Travel Approval

Wow is about all I have to say right now.  We received our Travel Approval on Monday and we have been racing around trying to put together a plan for our trip.  When you receive your travel approval you are asked to request five possible Consulate dates.  Before we did this we consulted some travel agents.  They both told us that our best bet is to leave the week of August 27th.  The cost of airfare goes way down this week since we'll return in September and because we are booking out just far enough. Our Consulate date has been confirmed as September 11th.  Our Gotcha day - the day we meet Harli for the first time is September 3rd........the three year anniversary of Troy's aneurysm and the one year anniversary of the day we applied to adopt from China.  Like Troy's Grandma said - how can people not believe in God?  How can they not believe he had a hand in ALL of this and has guided us through each step.

I know that I speak a lot about Troy's aneurysm.  It's not because we are living in the past or anything like that.  We are still just so completely blown away by God's grace and the miracles only He can perform.  It's so surreal how it all happened and that he came out of all the surgery and everything with no complications.  He is still here to be my best friend and Daddy for our children.  God deserves our praises for this miracle over and over and over!

We are still SEVERAL thousand short of being able to pay for this adoption, but we have faith that God will provide.  One way or another we are going to get to our little girl, God's little girl and we are going to love and care for her - just like we do all of her siblings.

Many people won't support us for one reason or another, mostly because 'no one needs six kids' and that was so hard to swallow at first.  I couldn't understand how people could profess themselves as Christians, or religious at all, and then not support someone willing to step out in faith to follow His call.  Lately I've realized that I've got to hand it over to God.  I cannot let my heart become bitter.  We will continue to follow His calls and we will choose to be His hands and feet.  We will serve the least of these, we will love our neighbors as we love ourselves.  We will pray for our friends and family, all of them - even the ones that don't support what we are doing.  It's not for us to judge them, God will judge their actions.  As for us, maybe we could have been better Christians - maybe we missed opportunities to serve others and support them in their time of need.  We are committed to doing our best to make it so that others don't feel the way we have felt during most of this process.

The bottom line is we are adopting TO PLEASE GOD and NO ONE ELSE.  For all the people who are doubting our judgement right now, we hope that when you meet Harli you see the sparkle of God in her eyes.  We hope that your hearts soften when you see her flourish with her forever family.  We pray that God moves you to recognize your blessings and step out to serve in some way.

This is what's on my heart and I had to get it out there.  It wasn't to offend or judge.  Just pure and honest, from my heart.  This process has made us much stronger and we have more faith in our God than ever.

We are nearing the end of this journey and we can use your help in a big way.  So, I'm praying that we do have some supporters still out there.  We are the family of the week - see previous post - for one more day.  We have our Both Hands project coming up - I'll post about that soon!

For the people who have supported us, we are so eternally grateful.  We couldn't have done this without each and every one of you.  Thank you, thank you, thank you.  Your generosity hasn't gone unnoticed!

Good read if you have a moment -

http://ethicsdaily.com/why-god-expects-you-to-care-for-the-least-of-these-cms-19058

Making a difference 1 dollar at a time

Our family is the family of the week - http://makingadifference1dollaratatime.blogspot.com/2012/07/griffitts-family.html

Please take a moment to read a little about our adoption journey.  If you are able, we could really use your help!  We should have our travel approval any day which means that we could be in China within the next few weeks.  Donations can be made at the blog above and our blog.  Are you willing to help us be God's hands and feet?

Broken hearts

I know I've mentioned before that our daughter has a heart condition, but I've never explained the condition.  She has two holes in her heart, a VSD and an ASD.  Artial Septal Defect (ASD), is a hole in the upper chambers of the heart.  Kids with an ASD have an opening in the wall (septum) between the atria.  As a result, some oxygenated blood from the left atrium flows through the hole in the septum into the right atrium, where it mixes with oxygen-poor blood and increases the total amount of blood that flows toward the lungs.  The increased blood flow to the lungs creates a swishing sound, know as a heart murmur.  Harli's ASD is about 6mm and her Pediatric Cardiologist said based on her file that she will need to have that repaired soon after coming home.  The surgery should be able to be taken care of in the Cardiac Cath Lab.  But.....she has another hole....  

The Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD) is a hole in lower chambers of her heart.  In a healthy heart, blood that returns from the body to the right-sided filling chamber (right atrium) is low in oxygen.  This blood passes to the right-sided pumping chamber (right ventricle), and then travels to the lungs to receive oxygen.  The blood that has been enriched with oxygen returns to the left atrium, and then to the left ventricle.  It's then pumped out to the body through the arota, a large blood vessel that carries the blood to the smaller blood vessels in the body.  The right and left-sided pumping chambers (ventricles) are separated by shared wall, called the ventricular septum.  Kids with a VSD have an opening in this wall.  As a result, when the heart beats, some of the blood in the left ventricle (which has been enriched by oxygen from the lungs) is able to flow through the hole in the septum into the right ventricle.  In the right ventricle, this oxygen-rich blood mixes with the oxygen-poor blood and goes back to the lungs.  Her VSD is 8mm,  due to the location and her age she will probably need open heart surgery to repair both of the holes.   

We started this journey not knowing what would take place.  When you adopt through the Special Needs program you complete some paperwork that tells the adoption agency what needs you would be open to.  During the home study you research those needs extensively.  Even though we listed more than one need, we knew our little girl would have a heart condition.  

On March 23, 2012 our lives were forever changed.  I was feeling upset and overwhelmed by life and was discussing our adoption with my husband.  I had the computer open and we were doing some research about some things we were going through at the time.  Honestly, I was so close to giving up on the adoption or putting it on hold I was so upset.  Just as those words came out of my mouth and email popped up from our agency.  The email contained Harli's pictures and file.  Her file was only about four pages that were in English.  Not much info.  We weren't expecting a referral for months!  It caught my attention, but I quickly dismissed her as not our daughter.  She was three and I had my heart set on a child as young as possible (around one).  

For months I had prayed that God would show us our daughter through a date, her birthday.  Troy knew I was doing this and he thought (and said) 'that will never happen'.  I wholeheartedly believed that our great God would show me the date.  I'd prayed that her birthday would be 10/03 which would be in sequence with Troy, 10/1, and our third child, 10/2.  Or that it would be one of our Grandfathers birthdays (they have all passed).  Troy said 'it will never happen that way, what are the chances'.  So, as we're looking through this file - me doubting - there's her birthday, clear as can be.....10/3.  WOW.  I almost had to pick Troy up out of the floor!  

Troy knew this was our daughter and it didn't matter that her heart condition was more complex than we originally discussed, it didn't matter that she is only four months younger than our twins (basically giving us virtual triplets).  Normally you only get 48 hours to accept a referral.  She was on our agencies Individual list and we were next in line, even though we had only completed the paperwork for under 18 months the agency felt like they must contact us with this referral.  The agency was also waiting on an update since her heart echo was old so we had time to think about her referral for a while.  It took about a week to get the update.  I still wasn't sure this was our daughter, but I contacted two Pediatric Cardiologists about her.  They both had pretty much the same thing to stay.  The biggest concern is her lungs - just concerned that her heart condition could have or be causing damage to her lungs.  But, while I was in the second Dr's office asking questions - like a million questions and tearing up thinking about this little girls heart - something happened....something big.  Being the me that I am, I apologized to the Dr. for being so emotional and asking so many questions - after all, he wasn't charging me anything for the visit or review of her file.  His response hit me like a brick wall, he said 'it's okay, you just sound like her mother'.  It was like someone slapped me back into reality - I WAS her mother.  I had been her mother of the past two weeks since we first saw her picture.  I just didn't want to change MY plan.  In that moment I had to surrender to God's plan.  I knew I was never going to be able to return that file - that's why I still had it, was still praying over it and starring at her pictures.  We were in love with this little girl, she was the one that God had chosen to be our daughter.  

I know some don't believe in signs, but through this whole process God has re-confirmed that we're on the right path.  For our Homestudy we only listed ages 0-2 and our agency wouldn't approve our Homestudy until we changed it to 0-3.  Now we know why, God had a plan.  We stepped out in faith for this adoption and He has been there all the way.  I know that He will be with us as we bring Harli home and work through her medical needs.  We're at peace with whatever is to come.  

My post title is 'broken hearts' because our hearts are breaking for some close friends of ours.  We chose to bring this little girl with a broken heart into our lives.  We were prepared to have a child with a heart condition long before being faced with her referral and talking about surgeries.  Our friends went to a regular prenatal appointment that led to the news about their sons broken heart, due to Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome.  Katie will deliver their son later this month and he will need surgery right away.  That will only be the start.  They also have another son that will soon be turning one.  We know that God will also be walking with them.  Our prayer is that they feel the peace that we do.  We pray for a miracle.  You can follow their story here - http://coltonsjourney.weebly.com/mommys-updates.html

Please pray for our friends and baby Colton.  Please read their story and if you are able, please consider making a donation.  Their bills will be high and Katie has had to quit her job in order to care for the baby.  A few years ago, during our greatest time of need, they were there for us.  They loved on our kids while Troy was in the hospital and were there for me during Troy's surgery.  They are true examples of what friendship is.  Please consider sending their link to your friends and family or posting it on your blog.


