I am really so very happy to report that we are finally logged in! LID is the 'log in date' for a dossier once it has reached the appropriate place in China. Basically, having LID means we can now be matched! At ANY TIME! So exciting!
Getting to LID was not without its bumps. Looking back it is sort of humorous, but it wasn't at the time. Justin and I got our fingerprint appointments in record time. Before harvest started even. So we left early one morning and made it 1/3 of the way to Spokane when BAM...lost the transmission in our car. Dead on the side of the road with 45 minutes to get to our appointment at the Spokane Court House. I remembered, from last time we did all of this, that the employees at this place were less than friendly and would probably not take us late. So commenced the panic. We were rescued at the side of the road shortly after sending out an SOS (thanks Ben and Andy). So we raced to Spokane in my brother-in-laws pickup. All the way up I called and clicked through a myriad of options on the USCIS's phone system...just to find out that is was, indeed, up to the local people to take us or not. So I walked into that room prepared to beg...25 minutes late...and was met by the nicest man. He had even lived in Colfax in his lifetime and worked as a sheriff. Score! Thank you Jesus for letting that work out!!
So then we waited for our fingerprints to be approved...and waited...and waited! Our family coordinator assured me that the wait time is variable (four words that are a constant companion in the adoption world). Not to worry. Just wait. It should come within a week or two. But at week 3 I was tired of waiting. I called the USCIS and was told we weren't even in the system! Our finger prints were lost. What? All worked out in the end, thankfully, because the nice man in Spokane had stamped my papers and I had them as proof. So our documents were sent through a case worker and we received approval the next week. All the documents went smoothly from my hands to the Washington State Secretary of State for approval (called certification) back to my hands. Then everything went, again smoothly, to the San Francisco Chinese Consulate (Authentication), and back to my hands! The same day I received those back...they made their way to our agency in Virginia and 2 days later...they were Fed-exed to China. Long story short, as of 9/7/15 we are LID and our file will next head to translation! Translation is also a 'variable wait'! Surprise!
Now begins the very VERY 'variable' wait for "THE CALL"! Praying for 'Little Sister' wherever she may be. For His hand to be upon her, for her health and well-being, for loving arms to be holding her, and for the hearts of our other children to be prepared for her. For insight into how and when to introduce her to our family & friends. For my own heart and Justin's as we expand upon the already busy house we have here. For joy to be ever-present in the mundane and difficult. For each evenings dinner to always be full of laughter and love. For the grace and wisdom to parent our children from hard places. Thankful for the path we are on, for the bumps along the way, and trying to embrace the 'variable wait'!
