The Red Thread Was Tied 1 Year Ago

I am sitting here holding back many many many tears today. Tears that are of many emotions, but primarily of thankfulness and joy.  Having Eli as our son, as our very own is overwhelming in so many ways and hard to put into words; GRATEFUL does not even begin to express how we are feeling about this boy, this experience and our God!

There is a Chinese proverb many of you are familiar with and one that we love.  We even did a beautiful puzzle fundraiser centered around this proverb. It is a very deep and meaning saying that holds a lot of weight.  Of course, we know the Lord is in control and has everything planned out for our life but we love everything about this proverb.  Here it is:

"An invisible red thread connects those destined to meet, regardless of time, place, or circumstances. The thread may stretch or tangle, but never break."  


A year ago today, we were waiting tirelessly, anxiously and with decreased patience to lay eyes on our child.  We had been through a hard two and half months of waiting.  You see right after our dossier was logged in to the system them Chinese government in charge of logging adoption documents decided to overhaul their systems and EVERYTHING crashed (along with me--I was beside myself).  Our agency said they could see we were logged in but could not access our log in date and, as a result, could not match us.  It really didn't matter anyway because lists of children were not even being sent out to agencies to be matched...everything had come to a screeching halt. We were devastated, but again the Lord was teaching us something very very important-TRUST.

After 2.5 months of waiting we got our actual LID and a mere few days later we received the call of a lifetime.  I was treating a little guy (I am a speech language pathologist) and AJ was at work.  It was 3:30 in the afternoon and I kept hearing my phone buzz. Now, all the parents of the children on my caseload knew that we were expecting a call any day and knew that if AJ kept calling it was IMPORTANT!  My heart skipped a beat when I saw how many times he called!  I was shaking, I picked up the phone and heard Amy (our coordinator) and AJ on the phone.  I could hear it in his voice "Baby!  We've been matched!"  Amy went on to tell us that she had a little 15 month old boy with some minor medical needs. That's about all I heard. I felt like I was floating! In actuality, I was shaking uncontrollably! She asked if we would like to procceed and of course we said YES! Amy said she would send the file to AJ (he was the one in charge of pretty much all the paperwork).  I told AJ not to look until we were together, but come to find out he looked and was in love immediately.  He brought home pics of Eli to show me and he video recorded my reaction! Of course, I was overcome with so many emotions, thoughts and feelings.  After 5 years of trying to start a family, the Lord's chosen child for us was finally staring back at me!  It was one of the most incredible feelings I had ever had.  The gratitude and gratefulness were overflowing from my heart and I was instantly in love!

Since bringing Eli home seven months ago, we have seen a total transformation in the little boy God created to be ours.  The Lord has also transformed our hearts and taught us so much in the little time we have had already with our son.  The Lord IS faithful and heals the brokenhearted.  All three of us were broken and through this experience, through the adoption of our son and through the adoption of Sonship by our Lord and Savior we have been restored, given hope and given a beautiful family!  

One year ago, we saw God's promise come to fruition , we saw an explosion of favor and we saw ...our son!

We love you my baby boy...what a true miracle you are....

God is Good and we are blessed!

I'll leave you with Eli's life verse that's hanging in his room:

Be strong and courageous. Do not be discouraged. Do not be afraid.

 For the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.

Joshua 1:9