LID!!!

Ps 107:8 Let them praise the Lord for his great love     and for the wonderful things he has done for them.

Our agency emailed this evening to let us know we have LID, as of July 19th! That was only 16 days folks! We are so excited! We also received news that the CCCWA has agreed to expedite our Letter of Seeking Confirmation (LOC). The LID stands for log in date. This is given when our dossier is logged into their system and it begins the translation process. After translation it is reviewed by the government in order for them to approve the adoption of Levi into our family. This normally takes 2-3 months, however, ours should be sooner due to it being expedited. :)

After LOC the following occurs: Apply for I800 approval (2-3 weeks) NVC cable and approval letter (1-2 weeks) Article 5 approval (2 weeks) Travel approval (TA) (2-5 weeks) Go get Levi! (2-3 weeks after TA)

Again, this timeline is based off a normal adoption and ours is being expedited. So hopefully, we will be at the short end of these waits! Please pray with us that the CCCWA finds everything in order and approves us quickly!! Continue to pray for Levi's heart and for his oxygen levels to stay up. And pray that God would be preparing Levi for our arrival and this huge transition in his life. If all goes well we hope to travel in mid October!!

Please Join us in Prayer

Psalm 61:3-4  "For you are my safe refuge, a fortress where my enemies cannot reach me. Let me live forever in your sanctuary, safe beneath the shelter of your wings!"

Right now as I type, a blogging buddy is hugging on Levi; giving him a gift from us.  I am so grateful for this, yet, I am sadden that it is she and not us. I can't wait to hear from her and see pictures of our little guy.  

We Skype with Levi every Monday night. While so grateful for this blessing, it is bittersweet.  Sometimes it creates more worry because you can see he is not well. You can hear him trying to catch his breath, breathing like Darth Vader.  You can see his blue lips. You can see in his eyes the weariness. Other times, even through raspy breathes, he is lively and very animated.  Wanting us to make paper planes, sing songs, and read books.  Melting your heart as he blows you kisses saying, "wo ai ni" (I love you). Then there are times when he says he does not want to say goodbye.  That he wants to come to us. Those times are hard. How do you explain to a 2 year old we can't come, yet?   One would not think a 2 year old would comprehend what has happened. What adoption is.  What a family is. But Levi seems to get it.  Maybe he has watched enough kids come and go, that even at 2, he understands it hasn't been him. That somehow he is missing out. Maybe it is that New Day does an awesome job in preparing their little ones for their families that are coming.  I don't know. What I do know is we are ready to go. We want our little guy home.  Even with all the unknowns, we are ready.

 Today, a little girl named lily had heart surgery.  It is the same surgery that Levi will most likely be having. She is a brave little girl. Her surgery went well, but they are having trouble getting her heart to stabilize.  Even with a temporary pace maker it is not stabilizing.  They are asking for prayers.  Then, on Tuesday, a dear family we know has a daughter that has to go through this same surgery. So please pray for Brooke. Brooke and Levi were foster home buddies and have the same heart condition.  In a few months this will be us.  I can't even imagine what it will be like, but I do know that God goes before us. That He shelters us in His wings.  I know He has a plan for Lily, Brooke, and Levi.  We will walk this path with great expectations, knowing that our Lord has got this and blessings will abound. Please pray for Lily's heart to stabilize, for Brooke's upcoming surgery, and for our LID and LOA to come swiftly so we can go hug Levi.

Dossier to China!!

Psalm 139: 5-6. "You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand!"

Our agency just emailed that our dossier was sent to China today!!! We are over the moon excited! With our adoption being expedited this means we could be traveling within 3 months from now! Our agency has been wonderful in helping us expedite things and our coordinator has arranged for our dossier to be walked in by their in country coordinator so he can explain the urgency of our adoption. Next we wait for our LID (log in date). Please join with us in prayer for it to come quickly as well!

Can You Help?

We are working with AdoptTogether.org to raise money for our adoption. Adopt Together in a family run, nonprofit organization, based in Ohio, that assists families adopting by helping them raise money. All donations are tax deductible and 100% of the money donated goes to us to cover adoption expenses. Even if you can't contribute financially you can help by sharing the following link with your family and friends, or on your Facebook or Twitter pages. http://adopttogether.org/thewarners

Please help us bring Levi home by sharing this link! We also would love your prayers for Levi. Last night when we skyped with him he was sad, saying he wanted to "come to us" that he wanted to "ride in a plane." He did not want to say goodbye after the normal 20 minutes and sweet Jeremey let him go 30 minutes. He also was not feeling well so that could have been part of his sadness. We just can't wait to get this little home!

