On Thursday, Christina, Tori and I all went to the US Consulate to
sign our last form and take our oath that everything we have written
down or said in this process is true. We are thanking God for a man
named Roy at the US Consulate. Even though I had talked with him on
the phone before and he had said that we are all set to get Tori's
Visa, I was still very apprehensive.
After waiting for a few minutes in a waiting room with about 30 other
families, three Consulate workers stepped up to their posts behind
three different windows and began calling out the Chinese names of the
babies in the room. Families, one by one stepped up to the respective
window when their child's name was called. As the names were being
read, I felt doubt creeping in. All the sudden I had this sense of
dread that Tori's name would not be called and we'd be left dealing
with another question mark.
Then, the man at window 21 called out 'Zhong Minyi'. That was us! We
went up to the window. The man smiled and said "Do you recognize my
voice?"
"Are you Roy?" we asked.
"Yes," He replied. "Your paperwork was never properly filled out by
CIS (Citizenship and Immigration Service). They never checked the box
on form Visa 37 to show you approved to adopt special needs. So I
just looked through your paperwork, saw your Homestudy Addendum that
showed you had been approved for special needs and made an exception.
Congratulations. Sign here."
We thanked him profusely and went back to take our oath. It was a
great feeling to hold Tori and know that we were 99.9% of the way
there. As we left, the other two Consulate employees had closed their
windows and left, but Roy was still there watching. We again, waved
and mouthed the words thank you. He nodded and smiled, then walked
away.
This verse seems appropriate right about now:
"The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him and He
delivers them." - Psalm 34:7-9
Today (Friday). We finished the last step, which was to go and
actually pick up Tori's Chinese Passport with her US Immigration Visa
stamped in it. Phew. What a relief to have that. Now we just half
to safely transfer it back to Seattle where an Homeland Security Agent
will crack open a sealed brown envelope that we were given, stamp
something and then, bam -- Tori's is a US Citizen.
Today we are resting in the faithfulness of our Father and the
greatness of His Glory!
"Blessed by God. He heard us praying. He proved He's on our side;
We've thrown our lot in with Him. Now we're jumping for joy, and
shouting and singing our thanks to Him." - Psalm 28:6-7 (Msg)
"Thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and
manifests through the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every
place." - 2 Corinthians 2:14
Psalm 34:18 has been one of our prayers for Tori, knowing that her
journey to our family began with abandonment from another: "The Lord
is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in
Spirit."
"The Lord is our strength and our shield, our hearts trust in Him, and
we are helped. Our hearts leap for joy and we will give thanks to Him
in song." - Psalm 28:7-9
Thank you to everyone who has lifted our family up in prayer. We have
felt your intercessions on our behalf and Tori's behalf. God is
slowly revealing to us how He has been walking with us and going
before us on this journey. He is truly is Yahweh Nissi, our Banner of
Victory.
Amen.
sign our last form and take our oath that everything we have written
down or said in this process is true. We are thanking God for a man
named Roy at the US Consulate. Even though I had talked with him on
the phone before and he had said that we are all set to get Tori's
Visa, I was still very apprehensive.
After waiting for a few minutes in a waiting room with about 30 other
families, three Consulate workers stepped up to their posts behind
three different windows and began calling out the Chinese names of the
babies in the room. Families, one by one stepped up to the respective
window when their child's name was called. As the names were being
read, I felt doubt creeping in. All the sudden I had this sense of
dread that Tori's name would not be called and we'd be left dealing
with another question mark.
Then, the man at window 21 called out 'Zhong Minyi'. That was us! We
went up to the window. The man smiled and said "Do you recognize my
voice?"
"Are you Roy?" we asked.
"Yes," He replied. "Your paperwork was never properly filled out by
CIS (Citizenship and Immigration Service). They never checked the box
on form Visa 37 to show you approved to adopt special needs. So I
just looked through your paperwork, saw your Homestudy Addendum that
showed you had been approved for special needs and made an exception.
Congratulations. Sign here."
We thanked him profusely and went back to take our oath. It was a
great feeling to hold Tori and know that we were 99.9% of the way
there. As we left, the other two Consulate employees had closed their
windows and left, but Roy was still there watching. We again, waved
and mouthed the words thank you. He nodded and smiled, then walked
away.
This verse seems appropriate right about now:
"The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him and He
delivers them." - Psalm 34:7-9
Today (Friday). We finished the last step, which was to go and
actually pick up Tori's Chinese Passport with her US Immigration Visa
stamped in it. Phew. What a relief to have that. Now we just half
to safely transfer it back to Seattle where an Homeland Security Agent
will crack open a sealed brown envelope that we were given, stamp
something and then, bam -- Tori's is a US Citizen.
Today we are resting in the faithfulness of our Father and the
greatness of His Glory!
"Blessed by God. He heard us praying. He proved He's on our side;
We've thrown our lot in with Him. Now we're jumping for joy, and
shouting and singing our thanks to Him." - Psalm 28:6-7 (Msg)
"Thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and
manifests through the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every
place." - 2 Corinthians 2:14
Psalm 34:18 has been one of our prayers for Tori, knowing that her
journey to our family began with abandonment from another: "The Lord
is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in
Spirit."
"The Lord is our strength and our shield, our hearts trust in Him, and
we are helped. Our hearts leap for joy and we will give thanks to Him
in song." - Psalm 28:7-9
Thank you to everyone who has lifted our family up in prayer. We have
felt your intercessions on our behalf and Tori's behalf. God is
slowly revealing to us how He has been walking with us and going
before us on this journey. He is truly is Yahweh Nissi, our Banner of
Victory.
Amen.
We are so happy for you. God has taught all of us about His sovereignty and His lovingkindness, as we've walked with you through this adoption process. We welcome Tori into the RHCC family with open arms! We feel like we already know her a bit, and look forward to watching her grow up.
ReplyDeleteAaron & Christina - Congrats to both of you for enduring so many obstacles and remaining faithful that God would get you through each one of them. Tori is beautiful and your love for her is so clear! Thank you for sharing about your "incredible journey" and for allowing us to have a glimpse into the early days of your life with Tori. May God richly bless you!! Chuck & Mary Easterly
ReplyDeleteAaron and Christina and girls- How amazing your blog about that last few weeks have been. We've been following and praying for you and can't wait to see you back in the US and to meet Tori. She is just the cutest baby and I cried seeing the love you both have for her instantly when you met her especially after all you had been through to get to her! I imagine you will kiss the ground once in seattle. Tessa was so cute to watch on your blog as well she is darling and has such a sweet spirit. You both are wonderful parents and have truely been blessed.
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