When in Doubt

This week has been a little of a struggle. I keep thinking about what if's and that is never a good thing. Sometimes you just need to stay in the moment and not worry to much about the future but I couldn't help but think about whether these last few days have been some of the lasts for Lillie. I know that God will care for Lillie during the surgery. I know that His hand will be with the surgeons but I also don't know His plan. If He sees that Lillie will bring more glory if she is no longer able to walk, then that is what will be. This scares me alittle but I know it is a possibility. I am scared for her and for what she would endure if this is His will but I also know that He can still do miracles. Not that Lillie's surgery would have to be a miracle for her to continue functioning as she does now but there is also a major risk that she will no longer to be able to run and walk and crawl and chase her brothers.
I was thinking about this at church this Sunday. We are staying at my parents house in order to be close to Dallas when the time comes for the surgery on Wednesday. It brought me to tears as we sung about the angels being around us. I know that God's presence and His angels most certainly will have a presence on Wednesday. I am hoping that she feels this and it isn't too much of a trauma for her. I am praying that she will continue to be the happy, bright and smiling girl I see today and that she will get through this without terrible pain.
During the sermon, Lillie went to Children's church and when she came back to the pew, she brought her art work. I was so engrossed in thought about getting everyone out to the car that I didn't really take the moment to look clearly at her picture. As we were driving home, Christopher and I were discussing the upcoming events. We are both obviously worried and this discussion was not unlike others we have had, the only difference is that it is coming fast and this was our last Sunday to gain strength for the coming days. As we were talking, I looked down at the picture I was carrying that Lillie had made. It had a trace of her two little feet and the title was "Jesus Healed a Man Who Couldn't Walk". There was nothing else to say as we both cried and drove home. God's hand is holding Lillie right now and no matter what happens, He can do Miracles!! He will get us through this and He will use Lillie to remind us of His Awesome Power even if it turns out differently than we hope. Please continue to pray and lift her up to Christ....This is His Hour and we will hand our worries to Him.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
Psalms 139:14

Disappearing Act

Wow! It has been a long time since I have blogged. There has been so much going on that I haven't had time. Here is the re-cap of the last few months.

January: We returned from China to head to a bowl game. The Alamo Bowl in San Antonio. Lillie loved the game and she got to wear a cheerleading outfit!! Everyone loved her in it. I was so surprised that she wasn't afraid of the loud noises and the band but she did great! We then returned home to life at the Anderson house busy with the boys going back to school and Lillie figuring out where she was and what her new life would be like. We also started seeing doctor's about her condition. We first had an x-ray, then a CT-scan, then 2 MRI's. We were originally told that she had congenital scoliosis but it turns out that she has many deformed vertebrae that cause the deformity in her spine. We also found out that she is truly a miracle baby and that there is a portion of her spine that is split into two by a bony spur. She is tethered at that point in her lumbar spine and also below. We were referred to Scottish Rite.

February: We were sent to Scottish Rite hospital in Dallas to make sure she didn't need orthopaedic treatment for the Scoliosis. She has a mild form, although, her vertebrae are so deformed they do not know if she will need it in the future. We were referred to Children's Medical Center in Dallas to see a neurosurgeon. When we checked with our insurance, they would not let us see them until we had seen the pedi neurosurgeon in Lubbock, so we go an appointment with him in late March. In the meantime, I had had several nodules in my thyroid and that they follow every year and they decided there was a new spot and we needed to do an aspiration biopsy. I had this done mid-February and got the results a little over a week later. The cells were suspicious so it was decided that I would have a total thyroidectomy and this was scheduled for early April.

