LOA DAY!!!!!!!!!!

It seems fitting to begin the blog with the arrival of our much-anticipated LOA.  It was a very long wait for us and there were times I almost thought we'd never see it.  But God has been faithful every step of the way, and today the LOA arrived at Lifeline's office in Birmingham. Everyone asks the same question....so when do you travel?  Ordinarily it would be 2 months from now.  But October is full of retail trade fairs and a major Chinese holiday.  So we just aren't sure right now.  We are praying we can travel before early November but that is a possibility.

We received this picture a few months ago.  It was instantly a favorite because of the sweet smile! I don't even care that he is looking down. I cannot wait to have that sweet smile in front of me!

So how did we get here?  How did the Mansfield's come to have a son?  Only God! In April 2013 our wonderful adoption agency sent out a monthly newsletter. It was just like every other monthly newsletter they had been sending us for 5 years! Except.....this newsletter had a picture that gripped my heart!

It was as if I knew him.  I even thought maybe he looked like a friend's Chinese daughter. But she couldn't see the resemblance so it seemed I was the only one that "knew" him.  And so began 5 months of praying for his family to find him.....