Lifeline

Update:
Mailed I800A on 12/9
12/19 got an email from government that our "invitation" to be finger printed would come in 7-10 days by mail.
12/26 NOTHING in the mail. NO mail service today. I am SO anxious to get the invitation. We really want to walk in on Wed or Thursday (2 hours away) but we cannot without the invitation. Praying it comes tomorrow. Please. After we get printed, it takes 3 weeks to get the approval.

(Our interpretation of Homeland Security investigating us.)

I am on some closed Facebook groups about adopting older kids from China. They are SUPER helpful! I think of it as a lifeline. Often there are SOS messages sent out saying things like, "I am in country, my child is crying, we are exhausted...." and then always 20-40 encouraging messages written back. I always come up with something encouraging to write, because I just imagine the mom sitting in the hotel room, panicked, hitting refresh, looking for some help. I also pray for the families, since Jesus can actually meet their needs.

On this group I met a woman I will call EH. I could tell by her encouragement that we were of like mind. She actually traveled to China in October to meet her 2 year old son she had been matched with. In the back of her pictures I saw several of the kids that were hosted at the same time as our little guy! Kids I knew by name! She was in his town and at his school! I immediately contacted her to see if she recognized him. She didn't. Well, she is traveling in the next week or two to get her son! She has graciously offered to bring a little care package for Jude. I got a letter translated and mailed it to her with a small album of wallet sized pictures (that I got from the sale of the century), a small bagged lego set, and car that he left here. In the letter I practically begged that he jot down a quick note or something to hand back to EH for me. This is the second letter we have sent. The first letter we emailed, also with pictures on it. We heard it was received in China, but never got a response. We asked for an update and we got this picture and a video of him coloring. Unfortunately he says nothing in the video. I'm not even sure he knew it was coming to us. Of course in my EH letter I mentioned the video so he knows we saw it. We have still been advised not to give him adoption hope, until we are farther along in the process, but we were sure to mention how much we loved him and missed him.

(This is the picture we got last week)

I would pay $100 to know what he is thinking. Does he miss us? Does he want to be adopted? Does he even think about us?

On the Facebook group, often there is an older child who is really afraid about leaving China. We get these SOS messages asking for prayer that the child will take a leap of faith and agree to be adopted. Children 10 and older are asked. Man that must be hard! For everyone involved. It is like an arranged marriage. So vulnerable to leave everything you are comfortable with and go to a foreign land with strangers who are committing their lives to you! I think about how comfortable I am with mediocrity. Sure, things could be better if I put in the
 effort or took a risk, but it is so much easier to be content with lukewarm/comfortable. I settle for good instead of God's best.

I see this with Perry's old job. He didn't love it. It was a great salary (we know that now but didn't really appreciate it then) and a good company, but he had no advancement. It was just a job. Something he didn't ever feel he was great at. We were content. Lukewarm. God had bigger plans. He pushed us out and for awhile we were miserable.

I liken it to the story of Joseph, the beloved son of Jacob. Brothers got jealous, beat him up, threw him in the pit. Man that pit must have been miserable! Smelly and seemingly hopeless. Then he goes through some more ups and downs. I mean there are some hopeful parts of his journey, then, BAM! Accused of something he didn't do, back to the pit, prison. Ultimately the King of Egypt promotes him out of the dungeon and into power. In doing so, the Lord uses Joseph to save His covenant children. The lineage of Jesus! All of that had to happen so God's people could have the best! The Lord provided for ME by sending Joseph to the pit!
This is so encouraging. I worship that same Lord! He too allowed us to wallow in the smelly pit! After a season He gave us something better! By walking this journey we found Jude. (We are currently trying out an American name really hoping we can agree on it soon and I can start referring to him as that. We of course will keep his Chinese name, by will give him an American first name so he has options. PS- it is NOT Jude).
Also, Perry really likes his current job! There are State holidays, he enjoys his coworkers, he is getting really good at the job, good benefits, he loves having a cubical, and looks forward going to work!
One thing is for sure. I know that I do not KNOW how hard this is going to be. But I also know my Lifeline. And I know we can trust His plan for our lives, no matter how smelly it is at times.