December 25, 2011
Dear Lucy Hope,
Merry Christmas! I hope that you are happy today and that
somehow, you are able to know that half way around the world waits a family for
you that already loves you more than we can explain. But even more important
than that, there’s One who loves you even more – Jesus Christ. Today, we
celebrate His birthday. “Today in the town of David, a Saviour has been born
unto you. He is Christ, the Lord.” This comes from the Bible in Luke chapter 2.
It’s one of our favorite verses. We cannot wait to share it with you!
We did
get up early and thank God for what He has given us, but somehow, this
Christmas wasn’t complete for us, knowing that you were there and we were here.
If only we could have been together on this day. We kept our usual traditions
on Christmas day, such as playing with toys early, then heading over to
Granny’s for a quick breakfast and a short visit. Then, it was back to our
house to play some more and get ready for dinner at Memaw’s. In all this, we do
know that God has a day planned for when we will get to see you in person and
that day will be perfect, because it will be a day of His choosing, not ours.
Still, we can’t wait.
Austin, Lily Grace, and Lia Faith were happy to see that
Santa Claus had visited them in the middle of the night. There was no snow this
year like last year, but it was still cold. Lily Grace spent the morning
learning to play with her new DS game, while Lia Faith played with her new
dollhouse. She named one of the dolls Lucy Hope. Meanwhile, Austin began
practicing with his new camera. He plans to take a lot of pictures of you and
of China when we’re finally allowed to come and bring you home. So, you’d
better practice smiling!
Our present? I went to the mailbox because I hadn’t been in
a couple of days and I found a letter from the U.S. Department of Homeland
Security’s Citizenship and Immigration Services. It was a letter telling us
that our petition to declare you our daughter had been approved! Yea! Now, both
the Chinese government and the U.S. government have officially recognized that
you are our daughter! That’s our great Christmas present for 2011. Imagine the thrill of
praying on Christmas Eve 2011 for you to be a part of our lives and then
finding the final approval of that plan in our mailbox on Christmas Day 2012!!!
You are special, Lucy Hope, and these events are proof of that. We are so
excited to see you, sooner than ever now! But we still have to wait for an
appointment at the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou and for the Chinese to issue us
a Travel Approval (TA). Hopefully, some of that can happen before the Chinese
settle in for a long New Years Celebration!
Merry Christmas Lucy, We Love You.
Mommy and Daddy and Austin and Lily Grace and Lia Faith.
Love,
Jerry, Connie, Austin, Lily Grace, Lia Faith, and Lucy Hope
Green, Party of Six
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