So, we got our little guy for a while while he was four, but Thursday he turned five. Of course it is bittersweet. We are so happy we had him for his fifth birthday and for all of the ones to come. We are so sad that we missed his first, second, third and fourth birthdays and that all of them took place in an orphanage. We love celebrating our children's birthdays and it is a time for us to remember the day they were born and celebrate how far they've come. For him, we don't know anything about the day he was born and we know that whatever happened in the six months to follow, it involved a surgery and a great loss. It's just different. Happy and sad and full of joy and grief. There is also and will always be a wondering about the mom and dad in China and how they feel this time of year. Do they miss him? Do they remember the day? Do they count the years and know how old he is? We don't know. We probably won't know this side of heaven, and someday he will realize that he won't get to know either. We love him so much and don't want his life to be mixed with so much pain and grief, but we can now add joy and hope and Jesus to his life. We can add hugs and kisses and cake and presents and family around him to help him to know that he is so very loved. Loved by us and loved by his creator. Our sweet little boy is five now and we are so happy that he is here in our house and that we can celebrate him together this year.
Praise the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens. Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness. Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre, praise him with timbrel and dancing, praise him with the strings and pipe, praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals. Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD. Psalm 150
We started by documenting our Ethiopian adoption, which has now changed to pursuing a little boy waiting in China! We are trusting in God's plan and enjoying the journey.
Saturday, March 21, 2015
Monday, March 9, 2015
Three weeks home
Well, we've been home for three weeks now and everything is going really well. We are getting a little tired of the house, and we are trying to help him get some more language so that we can communicate better, but overall it has been a good transition. He seems to be really happy in a family, the girls just love him, we are back to doing school and we have gotten him checked out by the doctor, we will get his orthotics this week, and we have an x-ray scheduled that should show us a lot more about his surgery and what is going on inside of him.
Honestly, the time home has gone so fast, and it seems like a long time ago that we were in China. We have had time to reflect on our trip now, develop some pictures, and we are so grateful that it was such a wonderful trip. If anyone ever wants to contact me, I would be happy to let you know any advice for going to China. Our hotels were some of the nicest we have ever stayed in, the food was really good, we could find anything we needed at grocery stores (especially in Guangzhou) and we met some wonderful people. The language barrier is definitely hard, especially any written language, but our guides were great and very helpful. Overall, I think we packed just fine. We did not know that the orphanage wouldn't give us his leg braces and walker, and he didn't like the stroller, so it was hard carrying him everywhere until a wonderful person loaned us a carrier that we used which was a huge help. China has such a rich culture and it's amazing to see things you thought you would only ever see in pictures. It's also a culture where you do not see disabled people, there are lots of orphans and it is just an accepted part of the society. We even noticed in the commercials there that you almost always see two parents and one child.
Now that we are home and spending lots of time together, we are finding out so much more about his personality. In China, he ate everything we offered him. Here, he is showing more preferences. He likes to pick out his clothes and toys and he loves to play with magnets and glue things and be silly to make people laugh. We had so many people praying for him to just be knit into our family and he truly is. Even looking at our pictures of Beijing, it looks like our family is incomplete to see pictures without him in them. He has the most gorgeous smile and he is kind and playful. We are just all so in love with him.
However, adoption is born of brokenness. There is no way around that, and it is heartbreaking to know that he has had to go through years in an orphanage and go through a confusing transition and be insecure and have to learn a new language, but God will build a plan B that is beautiful. He will now know love and God's word and hugs and kisses and sisters and a birthday and things that are just for him. It's not going to be easy. He is learning what it means to be in a family and how life works out side of an orphanage setting. In the years to come, he will have questions that we do not have the answers to. He will feel the brokenness and we can be here, but we can't know what he is feeling and what he is going through.
We are so excited to start to venture out more in the weeks to come and experience new things with him. We are looking forward to him getting to know family and friends better, and celebrating his birthday and just getting to do life as a family of five. Thank you still for prayers and support for us. This is an amazing journey. :)
Honestly, the time home has gone so fast, and it seems like a long time ago that we were in China. We have had time to reflect on our trip now, develop some pictures, and we are so grateful that it was such a wonderful trip. If anyone ever wants to contact me, I would be happy to let you know any advice for going to China. Our hotels were some of the nicest we have ever stayed in, the food was really good, we could find anything we needed at grocery stores (especially in Guangzhou) and we met some wonderful people. The language barrier is definitely hard, especially any written language, but our guides were great and very helpful. Overall, I think we packed just fine. We did not know that the orphanage wouldn't give us his leg braces and walker, and he didn't like the stroller, so it was hard carrying him everywhere until a wonderful person loaned us a carrier that we used which was a huge help. China has such a rich culture and it's amazing to see things you thought you would only ever see in pictures. It's also a culture where you do not see disabled people, there are lots of orphans and it is just an accepted part of the society. We even noticed in the commercials there that you almost always see two parents and one child.
Now that we are home and spending lots of time together, we are finding out so much more about his personality. In China, he ate everything we offered him. Here, he is showing more preferences. He likes to pick out his clothes and toys and he loves to play with magnets and glue things and be silly to make people laugh. We had so many people praying for him to just be knit into our family and he truly is. Even looking at our pictures of Beijing, it looks like our family is incomplete to see pictures without him in them. He has the most gorgeous smile and he is kind and playful. We are just all so in love with him.
However, adoption is born of brokenness. There is no way around that, and it is heartbreaking to know that he has had to go through years in an orphanage and go through a confusing transition and be insecure and have to learn a new language, but God will build a plan B that is beautiful. He will now know love and God's word and hugs and kisses and sisters and a birthday and things that are just for him. It's not going to be easy. He is learning what it means to be in a family and how life works out side of an orphanage setting. In the years to come, he will have questions that we do not have the answers to. He will feel the brokenness and we can be here, but we can't know what he is feeling and what he is going through.
We are so excited to start to venture out more in the weeks to come and experience new things with him. We are looking forward to him getting to know family and friends better, and celebrating his birthday and just getting to do life as a family of five. Thank you still for prayers and support for us. This is an amazing journey. :)
Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created. James 1:16-18
Tuesday, February 10, 2015
They Will Know We Are Christians By Our LOVE
So, we got into the elevator at the hotel with another man who looked like a business man from Egypt or someplace close to there. He looked at us and said, "I have to ask you a question. I see lots of foreigners carrying Chinese children around. Why are they doing this?". We explained that we were all adopting the children and he looked confused. Please know that adoption is not at all accepted or done in some other countries. He asked, "So, you take them home and raise them forever? Do many people do this?" We explained that yes, they are ours forever and there are lots of families that do this, lots here right now. We of course did not know how he would react, but he was to his floor now and he got out of the elevator and smiled at us and said, "It is good. It is good."
