Call for PRAYER

I am asking anyone and everyone who will go before the Father to do so on behalf of the Arnold family for our sweet Haddie Hope Jie. It is becoming more clear to me that she is being batteled over. I KNOW that we do not battle against flesh and blood! We fight a very real enemy who does not want these little ones to be free from the chains the hold them as orphans.

Yesterday we received our LOA, our letter of acceptance from the China. It has been brought to our attention that there is an error on our approval from the US government. This error could be corrected, and a new approval issued tomorrow, or we may have to fill out another application and pay a fee and be delayed in going to get Haddie.

As always, we trust the plan of our Father. We also know that He desires to hear our hearts. Our hearts are that our sweet girl would not have to wait another day and that this approval would be sent tomorrow. Please join us in praying over the next 24 hours that the officer, Mr. Michael James, who will make this decision would extend the approval to us with no further paperwork or fees.

Thank you so much! It is so amazing to call upon this ARMY to pray!!

Ephesians 6

10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

LOA!!!!!!!!!!

Full of rejoicing and praises because the Lord has delivered that longed for piece of paper, our LOA, LETTER OF ACCEPTANCE from China. Today this paper arrives by the wonderful FedEx man and we will sign and overnight it back to China. There is another approval we need to receive, but things should run in a fairly timely manner. It looks like we will travel to China in November at this point. Please join us in praying toward that end. It has been a LONG wait for our Haddie Hope. I think of the first day that I laid eyes on her...March 16th, 2009! WOW, almost 6 months ago! We know that she will arrive home right on time, it is written! Praise the Lord it is written!!

1 Corinthians 2:9

"However, as it is written:
"No eye has seen,
no ear has heard,
no mind has conceived
what God has prepared for those who love Him"

Another Update!

We received another update on Haddie. It came just 6 days after our last update. We had hired Ladybugs n Love from Above
to work on getting us an update because it did not look like we would be getting one through our agency. So, the bummer was we got the same pictures, except for the one above. We did find out a couple of new things about our sweet Haddie Hope Jie:


Did she receive her care package telling her that she has a family?

Yes, she got the care package. She knows she has a family now. She’s seen your pictures.

Does she have a special friend or caregiver?

Her friends: Zhu Xiao Liang (朱晓亮)， Zhu Xiao Chuan (朱晓川)。

She loves her special education teacher Ms. Han.

Does she speak well, clearly, or does she have challenges with her repaired cleft?

She can’t speak very clearly because of her cleft lip and palate. But her expression skill is great.

Is her cleft palette closed completely?

No.

Does she eat well?

She has good appetite. She likes to eat children food.

What does she like to do?

She likes to watch TV, make hand crafts and help nannies playing with little children.

Does she sleep well?

Yes. She likes to lay on her side. She usually goes to bed around 9:00pm.

Does she like to sleep with a special blanket or stuffed animal?

No.

Does she have a favorite food or treat?

She loves most children food (snack).



Her updated measurements:

Height: 117cm; Weight: 18.5kg; Foot: 18cm.
46.1 inches 40.7 pounds 7.1 inches

So we know that she is VERY skinny...if these measurements are accurate. We have learned that her palette is defiantly creating some challenges for her. We think she might have a hard time with a solid diet. We also understand that speech is a huge issue for her. We LOVE that she enjoys helping the nannies care for the little children. We see this as God preparing her for her little sister Libi Faith.

How Our Wonderful Father is preparing us for Haddie. We have seen such a change in her countenance already. We believe that God is already beginning to heal the broken places of her heart.

When I read that she has seen our pictures I wonder if she stares at us like I stare at her. How I can sit and study my big girl and daydream about who she is, what it will be like to hold her in my arms, what she smells like, what does her hair feel like in my hands and pressed up against my face, what does her life sound like. Weird? No, just how a mama thinks about their baby.

So thankful that God honored us with this double update...this double blessing...that is bringing something to mind that I will blog about later. DOUBLE PORTION...stay tuned.

LID and an Update!!!!

That's right! Is it not enough that we were blessed to find out that all of our papers were logged in on July 1st in China, but we were blessed with an update on our precious little girl!!

I was overjoyed to know that we were finally over yet another paperwork hurdle this week. I felt prepared to not have any updates on Haddie until we go to China. Well, God blew me to my knees today with this unexpected gift. It seems like this week I have uttered that "I am hoping that we can get an update, but it is not likely." more than usual. God is always listening. This may be obvious, but do you ever see Him do something that has been heavy on your mind and heart, but you haven't necessarily agonized in prayer over it? He KNEW this mama needed to see her girl! He spoke to the depth of my heart with this.

Last weekend I had toiled over blogs and searching sites to get an idea of what the "trends" are right now in the wait times for our next steps. I was trying desperately to get an idea of when we might travel to China. I was so convicted after my hour and half effortless search.

The next day in church God was once again such a sweet Father to my aching heart. I was blessed to have a dear friends little girls with me that day. These sweet girls are also adopted from China. The angel that ended up on my lap and in my arms for the entire service is the same size as my Haddie. As I loved on her it was amazing how God satisfied my aching arms. We danced together and sang about how He is The Everlasting God, who does not faint and won't grow weary, the Defender of the weak, Comforter of those in need and He lifts us up on wings like eagles! How soon He reminded my heart that once again, He holds the day and time, I must wait with expectancy and trust Him alone.


Psalm 5:2-3 (New Living Translation)

2 Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God,
for I pray to no one but you.
3 Listen to my voice in the morning, Lord.
Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly.

Who doesn't LOVE those piggies????!!!!!

Is that chipped nail polish I see???


Oh how beautiful you are!!!

Zhu Xiao Jie

7/2/09 Update

Medical/Development:
Her current health is good.
She can care herself and also can help other children.
Her speech is normal.
She knows all of her color.

Personality:
They call her Hua Er (flower). LOVE IT!!
She is outgoing and active.

General:
Her sleeping and diet schedule:
Sleeping time: 9:00pm -6:00 am
She has a nap after lunch.
She has three meals and snacks per day。
She can eat all kinds of foods.
She received package from the family.

Package and letter #2

It has taken a LONG time to pull together another package in the business of life. I am starting to figure out why this wait time seems harder and longer than it did with Libi. We were so blessed with Libi to have direct contact with the foster home where she was. We were getting updates and new pictures constantly. With our little Haddie we don't even know if she has received our first package and letter yet. Does she even know that she has a family? So, we are sending this next package with FAITH that she will receive it. How we long to hear some sort of update about her.

We are finally DTC (Dossier to China). That simply means all of our paperwork is on it's way to China. Waiting for the Lord to say GO...the time is NOW.

"Not to us, Oh Lord, not to us but to Your Name be the glory, because of Your love and faithfulness."

Psalm 115:1

Pink headband to match the pink flower shirt, note pad with attached pen, Hello Kitty watch, Slinky, chocolate covered raisins, oreo sticks, rainbow twizzlers

Light up princess shirt, our letter, stickers

Our sweet neighbor girls modeling their matching shirts like the one we are sending to Haddie.

Dear Zhu Xiao Jie,

We hope that you are doing well. We are so excited to come to China to meet you and make you a part of our family forever. We have put your picture up in our house and look at it each day. You are a beautiful girl. We are so thankful that we get to be your family. I am so thankful that I get to be your mama.

I want to write you to tell you about things here in the United States that might be different than China.

Last month we celebrated your sister’s birthday. Libi Faith turned 3 years old. Grandparents and aunts and uncles came to our house and had cake and ice cream and we watched Libi open gifts. We cannot wait to celebrate your birthday. You have four grandparents, two aunts, two uncles, and five cousins who are very excited to meet you. There are also 3 little girls who live boy our house who were also adopted from China. They are excited to have you as a new friend to play with.

Your little sister Libi likes to look at your picture. You will share a room with her. I think you will be a good big sister to her. Libi will like to play with you. I bought you a nice warm fuzzy blanket yesterday for your bed. I think you will like it.

I am sure that our toys are different than what you have in China. We were told that you like to ride a scooter. We do have scooters here in the United States and we will have one waiting for you to ride.

Food in the United States will be different than the food you have in China. You will get to try lots of new things. When we come to China we will take you to a place called McDonald’s. I am not sure if you have ever heard of McDonald’s, but they have yummy hamburgers and fries. These are all things we think you will like very much.

In the United States we speak a different language than you do in China. We speak English. We are starting to learn how to speak some words in your language. We know that you might be sad that you cannot tell us things that you are thinking about or feeling. We will try very hard to understand. We can draw pictures and use our hands to help talk to each other. When we are in China with you we will have someone to help us talk. We know that you will learn English words very quickly because you are a very smart girl.

We know that sometimes it may feel like you are waiting for a long time for us to come to China. We will come and we hope it will be before it gets cold. I will write another letter to you very soon.

Your family loves you,
And I love you,
Mama

Waiting with HOPE

I have been resting in the TRUTHS of the Psalm below. It is not always easy to WAIT.

We have had a few "hitches" in our paperwork process.

We still do not have our paperwork in China yet.

Just when I think something is taking too long or it hasn't gone smoothly. I am reminded that it is all right on time. I believe and trust that my sweet little Haddie will not wait one moment past the time she is to be united with her family.

It is not hard for me to believe that God's time is always perfect down to the second. I have seen it and KNOW it to be true. It is just hard to wait on it. Does that make sense?

I recently learned in Beth Moore's study on Esther that if we didn't long for what we were waiting for, it would just be the passing of time. That longing piece of waiting is what makes it waiting. SO...our HOPE is in God and we trust that we will soon post with a LID (log in date). That will be the date that all of our papers are done and in China. Then...we wait! :) It will take about 3-5 months from there before we will leave for China to get our Haddie Hope and bring her home.

Psalm 146
1 Praise the Lord!

Let all that I am praise the Lord.
2 I will praise the Lord as long as I live.
I will sing praises to my God with my dying breath.

3 Don’t put your confidence in powerful people;
there is no help for you there.
4 When they breathe their last, they return to the earth,
and all their plans die with them.
5 But joyful are those who have the God of Israel as their helper,
whose hope is in the Lord their God.
6 He made heaven and earth,
the sea, and everything in them.
He keeps every promise forever.
7 He gives justice to the oppressed
and food to the hungry.
The Lord frees the prisoners.
8 The Lord opens the eyes of the blind.
The Lord lifts up those who are weighed down.
The Lord loves the godly.
9 The Lord protects the foreigners among us.
He cares for the orphans and widows,
but he frustrates the plans of the wicked.

10 The Lord will reign forever.
He will be your God, O Jerusalem, throughout the generations.

Praise the Lord!

There are things that happen that make that longing in my heart grow stronger, like seeing a little Asian face that is about the age of Haddie, or putting something away in her room for her. There are also those gifts that God sends in such loving timing. I received one of these gifts last week. I caught a glimpse of our Haddie in a picture on a blog. You know what I love most about this picture? I love her shoes and tiara! Look at those. Those are girly shoes if I ever saw them! These are the same items she had on in the pictures we received in our referral packet. I love that she has something so girly that she can put on and feel like the princess that she is! What a gift!

Party of 7

On this Mother's Day it is bitter sweet. I have 2 daughters in other parts of the world today.

My sweet little Ariadna. Some of you know this our foster daughter that we were blessed with for a year and half. She will forever be a part of our hearts and family.

Then, there is our sweet little Haddie Hope Jie. How I long to kiss her precious face and tell her how blessed I am to be her mama. For now, I am her mama from afar.

I was given such a priceless gift last week. We were sent pictures of Haddie by a family who traveled to her orphanage to adopt their son in 2006. Haddie is 3 in these pictures and these may very well be the only "baby" pictures we will have of her. To have a glimpse into what she looked like at this precious young age means so much to me! Age 3 is one of my very favorite years. I am so thankful that the Lord blessed us with this gift. Feel free to tell me how adorable you think she is...I won't mind! :)

Celebrating you, my sweet little Haddie and the gift to be your mama and I hold on to the HOPE of you being home with us next Mother's Day!