I think we all struggle with being patient. Nobody really likes to wait. I find it ironic that my favorite flower in the world is the daisy. Did you know that the daisy symbolizes patience? I didn't until I began collecting quilt squares to make a 100 wishes quilt, or bai jia bei, for my babies that I knew would be coming home from China. I joined a quilting exchange and we were doing a fruit of the spirit swap. I somehow got patience... Anyways, since patience has never been my strongest gifting of the spirit I decided to research ways that patience can be symbolized as I searched for a fabric to encompass this fruit. I was amazed to discover that the daisy represented patience. When I see a daisy now, I am reminded to be patient, though sometimes it is easier than others.
I absolutely loved the Music Machine as a little girl and well, I loved this song about a little snail who got into trouble for his lack of patience. I know that God has a plan for my life. I know that His timing is perfect, and that there is a time for everything under heaven according to the book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible. I now am in the time of waiting. Today the wait seemed long, I know it really hasn't been in the big scheme of things in the adoption world, but to me today it felt long and I remembered this song from my youth. I decided to go and look for it on YouTube because everything can be found on YouTube. The song made me laugh, it helped me relax and to sit back and allow God to work things out in His timing. It's funny, this song now reminds me of another, but I'm not going to stop and search for it right now, the song is "He's Still Working On Me" and I guess that is true because He is still working on me to help me learn patience. I guess the good thing is that I am learning some of my lessons, I just keep needing refresher courses as I progress to the next level.
After we got home from the Magic Kingdom I thought it would be a good idea to go to our favorite Chinese restaurant to celebrate our LID. They are always asking when we'll go back to adopt another child and tonight we were able to tell them that our paperwork has been logged into China's system so we are one step closer. My cookie read, "An unexpected event will bring you riches." I was like, "Yes! Riches in love and family!!!" Isaac's cookie read, "An acquaintance of the past will affect you in the near future." Maybe our new addition will be from the Dongguan CWI just like Isaac. Wouldn't it be totally awesome if we adopted one of the cuties that melted my heart when we visited his orphanage on October 17, 2008? I knew at that minute (maybe before) that I would be back in China to adopt another child.
Last night at 8:30 our time, 5:30 their time our adoption agency called to let us know that our dossier was "perfect" and that it was on its way to China with the other families whose dossiers had also been approved this week. We are very excited!! Ellen said that the documents should arrive at the Holt Beijing office early next week and that they will hand deliver it to the China Center for Adoption Affairs (CCAA) where it will be logged into the Chinese system. According to the new rules once we are logged into the system Holt can begin looking on the shared list for our new son or daughter.
This is a picture of the outside of Isaac's orphanage in Dongguan City, Guangdong Province, China. Part of me hopes that our new child is here and that he/she will share a common thread with Isaac, however we aren't requesting the agency look for a child from Dongguan because God knows where our child is and we don't want to miss out on His perfect match for our family because we tried to manipulate things. We think that we might be matched with a brother because many, many families are hoping for a daughter. After praying about whether or not to request a particular gender we felt that if we were pregnant we would be thrilled with whichever gender He gave us so now we are like minded in adoption. We would love a daughter. We would love a son. We know that this new child will be deeply loved. However, we know that over 75% of families adopting request to adopt a daughter, so the odds are pretty good that we will adopt another son. Why the preference for a daughter when adopting? I don't know. Many speculate that mothers drive the majority of adoptions and perhaps after having a biological son they want a daughter, or if they can only have one child mothers desire to have that special mother-daughter relationship. Of course, with China we hear about the preference for boys so many people adopting from China show that girls are treasured and valuable by requesting to adopt a daughter. 
However children relinquished by their parents in China are almost equally boy and girl when it comes to children with "special needs." Unlike us they don't have insurance or government subsidies (Medicaid, etc...) to help with the cost of treating a child. Regardless of what you think of our present situation regarding the medical arena, we can agree that we are blessed. We were able to get surgery to correct Isaac's cleft palate by an awesome surgeon. We are able to get speech therapy so that he develops clear speech. We could not afford any of this without insurance and I wonder, with similar circumstances available to the birth families of my children, would I be a mother? I don't know if medical care were easily accessible if Isaac's mother could have raised him and loved him or if, as a show of her deep love she chose to leave him and prayed that a family would come along that could give him what she could not. These days I am thinking more about his birth mother and the birth mother of my new child more than I have in a while, and I pray for these women. I pray that God will comfort them with a knowing that their children are deeply loved by a family and that their needs are being met. I pray that they will come to a knowledge of Jesus Christ so that one day we can be reunited in Heaven.