Houston, we have a name! + Updates! + Seeing God in all this

Have I said that this waiting is not for the faint of heart?! This week we'll pass the 9 month mark in our adoption journey.  That's relatively short for an international adoption, but I can't help but think that with our other babies we were holding them in our arms after 9 months of waiting, but with our new little guy we have about 3-5 more months before we can get to him.  We all have gotten into the habit of looking at the clock, factoring in the time difference and then wondering what he's doing right about that time.  In the grand scheme of things, though, we know that 5 more months is not really that much longer and that the wait will be worth it. 

Worth the wait...

We have been able to pass some important milestones lately.  Our dossier (basically the story of our lives with supporting documents to back it up!) was sent to China on May 13th and then we found out that we were logged into the Chinese system on May 26th.  Both of these are giant steps forward!! We are now waiting on our Letter of Acceptance(LOA).  This letter will officially approve us to adopt....Benjamin.  Yes, that's right another important milestone.  We finally settled on a name.  After going over a list of about 4-5 names for several weeks we finally decided that he looks like a Benjamin.  I'll tell you, I think it's harder to name a child that's already here.  It's been much tougher to match the right name to his little face!  Our boys and Jim too, pretty much, still call him by his Chinese name (which we'll keep as a middle name), but Jessa and I are calling him Benjamin. :)  It is pretty cute to hear her say that name.  She says it very precisely.  Ben.JA.miin.

                    

                          Does he look like a Benjamin? 

Oh, and a funny for her.  Jessa stayed with my grandmother the other day and I was getting Jessa to tell my grandmother who it was that we were going to pick up from China, mainly just because I think it's cute when she says his name. But, then when I came back to pick her up she said, "Mama, you forgot to pick up Benjamin!" Ooops! I guess she thought I was going to China right then.  

She's a funny girl!

Also, I wanted to take a second to write down some of the neat things that have helped us to see God in this process.
-meeting another China adoptive family the day after we decided to begin our adoption
-feeling such a peace about adding this particular little guy to our family
-learning that Jim's sister is friends with an adoptive mama who's son had been a patient of the same surgeon that will operate on Benjamin and being able to contact her to ask questions
-being able to email several family friends who have been through this journey
-being able to talk with good friends here about the joys and struggles that go with adopting
-Being DTC (dossier to China) by my birthday (this was something that I kept praying about and hoping would happen)
-receiving money from family and friends to help us complete this adoption
-looking back at Facebook for Benjamin's birthdate to see what I might have been doing that day and finding that the day before his birthdate I had just finished reading Kisses from Katie by Katie Davis (a great read on adoption, going on God's great adventure and dying to self)
-and the biggest deal for me so far - after beginning to get nervous about Benjamin's medical condition, care, surgery and recovery - I was able to connect with an adoptive mama who has gone through the same thing! This was great for me!  Benjamin's condition is a little on the rare side and it's even more rare to find a child with the same condition that has been adopted and his/her condition wasn't repaired shortly after birth.  I posted a question to a China advocacy page on Facebook and within 2 hours, I had an email sitting in my inbox from a mama that had adopted a little girl 7 years ago with this same condition!  Her daughter came home at about a year old and she had not had a surgical repair yet.  This is very similar to Benjamin's situation.  Better yet, she called me the next day and was SO sweet.  She told me all about her daughter's surgery, care and recovery and let me ask all my questions. She gave me a very real perspective which was exactly what I needed. Then she sent me a link to her blog and lo and behold she had documented the whole process!  I think the Holy Spirit must have had her write that blog knowing how much peace and comfort it would give me later!  We're going to have a long road ahead of us when we bring Benjamin home, but my heart and mind are so much more prepared now that I have a better idea of what to expect! I had really started to worry and had asked God to take away my fear.  He did just that by putting me into contact with this woman! The last line of her last email to me said, "Blessings on your adoption. It's hard work but if we don't, who will?"

                                                         
                                                                                 Ready to add one more to our fun crew!