For Zac & Katie:

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Philippians 4:6

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.  I do not give to you as the world gives.  Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

John 14:27

She's so beautiful

We sent a care package a few weeks ago that included a photo album of us so that Harli could get to know us all before we head to China next month.  We hope her foster family will explain who we are (each photo is labeled) and that it will make her transition easier.  You can tell that she is thin, her measurements tell us that she will wear 12-18/18-24 month clothes.  She really must be tiny!

Receiving these pictures and getting closer to travel, it really has made me wonder about her birth mother.  I would love to be able to tell her that she is healthy, beautiful and we will love her unconditionally.  I can't imagine how much love it takes for a birth mother (parents) to leave a child so that they can have a better life.  We know that she was left at the orphanage doors at about 3 months old.  We assume that her heart condition, which we will have repaired when she returns home, is the reason.  We take so many things for granted here in America.  The access we have to insurance and medical facilities is one.  She likely became an orphan because her family couldn't afford the costs to repair her heart so they did what they felt would be best for her.  I can't imagine ever leaving my baby  no matter what the circumstances are, but the world is much different there.  I also feel sorrow for her foster family.  She is close with her foster mom and I can only imagine that will cause much grief for both her foster mother and her.  They have been together for over a year and we are prepared for the grief that she may go through.

I know that her joining our family will be best for her in the long run, but I am a mix of emotions right now as we prepare the final details to bring her home.

Update

Our Trivia night/Silent auction was on Saturday!  We have been so blessed to have a great turn out and raise some much needed funds towards the balance on our adoption fees.  Thank you EVERYONE who helped or attended our night - we cannot even tell you how much your support means to us.  Because of you there will be 'one less' orphan.  We love her so much already and are so happy that God chose us to be her family.  We still have a long way to go, as you can see by our vine, but we know that God will provide.

We are also excited to have received our LOA on day 57 of our wait.  For those of you not in the adoption world, that is our Letter of Acceptance and it was a pretty quick wait for us.  An LOA is China's formal approval for us to adopt Harli and we signed it as a formal acceptance of her as our daughter.  It seems like we went from waiting and waiting to a whirlwind of activity!  We've been filling out more paperwork and starting to think about when we might be traveling (looks like August!).

Only a few more steps and we'll be able to go to China, hold our beautiful little girl and let her know that she has her FOREVER family.  God is so GOOD!

Here's an updated picture!

BLESSED

We have asked Stacy at Jubilee's Jewels to design a necklace for us as an adoption fundraiser.  We are thrilled with the result.  We want this necklace to represent God's blessings in our lives and be a reminder of how precious each day is.  Sometimes it's easy to forget how blessed you are when life is busy and overwhelming.  This will be a beautiful reminder.  You may also want to give this necklace as a gift to someone you consider a blessing in your life.  You can view and purchase the necklace here:   http://jubileesjewels.com/adoption-fundraising/blessed-heart-necklace  Thank you so much for your support, we are so blessed by you!


  

Does this mean we're Paper Pregnant?

She is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare to her

Proverbs 3:15

We are elated to announce our daughter; Harli Faith

We weren't expecting a referral until the end of April, but we received Harli's referral on March 23rd.  At the start of this journey, I had my heart set on a younger child - as young as we could possibly get.  Troy had his heart set on a toddler.  We decided to move forward and let God lead the way.  I have to say that I'm blown away with the way her referral came to us.  The timing, her birthday, and the many other obvious confirmations we received that this girl is meant to be ours.  There was nothing I could do except set aside MY plan for this adoption, be faithful and follow His lead to our sweet little girl.  We are so excited to welcome her into our family!

Here's what we know about Harli:

She is 3 years old

She can count two blocks

She likes listening to music

She has a ready smile

She is fairly extroverted

She likes playing with toys

She likes to build towers

She can wash her hands without help

She eats with a spoon

She goes up stairs one foot at a time

She likes taking a bath

And anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf is welcoming me

Matthew 18:5