Miracles of Mia

As we awaited a travel date, we celebrated. The girls of the family went out to dinner and on a shopping spree. The lists were endless. Deciphering needs around the globe when you have only traveled on the eastern coast was overwhelming. Our adoption agency was very helpful in what to take—from medications to clothing, to itinerary. In all the excitement there was also fear of leaving our three children for ten days and being on a plane for sixteen hours. My mind wondered what it would be like. Will she like us? I was a Christian, going to a communist country. Did we have finances to complete the trip? Looking back now I should have been resting in God's will, but sometimes we get caught up in what comes next. God brought us this far. He would take care of the rest. Now I rest in this each day with Mia's progress.

Travel date was set for July 26, 2008. We would take a direct flight from Newark, New Jersey to Bejing, China and then to Fujian providence to meet Mia. For this to all take place, we had to apply for our visas. This involved sending our passports and paperwork to New York City overnight and returned the next day. We could not send for these until our travel permission was granted, plane tickets purchased, and the consulate appointment confirmed. "Don't sweat the small stuff," right? Eight days before take-off all of this was confirmed and we needed to send our passports and pray they were not lost. Well, Andy went to the post office, paid, and did everything possible for a safe delivery. We called the next day and found that no passports were delivered. Fear was very real at this point. After waiting almost three years our child coming home was totally up to the postal service. He visited the post office and to our frustration we had a clerk that did not bother to check and basically said she could not help us. Anger was an understatement. We called our agency and to our dismay learned that if they were not found, everything would be delayed for months. We would need new passports and many other deadlines renewed which probably would expire.

God answered our prayers and three days later the New York City office received our passports. They returned them to us Federal Express and we received them in twenty-four hours. We were so thankful for their helpfulness and now with just four days to spare, we were ready to depart for China. The adventure was just beginning!