We Have Received The Best Present Ever!!!

Our dear friends, Andy and Tami Roberts, are in China right now picking up their daughter Lydia - their story is a long one, but well worth your time! They have had an amazing experience - one that is very unusual in the adoption world. They were actually able to talk with their daughter on the phone every Monday while they were still here in the U.S. Their website is www.ourwaytolydiamei.wordpress.com and contains journals, photos and video. Their daughter Lydia was in the group of special needs referrals that Sam is in - they are both from Luoyang, but because of Lydia's needs following surgery she was moved to New Day, a foster home in Beijing. Andy and Tami were not sure that they would be able to visit the Luoyang CWI where Sam is, but found out a few days ago that they would be able to and they talked to the director about getting some pictures of Sam for us. Here comes the BEST news - The director told them that Sam was in Foster Care!! This is such a blessing. Luoyang is a wonderful orphanage, but they are overcrowded and do not have heat. We know that Sam is getting individualized attention. Andy and Tami, along with Zhou, our agency's amazing travel guide, were able to arrange for the foster mom to bring Sam to the orphanage along with all of the other EAC Special Needs referrals. They took pictures for us and gave him a stuffed turtle, blanket and pictures of us. They were able to meet his foster mom, and they really liked her and said that she also had a 17 year old daughter who is thrilled to have a baby in the house. We know he is being loved and cared for and we couldn't ask for anything more at this point (well, we could ask to travel sooner, but we are overjoyed that someone will care for him until we get there). We feel like this is the best Christmas present we could have asked for. We thank our amazing God who is faithful and who hears our prayers. As for our adoption process, we were fingerprinted for INS last week and we begin our wait for the illusive 171H that will complete our dossier - the rest of our paperwork is complete. Please pray that everything will work out according to God's timing and that He will continue to provide us with His peace while we wait.