Awesome Things!

"…you did awesome things that we did not expect…"

Isaiah 64:3

Travel Approval – the formal invitation from the Chinese government to come to their country.  This is the final piece we need before we can make our travel plans to bring home our baby.

It came today…eeeeeeeeeeeeeee!  We knew we were getting close, so the past week and a half the whole family would dive towards the closest called I.D. to see if it was our adoption agency calling with the good news.  We are looking at a possible departure date of  November 28^th.  Less than 3 weeks!

 Our close friend Noreen was also waiting on Travel Approval.  This time however, she’s not the one adopting, but she’s traveling along with her friend to China to be a second pair of hands, while her friend’s husband and 2 children wait at home.  Wouldn’t it be amazing for Jim and I to wind up in China at the same time as our dear friend Noreen?

This morning during a bible reading and prayer time with the kids, we prayed (like we have been every day for the past few weeks!) that today would be the day to get the “Travel Approval Phone Call.”  In fact we prayed that not only would we get the good news today, but that Noreen and friend would get their Travel Approval today too.  In fact, we prayed that we would get the phone call and Noreen would get the phone call while she was at our house today tutoring Anna.  And somewhere in there Christian had added, “Wouldn’t it be cool if today Daddy got the promotion that he applied for too?”

A few hours later…

Noreen takes a phone call on her cell.  They have Travel Approval.

A few hours pass.  No phone call for us.  Tutoring is over.  Noreen joins our family for soup before going home.

We joke that she can not leave until we get our Travel Approval because that is what we had prayed for.  Jim tells her that the kids let the air out of her tires.  I tell her that I had siphoned the gas out of her car.  The soup is gone.  Jim, with coat on, in the garage, is heading towards the car for an afternoon appointment.  My cell phone rings.  Mia’s been babysitting the phone, so she gets to if first then announces, “It’s Tiffany!”  Jim hears phone, steps back inside.  I get the good news.  Noreen and I both cry.  We all pray.  We let Noreen go home.

Jim and I, as well as Noreen & friend will be making travel arrangements over the next week or so.  It’s looking like a real possibility we will be traveling over the same dates – both groups starting in Beijing and ending in Guanzhou. Wouldn’t that be amazing to share this experience together in China?

A few hours later...  I’m still texting and emailing friends and family with the great news.  My cell phone rings.  Christian gets to it first and announces, “It’s Daddy.” I am handed phone.  Husband tells me he got the promotion.”  We pray a prayer of thanksgiving.  How much good news can one family take in one day?!

Thank you Lord.  You did awesome things that we did not expect.

Celebrating at Tsukasa.  Our days of dining as a family of 5 are numbered.

The Lord Remembers

"God sets the lonely in families"

Psalm 67:6a

On June 27^th 2012, we accepted the referral of Qin Wei Zhong.  He turns 2 in November.

We have added to his nickname list, “The Little Emperor.”  When he comes home he is sure to rule over all of us and home.  We can not wait to love and care for him.  The 5 of us seem to be fighting over him already, taking dibs on certain activities.  He waits in Xian, China, 4,251 miles away from us, for now.

Many prayers were answered while we waited each month for a referral that we felt the Lord had prepared just for us.  One small but very detailed prayer was answered.  You see, all of the Carollo birthdays fall in order from oldest to youngest throughout the calendar year:  Jim’s is early January, mine late January, Mia’s June, Anna’s July, and Christian’s early November.  We had prayed on several occasions that our new son’s birthday would trail somewhere behind Christian’s but before the year ended.  One of the first pieces of information we received about our son was that Qin Wei Zhong’s birthday is in late November, hmmm, right in line with our family.

Another detail…just 24 hours before we received the referral, we had dinner with a couple of families.  When we had shared with our friends that we were now open to “limb difference,” one of our friends chimed in with, “You know, my dad only had one arm.”  I had totally forgotten that piece of information!  What a testimony it was to hear that someone can have a full life with only one arm.  If fact it was so normal for our friend Jason that his dad only had one arm, he had neglected to mention it to his, now wife, before their first introduction.  Our friend Bess said she was pretty shocked and had asked Jason why he didn’t prep her for that.  He answered, “I didn’t think anything of it.”

Qin Wei Zhong was born with one hand.  Qin Wei Zhong is an answer to our prayers.  He is healthy just the way he is and not in need of any surgeries, another answer to prayer for us.

The evening of June 27^th, 2012, we celebrated our new son.  We stayed up late as a family voting on baby names.  Over the next couple of days we settled on Zachary James Carollo.  Zachary means, “The Lord Remembers.”

Hang on baby, we are coming to bring you home.