Accepted in the Beloved

The last time I wrote, we had just gotten our letter of approval. David didn't get in until late that day, but we were so excited, we signed it at 11:00 pm! We just didn't want to wait. We took a few pictures of us signing it, but waited until the next day to take pictures of us with the letter before I took it to FedEx and mailed it back to our agency.

Early the next morning, I was praying over and thinking about the term "Letter of Acceptance." We waited for that letter with much anticipation and were thrilled when it came. When we finally got it and signed it, we knew that it represented that we accept Hannah in every way--physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually. We don't know her yet; so, we don't know what she may be like, but it doesn't matter. We accept her just as she is and will make her our daughter no matter what. Nothing she can ever be or do will change that. We accept her. Period. That whole day, a verse from the King James Version of the Bible kept going through my head. Ephesians 1:6 in the KJV says, "He hath made us accepted in the beloved." It is part of a passage where Paul is writing about how we have been adopted into God's family and reminds me that Jesus has a letter of acceptance for me. He has one for each of you too that He signed with His blood. Later that day as I thought about how thrilled and excited we are to be adopting Hannah as our daughter, God spoke to me and said, "That's how I feel about having you as my daughter." We who believe in Jesus are accepted in the Beloved; we are His children-- adopted, loved and accepted just as we are. God teaches, corrects and disciplines us just like any loving Father does, but He always accepts us. Have you been adopted as God's child? Do you realize that He has a letter of acceptance for you?

So we have signed our letter and sent it back to China. Now we are waiting for our travel approval. Once we get that, we will make an appointment with the American Consulate in Guangzhou, China to sign papers and get Hannah's passport. Once we have that appointment, we will make travel arrangements to fly to China to meet our little girl. We are still hoping to be there by May 18, her second birthday which is only a month away!