Miraculous

Way back on July 18th, when we were oblivious about what God was getting ready to do, I went for a walk on the trail. I think of Ashlyn alot when I'm walking. While I was praying for her I had a crazy thought. What if I could just tag along with one of the families from the Yahoo group on their trip back to China and catch a glimpse of her. This Yahoo group that I have mentioned before are families who have also adopted daughters and sons from Ashlyn's orphanage and many times they end up taking their children back to China at some point for a visit to the orphanage. It was really more of a fantasy that was going on in my crazy imagination, but it was exciting to think about nonetheless. I knew it would never be a possibility. I mean, how weird is that? If anyone knew I'd been thinking about that they'd probably think I was crazy. We weren't even looking to adopt her anymore, but there has been this lingering need in me to know this child that continued to remain even after we backed out.
When I got home from my walk I checked my email and literally gasped. I couldn't believe what I was reading. It was a lady named Mary who I had chatted with from the Yahoo group back in January when we were still on the path of adopting. She was checking in with me to see if we'd brought Ashlyn home yet. (She did not know we had backed out) She wanted to let me know that she and her daughter were headed to China at the end of the month for a visit and that they would be making a trip to the orphanage. Her daughters 2 best friends were still there and they had made arrangements to go and see them. As I sit and type this, I still can't believe it. What are the odds??? Just another one of those "coincidences"? Nope. I mean it had been almost 6 months since I'd talked to her. I can't even believe she thought of me because we only emailed each other a couple of times and I haven't been back on that Yahoo group since then. I emailed her back and shared with her that we were no longer in the adoption process, but I did tell her about my epiphony and asked her to take some pictures if she could. This was the same day that I got a call to come and rescue the two sweet Chinese foreign exchange students (angels from heaven) that stayed with us for 10 amazing days. Just 6 days before that, I received an email from an interested family inquiring about Ashlyn. She had read this blog and said, "Are you sure she isn't meant to be yours?"
So these are the things that lead up to our decision on the 20th to set our fears aside and go get our daughter. That and the immediate answered prayer that God would move in Matt and that he would initiate the discussion. This is just as huge as the rest of the signs because Matt had been completely closed off to the idea of adopting since we backed out. He didn't even want to hear about it when I went to tell him about Mary's email. That was just 2 days prior! It all happened so fast and God was SO clear. He knew we needed to know FOR SURE and He provided that assurance miraculously.
Mary emailed me last night. They were at the orphanage yesterday, and sadly, her daughters friends were not there afterall. Apparently they are "away at college"... Hmmm. This was the main reason they went back. Her daughter was so disappointed. They weren't even able to see her daughters old room because they are all in a newly renovated facility. My heart broke for her. She was able to see some of her nannies though and......
Ashlyn!
They remembered each other and Mary sent some great pictures of Ashlyn and her friends at the orphanage. There's even a picture of the room they sleep in... very tidy, little wooden (Ikea looking)beds, all made perfectly, and lined up in rows. I will say that she has appeared to have lost some weight. Does anyone else agree??? She is SO tiny.
I was on a cloud last night and still am this morning. Seeing her real smile in her natural environment (and not in front of some corny fake backdrop) is so gratifying. She looks so happy and so very much... OURS! Please continue to pray for favor from the CCCWA, as we really do not meet ALL of their financial criteria exactly. They approved us once before, but you just never know. Lifeline (our agency) is amazing. They are working and doing everything they can to get this approved for us. I can not say enough about this agency (specifically Lisa Kelly). They are just AMAZING.  I told Lisa tonight (She called me after hours and from home!) that if for NO other reason, this all fell apart in February because we were just with the WRONG agency. They are night and day different. I am so extremely thankful for my sweet friend Annie Hamlin for giving me the advice to go with them, and for Great Wall Adoption Agency for being so gracious in transfering her file to Lifeline for us. I'll update again as soon as we get PA, which will hopefully be in the next 2 weeks. Then it's the paper chase (Dossier) which I hear takes anywhere from 4-6 months to complete. Then we wait some more. Lisa says we should have her home in 12-15 months. UGH!