Important Dates...

We have had a number of these recently and have had some amazing "aha" moments from God along the way...

Chris and I celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary on Sunday, May 29th.  The boys were visiting their grandparents (an anniversary tradition for which we give them sincere gratitude:)  So, Chris and I decided to have a staycation.  We attended church Sunday morning and were awestruck when the Gospel reading was the verse for which we named Quinn!  AHA #1!

...a little history...Chris felt strongly that we should try to name Liu Er Qin by something she was familiar with.  When we found out she was called Qin Qin (Chin Chin), my brother, Ryan, suggested Quinn would be similar.  I liked it, but wanted it to have a deeper meaning as well.  I discovered Quinn means "counselor" so I looked up scripture that had to do with counselor...

"If you love me, you will obey what I command.  And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another COUNSELOR to be with you forever-the Holy Spirit.  The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you."  John 14:15-18

How could we not choose Quinn after reading that!

The second important date was Thursday, June 2nd- Quinn's 2nd birthday!  It was a bittersweet day-wonderful because we know our little girl will be joining us soon and sad because we wish she were here now.  We had a party for her with some of our close friends.  We sang 'Happy Birthday" and Colin and Owen blew out the candles.  Many wonderful friends and family sent cards to commemorate her day.  We took video and pictures so Quinn will have something to look back on to see how much she was loved, before anyone had ever even met her! 

On her birthday, I passed a church marquee that read "With God, timing is more important than time." 
AHA #2!  I have to remember that God's timing for bringing Quinn home will be perfect.  I want the time to speed up so badly that I lose focus of the importance of God's timing in all this.  After all, I wanted to adopt for years before Chris was on board, but I can look back now and see how perfect that timing was for our family.  Patience, patience...(still learning:)

Third important date...Tuesday June 7th-Log In Date!  We finally were logged into China's system, meaning we can offically begin counting down the weeks (or months) until our approval to adopt Quinn.  We'd appreciate your prayers for everything to be in order so the process can continue smoothly and promptly...

Hoping you're all well and beginning a relaxing summer!