that to months after that date.  

Let's just say that waiting does not come easily for me. ;)  

On June 21, I received a phone call from one of our agency reps, Sarah.  I had sent an email asking if she thought we may be matched off of the upcoming shared list.  As we spoke, Sarah explained that we probably wouldn't be matched off of that list because she had a file for us to look over right then.  She explained the age, needs and backstory of this little guy and said that she would send his file quickly.  I immediately called Sven and gave him the details.  He then waited for me to receive the file and forward it to him.  

When I received it, this is the first picture that I saw:

I'm pretty sure that my heart stopped for a moment...

We were really surprised by how much information we received about him.  The medical files were pretty detailed.  Sven looked them over, and spoke with three other docs about them in about half as hour.  I emailed Sarah and told her YES!!!  She replied that it was wonderful that we wanted him, but we should probably take some time to talk to a physician. She got a kick out of me saying that I'd already consulted 4 of them.  ;)

She submitted our LOI (letter of intent) to China on June 25th and we received PA (pre-approval) from China on July 5.  We also received an update from his foster home - Harmony House.  The update contained more recent photos of our not-so-little guy as well as information about his routine and personality.  This is one of the photos that we received:

 Elijah JianLong

(seriously.cannot.wait.to.squeeze.those.cheeks.)

At this point, the big question is "When will you go get him?". 

 Unfortunately, we don't have a super-clear answer on that one.  We are currently waiting on our LOA (letter of approval) from China.  They have prepped us to wait 3-4 months for LOA, but of course, we are praying for much sooner than that. We have heard of others getting theirs sooner, so we hope that will be the case for us.  After LOA, they estimate 10-12 weeks before travel.  

Every day our children (and we!) pray for God to bring Elijah home soon.  We are so thankful that he is in [what certainly appears to be] a wonderful foster home.  However, we also know that every child thrives best in a loving family.  It is difficult to think of missing milestones as well as the everyday smiles and sounds.  We want to be the ones hugging him, reading to him, playing with him, and singing him to sleep.  But for now, God has called us to wait.  So we pray that He gives us the strength to do so  in a way that honors Him while still praying that He does indeed bring Elijah home SOON.   

We are thankful for this:

Psalm 68:5-6a

A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows,
    is God in his holy dwelling.
⁶ God sets the lonely in families,