Meet Christina!

I am so excited to announce that we have been matched with a little girl! Her name is Christina and she is about three and a half years old. We are told she is bright, very verbal, physically healthy and deeply grieving from her past. I am not going to share exactly what she has been through because it is her story to tell when she is older, if she chooses to share it. Let's just say that no one should have to endure what she has in her short life. The pictures we received broke our hearts -- her eyes are so sad. We did get one picture of her grinning a great big grin with her eyes lit up and sparkly, so we know she has moments of joy.

Her journey to the orphanage she is currently in is nothing short of a miracle. We truly can see how God put all the pieces in place to make sure she would be there and we would be ready with our paperwork at just the perfect time.

Our paperwork is done, translated, approved by the Haitian Consulate and should be on route to Haiti shortly. Because Christina is in an orphanage our agency does not typically work with, we had to redo some of our powers of attorneys, causing a slight delay. We have received our pre-approval for adoption from the United States government. We are at the mercy of the Haitian government now.

I think that is the hardest part -- knowing we have done everything we can on our end, that she is waiting in an orphanage and we can't go get her. We are praying we will be able to bring her home by next Christmas. A whole year and 3 months for her to get bigger, grow out of the toddler phase and into the little girl phase. And we are missing it all. I know she is getting love and plenty of food at the orphanage she is in. We are told it rivals some of the best day care facilities in the States. It is clean, has plenty of supplies and the nannies love the kids. That helps a bit, I suppose, knowing she is safe and warm and has a full belly each night. It is certainly better than where she was a few months ago. But she needs a family. And here we are, ready for her and a bunch of paperwork is what stands between us. For a year!

On the bright side -- we do get to visit her. We have planned our first trip and can't wait! She won't know we are adopting her. We will just be some strange white people who speak a funny language and play with all the kids in the orphanage. But it will be fun to get to interact with her, see her personality and spend a bit a time with her (and sneak some pics!) I have a feeling that leaving her will be extremely difficult.

So now it is just a waiting game.