I know that what saves us all is the belief in Christ, and not any good works. However, James also tells us that good works will follow when we become believers. I hate to think so many people in the world, especially in America see Christians as fake and hypocritical and do not see God's love shining through each of us. In truth, we are all sinners and we are all fallen, but shouldn't people be able to say, "Hey, those Christians certainly aren't perfect and they mess up, but you can really see LOVE shine through them." No one should be able to deny that we are a fallen bunch, but we do our best to be Christ-like.
We are kind of in a holding pattern right now here in Guangzhou. Since we got in barely before the shutdown for Chinese New Year, we do not have our consulate appointment until tomorrow morning and then we do not get his visa until Friday and they couldn't get us out on Saturday, so we will leave on Sunday. That means today is a hang out day, tomorrow we have an hour consulate appointment and then we hang out, then Friday we wait until afternoon for the visa, and then Saturday we head to Hong Kong. There is another lady here with her daughter who is in the same boat as us, so we are getting to know her better and she is such a great person that God had us planned to be together here. :) It is actually the same person who got our LOA switched months ago. So, we are having fun exploring Guangzhou and eating the delicious breakfast here and getting to hang out as a family of five. :)
I know that what saves us all is the belief in Christ, and not any good works. However, James also tells us that good works will follow when we become believers. I hate to think so many people in the world, especially in America see Christians as fake and hypocritical and do not see God's love shining through each of us. In truth, we are all sinners and we are all fallen, but shouldn't people be able to say, "Hey, those Christians certainly aren't perfect and they mess up, but you can really see LOVE shine through them." No one should be able to deny that we are a fallen bunch, but we do our best to be Christ-like.
We are kind of in a holding pattern right now here in Guangzhou. Since we got in barely before the shutdown for Chinese New Year, we do not have our consulate appointment until tomorrow morning and then we do not get his visa until Friday and they couldn't get us out on Saturday, so we will leave on Sunday. That means today is a hang out day, tomorrow we have an hour consulate appointment and then we hang out, then Friday we wait until afternoon for the visa, and then Saturday we head to Hong Kong. There is another lady here with her daughter who is in the same boat as us, so we are getting to know her better and she is such a great person that God had us planned to be together here. :) It is actually the same person who got our LOA switched months ago. So, we are having fun exploring Guangzhou and eating the delicious breakfast here and getting to hang out as a family of five. :)
What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it. In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. James 2:14-18
Saturday, February 7, 2015
In Guangzhou
Our internet has been a little spotty and we've been really busy, so I have a lot to catch up on. We are now in our first full day in Guangzhou. Today we had the medical exam and then a paperwork meeting to gather the paperwork for our Consulate Appointment. I cannot say enough about the amazing staff here who have just taken care of everything and made it go so easy and smoothly. We had an amazing guide, Lin, in Beijing, awesome people in Hohhot, Aggie and Rocky, and now Jack who is just the most organized person to handle the paperwork for 12 families at once!
So, on Wednesday in Hohhot, we went to a souvenir shop. However, when I say souvenir shop, I'm talking about a three story two building shop which had lots of beautiful things from his province with good prices. It was very nice to be able to get gifts for family and friends at home in one place, we bought things to give him on future birthdays, and the last room was lots of food, so he was able to pick out some favorite things that he likes and we could keep some familiar things around for him. Crunchy disks of cheese and little bags of seasoned beef tendons anyone? :) We were able to go to his finding spot and take pictures so I am so grateful that we will have those for him. We also ate at a delicious dumpling place which was so good!
On Thursday, we went to a natural history museum, ate at a hot pot restaurant, picked up his Chinese passport and headed back to the hotel to pack. On Friday, we got up to head to the airport. It was a little bittersweet to know that he is leaving his birthplace, but we know that this will be a new adventure for him. He did well on his first flight after a minor temper tantrum about the seat belt and having to sit alone and not getting to throw tomato crackers. After that, he was happy with markers, snacks, a seriously generous lunch for an airplane, and then Monkey Lunch Box on my phone when it got boring. We arrived in Guangzhou yesterday afternoon and oh my goodness The Garden Hotel is just amazing! We got to walk around Guangzhou last night and replenish our water and snack supply and we ate dinner at KFC-total Americans.
We had the medical exam today, and it was crowded. There are so many families here who were trying to get in and out before the Chinese New Year. Everything went smoothly, though, and everyone was in good spirits and we got to meet some people from other adoption groups. I met a totally nice homeschooling mom who lives in Pennsylvania. She and her husband homeschool their five biological children and this is their 5th adoption, so 10 children! She was great to talk to. Tomorrow we get to go to Shamen Island, which is where all of the adoptions used to take place. It's a little more historical and there are shops and apparently everyone likes to eat lunch at Lucy's. Starting Monday, the people in our group who have children under 2 have their consulate appointments.
One thing I really felt called to share with everyone really came to me when we were sitting there waiting for the medical appointments. If anyone out there is considering adoption, you can totally do this! I don't even know you, but, seriously, you can totally do this. While preparing for everything it is just so hard to imagine how this will actually look. There's so much fear and I know it's so easy to just take the safe route, but these children are just beautiful and so happy and there are so many of them growing up in orphanages. They are so excited to have a Mama and a Baba and as God's hands and feet on earth, I would like to encourage anyone thinking about taking the plunge-you can TOTALLY do this. Now that I've seen it all play out, it's totally doable.
So, we're really heading to the home stretch of this part of the journey. We tour tomorrow, have some free time Monday through Wednesday, Consulate Appointment on Thursday, get visa on Friday, head to Hong Kong on Friday night and fly home on Sunday. Thank you again and again to everyone for prayers. We feel surrounded by God and His presence is much needed here.
He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time,; but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher. 2 Timothy 9-11
So, on Wednesday in Hohhot, we went to a souvenir shop. However, when I say souvenir shop, I'm talking about a three story two building shop which had lots of beautiful things from his province with good prices. It was very nice to be able to get gifts for family and friends at home in one place, we bought things to give him on future birthdays, and the last room was lots of food, so he was able to pick out some favorite things that he likes and we could keep some familiar things around for him. Crunchy disks of cheese and little bags of seasoned beef tendons anyone? :) We were able to go to his finding spot and take pictures so I am so grateful that we will have those for him. We also ate at a delicious dumpling place which was so good!
On Thursday, we went to a natural history museum, ate at a hot pot restaurant, picked up his Chinese passport and headed back to the hotel to pack. On Friday, we got up to head to the airport. It was a little bittersweet to know that he is leaving his birthplace, but we know that this will be a new adventure for him. He did well on his first flight after a minor temper tantrum about the seat belt and having to sit alone and not getting to throw tomato crackers. After that, he was happy with markers, snacks, a seriously generous lunch for an airplane, and then Monkey Lunch Box on my phone when it got boring. We arrived in Guangzhou yesterday afternoon and oh my goodness The Garden Hotel is just amazing! We got to walk around Guangzhou last night and replenish our water and snack supply and we ate dinner at KFC-total Americans.
We had the medical exam today, and it was crowded. There are so many families here who were trying to get in and out before the Chinese New Year. Everything went smoothly, though, and everyone was in good spirits and we got to meet some people from other adoption groups. I met a totally nice homeschooling mom who lives in Pennsylvania. She and her husband homeschool their five biological children and this is their 5th adoption, so 10 children! She was great to talk to. Tomorrow we get to go to Shamen Island, which is where all of the adoptions used to take place. It's a little more historical and there are shops and apparently everyone likes to eat lunch at Lucy's. Starting Monday, the people in our group who have children under 2 have their consulate appointments.
One thing I really felt called to share with everyone really came to me when we were sitting there waiting for the medical appointments. If anyone out there is considering adoption, you can totally do this! I don't even know you, but, seriously, you can totally do this. While preparing for everything it is just so hard to imagine how this will actually look. There's so much fear and I know it's so easy to just take the safe route, but these children are just beautiful and so happy and there are so many of them growing up in orphanages. They are so excited to have a Mama and a Baba and as God's hands and feet on earth, I would like to encourage anyone thinking about taking the plunge-you can TOTALLY do this. Now that I've seen it all play out, it's totally doable.
So, we're really heading to the home stretch of this part of the journey. We tour tomorrow, have some free time Monday through Wednesday, Consulate Appointment on Thursday, get visa on Friday, head to Hong Kong on Friday night and fly home on Sunday. Thank you again and again to everyone for prayers. We feel surrounded by God and His presence is much needed here.
He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time,; but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher. 2 Timothy 9-11
Tuesday, February 3, 2015
Day 2 Hohhot
Day 2 in Hohhot almost over. Got to wake up early, around 4 am to little guy throwing up all over everything. Not sure what happened, but probably a combination of more food than he's used to, a very hot room and him still overdressed from the orphanage and possibly a bug, because the other little girl who was adopted from his orphanage threw up on the way to the hotel this morning. News to us, though. Apparently when we asked the hotel (a very nice five star Sheraton) to take away the sheets he threw up on and bring us new ones, they called our adoption guide and were planning to charge us about $100 for new sheets! She talked them down to just charging us a fee for washing them, but apparently you have to be careful with the sheets here in China!
Today we had our notary and Civil appointments, so lots more paperwork. We also got an amazing surprise, because I guess he was part of the Half The Sky program, so we got a binder FULL of pictures and notes from his entire four years at the orphanage!! I cannot even explain what a huge blessing that is and will be for his future. It had pictures from around every six months from the last four years. I truly couldn't believe it. They also gave us a traditional hat and outfit from Inner Mongolia and it is totally adorable. At first he didn't like the hat, but then he liked wearing it and bossing us around. :)
The rest of the day we just spent hanging out in the hotel room. I must admit that we will be ready to venture out a bit tomorrow. We even did baths at 4 pm today as something fun to do. He loves the water!! We are now eating instant oatmeal for dinner (I would highly recommend bringing packets if you ever come here, because there's a kettle in every room, so it's a nice filling and familiar meal) and getting ready to wind down since we were up so early. Tomorrow we are going to a shopping area and a dinosaur museum on Thursday and then Friday we head to Guangzhou. The temperatures here have been in the 20's and 30's and they're in the 60's and 70's in Guangzhou, so that should be a big change!
Thank you again for all of the prayers for us. He is such a happy guy, definitely grieving some, but he has totally attached to us and the girls which is a huge blessing and makes it a lot easier to be spending many hours together in the hotel. It will be a lot easier cocooning at home where there is more space and no charges for ruined sheets. :)
You are my strength, I watch for you; you, God, are my fortress, my God on whom I can rely. God will go before and will let me gloat over those who slander me.
Psalm 59:9-10
Today we had our notary and Civil appointments, so lots more paperwork. We also got an amazing surprise, because I guess he was part of the Half The Sky program, so we got a binder FULL of pictures and notes from his entire four years at the orphanage!! I cannot even explain what a huge blessing that is and will be for his future. It had pictures from around every six months from the last four years. I truly couldn't believe it. They also gave us a traditional hat and outfit from Inner Mongolia and it is totally adorable. At first he didn't like the hat, but then he liked wearing it and bossing us around. :)
The rest of the day we just spent hanging out in the hotel room. I must admit that we will be ready to venture out a bit tomorrow. We even did baths at 4 pm today as something fun to do. He loves the water!! We are now eating instant oatmeal for dinner (I would highly recommend bringing packets if you ever come here, because there's a kettle in every room, so it's a nice filling and familiar meal) and getting ready to wind down since we were up so early. Tomorrow we are going to a shopping area and a dinosaur museum on Thursday and then Friday we head to Guangzhou. The temperatures here have been in the 20's and 30's and they're in the 60's and 70's in Guangzhou, so that should be a big change!
Thank you again for all of the prayers for us. He is such a happy guy, definitely grieving some, but he has totally attached to us and the girls which is a huge blessing and makes it a lot easier to be spending many hours together in the hotel. It will be a lot easier cocooning at home where there is more space and no charges for ruined sheets. :)
You are my strength, I watch for you; you, God, are my fortress, my God on whom I can rely. God will go before and will let me gloat over those who slander me.
Psalm 59:9-10
Monday, February 2, 2015
In Hohhot
Well, it's late here and all three kids are sleeping, so I will fit in as much as I can to update people. We arrived in Beijing on Friday night and went right to the hotel. I'm not going to lie, our flight was long. I thought the girls would sleep more on the plane, but I think the unlimited movie screen in front of them was a heavy temptation, as well as the thought of sleeping in an airplane seat. We all got around 3 hours sleep, which was actually a blessing because when we got to Beijing we were all exhausted and were able to go right to sleep which has helped us immensely.
We were very busy in Beijing and we got to meet some other families that we will see again in Guangzhou. The first day we went to The Summer Palace, a silk factory, The Temple of Heaven and we saw an amazing acrobatic show that night. Again, we all fell into bed exhausted after. On Sunday, we saw the Great Wall which was so surreal and amazing. I will post some pictures as soon as we take the time to load some onto this computer. We flew to Hohhot last night, went to bed and got up early this morning to eat breakfast, exchange money and MEET OUR NEW SON!
I cannot even describe seeing him sitting in the chair in the lobby, like the pictures I have been seeing for a year come to life. He was so happy and let Chris hold him right away. We had to go to a meeting room and sign a bunch of papers and we could ask questions about his life from the orphanage workers. We also found out that we are not allowed to visit the orphanage, so that was very disappointing because we were hoping to have some pictures to show him in the future. He had a few tears, but for the most part he is just a joyously happy little boy. So amazing! He loves playing with his sisters and he has been carrying the cars we got him around everywhere. He is so gorgeous!
Tomorrow we get up early to do the notary appointment which will begin the process for his passport. Then we wait until Friday to receive it. He is so good about playing in the hotel room, which is good because it is very cold here! We just can't even describe the immense feeling of God's blessings that we were able to adopt him and make him a part of our family. It's beautiful and we are so grateful for the part everyone reading this has played, through prayers and help in numerous other ways. Please continue to pray for his heart, because he will continue grieving and missing everything he has lost, but for now we are so grateful for how the first day has gone. I will update whenever I can and add some pictures too. :)
We were very busy in Beijing and we got to meet some other families that we will see again in Guangzhou. The first day we went to The Summer Palace, a silk factory, The Temple of Heaven and we saw an amazing acrobatic show that night. Again, we all fell into bed exhausted after. On Sunday, we saw the Great Wall which was so surreal and amazing. I will post some pictures as soon as we take the time to load some onto this computer. We flew to Hohhot last night, went to bed and got up early this morning to eat breakfast, exchange money and MEET OUR NEW SON!
I cannot even describe seeing him sitting in the chair in the lobby, like the pictures I have been seeing for a year come to life. He was so happy and let Chris hold him right away. We had to go to a meeting room and sign a bunch of papers and we could ask questions about his life from the orphanage workers. We also found out that we are not allowed to visit the orphanage, so that was very disappointing because we were hoping to have some pictures to show him in the future. He had a few tears, but for the most part he is just a joyously happy little boy. So amazing! He loves playing with his sisters and he has been carrying the cars we got him around everywhere. He is so gorgeous!
Tomorrow we get up early to do the notary appointment which will begin the process for his passport. Then we wait until Friday to receive it. He is so good about playing in the hotel room, which is good because it is very cold here! We just can't even describe the immense feeling of God's blessings that we were able to adopt him and make him a part of our family. It's beautiful and we are so grateful for the part everyone reading this has played, through prayers and help in numerous other ways. Please continue to pray for his heart, because he will continue grieving and missing everything he has lost, but for now we are so grateful for how the first day has gone. I will update whenever I can and add some pictures too. :)
However, as it is written:“What no eye has seen what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived”—the things God has prepared for those who love him—these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.
The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 1 Corinthians 2:9-10
Thursday, January 29, 2015
We Are Off
It's so surreal. We are heading to the airport in an hour, off to Chicago, and then off to Beijing. It has been the biggest whirlwind of emotions and planning and packing in the last two weeks. Are we ready? Well, we have the paperwork, we have clothes, we have snacks, we have plane tickets and we have hotel reservations. We have been wanting him for a year now since we accepted his file and saw his face. I don't know about ready, though. However, we don't have to be. God will give us what we need at the time. We don't have to be ready for his teen years today. We don't have to have the house ready for everything that makes him comfortable today. We don't have to know his favorite foods, or what he likes to play or have him signed up for swimming lessons. We have to be open and trust that God will give us what we need today. Then tomorrow God will give us what we need then. Adoption is such a scary and exciting and emotional experience. Adoption was not God's first plan, but our world is broken and so He helps us make it another plan.
Please pray for our sweet boy. We have been praying that they are preparing him often and that his heart is as ready as it can be for the biggest event of his life. He is going to be losing so much and he doesn't really yet know what he will be gaining. Of course we would so appreciate you praying for our safe travels too. This is a BIG trip! We will do our best to blog and post pictures, but we are not sure how the internet will be there. Just know that God goes before us wherever we go. So it's all good. <><
Please pray for our sweet boy. We have been praying that they are preparing him often and that his heart is as ready as it can be for the biggest event of his life. He is going to be losing so much and he doesn't really yet know what he will be gaining. Of course we would so appreciate you praying for our safe travels too. This is a BIG trip! We will do our best to blog and post pictures, but we are not sure how the internet will be there. Just know that God goes before us wherever we go. So it's all good. <><
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:25-34
Wednesday, January 21, 2015
We Are Going To China!!!
Well, we've had a busy week! So, we got our Article 5 Pick Up on January 8. Our agency said it would be about 2-3 weeks before we got Travel Approval and then we would travel about 2 weeks later. However, I started seeing on our LID Facebook page that people were getting Travel Approval last week and Consulate Appointments for the first week of February, so of course I got excited!
Lots of people got their TA last Friday, so I kindly and patiently (ha ha) emailed our agency just to see if they got ours. Well, they had gotten five TA's but now ours and all of those people got Gotcha Days of February 2. So, I reluctantly asked if we would find out Monday. Guess what? Monday was a holiday, so Tuesday would be the earliest we could hear. You know how when you ask God to help you practice patience and in His ironic wisdom, He gives you opportunities to practice patience? :)
So, Tuesday we calmly and totally undistractedly start doing school work. I may have possibly been watching the clock until it became 8 am on the west coast. Then 8:30. Then 9. Then a little after 11 am our time the phone rings....FROM OREGON!!! We got our TA and they were going to request at Gotcha day for us for Feburary 2!! I didn't know if that was still even a possibility, so that was so exciting!! So, we had some forms to fill out and send in, so we got on that. We did go back to schoolwork, but M was so excited she couldn't concentrate on math, so we illustrated Greek myths and journaled about China. So I again, totally calmly and patiently asked if we would find out that evening if we got our days.
OH, I totally forgot to mention that we found out one little other bit of information. China doesn't do any Consulate Appointments the middle two weeks of February, so if we didn't get the February 2 Gotcha Day, we would have to wait three more weeks until February 23. Now, I know that three weeks doesn't seem like much of a deal, especially after waiting a year after seeing his face, and almost four years since we started the adoption process, BUT when you're this close, three weeks is a lot. So, yesterday we found out about our TA and we knew that we would find out about our for sure appointment this morning. OH, did I mention that since they were trying to fit us in before Chinese New Year, if we get this appointment (which would be awesome) we have to fly out NEXT WEEK!! So, we spent yesterday kind of getting ready since we could leave in a week, but kind of not wanting to get too excited in case we weren't leaving for a month.
SO....to end the suspense, we had an email waiting for us this morning (three emails actually) and WE HAVE A GOTCHA DAY OF FEBRUARY 2 and WE LEAVE NEXT WEEK!!! AAAAAHHHHH! We are beyond excited, and trying to plan everything and decide where to even start with preparing everything. Please pray for our new son, our travel, our planning and everything else that will happen in the next three weeks. We will keep this posted and then start turning it into a travel blog!!!! Thank you for everyone's continued support, donations and prayers!!
But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations. Psalm 33:11
Lots of people got their TA last Friday, so I kindly and patiently (ha ha) emailed our agency just to see if they got ours. Well, they had gotten five TA's but now ours and all of those people got Gotcha Days of February 2. So, I reluctantly asked if we would find out Monday. Guess what? Monday was a holiday, so Tuesday would be the earliest we could hear. You know how when you ask God to help you practice patience and in His ironic wisdom, He gives you opportunities to practice patience? :)
So, Tuesday we calmly and totally undistractedly start doing school work. I may have possibly been watching the clock until it became 8 am on the west coast. Then 8:30. Then 9. Then a little after 11 am our time the phone rings....FROM OREGON!!! We got our TA and they were going to request at Gotcha day for us for Feburary 2!! I didn't know if that was still even a possibility, so that was so exciting!! So, we had some forms to fill out and send in, so we got on that. We did go back to schoolwork, but M was so excited she couldn't concentrate on math, so we illustrated Greek myths and journaled about China. So I again, totally calmly and patiently asked if we would find out that evening if we got our days.
OH, I totally forgot to mention that we found out one little other bit of information. China doesn't do any Consulate Appointments the middle two weeks of February, so if we didn't get the February 2 Gotcha Day, we would have to wait three more weeks until February 23. Now, I know that three weeks doesn't seem like much of a deal, especially after waiting a year after seeing his face, and almost four years since we started the adoption process, BUT when you're this close, three weeks is a lot. So, yesterday we found out about our TA and we knew that we would find out about our for sure appointment this morning. OH, did I mention that since they were trying to fit us in before Chinese New Year, if we get this appointment (which would be awesome) we have to fly out NEXT WEEK!! So, we spent yesterday kind of getting ready since we could leave in a week, but kind of not wanting to get too excited in case we weren't leaving for a month.
SO....to end the suspense, we had an email waiting for us this morning (three emails actually) and WE HAVE A GOTCHA DAY OF FEBRUARY 2 and WE LEAVE NEXT WEEK!!! AAAAAHHHHH! We are beyond excited, and trying to plan everything and decide where to even start with preparing everything. Please pray for our new son, our travel, our planning and everything else that will happen in the next three weeks. We will keep this posted and then start turning it into a travel blog!!!! Thank you for everyone's continued support, donations and prayers!!
But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations. Psalm 33:11
Thursday, January 15, 2015
And now it's January!
I seriously do not know where the time goes. Every time I think about blogging it seems like it haven't been that long since I blogged, but then it really has! We had a very fun Christmas although again it felt like part of our family was missing. We really thought we would have him here by Christmas, so that was disappointing, but we have to trust in God's perfect timing. We got to have my sister and niece here, as well as my grandma, so that was so much fun! Last New Year's Eve we started writing down our predictions for the next year, and looking at what we wrote down last year. Last year we predicted that we would adopt a little boy. Last January, we didn't even know his name and now he is woven into our hearts.
Last week, on January 8 we had our Article 5 pick up. Now we are just waiting on TA (Travel Approval). It seems like we are SO CLOSE, but kind of crazy that we still don't have a date. We are at the point where we keep looking at the calendar and gauging everything by our possible trip. Will we go to another co-op? How many AWANA's will we miss? Can I teach my next Sunday school rotation? Should we start packing now? I am definitely a planner by nature, so this is blowing all of that out of the water. If you want to practice a little more "Let Go and Let God", just pursue adoption. :)
So, in the meantime, I have been working on an ultimate packing list, setting up his room, buying remedies for anything we have heard might be a problem eating and drinking in China, making sure everyone has gloves and coats, learning some more Chinese phrases and praying, praying, praying. We have felt like he has been a part of our family for almost a year now and we are so ready for him to physically be here. It's so very exciting and I can't believe that in a month we could be sitting in China as a family of five!!!
I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. John 14:18-19
Last week, on January 8 we had our Article 5 pick up. Now we are just waiting on TA (Travel Approval). It seems like we are SO CLOSE, but kind of crazy that we still don't have a date. We are at the point where we keep looking at the calendar and gauging everything by our possible trip. Will we go to another co-op? How many AWANA's will we miss? Can I teach my next Sunday school rotation? Should we start packing now? I am definitely a planner by nature, so this is blowing all of that out of the water. If you want to practice a little more "Let Go and Let God", just pursue adoption. :)
So, in the meantime, I have been working on an ultimate packing list, setting up his room, buying remedies for anything we have heard might be a problem eating and drinking in China, making sure everyone has gloves and coats, learning some more Chinese phrases and praying, praying, praying. We have felt like he has been a part of our family for almost a year now and we are so ready for him to physically be here. It's so very exciting and I can't believe that in a month we could be sitting in China as a family of five!!!
I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. John 14:18-19
Monday, December 15, 2014
It's December!
So, we are into December and we have lots going on! We have received our visas, Provisional Approval, NVC Approval and submitted our DS-260. We are not waiting on Article 5 Pick Up and then Travel Approval. We were also approved for ten year visas which will make it easier to adopt again. We also had our trivia night, which was SO MUCH FUN! If anyone in adoption world ever needs help doing a trivia night, I would be happy to help because it was so much fun! So, now we are just enjoying the season, scouring the internet for China packing advice and waiting for the next piece of paper.
We did decide to do an orphanage call through Ladybugs N Love, which is the person we had used to send him two packages. I will include the questions I asked, because I also scoured the internet to find out what questions people ask. You got ten questions with the phone call. We asked:
1. What are his favorite foods?
2. What does he like to play?
3. Does he have any favorite songs?
4. Does he walk independently with his walker?
5. What does he dislike?
6. How does he feel about being adopted and moving?
7. What is his usual daily schedule?
8. What makes him happy?
9. What makes him sad?
10. What is he afraid of?
We also asked if the orphanage had any specific needs we could bring as donations when we come.
We were so incredibly excited to find out his latest sizes and especially to find out lots more about his personality. Unfortunately a few days later, we received an email that his orphanage only answers questions from a particular group in China so they would not complete an orphanage call. Remember my last blog post about things not working out the way we had planned them? Our agency contact has contacted China to see if we can get any of the information before we travel, but we know that there is a good chance that we will not here back. It's hard, but there is nothing we can do about it except to continue to pray for him.
It has been so long that we have been pursuing adoption and it has been 10 months since we first accepted his file. We have been so ready to bring him into our family and we are so thrilled that the time is getting closer! Please keep praying for his heart and his protection and for people to be sharing information with him about his upcoming adoption and move.
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. James 1:2-5
We did decide to do an orphanage call through Ladybugs N Love, which is the person we had used to send him two packages. I will include the questions I asked, because I also scoured the internet to find out what questions people ask. You got ten questions with the phone call. We asked:
1. What are his favorite foods?
2. What does he like to play?
3. Does he have any favorite songs?
4. Does he walk independently with his walker?
5. What does he dislike?
6. How does he feel about being adopted and moving?
7. What is his usual daily schedule?
8. What makes him happy?
9. What makes him sad?
10. What is he afraid of?
We also asked if the orphanage had any specific needs we could bring as donations when we come.
We were so incredibly excited to find out his latest sizes and especially to find out lots more about his personality. Unfortunately a few days later, we received an email that his orphanage only answers questions from a particular group in China so they would not complete an orphanage call. Remember my last blog post about things not working out the way we had planned them? Our agency contact has contacted China to see if we can get any of the information before we travel, but we know that there is a good chance that we will not here back. It's hard, but there is nothing we can do about it except to continue to pray for him.
It has been so long that we have been pursuing adoption and it has been 10 months since we first accepted his file. We have been so ready to bring him into our family and we are so thrilled that the time is getting closer! Please keep praying for his heart and his protection and for people to be sharing information with him about his upcoming adoption and move.
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. James 1:2-5
Saturday, November 22, 2014
LOA, Visas and Trivia Night
Well, it finally happened! On day 80 of our wait, we received LOA!! We got the call from our agency literally as we were walking out the door to church. The girls looked at the phone and said, "It's from Oregon. We don't know anyone from Oregon," to which I yelled, "Yes we do!!" and grabbed the phone. Our agency had just received our LOA and was sending it out that night! It was so great to be able to move onto the next step, and to have something to do again to help the process along. So, we were supposed to have our package on Friday and then we could send off our I-800 application. The package came on Friday, but I was watching my nephews and didn't open it. Then our agency called that evening, which I thought was weird. She asked if I had received my package and if I had opened it. It turns out she had switched the package with another family who received their LOA on the same day.
Now, our poor adoption coordinator felt terrible. She has never done this in 11 years of working, so we overnighted it to the other family and received it on Monday instead. Was it hard to wait the weekend? Yes. Is everyone human and makes mistakes? Of course. Is God trying to teach me something through this? Let's find out.
When we moved here, M needed two teeth pulled in order to start her orthodontia work. We found a dentist and I dreaded the day we would go in and have her teeth pulled. I sat in the waiting room for well over an hour and waited until they would come tell me she was fine and at least this would all be behind us. They came and got me and told me that they had tried and tried and they couldn't get the teeth out. What?! So, we had to research and find an oral surgeon and then she had a successful oral surgery and her teeth were pulled. You want to know how God helps you to stop worrying and trust Him? He gives you things to worry about so that you can replace it with trust for Him.
Then this summer A had a minor fall which led to her in a neck brace for a month. When we went back, they took x-rays and released her no problem. Then they called us in the car as we were driving away to tell us to put the brace back on. The specialist did not like what he saw in the x-rays and could we come back the next day for more x-rays and schedule an MRI. What?! Fast forward, and she needed surgery. Spinal fusion surgery. They set the day in August and I struggled. My baby having major surgery on her neck, by her skull, and drilling into her spine. I prayed, God gave me a peace even though I still hated it, but we were ready to have it behind us. The day came, I let her go-her crying for me and asking to go home. We sat in the waiting room with family for 3 hours and then the surgeon came out. WHAT?! He's supposed to be in surgery! They had been prepping her this whole time and her nerve impulses were not responding the way they should. They tried everything they could and they were afraid if they continued it could cause permanent damage, so they were aborting the surgery and they would do more tests and reschedule it. Huh?? So, we waited for her to wake up and we took her home. Long story short, she had her surgery completely successfully a month ago (the nerve problem didn't show up at all this time-I fully feel due to the huge number of people praying for healing for her) and she is doing awesome and now that part is behind us.
How does God help us to stop worrying and trusting Him? We have to have those opportunities to do so. It doesn't count if we say we trust Him, but we don't have challenges to prove it. The journey of life teaches us this, but wow, so does adoption. The amount of money going out, the concerns about what he will think of us, concerns about if he is safe and comfortable in an orphanage I can't even find information about on google, planning a trip for five in China for weeks, and just trying to prepare for anything. He wants us to TRUST HIM. We don't know what's around the corner. Even when we think we do, often we don't. We have to have faith in God's plan and look towards eternity as our goal. This world will pass and the things that matter to us so much really won't.
We sent off for our visas today and we are waiting to hear back now about our I-800. It's getting real now and we are so crazy excited to think that we could be just a couple of months away from being a family of five and it is just awesome. When we let go and let God, He can do amazing things with our surrendered lives.
I've used it before, but this is the verse God has given to me over and over again:
Have I not commanded you. Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9
Now, our poor adoption coordinator felt terrible. She has never done this in 11 years of working, so we overnighted it to the other family and received it on Monday instead. Was it hard to wait the weekend? Yes. Is everyone human and makes mistakes? Of course. Is God trying to teach me something through this? Let's find out.
When we moved here, M needed two teeth pulled in order to start her orthodontia work. We found a dentist and I dreaded the day we would go in and have her teeth pulled. I sat in the waiting room for well over an hour and waited until they would come tell me she was fine and at least this would all be behind us. They came and got me and told me that they had tried and tried and they couldn't get the teeth out. What?! So, we had to research and find an oral surgeon and then she had a successful oral surgery and her teeth were pulled. You want to know how God helps you to stop worrying and trust Him? He gives you things to worry about so that you can replace it with trust for Him.
Then this summer A had a minor fall which led to her in a neck brace for a month. When we went back, they took x-rays and released her no problem. Then they called us in the car as we were driving away to tell us to put the brace back on. The specialist did not like what he saw in the x-rays and could we come back the next day for more x-rays and schedule an MRI. What?! Fast forward, and she needed surgery. Spinal fusion surgery. They set the day in August and I struggled. My baby having major surgery on her neck, by her skull, and drilling into her spine. I prayed, God gave me a peace even though I still hated it, but we were ready to have it behind us. The day came, I let her go-her crying for me and asking to go home. We sat in the waiting room with family for 3 hours and then the surgeon came out. WHAT?! He's supposed to be in surgery! They had been prepping her this whole time and her nerve impulses were not responding the way they should. They tried everything they could and they were afraid if they continued it could cause permanent damage, so they were aborting the surgery and they would do more tests and reschedule it. Huh?? So, we waited for her to wake up and we took her home. Long story short, she had her surgery completely successfully a month ago (the nerve problem didn't show up at all this time-I fully feel due to the huge number of people praying for healing for her) and she is doing awesome and now that part is behind us.
How does God help us to stop worrying and trusting Him? We have to have those opportunities to do so. It doesn't count if we say we trust Him, but we don't have challenges to prove it. The journey of life teaches us this, but wow, so does adoption. The amount of money going out, the concerns about what he will think of us, concerns about if he is safe and comfortable in an orphanage I can't even find information about on google, planning a trip for five in China for weeks, and just trying to prepare for anything. He wants us to TRUST HIM. We don't know what's around the corner. Even when we think we do, often we don't. We have to have faith in God's plan and look towards eternity as our goal. This world will pass and the things that matter to us so much really won't.
We sent off for our visas today and we are waiting to hear back now about our I-800. It's getting real now and we are so crazy excited to think that we could be just a couple of months away from being a family of five and it is just awesome. When we let go and let God, He can do amazing things with our surrendered lives.
I've used it before, but this is the verse God has given to me over and over again:
Have I not commanded you. Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9
Saturday, November 8, 2014
Trivia Night Fundraiser!!
Well, bad news is that we do not have LOA yet, although on our Facebook group people right around us on LID dates have received their LOA's this week, so prayerfully very soon! So far, the waiting has definitely been the hardest part of this thing. To have seen his sweet face and then just wait to have him join our family. I'm sure in hindsight it won't seem that long and it will seem like we've always had him, but for now each day is hard.
SO, onto the good news! We are having what will probably be our last big fundraiser to help us pay for our trip to China! We are going to have a Christmas themed Trivia Night!! If you are from St. Louis, you probably already know about trivia nights and how awesome they are, but since we live in Fort Worth now, this might need some explanation.
So, here's how it works. You pay for your seat and then sit in tables of 8. There are 10 rounds of categories, in this case all relating to Christmas, and each table competes with the other tables for a prize at the end. It is very fast paced, lots of multimedia and so much fun! We are including kids in this trivia night too, so all of the categories will be things that the kids can participate in . We are also doing a silent auction in conjunction and we already have some fun items for the auction!! We think this is a totally fun way to raise money for our trip. With four people going to China, five coming back, all of the fees for the paperwork over there and the $5,000 donation that we make to the orphanage, every little big helps right now.
So, to sign up for the trivia night, our wonderful friend, Kristin, make us a beautiful flyer which is on our website along with a link to sign up: forever home.us or you can sign up at this link:
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0f4aaba92aa4fa7-christmas
We also found an article talking about trivia nights in St. Louis to give you an idea of what one is like: http://www.npr.org/2013/02/08/171279214/in-st-louis-trivia-is-no-trivial-pursuit
Prayerfully we will be posting very soon about getting our LOA. We are at 77 days waiting since LID right now, but who's counting? :)
Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint. Isaiah 40:30-31
SO, onto the good news! We are having what will probably be our last big fundraiser to help us pay for our trip to China! We are going to have a Christmas themed Trivia Night!! If you are from St. Louis, you probably already know about trivia nights and how awesome they are, but since we live in Fort Worth now, this might need some explanation.
So, here's how it works. You pay for your seat and then sit in tables of 8. There are 10 rounds of categories, in this case all relating to Christmas, and each table competes with the other tables for a prize at the end. It is very fast paced, lots of multimedia and so much fun! We are including kids in this trivia night too, so all of the categories will be things that the kids can participate in . We are also doing a silent auction in conjunction and we already have some fun items for the auction!! We think this is a totally fun way to raise money for our trip. With four people going to China, five coming back, all of the fees for the paperwork over there and the $5,000 donation that we make to the orphanage, every little big helps right now.
So, to sign up for the trivia night, our wonderful friend, Kristin, make us a beautiful flyer which is on our website along with a link to sign up: forever home.us or you can sign up at this link:
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0f4aaba92aa4fa7-christmas
We also found an article talking about trivia nights in St. Louis to give you an idea of what one is like: http://www.npr.org/2013/02/08/171279214/in-st-louis-trivia-is-no-trivial-pursuit
Prayerfully we will be posting very soon about getting our LOA. We are at 77 days waiting since LID right now, but who's counting? :)
Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint. Isaiah 40:30-31
Friday, October 24, 2014
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
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
Saturday, September 20, 2014
Give 1 Save 1 Finale Giveaway!!
Okay, so we are about to end our week with Give 1 Save 1. We hope that you have "liked" them on Facebook or subscribed to their blog so that you can see a family every week that you could donate a little bit to help out with their adoption efforts. Adoption is hard and paying for it is a challenge, so everyone appreciates help. We also hope that you have checked out our website and blog and will continue to follow us on our journey. We always appreciate comments, prayers, support and we are so excited to share all of this with our sweet Marcus some day.
BUT, we also promised an end of the week giveaway for a finale to our Give 1 Save 1 journey! So, here is....
Anyone who has donated this week up until midnight tomorrow night (Sunday, okay, technically Monday by midnight) will be entered in a drawing for a fabulous dinner/movie/game night pack!
What is included:
-A Chic Fila gift card
-A pack of Jelly Bellies
-The card game, UNO
-A copy of the movie, "God's Not Dead"
We will also put people's names in who have purchased T-shirts this week or donated to participate in the Virtual 5K. So, check out our website tonight and tomorrow and donate, get a new t-shirt or decide to walk or run a 5K since the weather is getting cooler. We will announce the winner on Monday! God bless and everyone have a wonderful end to your weekend!!
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21
BUT, we also promised an end of the week giveaway for a finale to our Give 1 Save 1 journey! So, here is....
Anyone who has donated this week up until midnight tomorrow night (Sunday, okay, technically Monday by midnight) will be entered in a drawing for a fabulous dinner/movie/game night pack!
What is included:
-A Chic Fila gift card
-A pack of Jelly Bellies
-The card game, UNO
-A copy of the movie, "God's Not Dead"
We will also put people's names in who have purchased T-shirts this week or donated to participate in the Virtual 5K. So, check out our website tonight and tomorrow and donate, get a new t-shirt or decide to walk or run a 5K since the weather is getting cooler. We will announce the winner on Monday! God bless and everyone have a wonderful end to your weekend!!
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21
Wednesday, September 17, 2014
Give 1 Save 1 Giveaway TODAY!!
Okay, it's time for a Give 1 Save 1 Giveaway!
We will do two giveaways this week, one today (Wednesday) and one Sunday. Everyone who has made a donation of any amount by 9:00 pm tonight will be entered to win FIVE in the package LEGO movie mini figures!! We will draw two names and each winner will be shipped FIVE random mini figures. So, keep sharing our video and donate today!! Thank you so much to everyone who has blessed us so far with prayers, encouragement, and donations. We cannot wait to tell Marcus about this whole experience some day!
Here's the link to the Give 1 Save 1 page:
http://giveonesaveone.blogspot.com
Here's the link to our other website with more information and the ways to donate.
foreverhome.us
For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:14-19
We will do two giveaways this week, one today (Wednesday) and one Sunday. Everyone who has made a donation of any amount by 9:00 pm tonight will be entered to win FIVE in the package LEGO movie mini figures!! We will draw two names and each winner will be shipped FIVE random mini figures. So, keep sharing our video and donate today!! Thank you so much to everyone who has blessed us so far with prayers, encouragement, and donations. We cannot wait to tell Marcus about this whole experience some day!
