Ambiguity

We got new pictures and video this week of our Eliza Joy!  I wish I could share them here.  Please feel free to ask us (or any of the aunts, uncles, and grandparents) in person, we will be delighted to share her sweet face.  Since I can't show them here, you will have to settle for a picture of our three stateside children.  They are cute too. ;)

The update we got from her orphanage shows that she is tiny for her age (she will fit right in!).  They say she "is a personality, likes to participate in activities by herself, likes freedom, doesn't like being limited, and is eager to get attention and love."  Sounds like a Fleenor to me!  

We also were surprised to find out that she had the first of several corrective surgeries she will need for cleft lip/palate in November of 2019.  Her cleft smile has stolen our hearts and is framed all over the house, and we can see from the new pictures that her repaired smile is just as beautiful.  

Truthfully, I feel two ways about this news.  I am relieved to know that she is getting the care she needs at what seems to be an excellent center.  We are encouraged by every picture and video we receive that she is getting regular attention and care from people who love her.  I also wish we could have been with her for what was no doubt a scary and painful experience.  We are ready to be her parents, and it's hard to know your child has gone through something difficult without your support. 

So the basic timeline going forward is this (minus any expectation of time frames, because no one can predict that now): We are waiting for China to approve our match with Yu Yi.  As soon as we receive this letter, we will complete the two part immigration application we began as part of our dossier last year.  When we receive the immigration approval, we will apply for a Visa for Eliza.  Then our agency will begin working with China to plan our travel.

Yep, still traveling internationally.  To China.  In 2020, the year of the global pandemic. 

Good thing we've learned to be comfortable with ambiguity.  

We don't know when we will be approved to travel, if we will have to be quarantined on the front or back part of the trip (or both!), if we will get to see our daughter's birth country like we hoped, we don't really know anything.  But you know what?  We didn't know any of that stuff three weeks ago, or a three months or years ago, and we are still closer today.  We are still on this journey.  The Fleenors are still going to be a family of six.  Eliza is still our child, and whatever comes on her journey or ours, we will face it together. 

I hope that you can find some comfort in this idea as we all face the ambiguity of global pandemic.  We don't know when things will look different than they do today, but they will.  And we are all still here together.  We can still care for each other.  We can still show each other empathy and grace.  Whatever comes during this season of quarantine or in the season after, we can face it together.  

Thanks for staying in it with us these last three years.  I think it will only get better from here.