What happened next was definitely GOD!

As I read my post from last night again today, I realized I left out some details that are too important not to start this post with.  We owe a huge thank you to a few people.  First, Robyn Kown.  Robyn spent hours on the phone with me answering question after question when we received Lucy’s file.  Robyn has been a wealth of information for us and she and her family have been supporting our journey to Lucy ever since.  Second, Amiee Gautremaux.  Several days after we received Lucy’s file, my phone rang and there was Amiee on the line calling from Biloxi, Mississippi.  We have never met, but she heard I was considering adopting a child with a similar medical condition as her daughter.  Amiee took the time to call a complete stranger and provide us with information.  She has continued to follow us since.  Dr. Robert Record,  who took a call from me about Lucy’s medical file.  We have also never met but he saw Lucy while at camp and was able to give me details and photos not contained in her file.  Last, but not least, Maryann Pledger who called me (we also have never met) and shared her China adopt on story.  The four of you will always hold a special place in our hearts!

So, when I stopped writing last night we had sent our Letter of Intent to China on June 8th.  We were told the next step was for China to review the letter and give us a “Pre-Approval” and then we would wait on our Letter of Acceptance (LOA) from China.  The timeline showed the Pre-Approval process taking 1-2 weeks  and the LOA process taking approximately 3 months.  Here is where we realized God was driving our adoption process and we no longer were (we are good with that!).  We received our pre-approval in less than 24 hours.  We couldn’t believe it.  Not even a full day later!  Then on July 10th we received our LOA!!!  What?  Only one month!  There is only one way something like this happens and that is the Lord .  We had multiple conversations with people about the process going so fast because I was thinking maybe the agency padded the times a bit so we wouldn’t get anxious, but this wasn’t a China thing, this was a Comer Family getting to Lucy thing orchestrated by God!

I think back to the months and months of waiting on the Haitian government and how discouraged I was.  I am pretty sure I said some pretty negative things about the Haiti process because of the wait.  That was not Haiti’s fault – it was mine.  When we were trying to adopt from Haiti, I was trying to drive this entire process myself.  I was not praying nearly enough about it and for sure wasn’t looking for God’s wisdom in making decisions.  I was so aggravated that things didn’t move forward in Haiti and blamed the government for it all (sorry Haiti).  The reality is, God knew all along our daughter wasn’t in Haiti – she is in China and was just waiting on us to come get her.

As soon as we received our LOA, we immediately filed our US Immigration paperwork.  Each of the next six steps/processes we had to go through were just like our LOA – occurring faster than the average time.  Then it happened, on August 27th we received a call from Lifeline that we had TRAVEL APPROVAL!!!  China had opened the doors and said “Comer Family, come pick up your daughter!”  It has been a bit of a blur since then.  We were off to the races to get things done and as we sit here tonight we know we are ready.

We are flying out in the morning.  Bags are packed and we are ready!!  My sweet in-laws are coming to our house at 3am to drive us to the airport.  (Thank you Joe & Debbie!!)  We will be traveling for 26 hours (as long as there are no delays or flight changes).  On Monday, September 14th, we will meet Lucy for the first time and on the 15th she will officially become a Comer.

We cannot thank all of you enough for supporting us in this journey.  The gifts, well wishes and especially the prayers are so appreciated.