Clarity and Thankfulness

It's been a few weeks since I posted, and life has been a bit crazy! Two weeks ago today, Jason went to the hospital with what I thought was a stomach bug, but it was actually his appendix! After a long wait, he finally had an appendectomy to remove the ruptured organ. Some infection had leaked into his abdominal area, so he ended up spending five days in the hospital. It was a long, tiring week........one that included me being pulled over (thankfully no ticket), a trip to Target without my wallet (I came to this realization at the checkout with a full cart), respiratory issues for Alexis, and an unusually long wait to receive my National Board scores due to a technology complication.

The week ended with a healing Jason AND I found out I achieved National Board certification! Throughout the chaos of managing the week without Jason (who is wonderful and helps me tremendously), several people asked me a powerful question, "What if this had happened in China?"

I cannot begin to express how thankful I am that we were NOT in China when this happened. I can't even fathom how stressful or frightening that scenario could have been! Last summer, when we were awaiting a match, we were told we would most likely be matched in June or July. As those months passed, including August and part of September, I was quite frustrated and bitterly disappointed, as each passing month just seemed to taunt me as I saw other families being matched left and right. I didn't understand how we could be at the top of our agency's list, month after month, with no "luck."

A few months later, and it is amazing the clarity we now have. If we had been matched in June or July, we'd likely be in or traveling to China at this time. We are so thankful that God knew we didn't need to be there right now AND that he knew we needed more time to find little Jaxson!

Many people have asked me where we are in the process right now. My answer? More waiting! We are waiting on the Letter of Acceptance from China that will go to U.S. Immigration. It's commonly referred to as LOA. It is an official notification from China that Jaxson is our son. The wait for this paper is around 45-100+ days. There appears to be no rhyme or reason as to why some receive theirs quickly and others wait the agonizing 100+ days. We are on day 49 right now. I saw, on a message board I read, where some families received theirs this week after 35, 46, 73 and 83 days. Who knows!! We WISH we would have it by Christmas, but we will be satisfied with receiving it by Jason's birthday (January 22nd). After LOA, it should be 2-3 months until we get him! The wait is very hard - we just want to get him and start this new chapter of our lives. Patience......patience....patience.....

I wanted to share a picture from Thanksgiving at my Aunt Mary Beth's house. Jason looks a little tired, but much better than a week before! The final pictures are from our Christmas decorating after Thanksgiving. Alexis posed with a photo of Jaxson for us!