As it turns out, Kevin and I have figured out we have room for one more member in the Hubers clan. God is sorta fun that way. Adoption must be a little bit like giving birth in that it kicks you in the rear, but then after the dust settles, you want to go back for more. It will be two years this May that Ben has been our son and brother. His little heart has transformed in ways that are amazing to witness. The attachment journey is just that, a journey. But he's come so far and we have fallen so in love with him, it's actually hard to think of experiencing this only once.
There are of course many reasons we could talk ourselves out of this, but there was an open window in both of our hearts. And that seems to be enough for Jesus to do mighty things!
We pick up this blog at a different spot from where we started last time. We actually began our paperwork before Christmas, will have our home study complete by early next week and we already have pre-approval from China for a little girl waiting for a family!
That means this little one's file is prepared and she is paper ready for adoption. It also means China accepted our "Letter of Intent" to pursue her and her file is locked for us. At this point, it's all just coordinating between the U.S. and China to get a bunch more paperwork done...which will likely take 6-8 months. Even though we've only been matched for a short time and we have a much firmer estimate of when we'd get her than what we had for Ben...6-8 months still feels like a long time.
Some things we know about her....she turned two years old shortly after Christmas, she is from the same province as Ben and she has the sweetest, chubbiest cheeks that will soon be getting kisses from her mom and dad and big siblings.
It's amazing once you cross the line of committing to a child, the feeling of responsibility of looking out for their best interest as only a parent can....starts to well up pretty fast. Obviously we think it is in her best interest to be out of that orphanage and into our family. At the same time, we want to wait well.
I remember from our waiting experience for Ben, that in times of great distress during his first year home, I would think back on that ache I had for him to be home. And I would find some strength. It is like the parental love God was growing in us took root during that time and then there was more foundation to press through some of the hardest seasons. So, I trust this season of waiting is building up a storage of strength for us as we will be entering another tough season of transition come fall.
At this point, we're just wanting to share the good news and asking you to pray for Kevin and I, Ben, Annie, Jude and TJ. And JiaYun.
We also wanted to publically say "Thank you Jesus, for bringing us another daughter to love!"
Let the journey begin again....
