Time Draws Near

"Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a real blessing." Psalm 127:3

Our travel planning is drawing near. We received an email today letting us know our immigration paperwork has been reviewed by the USCUS in Texas and is now on its way to our USCIS officer in Missouri. We are figuring she will get it on Monday or Tuesday and she has agreed to process it immediately. Once she has approved it, she will send it to the National Visa Center. Then we wait for the NVC letter of approval, which we should receive within the week, and lastly, the article 5. Then Travel Approval will be issued by China. We are talking weeks folks, not months!

We are excited and scared all at once. We can't wait to meet our son and hold him. To welcome him into our family. Yet, in our excitement, Levi's world is going to be turned upside down. For two and a half years New Day has been his family. He has had two sets of nanny's who he's called "Mama." They have loved him, held him, carried him, tucked him in bed at night, and played with him. They have watched him reach milestones we have missed. Celebrated his birthdays. They have sat up with him at night, rocking him back to sleep. They have spent months in the hospital while he was recovering from his first heart surgery. They took an underweight, sickly, baby boy in at 7.5 months old, who is now thriving in spite of his serious heart condition. He is definitely loved. I can't imagine how Levi is going to feel leaving his home that he knows. Going with people that he has only skyped with a few months, not speaking their language. Traveling half way around the world to a new country with strange sights and sounds. Strange foods. We pray that the Lord would be preparing his little heart for our family. That he would know that we are his family. We pray that our other children would be prepared for their new brother and that they transition well to their new roles. That they would develop a special bond with Levi, as they did with Samuel. And, we are so thankful that the Lord placed Levi with New Day! He would not be alive today without the care and love that New Day has provided. We will continue to keep you all abreast to our happenings, and still hope to travel in October!