YEAH!!! Received Ministry Approval!!!

I'm thrilled to tell you that I have received Ministry Approval!!!

I spoke with Deborah at Open Arms this morning and she congratulated me on this HUGE step towards baby Hannah and I becoming a Forever Family!

Ministry approval is one of the biggest steps in the adoption process. Kinda a make-it-or-break-it time. Should for whatever reason the Ministry have chosen not to approve me, my adoption would have ground to a halt and it would have been over. Also, once a file goes to China their approval is based upon my Ministry approval. As long as Ontario has given the go-ahead then they won't stop it. Phew! You can quickly understand why this approval was so very important!

I'm sure you want to know, 'What's next?' Deborah informed me that she picked up 4 approvals yesterday so with the ones she already has she has enough to form a travel group. Once again....yeah! (There is also another single lady in my travel group which is nice.) Our group of files will go to Open Arms' lawyer early next week for him to approve, certify, etc. and then they should be ready to send to China (Dossier to China - DTC) in mid-March. Normally it takes about 2 weeks from the time the files leave Canada for them to be Logged with the CCAA (China Center of Adoption Affairs). Once a file is logged, the official countdown begins! The current wait from LID to referral is approx. 9-10 months. I could be getting a daughter for Christmas this year! I don't care if it's just a picture in December...it will be a picture of MY DAUGHTER!!

Thank you to all of you who have been bathing this entire process in prayer. I appreciate your prayers and ask that you please continue to pray for Hannah, the adoption process and also for myself. I am so thankful that God is leading this adoption and holding both Hannah and I in His loving arms already!

I'll be sure to keep you posted as things progress over the next few weeks!

Have to go… the !!! key on my computer is beginning to wear out after this post….!!! :o)

Celebrating Today!