The very next day I received a phone call that caused me to remove it from this blog.
I re-posted it today....but we are in need of some intercessors for our sweet Lily.
On February 18th, I had gotten word that our home study was being submitted for a final check to our adoption agency - GREAT NEWS!!!
The CCCWA (China's Center for Adoption Affairs) had given us pre-approval to adopt Lily in December and now we were being given the stamp of approval by the powers-that-be in America:
We were in the clear! We are fit to be Lily's parents. WooHoo!
I was feelin' good about things so I decided it was time to make our big announcement on the blog! :)
Less than 24 hours later, I got a phone call from our adoption agency:
They told us that Lily's health is deteriorating and the CCCWA is no longer allowing her to be adopted.
In between the long periods of silence when I couldn't speak because I was crying so hard, I managed to have a decent conversation with our case worker and got as much information as I could about the situation.
Lily's health is bad.
Doug and I knew this when we decided to adopt her.
We even knew her life might be short.
And the thought of burying another child makes my hands shake even as I type these words.
But, oooooohhhhh, dear friends.....
When you KNOW the Lord has spoken....
When you EXPERIENCE His peace when fear is gripping you....
You MUST say "Yes!" to the great unknown.
We said yes, and now things hang so delicately in the balance.
Lily is OUR daughter.
Doug and I saw her face for the first time on November 9th, 2013.
Over the days that followed, as we prayed and sought the Lord's guidance about whether or not we should adopt her, I discovered a piece of my heart that I'd never felt before....
A piece that was created just for her.
And just as with all of my other children, I can't remember a time when she wasn't there....
It's as though she's always been in my heart.
But when I got that call, y'all.....
My feet failed.
I took my eyes off of God.
I forgot the truth of His character.
I felt like Doug and I had heard Him wrong.
I felt defeated.
I even took my blog post from the previous day off of the internet.
THANKFULLY, the Lord was gracious enough to quickly get a hold of my waning spirit, and, within 24 hours, my mind had been renewed as He reminded me of all the ways He has made known to us that we should walk this path toward adopting Lily.
SO.
What are we doing about this news?
#1 - We're praying. We're praying for Lily and her health. Please join us in praying for our little girl.
#2 - Our adoption agency has persuaded Lily's orphanage NOT to take her file from the CCCWA....yet. They've bought us a little time.
#3 - We are managing to get Lily transferred out of her orphanage and into a medical care center. As of today, Lily has not yet been transferred, but we expect to hear that she's been moved within the next day or two.
We are waiting (anxiously!) for her to make this move to the medical care center. Once there, doctors will re-examine her, run tests and, hopefully, be able to provide us with much more extensive information about her diagnosis and prognosis.
When we shared this news with our small group this weekend, they asked, "What can we pray for specifically?"
We landed on the word DISCERNMENT.
Please pray that the Lord will provide discernment to the doctors who examine Lily, our adoption agency, the CCCWA and our family - That's A LOT of people who are in need of some discernment, y'all.
But just LOOK at the precious life these decisions will impact!
As always, thank you for your love and support!
Elaine
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