What A Difference A Week Makes

Last Monday: I am firmly entrenched in my self-protective "we are on hold due to the swine flu" stance. Mentally I am preparing myself for a long summer, packing it full with everything I can think of to keep our minds off of our referral (as if that's possible). Tuesday rolls around and my girlfriend Rachael informs me that there are some referral rumors popping up online. Wednesday--more rumors. Then it happens---an after-hours phone call from my agency. Needless to say my heart drops to my toes when I see the number come up on caller ID. Sure enough, they want to give us a heads up that they have a package on the way from China and they believe that our referral is in it. All self-protection strategies begin failing miserably and a funny queasy feeling begins to take up residence somewhere in my inmost being. I briefly panic as I realize that I don't remember what it feels like NOT to be waiting.

Thursday: After a sleepless night, I am anything but tired. I have energy to burn and time to pass. I haven't told the girls because I cannot risk this being a false alarm. I busy myself and wait. And wait. And wait. I happen to check my email around noon and there it is--"Heads Up...have Ty available this afternoon for phone call." Now I have many emotions flooding in all at once, and I work hard to keep it in check. The girls still know nothing. I call Ty and we decide we will just head to Cleveland and get our daughter's info and picture. We have waited long enough. I tell the girls we are going to have lunch with daddy and we head out. (We homeschool, so this fieldtrip didn't seem unusual. Plus, Ty's mom was visiting so we also used the excuse that she wanted to see his office) It isn't until we get to Ty's office that we tell them. Ty suggests that he just take the rest of the day off and we go do something fun. While brainstorming ideas, I just happen to throw out the option of going to Cleveland to get our referral. After a brief moment of stunned silence, and I do mean BRIEF, they errupted into screams and squeals and some of the biggest smiles you will ever see. It will forever be one of my favorite memories.

By 4 o'clock we were seated around a table at our agency seeing our daughter's face for the first time. All I can say is that it was love at first sight. All the waiting and all the hoops we have jumped through seemed to fade into the distance. Prayers that days before felt like they were going unanswered had clearly been answered. I haven't even met her yet, and my heart couldn't be more fully in love. Now it is 3 days later and her face is etched in my mind. I love looking at her pictures, but I don't have to because I can see her face when I close my eyes. After all this time, that is an indescribable feeling. God is unbelievably faithful, even when we cannot see His plan. "For God is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above and beyond all that we ask or imagine" Ephesians 3:20



What We Know About Isabelle

She was born May 10, 2008 and found on May 27, 2008.

She is living with a foster family in Shangrao, Jiangxi, China

As of December 31, 2008 she weighed 14 lbs and was 26 inches tall.

She could sit and crawl, show preference for caretakers, had a ready smile and laugh, and made her likes/dislikes known