At 12:49 pm EST we received the phone call from Melissa at AWAA with the news we’ve been waiting for – approval from the Chinese government regarding Maria’s adoption. The LOA or Letter of Approval/ RA Referral Acceptance arrived at our agency’s office this morning. They will FedEx it to us and we’ll get it on Tuesday. We’ll sign it and get it back to them and they it will go back to Beijing.

What does all of this mean? Tim and I will travel to get Maria in early October. We won’t know official dates until we get our TA (Travel Approval) from China, but our agency predicts we will travel around that time.

Please keep us in your prayers as we wait for the TA (Travel Approval)

I am a little bit behind on posting this good news. On Friday we received word by AWAA to start working on our I-800. It is the document for the immigration of Maria. We also have to fill out the DS 230. Once we complete our DS230 and return it to the AWAA office it will be sent by AWAA to the US consulate in Guangzhou. Once the I800 is approved and emailed to the consulate they will process the DS230 and send the approval to the CCAA. The CCAA will issue our Travel Approval 1-4 weeks after they receive the approval from the consulate. Currently we are waiting for the Referral Acceptance, once we receive it the next steps can take 2 – 3 months before we are in China.

Lord, thank you for lifting my Spirit and giving me the joy, even in my sad time during my sister’s departure back to Germany, I feel you are near, giving me hope for my next endeavour. I pack my suitcase to China with joy, waiting for your perfect timing. Knowing you are near and complete trust in my Daddy.

Today we cleaned the car, inspected the tires, and put in Maria’s first car seat. We are so excited and hope to have her in this seat very soon.

My sister came to visit me and we had a wonderful time. It is always sad to say “see you later”. Have a wonderful flight and my prayers are with you. Until we see each other again.

Hier sind ein paar Bilder, mache unten links die Musik aus um dieses schoenes Video zu hoeren.

Turn off the music to listen to this wonderful video.

Bitte macht den Ton unten links aus um das Video zu hoeren.

Please turn off the sound on the left side to listen to this video.