DTC!!

What does DTC stand for? Dossier to China! All of our paprework is in route to China. Our prayer is that is arrives quickly and we will officially be logged into the database there. The next post should be LID...Log In Date! Thank you for your prayers! I thought I would post a few pictures of Libi Faith's room. I love getting ready for her...

One of my favorite parts of preparing is all the sweet little girl things to fill her closet with!!!

The painting was sone for us by an artist in Nashville. Ladybugs are like a trademark for chiese adoptions. They are a sign of good luck. Well, I don't give any credit to luck or fate or chance...only glory to the Awesome Creator of that little ladybug!! Around the bottom of the ladybug is the scripture from Job 9:12 that means so much to me..."Which of these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this?"

ASIAN BEAUTIES!

Now honestly, who knows so many beautiful little Asian children? My world is FULL of them. Sometimes it is overwhelming! I just downloaded my pictures from the last week and this is what I found:

From the Fullness of His LOVE we have all received one blessing after another!!!

Paperwork Complete

Tonight we had a big Arnold family celebration. We sent our last piece of paperwork off to our agency today. This has been a LONG process! We know that our process from start to finish will be very minimal compared to most, but we still long for our Libi Faith to be home with her crazy family. As I sat around the table with my goofy, silly, giggling boys (including the daddy) I couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for sweet Libi Faith…She has no idea what is in store!

We pulled out the best chopsticks and ordered up some Chinese food. We had a heart cookie cake in honor of her, OUR HEART. How we wished we could have let her have some frosting with us. We shared what we were most looking forward to about her being home…keep in mind the boys are not real “mushy gushy”…

Jack expressed his desire that Libi Faith would want him to hold her more than Ari did.

Joel wants to hold her and kiss her. He especially wants to kiss her cute little nose.

Jacob is looking forward to babysitting money and having a little sister again.

Daddy can’t wait to have one of his baby girls in the house again!

Mommy aches to have Libi Faith in her arms.

Each of us made our predictions of when we thought God would bring her home. We shared some time praying over her health and that God would give Libi Faith favor as each piece of her paperwork is processed. It was a good time before the Great Throne of God’s Grace with all of my men. What a privilege to be before that Great Throne knowing He is linking us together as a forever family!!


JACK...

giving chopsticks a try...

Definitely can find some use for the spoon!

We long for you to be home with us, sweet baby!

Ephesians 3
20 Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. 21 Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.

Move to Expedite

Over the last 2 weeks there have been new "developments". Libi did have another seizure. There was a doctor that did diagnose her with mild cerebral palsy and epilepsy based on her symptoms. At first, we were very troubled and discouraged about this, but God was quick to step in and allow us to see the great plan He had.

I want to stop and take a moment to express that God has been more than gracious! My faith is so small. He swoops in and saves the day time and time again. Some will never see glimpses of the "whys" in God's plan. We have been privileged to have not only glimpses but FULL SIGHT at times! I PRAISE YOU. GOD!!!

The news of Libi's second seizure came in the morning and by late that afternoon we were seeing God work it all together for good. Our agency felt that we should make a request to have her process expedited. The foster home where she is being cared for agreed. So, God began to piece together each letter that would be needed for such a request. The most important letter being from a doctor here in the US expressing how imperative it was that she comes home. As God has perfectly brought friends into our life...one of those we have lived life deeply with is a doctor! Not only did we get that letter written, but the doctor who has treated Libi Faith in China and the director of her Chinese Orphanage all wrote letters expressing the urgency of getting her established here in the United States.
Where does that leave us? Well, praying with FAITH! Our hope and prayer has from the beginning is to have her home no later than March. She will be 2 on April 28th and I just long to have her in my arms. I believe that God will not just allow me to have her in my arms but to plan a birthday party!!

Believe with us for:
* her healing (physically & emotionally)
* progress in her physical development even while in China
* favor with those who will make decisions on expediting her adoption

* quick process of paperwork
* home in March...or sooner :)

Hebrews 10:23

"Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is FAITHFUL!"

Romans 8:25

"But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait patiently for it."

2008

We pray that each of you had a good time reflecting on the goodness of our Great God in 2007. We open up the year of 2008 with great anticipation of our sweet and precious Libi Faith being in our arms. God has constantly reminded us that His order and plan are perfect. For many long months we have been in the agonizing process of getting our dossier to China. One final document we need to process is awaiting yet one more set of fingerprints. Our appointment for those long awaited prints will come this Friday morning! This great news arrived by mail December 31st! Our prayer is that God would allow our dossier to be in China in 2 more weeks (or less).

Some of you do not yet know that Libi recently had a seizure. She had been ill and they suspected that her fever induced the seizure. They put her in the hospital in Beijing , which has the best medicine in China, on the 18th of December. She remained there for about a week over Christmas. It was very difficult to be so far away from her knowing she was in the hospital without us to care for her. I struggled with feeling down over all of this on top of the delay in the paperwork and the recent transition of our little Ari. God continually reminded me of His sovereignty. I thought about all of the tests she would have run on her that would check her out thoroughly. A friend even told me that she had thought the same thing when praying about the situation. Without this hospitalization these tests would not have been run. We have suspected that one challenge Libi Faith may have is Cerebral Palsy. The test needed to accurately diagnose this is a CT scan. They did do a CT scan on Libi and it came back showing no abnormalities...no evidence of Cerebral Palsy!

I wonder if I will ever understand God's goodness. He continues to AWE us with His perfection and sweet love.

Job 12:9,10 & 13

Which of all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this?
In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.

To God belong wisdom and power; counsel and understanding are his.