Every Good and Perfect Gift is From Above (James 1:17)

It's been a whirlwind since first laying our eyes on Ellie Kay's face.  We have been buried in mounds of paperwork and I have been seeing federal immigration forms in my sleep and probably have been mumbling terms such as I-800, I-864W, DS-260, visas, etc, etc.....  Mostly, I have been in fierce "Mama Bear" mode, which means I have been overnighting anything and everything that we need to in order to get to her as quickly as we can.  My Fed Ex guys thinks I've lost it I'm sure.  His first thought was probably, "Oh, those are poor homeschool kids that never get out and think that the Fed Ex guy coming is the highlight of their day".  And then, "Oh wow! Here comes the crazy Mom running out the door with her camera.  They REALLY don't get out much!".  In all seriousness, he was a great sport and a super sweet guy and understood after I told him my reasons for taking his pic.  (He did give permission to post).  

We have found out a few things about Ellie Kay.  First of all, we were thankful to learn that she's not in an orphanage.  She has been with a foster family and we are SO, SO thankful for this!  We pray for the foster Mom who is caring for her right now and pray that God will show her love through this lady/family.  We also discovered that she was abandoned when she was 1 day old at the entrance of the orphanage, which shows that someone took great pains to deliver her to a place she would be cared for in spite of the risk of being caught abandoning a baby (which is illegal in China).  She was described as "chubby with big eyes".  When she was 5 days old, she entered into foster care.   She was also described as "loving to cry" during her newborn stage, and her foster mother kept thinking something was wrong with her to make her cry so much (and she would even bring her back to the orphanage due to the crying).   But  according to her records "at the same time, when she looked at her fair, round, little egg-shaped face and big eyes, she couldn’t leave her and she would have a change of heart and come get her to raise her".  At 2 months they took her to the local hospital and had many tests run and was found to have nothing wrong.  Then, at 3 months she became much more tranquil.  I guess time will tell if she's truly gotten over her "feistiness".  :)  We cannot wait to meet her, hold her, and learn her personality and all about the way God uniquely created this precious little girl.  

 

Ellie Kay is in Jiangxi province, but more specifically, within Jiangxi,  she's in Wanzai.  Her  given surname of Wan reflects that she's from Wanzai (all Wanzai orphans have the surname of Wan).  Wanzai is a rural area with a population of less than 500,000 people.  It is surrounded by forested mountains and it's major industries are fireworks manufacturing and rice liquor distillation.  Their main economic activity is agricultural with rice being the major crop.

These things are fascinating to me right now and makes me wonder of the occupation of her biological parents - are they farmers or do they work in a fireworks factory, etc?  All I know is I will forever grateful to them for being willing to carry precious Ellie Kay for 9 months and then making sure she was delivered to a place where she would be safely cared for, while risking their security in the process.   What a gift they gave to us!  Many Chinese mothers would love to keep their babies, but with the one child policy have no choice to keep them.  Within the culture in rural areas, some families have a bucket of water ready for the delivery which is often at home, and if their first baby is a girl, she will immediately be drowned in a bucket.  These parents obviously did not want that for their little girl.  They wanted to give her a chance for a life!  Praise God for His protective hand over her little life.  I'm sure it was the most heart breaking thing for her biological mother to do - to have to deliver her over to an orphanage after holding and caring for her for her first day.   I will seek to always honor this lady and even celebrate her on Mother's Day.  I really wish it was possible to reach out to her and let her know that Ellie Kay has a chance for a new life in America.  I think she'd be pleased!    

If you are praying for us, one specific prayer request right now is that her I800 form will be approved very quickly and that we can move on to the next step!!  

We're working very hard to get to you, Ellie Kay!! :)