The Best Christmas Gift Ever

Christmas 2013 came and went.  I absolutely love Christmas, but it was kind of weird with it being in the middle of the week.  Our adoption agency hadn’t had their monthly matching for December, and I just assumed it was because of the holidays.  “They’ll probably do the next match in January,” I kept telling myself.  But I couldn’t stop thinking, “Getting a match in December sure would be a great Christmas gift.”  So, with the New Year just around the corner, I was surprised to get a message on our adoption portal that there would be a monthly matching on Monday, December 30!  There was going to be a matching for December, and that meant we still had a shot at our Christmas referral. 

So, the night of December 30 came.  I was sitting on the couch and decided to check my e-mail, and there it was!  The e-mail we’d been waiting and hoping for!  We had a match! I downloaded the attachments, and the first file I opened was the one with her pictures in it.  And there she was.  My daughter.  My beautiful, little Sophie.  And what a cutie she was.  Yep, the manly tears couldn’t help but fall down my face.  But honestly, I’d been waiting to shed those tears of joy for a long time.

You see, we started this adoption journey three years ago this February.  This “paper pregnancy” as it’s often called has definitely been a roller coaster.  But like I’ve said before, now, it’s all been worth it.  And this year in 2014, we’re going to go to China and bring our daughter home.  God worked it out for us to get our amazing Christmas gift.

Sure, we have more paperwork to complete, more approvals to get, more money to raise, but Kelli and I hope to be traveling to China in the Spring to meet our daughter for the first time.  Our adoption journey isn’t over yet, and in some ways, it’s really just beginning.  Yes, some days I’m so excited I just can’t stand it, and other days I’m scared to death.  But honestly, most of the time I’m at peace with all of this. 

I’m at peace because I know that God has this, and the thing is, he’s had this from the beginning.  God has been with us every single step of this journey, and He continues to work everything out  at just the right time.  He has orchestrated every part of this since our decision to adopt years ago, and he will continue to work things out.  After we bring Sophie back from China, I know it won’t be easy, but no one said it would be.  Life’s just not easy.  So, we continue to follow his Spirit one day at a time.  We continue to trust our Faithful One.  We continue to claim his promises as we wait to receive our little Christmas gift into our family.  Sophie, Mommy and Daddy are coming to get you soon, and we’re going to bring you home.