March: The best part of March was that my parents took our family and my sister's family to Disneyworld for a week long of Mickey and Fun!! Lillie loved it and so did the boys, of course!!! It was such a wonderful trip full of great memories and family time!! I really believe that this gave us the strength to face what was to come. Upon our return, we saw the pediatric neurosurgeon and he confirmed the findings of the MRI's and we were told that Lillie would need surgery to correct the split formation and the tethering so that she would maintain complete functioning as she has now. The pediatric neurosurgeon was wanting to do the procedure in Lubbock and we were all for that but we were moving to Austin and he wasn't sure he could schedule us in time, so we were referred to Dallas since it is closer and the neurosurgeons are world renowned and highly capable of performing the surgery. (Christopher had already been approved for a leave from the university and we were headed to Austin for him to work on his doctorate if you were wondering) Our neurosurgeon in Lubbock was wonderful, spoke Chinese to Lillie and gave us great confidence but we realized that she really did need to be back in Dallas as the Scottish Rite doctors and our Lubbock doctor had referred us to the same specialists. Sometimes it is a circuitious route but God get's you where you need to be. So we had an appointment to see the neurosurgeon in May. Seems like the process moved very slow but it was all in His time and we had to work around my own health issues.

April: Total thyroidectomy performed on the 7th. It was providential that the decisions were made as they were. I had thyroid cancer at the age of 38 and yet, if I had known sooner or the route was done differently, we would never have been allowed to adopt Lillie. While this was all difficult and the surgery was hard and the lack of hormones made me exhausted, I felt peace in knowing that God had planned all of these months to not only make sure that I was cared for but that Lillie was adopted at this time and by our family. Several doctors later, I found that the cancer was so small, only on one side and the lymph nodes were clear. I do not require additional treatment other than follow up at 6 months and replacement therapy! Praise God for this as my mother had to undergo the radioactive isotope and it was not fun for her.

May: After a very difficult move to Austin, we headed to Dallas for Lillie's appointment. The surgeon was very confident that barring any complications, the surgery would treat her problem and keep her from losing functioning. Surgery was scheduled for July 21st. The surgery will last 8 hours and she will be in ICU the first night and in the hospital for a total of 3 days. Christopher started his doctoral work at UT and has really enjoyed his classes. I was fortunate that I was able to keep my job teaching online and was working from Austin instead of Lubbock. The boys finished up school in Lubbock and were excited to move to Austin.

June: We unpacked and enjoyed exploring Austin and going to the pool. Lillie loves her new room-very pink and loves having the boys home from school to play with.

July: We headed to Lake Jackson for a family reunion with Christopher's extended family. It was a lot of fun to see everyone as it had been about 4 years since we had all been together and everyone was able to see Lillie for the first time. Christopher's family including his sister and our niece and nephews were able to come for July 4th back to our house in Austin and we enjoyed fireworks, barbecuing and going to a the Round Rock Express minor league game.

So here we are. It is the week before Lillie's surgery and I decided it was time to get everyone updated. I am sorry it has been so long. It has truly been a wonderful but difficult and tiring few months. Through it all, we have felt the presence of God and know that He will be with Lillie next week during her surgery and recovery. We don't know what will be, but we do know that He has cared for her all of her life and that she is His child and He will be present in her life regardless of the outcome. We hope you will all pray for her, the doctors and our family as we continue our journey. I will update once the surgery is over and she is recovering.

She is truly an amazing little girl. Speaks almost perfect English. Tells us how happy she is and smiles and giggles all day long. She loves us and we love her. It has been a good transition. Not perfect, but good. She had her times of grieving, her times of defiance but we worked through it all and will continue to do so as she grows and continues to adapt to our family. Fortunately, she never had an issue with sleep as I have heard many talk about. She eats great, sleeps great and I believe God knew that I needed those two things during this time:) She loves pink, loves to have her fingers and toes painted and loves dresses. Quite the girly girl- which is truly fun for a mom of 3 boys:)

We are Off!!!

We are currently in Dallas and fly out tomorrow at 10:10am. Keep us in your prayers and if you would like to follow our travel, our travel blog will be at:

www.babyjellybeans.com

Search for child name: Lillie Anderson

Hope you all have a Merry Christmas!! We will try to post pictures and our progress daily!!

Praise God!!'

Travel Approval and Consulate Appointment Confirmed- We are headed to China!!

