One year later, February 2014, brought many emotions. As the month started, I was struggling to have faith and my attitude was showing it. My eyes were opened and I spent some serious time with the Lord. Thankful his grace is renewed daily.
On Monday February 10th, Nick left for a week long trip with Samaritan's Purse. Periodically, I go to our agency's site to look at the waiting children. The children listed on this list, have not been matched with a family and are waiting for someone to pick them. I came across a little girl. She immediately caught my eye and I read her info. I wanted to know more about her and I wanted to show Nick her picture and info. I rushed an email to him and his response was " Beautiful..Can we get more info?". Could this be her...Could it really? My heart was heavy for her and by this point, tears were flowing pretty heavily. As I sat at the computer, my hopes were rising but I tried to not get too excited. On Wednesday, I emailed our agency and requested her file but they informed me that another family was interested in her but we could also be considered for her family. They told me we had a week and a half to decide. My emotions were running wild and Nick was still not home.
I had international adoption doctors review her file and they called with their thoughts on Friday. Their reviews were very positive and realistic. All week, Nick and I spoke at night about our feelings on this little girl. We were on the same page and had a peaceful feeling. FINALLY, Nick came home Saturday morning and we discussed it more. I sent an email telling our agency that we would like to be considered for her family. Now our excitement levels were high. Sunday evening came and I realized that Monday was President's Day and I was afraid our agency was going to be closed. I voiced my concern to Nick and at that very moment, I received an email from my agency. They said the other family was also interested and they would form a committee to decide which family was a better match. I had to answer some more questions to help their decision. I forgot to ask when they would decide by so Monday I was a nervous wreck. Either us or the other family was going to receive devastating news that we were not chosen.
Exactly one year after starting the adoption process (February 17th), our agency called Monday evening to inform us that we had been chosen as her family. WHAT!!!!! ARE YOU SERIOUS???? Thankful tears just freely flowed. Eager to tell Nick, I called him immediately. Easy to say, we were both excited and surprised.
We submitted our LOI (Letter of Intent) on the 18th. The LOI starts the matching process of her to us. The Chinese will then send us LOA (Letter of Acceptance) stating they accept our family for this child. This could take a few days or a few months. We have more paperwork to fill out during this wait and then after we receive LOA, we can start our travel preparations. It will still be another 10-12 weeks till travel after LOA but at least we can start to plan details.
So it is with thankful hearts and total excitement that we announce we have been matched with a little girl...
Leah Li Bertsch
She is 2 1/2 yrs old and will hopefully join our family this summer.
For now, we are not going to post pictures online for her safety. As you all know, we started the process in the special needs program. Her special need is that she is deaf. God has brought sign language into our family a couple different ways. This is not a special need that we are likely going to surgically correct but a need that our family is going to adapt to. When she comes home, we will have a doctor check out her hearing ability and see what our options are. We have started learning basic American Sign Language (ASL) and the kids are catching on quickly. We have a lot of preparation but we are thankful that God has brought her to us.
We have felt your prayers and would appreciate your continued prayers and support.
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