If we say that our story is that we believe God gives second chances,
then one might wrongly assume that our message is about giving kids from hard
places their second chance at a “better life.”
And whereas we certainly hope that we are providing a better life for
all of our kids, the point of adoption for us is that God showed us that family
is not about blood, but about love.
Indeed, over twenty-six years ago a divorced man and a divorced woman
with a seven year old fell in love and became family. Three more biological children over a span of
eight years would seem to be enough by most standards. But even before our now 18-year old son was
eleven, we felt God telling us that our family was not complete and that we had
a child waiting for us in China. For
various reasons, but primarily due to expediency, we elected to accept a
waiting needs child. In 2007 little two
year old Adriana joined our family and instantly became the darling of four older
brothers. Although we thought we were
done, we saw Aidan’s picture in 2008 and his gotcha day (2/23/09) was
celebrated this weekend.
The desire to
stay connected to the adoption community and either help or learn from another
family by sharing experience introduced us to Ava. We saw her picture on AAC’s website in late
2011 and felt the tug. “Really God,
another child?” yet the answer was “Yes.”
Love is not like a blob of jelly that, as needed to cover the toast, it
gets thinner. Instead, love is like
yeast which leavens bread and makes it grow through its own
self-multiplication. The second that we
said “Yes” our love starting growing and the journey started developing.
My wife describes the journey as “alphabet soup” as each milestone is
completed. LOI (the letter of intent showing China that you would like to be
considered for this child.) PA (hopefully, you receive your pre-approval
that China thinks you will pass muster IF all the paperwork is in order when
submitted.) DTC (the date your dossier is sent to China and a BIG DEAL for all
parents who have gone this route, including us “old timers.”) LID
(the date that China logs in your dossier.
This is the date that you start counting from. You memorize it and it becomes the date you
refer to again and again to see where you are in the wait.) Then comes your LOA (that precious paper that China sends asking if your will
accept this child. We find this
ludicrous, as you have just spent months and countless dollars seeking this
amazing child. But, this paper is like
gold so it is signed.) Finally TA (after this beautiful paper arrives
your agency makes your consulate appointment, visas are obtained and travel
arrangements are set. You are ready to
get that child that your arms have been aching for.)
That’s right, our arms were aching for number seven. Our arms were aching during the trip – more
of a statement of poor conditioning rather than the emotional high that was to
come. First to Hong Kong Disney and then
Beijing (Great Wall) to allow Adriana and Aidan to have some fun before the
arduous “in province” part of the trip.
No longer than 30 minutes in our hotel room that a knock on the door
told us that our family was growing again.
Last (?) but certainly not least, Ava was in momma’s arms. Four o’clock in the afternoon in Nanchang is
two o’clock in the morning at home, yet two of our older sons were on Skype to
join the celebration. Did they really
have to ask why Mom was crying (as she has done at the “birth” of all our
children)? 
Our arms ached as we played
in the hotel room in Nanchang and as we stayed active in Guangzhou to complete
Hague / US requirements. Our arms ached
now largely because our child was younger than what China had indicated. We got a baby, not a toddler, but indeed it
was the child that we had fallen in love with.
Our arms ached until we reached home – one day later than planned due to
a missed connection in Hong Kong.
Finally, our arms ached as we hugged our other children who waited until
midnight as our flight from Chicago to home was delayed five hours due to a
snow storm.
AAC FAMILIES!! This is a great opportunity to share your adoption story with more families around the U.S. If you are interested there is an email at the bottom that you can submit your story, please CC erin@aacadoption.com if you choose to participate so that we can also use your story for our My Story Monday Blogs. 