We received our Travel Approval on Monday and had been waiting for the Consulate to confirm an appointment before we could plan our travel. Well, today we received confirmation of our Consulate Appointment and we have finally been able to buy tickets!! I really can't believe it and am feeling very behind already. We leave one week from today, December 10th. out of Dallas/Ft. Worth Airport.

Our itinerary is as follows:

12/10 Leave DFW on American Airlines at 10:10am

12/11 Arrive Beijing via Tokyo at 9:30pm

12/12 Tour Beijing 

12/13 Fly to Taiyuan City, Shanxi (Lillie's hometown)

12/14 GOTCHA Day- see Lillie for the first time and Christopher's Dad's Birthday! Lillie goes home to the hotel with us!! 

12/15 Finalize Provincial Documentation for the Adoption- Lillie will officially be ours!!

12/16 Sight-seeing

12/17 Lillie's Chinese Passport will be ready for pick-up (can't leave for home without it)

12/18 Fly to Guangzhou

12/19 Medical Appointment/TB test/Possible Vaccinations (poor Lillie)

12/20 Sightseeing

12/21 Have Lillie's TB test read (pray it is all clear)

12/22 Consulate Appointment- fill out US paperwork

12/23 Oath at the Consulate- finalization of US documents

12/24 Pick up Lillie's US Visa after 3pm/ Take Train to Hong Kong/ Spend Christmas Eve in the Marriott Sky City at the Hong Kong Airport

12/25 Leave for home on American Airlines at 10:20am with layover in Tokyo. Arrive at 3:25pm Christmas Day in Dallas- Merry Christmas!! Lillie becomes a US citizen in Texas on Christmas Day!!! All our children will officially be Texans!!!

Collapse, open presents, eat homecooked meal, enjoy watching Lillie get to know her big brothers and part of her extended family!!! A Christmas Blessing!! 

We will not be able to post to this blog easily during the trip. I am setting up a travel blog on a site that is accessible through the Great Firewall of China. When I have this all set up, I will post a link so that you all can see us through the whole journey- pictures included. Please continue to pray for us as this is very exciting and a little overwhelming right now. Also pray for the boys as they are starting to realize how long we will be gone and are a little worried- we had tears tonight about it. Please pray for my parents as they are caring for them for the 2 weeks. They will have a great time and I am sure they will be tired out by Christmas Day. We will skype while we are there so the boys can see us and Lillie and we are really hoping this will help some. And finally, please continue to pray for Lillie and her foster family. I have really been thinking about them this week. My heart breaks for them and for her. The knowledge that she only has a short time left in their care. I can't even imagine how they must feel. We do not think this will be easy and are as prepared as we can be for her to be very upset with us and very sad. We just pray that her heart is protected and that she works through this while knowing that her new family loves and cares deeply for her. 

We were blessed to be invited to prayer on our behalf  with our church elders on Wednesday night. It was a wonderful experience to share with them our journey and this has given me peace in the knowledge that God is in control and that our Christian brothers and sisters will be lifting us to Him during this time. With God all things are possible!!

We believe that God will watch over us during this time and we are so thankful to all of you for your prayers on our behalf. God is faithful and loving and cares for us in all things. We believe this adventure is just the beginning of our Lillie's story and we pray that it is the beginning of her steadfast love for our Lord and our Father who adopts us all as His children.

Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you, " declares the Lord "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future...."

Happy Thanksgiving!

First of all, Happy Thanksgiving everyone! We are spending this Thanksgiving Day with my Mom and Dad. Mom and I have been busy cooking this evening. I love to spend time with them and love to cook with my Mom. It gives us lots of time to just talk. We have a lot to be thankful for this year. First off, we got some great news this morning! Our travel approval is suppose to be sent from China this week. Our agency will, hopefully, have it in their hands on Monday. We really would like to travel before Christmas, so our agency has gone ahead and requested a Provincial Appointment of December 14th. This would be our "Gotcha Day" or the day we meet our Lillie for the first time and is also Christopher's Dad's Birthday which would make it a double blessing. We won't know for sure until Monday but we are being told that if all goes as planned, we could be purchasing airline tickets by Wednesday!!! This is all going to happen very quickly and we are beyond excited and so thankful to God as we are beginning to see His plan fall into place. If we are able to get this appointment, we would return either on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day!! What a wonderful gift that would be for us and all our family!!!

