The day we have longed for...

Today is the day.  The day we have been longing for since early January 2011.  With every paper we have filled out, typed, notarized, had authenticated by the probate judge, secretary of state of Alabama, the US, and at the consulate, we were longing for today.  With every class we attended, every home study visit, with each step along the way we were looking forward to this day.  As we waited on various people and government agencies to do their part, we were longing for this day to arrive.  Even before we saw her face, and knew her name we longed for today.
This journey has been a learning and growing experience from the beginning.  We have had many good days;  encouraging words from friends, conversations with others who have been in a similar place, emails with just what we needed to hear.  There have been some hard days as well;  the "kind" lady at the US Secretary of State office(she wasn't hired for her people skills).  Finding out we need to have one more test and then finding out after we have it that we didn't need it, taking a few more weeks.  Then there was the waiting and waiting and more waiting.  There were times when we questioned why and wondered should we be doing this, but we knew that this day would be more than worth it.  Whatever we had to do, any test we needed, any hoop to jump through it was more than worth it. 
We have looked forward to seeing her face to face, holding her in our arms, telling her we love her.  The day is finally here and we can't wait to see her!  May 6th about 4:30 pm local time, 3:30am central time, we will hold Addie Mei for the very first time.  Earlier today we had a meeting with our agency and we received updated information and pictures.  Our hearts were overwhelmed as we looked at her beautiful face.  
I know tomorrow and the weeks to come will be a shock to her, but I hope she will know she is loved. We will be hers for as long as we are on this earth.  She has a family and someone to call her own.  In less than 12 hours Addie's life will change forever.  I'm sure that our lives will never be the same either.
As much as I hope Addie realizes our love for her, I hope that she realizes that she has a heavenly father who has done so much more so that she could be adopted into His family.  He sacrificed His only son, so that through the shed blood of Jesus Christ she could have a new inheritance and a new family.  In many ways this adoption mirrors that one, but in all honesty it doesn't really compare.  I hope just as we have longed for this day, one day she will long for the day when she will see her Savior face to face.


This is the first picture we got of Addie.  We will try to post some pictures and possibly a video tonight. Thanks for praying and continuing to follow our journey.