It's a Match!!!

It was 8:30 on a morning in July when I glanced at my phone and saw a missed call and a voice message from a 347-area code."New York?...Oh my gosh, I think this is Mary, our caseworker!" At this point in the process any call from her left me on the edge of my seat! (Why I never saved her number in my phone, I'll never know!) I ran out to the end of our driveway praying all the way for my cell phone to work and not drop the call as I pushed the callback button. (We live in a valley with awful cell service.) Much to my surprise, the call never dropped, and our case worker told us there was a 2 year old girl, one already waiting for a family, that she recommend us consider adopting. This was even before we had officially been "approved" by the government in Taiwan to adopt.  And we already had a promising file to read through! And a sweet toddler girl! My heart was thrilled! 

Taiwan has an amazing adoption program, where unlike many other countries, we have details of the child's past. We had every hospital record, a doctor's note about every sickness, the history of the birth family, and how the need for adoption was determined. Also, our agency has a special program called "Superkids" that sends child development specialists and adoption advocates twice a year to visit the waiting children, determine their needs, and take lots of photos and videos of the children. We were so blessed to see so many professional photos and videos from this team! 

Needless to say we had a lot to review! So we read all through her files, looked through some videos and photos to see how she is developing (trying not to be too swayed by the cuteness factor), talked to our pediatrician, asked close friends for prayers, and prayed ourselves. After reviewing her file for a week, we pushed the YES button.We were honored that we could even be considered for such a precious little girl!

Then it came time for the Agency in Taiwan to review us. And so the wait began. They reviewed our Homestudy and after 2 weeks sent us a looooong list of detailed questions. Tough questions like, "Tell me about your parenting and discipline style," and "How will you meet the developmental needs of all three children in your home since they are all different ages?" "What would you do if situation A or B occurred.." We spent many late nights working on these questions because we had to email them back within the week. Then we waited 3 more weeks. Yes Adoption requires Waiting...Lots of Waiting...

Then finally...the morning of August 22nd I saw another missed call and voicemail from our caseworker. I listened to the voicemail of our caseworker saying, "I have good news, Call me back!" My heart started pounding and I got all giddy and excited dancing around the kitchen. This time, I gathered the kids into the minivan as quick as I could and drove up the hill to a nearby park where I usually make my important phone calls. Sure enough, we were MATCHED!! Officially MATCHED!! With this precious little one:

Oh how I wish I could show you her whole face! Her eyes are so sparkly and her smile just melts your heart. We are required to wait to share online photos of her full face until the adoption is complete. This point in the process is officially called a referral. She is not ours yet, she is our HOPEFUL ours. The adoption agency is referring the Taiwan government to us to be her family. Of course, with all adoptions there is always a possibility of an another outcome than us adopting this child.  As our paper pregnancy continues we expect to bring her in to our family in about 7-8 months. Yep, 7-8 months...more waiting.

Immigration and court paperwork are the immediate next steps. In the next 2-3 weeks, the final payment to the adoption agency is due with these documents. God has provided so generously!! Only $3,000 is left of our $25,000 adoption fees (not including travel)!  If you feel so led, there are a few ways you can help us financially : 

Tax deductible donations to:
Tax Deductible ABBA fund

Through fundraiser purchases:
Ammasumma.org Fair trade and beautiful clothing & accessories. (Enter code HEFLINADOPTION at checkout and 50% will be donated to our family.)

Funky Socks
Sunshine Shirts

Mama Bird Shirts

Fair Trade Coffee

Please continue to pray for us as we enter these next stages of waiting and preparing. As we receive updated photos and reports, the adoption is feeling more real. Our boys were excited to send a care package to her recently and like seeing her photos hung in the living room. Pray for their transition to being big brothers to a little girl. Please pray for us as we plan our travel to Taiwan and for her arrival and transition to our home. Please pray for our hearts to focus on Jesus and to trust Him every step of the way.

She will be: