Updates

We have had such a busy month-a birthday, a surgery, a pumpkin patch, some cooler weather (so all three kids got new coats for China and of course for here in chilly Texas!) and we are one month closer to getting our LOA!  I always thought that the hardest part of the waiting process would be once we had seen his sweet face and then we wait.  Well, so far, I was right.  I hate the increasing number of days he is in an orphanage of 300 instead of a family of 5.  Everything we do I feel like he's missing out on.  I pray every day that he is safe and well taken care of and someone is preparing his heart for this move and that he hears the voice of God.  Adoption is amazing, but it is certainly like nothing else I've ever been though.  So, we just wait for good news and pray that God will quicken the process and help those lovely people in China finish record numbers of files.  :)

So, I realized that I never did an update for our Give 1 Save 1 week.  It. Was. Amazing.  We loved our video, we had lots of people watch it and prayerfully we inspired a heart for adoption in people who saw it.  We raised (are you ready for this?  Seriously?) $2,366!!!  That is two round trip plane tickets people!  We also did two giveaways, so you can see the videos announcing the winners on our website: foreverhome.us.  Chris did an awesome job with all three videos!

So, we're at the two month mark waiting for LOA.  Praying for some awesome news soon.  We are SO ready to be waiting for Travel Approval!!  Please join us in praying for our sweet boy and for our pieces of paper in China.  God is so faithful, as we have seen so much in the last month, and we know that He is with our sweet boy.  You can also pray for those kids in China who are aging out of the system.  I am on a Facebook group which advocates for orphans and they often list children who are about to age out (which happens at 14 in China, by the way).  They featured this beautiful little boy named Jonathan who was begging someone to adopt him and take him to the United States.  He was saying that he can help around the house and that he was a good student and that the younger children can wait to be adopted, but he can't.  It was seriously heartbreaking.  So far no one has stepped forward to adopt him and he ages out in February.  You can see his profile on www.twentyless.com.  What an amazing guy.  I can't even imagine dreading your 14th birthday because you age out of the adoption system then.  He could definitely use prayers!

Hopefully I can post soon that we are moving forward!  Until then we keep preparing our hearts and our home for our sweet M.

But I will sing of your strength, in the morning I will sing of your love, for you are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble.  Psalm 59:16