Walking In The Truth: Paperwork and Progress

I woke this morning with these verses on my mind. "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness." (Lamentations 3:22-23) I claimed that promise as we started our new day with Elsa. We had to begin a bit earlier than yesterday because our appointments began at 9am. Though Elsa woke up sad, she was much easier to console if Dad was around. After eating a wonderful breakfast downstairs, we headed out with Cindy and Mr. Fu. Our first stop was the Civil Affairs office where we met Elsa yesterday. There we were to meet the orphanage director, answer some questions and sign our official adoption papers. We walked into the room where we were yesterday and Elsa kind of freaked out. Our wonderful guide took control quickly and moved the meeting to another room. This one was full of small kid toys and equipment. It didn't take more than a couple of minutes before Elsa began to follow her big sister, Annika, around on the equipment. As we had our meeting, the girls had a wonderful time playing and we began to see a new Elsa shining through. She smiled, laughed, and squealed with delight as she played. What music to our ears! The orphanage director gave us some wonderful keepsakes for Elsa including a memory book put together by Half the Sky Foundation documenting her days at the orphanage. It included early pictures and will be so great to have.

Our second stop brought us to another official office for another interview and more papers to sign. While we waited for Cindy to get some receipts, Mr. Fu and Annika entertained us by racing on the outdoor basketball court. Elsa continued to amaze us with her smile and laughter. God's mercies to us.

With our official work done for the day, we headed back to the hotel for another new adventure......the pool. She was skeptical at first, but watched Annika carefully. After a few minutes, Elsa was venturing down the steps and smiling all the way.

We are learning more and more about this little girl of ours. She has a dimple on her left cheek when she smiles big. She goes on the potty and not in her diaper. She can slurp noodles like a pro. She has wonderful fine motor skills, writing with a pen on paper. She loves her big sisters like crazy. She loves playing with balloons. She really likes Skyping on the computer.

There's not much left of today. We are heading out to dinner with a list of dishes to order written in Chinese thanks to our new friends here in Nanning. Then, its time for foot massages. This will be a great ending to a wonderful day.

To the praise of His glorious grace.