We are also very thankful this year for our wonderful boys. They are sweet and loving and fun and we are so blessed to have them and are so proud to be their parents!! We are also thankful for our parents and both our sisters and their husbands and our nephews and nieces and our grandparents and our extended family on both sides. Christopher and I talk often about how fortunate we are to have been born into such wonderful, loving Christian families. We realize that there are so many who are not as fortunate as we are and know that because of this great gift that God has given us, much is required of us as Christians and parents. We hope that we are able to be as good at it as our parents have been. We are also so thankful for our wonderful friends and our Church as they are not only supportive and encouraging but enrich our lives in so many ways. And finally, we are thankful for our Lord and our God who has given us grace and mercy and purpose in life. Blessings to all of your families. May God be with you on this wonderful day!

 

Lillie's Place

After a couple of weekends of moving things around and shopping:) we finally have Lillie's space ready to go. I am sure there will be more to add later, but this is what she will come home to. We are so excited to see her and hope she will love her room. The picture behind the bed was the inspiration. It has little girls from all over the world in traditional costumes. The first little girl is from China. Christopher and I saw this in a store last year before Christmas and he bought it for me as one of my Christmas presents. It is hard to believe that we started this journey in July of last year and we are getting so close to bringing Lillie home. She has been a part of our family for longer than she knows. We have talked about her as if she were already here, she was a consideration in all we have done over the past year and a half and even before we saw her face or knew who she was or how old she was. This is a special time of year for us all to be thankful for the abundance that God has provided. He provides not only for our needs but in many cases, our wants. How blessed we are. Our boys have been working on projects all week at school related to Thanksgiving and I am reminded of how fortunate we are to live in this wonderful country (well at least most of the time) where we are free to care for our families and worship in our churches without threat or fear. I am so thankful for that and for my wonderful husband and our 3 amazing little boys. They are such a blessing and have such sweet spirits. God is good!

We are looking forward to adding one little amazing girl to this clan of boys. We have not heard anything about our travel approval and most likely will go into this holiday without it but are praying that we hear something at the beginning of next week so that we may be able to travel before Christmas.  Happy Thanksgiving too all!!!

Psalms 100:3-5  Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Waiting for TA

So as you know we are waiting for our travel approval. Our agency said this could come anywhere from 2 weeks to 6 weeks after our documents arrived back in Beijing. I just heard yesterday that the family who is with our agency that we have become friends with and whose timeline was similar to ours and who we thought we might get to travel with because their son is in the same SWI system received their TA!!! We are so happy and excited for them!! They are now waiting on a consulate appointment and if they get the one they want, they will leave on Thanksgiving!!! If we don't get our travel approval in the next few days it is highly doubtful that we will be able to travel with them. I was so hoping to do this as it was going to be so nice to have another Christian family in province with us and I was really hoping to meet them in person and meet their adorable son but this may just not be God's plan....so we wait and pray and hope and know that it will be in His time and not ours. Please pray for peace and clarity for this family as they have a lot of planning and packing ahead in the next week and a half and I know they are so excited to get to their son!!! This was also a huge reality check for us as we are thinking now that we really could leave anytime and may only have a weeks notice!!! I have moments when I think I am perfectly ready and lets get moving and then other moments of terror when I think that I can't possibly be ready - yes, the same emotions as waiting to go into labor:) But today we rejoice in the knowledge that one little boy in Taiyuan in the Shanxi Province of the People's Republic of China will be with his family in just a couple of weeks and will no longer be an orphan. Is there anything more wonderful to hear!! Praise God!!

Psalm 145: 1-2  I will exalt you, my God the King; I will praise your name for ever and ever. Every day I will praise you and extol your name for ever and ever. Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom.