April 2, 2006
Give Me Grace!
I know that’s a silly title. I found a book the other day called
Give Me Grace by Cynthia Rylant. It’s a small book of daily
prayers for little ones. There is a prayer for each day of the
week and it’s so cute. It’s very lyrical in prose and I think
Gracie will love it. Of course, the title says it all, too!
Let’s see, it’s been a long time since my last update and there
has been some progress. On Sunday, March 5th the CCAA updated
their website to say: "The CCAA has finished the review of the
adoption application documents registered with our office in
July 2005." This means our dossier has passed the review process
and now we’re waiting to be matched with our daughter. We still,
though, have no idea when this may happen. The latest news from
our adoption agency says we may be matched in May or June. Only
time will tell.
During this time, we’ve tried to stay busy and stick to our
regular routine. The boys and I have been working on school and
I’ve signed the boys up for summer camp with the church in June.
Chase will be going to a two week band camp at FSU in June as
well. Rodney has been staying busy with work.
My friend, Jolene, arrived home from China yesterday with her
daughter. Her name is Emma Jean and she turned a year old on
March 9th. I met them at the airport and it was a very emotional
experience. There were lots of happy tears. Also, my friend
Shannon is in China now picking up Mia. She’s only 8 months old!
They will arrive home next week…it will be a very happy
homecoming too!
Rodney’s parents and Aunt Theresa came for a visit. It was a
nice time. They always have fun visiting the boys! My mom sent a
box of goodies and now Gracie has her first Alabama t-shirt!
Theresa also brought a surprise. She completed the 100 Good
Wishes quilt for Gracie.
See, in China there is a custom…To welcome and celebrate a new
life, there is a tradition in the northern part of China to make
a Bai Jia Bei, or 100 Good Wishes Quilt. It is a custom to
invite friends and family to contribute a patch of cloth with a
wish for the baby. Part of the patch of cloth goes into the
quilt for the baby, and the other part of the cloth can go into
a creative memory notebook with the wish for the child. The
quilt contains the luck, energy, and good wishes from all the
families and friends who contributed a piece of fabric. The
quilt is then passed down from generation to generation.
Our July DTC group decided to do a quilt square exchange and I
had all of my wishes ready to send to a quilter to do a basic
quilt. The last time they visited, I showed Theresa and told her
about it. I also told her about an Asian lantern quilt I had
seen but it was cost prohibitive for me. She took my squares
home in January and searched for a pattern. She made the exact
quilt I saw and decided I couldn’t afford to have made! Also, I
only had 99 squares so she had one made to finish the 100. It’s
a personalized square to Emma Grace from Aunt Theresa. What a
surprise that was…it will be quite a treasure for years to come!
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Prayer requests
Our dossier is finally in
the review room! Pray this process is smooth and they
find everything is in order.
Continue to pray for Emma Grace *Gracie* that
she is healthy, loved and cared for until we meet.
Pray for us…this is very stressful!
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Chase kayaking
Dylan kayaking
Gift for Grace
100 Good Wishes quilt
Special quilt square
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