We are still waiting for our LOA (letter of approval). When the changes were made to the database in China weeks ago, everything got put on hold. The LOAs are apparently the last piece of the puzzle to be found. So since April 16, we've had silence. The wait is like nothing I've ever experienced, but I'm learning to desire the Helper more than the help.
Last week, however, was a priceless gift in our journey to Ivy-Ann. Here is the beginning of the story...
Back in May, a family was visiting Ivy-Ann's orphanage. Their little girl was also from there. They took some precious pictures of Ivy-Ann which I shared in a post below. I also posted them on my Facebook page and linked to the sweet lady that took them. Another lady, who had spent some time with Ivy-Ann, was friends with the lady I linked to, and she saw those pictures and messaged me. She shared some lovely things with me about our sweet girl (also shared below).
This lady is part of a team of adoptive moms, therapists and special-education specialists who work closely with the orphanage and go at least once a year to assess the children and train the staff there. She mentioned that a team would be going to the orphanage in July and that she would be sharing my blog with some of the those team members. The next morning, I awoke to an email from Chris. And so began an unexpected, beautiful relationship.
Chris had been to the orphanage and worked with the children, and she sent me a couple of sweet pictures of Ivy-Ann. She also mentioned that she and many women from her church were going to be making sundresses for the girls at the orphanage, and she asked if I would want to pick out Ivy-Ann's dress and send it to her. My heart melted. Yes!
We had been slowly gathering things to put together in hopes of sending them to Ivy-Ann. However, we had been told that the "post office" in China was holding many of the boxes, and those children never receive their gifts. Another option we had was to go through a lady in China. She has a website set up where you choose various gifts for her to send to the orphanage. She also allows you to email her photos of your family for her to put together in an album. Either way, our things would be sent to the orphanage for the aunties to go through with Ivy-Ann. We were still contemplating which route to go.
As Chris and I emailed back and forth a bit, it struck me that perhaps she might be willing to take our things with her to give to Ivy-Ann. I asked her, and she said yes. We were thrilled! This would allow us to pick out a few, specific things for Ivy-Ann as well as spend time putting together the photo album of our family. We would also have greater assurance that our things would actually reach our little girl.
A couple of weeks before Chris left for China, we sent her our box of things. I didn't know exactly when she would be at the orphanage or how she would go about giving our things to our sweet girl, but I would soon find out!
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