An Adoption Update

Just as no two pregnancies/births are alike, no adoption stories are alike either.
We are learning this the hard way as we meander through the murky waters of our third adoption.  What started out as such an easy road has turned into a road with many unexpected twists and turns.  The short story is that we began the process in April, 2013, under the full assumption that we would be an easy/quick match once our paperwork was completed.  Our paperwork was completed and sent to China in September, 2013.  Our official wait began and we felt sure we would know our daughter's face by Christmas.  Christmas came and went without a match.  Four months of waiting and still no word.
Monday night our phone rang and with three sets of eager eyes watching, I answered the phone call from our agency.  They found a seventeen month old baby girl for our family.  She was super cute.  Big grin.  Long, beautiful fingers.  As bald as one could possibly get.  And she looked really healthy and happy.  One would have never known that this little one was fighting a serious heart disease.  Our agency wanted to say it was moderate but after speaking with medical professionals, we determined that her "moderate" need was actually a severe need and one that our family could not say yes to.
And for the first time in all three of our adoptions, I cried big tears because this is just hard.  It is hard to wait.  It is hard to trust in God's plan.  It is hard knowing that on the other side of the world our daughter waits and we don't even know who she is yet.  And, the hardest part?  Saying no to a dear little girl that deserves just as much of a chance at life as the healthy child she plays next to each day.  That is hard.
China's adoption program is undergoing to significant changes that are affecting our process.  We were told today to expect to wait up to a year for our match.  So we wait.  And we trust that God will reveal her sweet face to us at the right time, His time.