Too many blessings to count

DH and I have always felt so very blessed ... we have an incredible family always willing to support us, amazing friends and we are surrounded by so much love. More importantly though, we have always been able to feel God's love in our lives ... EVERYday ... and it's from Him that we know all of our blessings come from. Always.  When we felt God leading us to add to our family through adoption earlier this year, we knew we had to follow. We had no idea what was in store for our family, but we just knew it was God's plan for us ... so we went. Well God definitely had a plan ... our baby girl was born in China and God marked her FOR US. For us to bring home, care for, love and most importantly, fill her with God's love and teach her about His Grace.

We received a referral for our 7-month-old precious baby girl on Monday night (12.17.10). DH and I were out to dinner with his team from work. I saw the email come through on my phone from our social worker and I knew that I shouldn't open it then but the anticipation took over and I just couldn't stop myself. I saw pictures of a stunning baby girl dressed in layers and layers of clothes with a tiny fluff of dark hair.  I tried to focus on dinner and the friends that surrounded us, but it was impossible to take my mind off of her. (I am not able to share pictures through my blog ... so as much as it pains me, there are no pictures in this post.)

Once we got in the car, it seemed as if we couldn't get the attachment opened fast enough on my phone! LOL. It was difficult to read in the car on my phone, but we were able to get the gist. She was a perfect baby girl who was born with a cleft lip & palate that had not been repaired.  The next 2 days were kind of a whirlwind ... trying to get answers from doctors, making sure DH and I were on the same page, etc. We also now knew there was a baby girl in China with our name marked for her ... WOW! Additionally, we were preparing for Christmas, I was still working AND I got sick! LOL.

While waiting to hear back from the doctor who reviewed her information, DH and I both came to the conclusion that she was our daughter.  We heard from the doctor and he confirmed what we already knew.  We submitted our formal application to adopt our little Sunshine earlier this morning! We will probably travel to China to get her in April or May :-)

It has been truly amazing to watch God work through this process ... we followed the signs He gave us and He provided the way. Although the world is broken and painful, he is a redeeming God and is shepherding one of his little lambs home to us and ... well ... that's just cool.  She is absolutely perfect and everything we had ever prayed for along this journey.

She. Is. Definitely. Ours.

If you read all the way to the end of this long post, you rock!  THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart for supporting us through our journey to our daughter. It is far from over, but we can finally see her gorgeous little face. Now we wait on several approvals before we can go get her and BRING HER HOME! This was THE BEST Christmas gift God could have given to us.

WE FOUND OUR DAUGHTER!