LID!!!!!!

For all of you out there who have adopted from China you know what those precious 3 little letters stand for.  Your LID officially stands for you "Log In Date" at China's Center for Adoption Affairs (CCAA).  We officially received our LID last Wednesday, Praise Jesus.  We just found out today in an email and we are so thankful that it actually happened before the Chinese New Year holidays beginning on Feb. 3. This is a huge burden lifted from us, especially my husband, because it means that all the paperwork was okay and we can proceed (it was my husband that did all the paperwork this time around because it was in Swedish).  So now we begin the next phase of waiting for the actual referral.  Our agency checks the list everyday and new kids are put on once a month... so we wait.  It works a little differently here than in the US.  Here we wait for our agency to find a child that matches what we said we can handle (we don't actually see the listings).  In the States you can actually see some lists yourself and/or can be given a referral off the list before you see it.  The last family from our agency waited about 6 weeks before receiving and referral and with the New Year holidays from Feb. 3rd  to (I believe) Feb. 18th there will be no new referrals during this time.  We will have about 72 hours to accept or decline a referral.  Once we accept a referral we will usually be traveling about 6 weeks after that.  Again, these time lines could always change and most likely will.  So, for now we are not holding our breath, but trusting that God has our child in his hands. Not as easy as that sounds, but the only way to handle this wait.

Last night Andreas and I found the dvd from the moment we picked up Sam.  We watched the hour video which included driving down Nepali streets and the first moments that I was able to see and hold him, to the first moments in our hotel room with a terrified Sam, to the next morning when he was happy and fine.  Then I realized we began his adoption on January 15, 2005 and we were watching his video on January 15, 2011.  What an amazing 6 years it has been.  Not always easy, but the video was a good reminder of how blessed we have been with Samuel.  It makes me look forward to our next child.  I praise Jesus for these amazing children that we will have the privilege of calling ours.

Blessings,
Laurie