You Go Before Me

Psalm 139:5-6 "You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand!"

I stand in awe at times as I see how God is opening so many doors to bring Levi home. Once again we stand amazed at how God has gone before us and prepared our way so our path would be smooth. We submitted our I800a on 5/21/12 and USCIS received it on the 23rd. We got our appointments for our fingerprinting on June 8th, stating we were scheduled to appear on the 27th! That was 2.5 weeks away. We called USCIS asking if we could walk in and the lady said, while it wasn't against the rules, it is discouraged and most of the time they can not fit you in. Mark and I decided to pray and walk into the USCIS office at 8am on Monday, the 11th, asking for them to take us early. I was armed with medical letters, photos, and a speech.  But when we walked up to the desk the lady asked if we had our letters. I started to explain we were 2.5 weeks early but she cut me off and said, "No problem. Just fill this out. "  I asked her if she wanted our expediting letters and she said, "no." She sent us right back to be printed. We were out the door in 10 minutes! God is so good! He once again has blessed us and prepared the way for us.

If that wasn't awesome enough, we received our approval the next day!  The USCIS officer emailed us a copy of the approval letter so we could get it certified quickly.  We did that on June 13th and got it in the mail! This process usually takes 6-12 weeks! Ours was just days! Now we wait for DTC which should only be about a week!  We are then only 4-6 months out from traveling! Because of the medical expedition we think it will be closer to the 4 month travel date! Hang in there Levi, we are coming!

Things you can be praying for are: 1. Quick LOA 2. Low lung pressure and good blood oxygen levels 3. Healing of tracheal stenosis 4. Protection from illnesses (Levi is prone to infections due to no spleen) 5. For an easy transition for Levi into our family

"For I Know the Plans I Have for You."

Adopting a special needs child. What does that mean to us? Before Levi, as an occupational therapist, I would have said a child with significant medical issues that impair their everyday activities. A child that requires a lot of special care. A child That I would be scared to death to parent. But God changed my heart. I have come to realize, in reality, we all have issues, whether physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual. We all require extra "special" care. So, when you come right down to it, aren't we all special needs?

Since day one, when I look at Levi 's sweet face, I don't see a special needs child. I see a child that is special. A child that needs a family. But not a special needs child. Do I sometimes catch myself feeling overwhelmed with what we may be getting into? Yes. I worry about how levi will handle so many surgeries. Will his heart be strong enough to pull through? Will he be able to run and play with his brothers and sisters? I worry about the time that may be taken from our other children. How they are going to handle it. Is there enough of me to go around? How our family and life will be affected. Right now my life is perfect. It's like a clean little box. All organized, predictable, neat, and comfortable. But as I was praying about Levi, God challenged me. He does not desire us to be comfortable. For then we do not rely on Him. He does not want our lives to be neat, organized, and predictable, for then we do not trust Him to provide and take care of our needs. It's not that He desires our lives to be a mess or chaotic, but it is in the times of "mess" that we tend to grow and turn to Christ. It's the time when we are closest to Him, depending on Him. It is in that time that we are most dedicated to Him and open to His leading. When we are out of our comfort zone it is God's blessing in disguise. I know we are in God's will. I know that God wants the best for us. For our family. I have no doubt that Levi is going to be a blessing to our family. In spite of all his needs, I have peace. I am excited to see how God is going to use Levi as he grows. I am thankful we serve a God that already knew the path we would take and that He has prepared the way.

First Talk With Levi!

Mark and I were able to Skype with Levi last night! (well, today for Levi!)  What a cutie. As soon as he saw us he smiled and waved real big.  He said "Ni Hao  Baba and Mama." Then he blew us kisses! He told us he loves to draw and started drawing a picture of a flower.  He told us he had been playing with CJ.  He played peek-a-boo with me.  We were able to talk about 20 minutes but then Levi was ready to go outside and play with his friends! We will talk with him again next week.  We can hardly wait! He worried me a bit because he was breathing so heavy, although he was acting just fine. We were wishing we could just jump through the screen and hold him!