5 - Permission granted

Today we received the call that CCAA issued our Letter of Permission to Travel, otherwise called TA. Now, we need an appointment at the US Consulate General in Guangzhou to receive her Visa to enter the United States. When the consulate date is known, our agency will arrange our in-country travel.

The Social Welfare Institute director will soon receive notice of who we are and that we are adopting her. Maybe now is the time he will tell Xiyuan that she has a family coming for her. I wonder, what does a little 7 year old think about this when all she's known, since infancy, is the place she lives?

What will the nannies (Ayis) tell her to "prepare" her for adoption? How do you explain the concepts of "mama," "daddy," "family?"

I'm thankful for the wonderfully generous American moms who traveled to her orphanage last summer and thereby broke the ice for us. At least we will not be her first encounter with "white people," as the Chinese refer to us. This picture describes that moment :-)

I Samuel 1:17 ....Go in peace: and the God of Israel
grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of him.