Here's the link to the Give 1 Save 1 page:
http://giveonesaveone.blogspot.com
Here's the link to our other website with more information and the ways to donate.
foreverhome.us
For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:14-19
Sunday, September 14, 2014
Give 1 Save 1 Day 1
Welcome to our blog for Give 1 Save 1!! We are so excited about this week to feature our adoption and prayerfully raise some money for our trip to China. So, please check out our video to learn a little bit about us and donate to us via Adopt Together, Pay Pal, our virtual 5K or by purchasing shirts from Adoption Bug. Everything you need to donate is found on: foreverhome.us
If you don't want to read through all of our blog posts right now, I will tell you a little about us. We are a family of four with two biological daughters. We moved from St. Louis, MO to Fort Worth, TX in December. We began our adoption journey by pursuing an adoption of a child or siblings from Ethiopia. After years on the waiting list, we then found our son in China. He is four years old and he has spinal issues. We have our PA and LID and we are waiting on LOA and TA and praying for a travel date in January. We are so excited to get to go and meet him and bring him to Texas. All four of us are going to fly over to meet him and spend family time in China.
We will be doing a couple of giveaways and videos through the week, so stay tuned! We are loving this journey and just so amazed by how we have seen God's hand through this whole process. Thank you for being a part of our story!!
And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord's holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge-that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:17b-19
If you don't want to read through all of our blog posts right now, I will tell you a little about us. We are a family of four with two biological daughters. We moved from St. Louis, MO to Fort Worth, TX in December. We began our adoption journey by pursuing an adoption of a child or siblings from Ethiopia. After years on the waiting list, we then found our son in China. He is four years old and he has spinal issues. We have our PA and LID and we are waiting on LOA and TA and praying for a travel date in January. We are so excited to get to go and meet him and bring him to Texas. All four of us are going to fly over to meet him and spend family time in China.
We will be doing a couple of giveaways and videos through the week, so stay tuned! We are loving this journey and just so amazed by how we have seen God's hand through this whole process. Thank you for being a part of our story!!
And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord's holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge-that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:17b-19
Sunday, September 7, 2014
Give 1 Save 1, LID and Adoption Bug!
So, summer is over, we are on a more regular schedule of homeschooling again and we have had some fun news in the last couple of weeks. We are still praying that we can go get our little boy before the end of the year or soon thereafter, but we are getting closer!
So, first in adoption news, we received our LID (Logged In Date) on August 22! This means that our dossier has been logged into the system and China will translate it, review it and send us our LOA (Letter of Acceptance) and then we wait for TA (Travel Approval). Right now each of these steps are taking around 60-70 days, so we are praying that ours moves as quickly as possible through the steps. We have decided to send our little guy another care package. Although we are trying to save money, it has been six months since we sent him a birthday package and that is just so long for a four year old, so we want to send him an update to let him know that we are thinking about him and praying for him every day. Whenever we do something fun as a family, I feel like someone is missing and we just can't wait until he is here to participate in everything with us! We don't want him in an orphanage with 299 other sweet kids any more. We want him to be part of a family of 5.
For our first fundraising news, we submitted a video and application and we found out that we are going to be the featured family on Give 1 Save 1 for the week of September 15!! Give 1 Save 1 is a wonderful organization that features adoptive families each week and encourages everyone who sees the video to Give $1 and Save 1 orphan. We have all watched our video at least 20 times and we are SO excited to get to share it next Sunday!!! We are updating our other website, foreverhome.us, and we are so grateful to anyone who will view and share our video, and donate next week!
In March, we promoted our Adoption Bug fundraiser with some awesome T-shirts that promote adoption and Show Hope. Unfortunately, Adoption Bug, which is a family run business, will be shutting down in October because the family simply doesn't have time to run it. So, if you would like to purchase a T-shirt and support them and our adoption, they will be accepting orders until October 1, 2014. To order from our page, you go to:
http://www.adoptionbug.com/ryanfamilyroundup/
This adoption journey has been such a long four years between pursuing an Ethiopian adoption, moving to a new state, finding our son in China and now spending the last six months pursuing him, we are so excited to meet him and bring him into our family. We already feel like he is part of us and we haven't even gotten to meet him. We are so grateful for the support, prayers and financial support we have received through this process. We are so excited that we are entering into phases like Travel Approval!! Stay tuned for our video premiere and updates on our Give 1 Save 1 week!!
So, first in adoption news, we received our LID (Logged In Date) on August 22! This means that our dossier has been logged into the system and China will translate it, review it and send us our LOA (Letter of Acceptance) and then we wait for TA (Travel Approval). Right now each of these steps are taking around 60-70 days, so we are praying that ours moves as quickly as possible through the steps. We have decided to send our little guy another care package. Although we are trying to save money, it has been six months since we sent him a birthday package and that is just so long for a four year old, so we want to send him an update to let him know that we are thinking about him and praying for him every day. Whenever we do something fun as a family, I feel like someone is missing and we just can't wait until he is here to participate in everything with us! We don't want him in an orphanage with 299 other sweet kids any more. We want him to be part of a family of 5.
For our first fundraising news, we submitted a video and application and we found out that we are going to be the featured family on Give 1 Save 1 for the week of September 15!! Give 1 Save 1 is a wonderful organization that features adoptive families each week and encourages everyone who sees the video to Give $1 and Save 1 orphan. We have all watched our video at least 20 times and we are SO excited to get to share it next Sunday!!! We are updating our other website, foreverhome.us, and we are so grateful to anyone who will view and share our video, and donate next week!
In March, we promoted our Adoption Bug fundraiser with some awesome T-shirts that promote adoption and Show Hope. Unfortunately, Adoption Bug, which is a family run business, will be shutting down in October because the family simply doesn't have time to run it. So, if you would like to purchase a T-shirt and support them and our adoption, they will be accepting orders until October 1, 2014. To order from our page, you go to:
http://www.adoptionbug.com/ryanfamilyroundup/
This adoption journey has been such a long four years between pursuing an Ethiopian adoption, moving to a new state, finding our son in China and now spending the last six months pursuing him, we are so excited to meet him and bring him into our family. We already feel like he is part of us and we haven't even gotten to meet him. We are so grateful for the support, prayers and financial support we have received through this process. We are so excited that we are entering into phases like Travel Approval!! Stay tuned for our video premiere and updates on our Give 1 Save 1 week!!
Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations. Psalm 100
Thursday, August 7, 2014
Time To Get Back To Blogging!
We have had a super busy summer! Lots of fun time together, trip back to St. Louis, camps and VBS's, also some medical issues with our little girl which will result in a surgery soon, but altogether a fun summer which has been keeping us very busy.
On the adoption front, we got our dossier sent off and it should be completed and shipped off to China any day now. We received our fingerprint approval, I800A form, on July 10! Now we just wait on China to (prayerfully speedily) approve our documents and get us LID and Travel Approval! We are so hopeful to travel for him before the end of the year, but trusting in God's timing. It's so hard because every fun thing we do I feel like he is just missing out and I wish he could be here with us to start his life as part of our family. I wonder how he is doing and what he is eating and what he is learning and what he knows and just everything! We already love him so much and we want to share that with him.
We have been doing some fundraising to pay for our travel with our agency, buy our plane tickets when the time comes and pay for five of us in China. We were blessed to receive a matching grant that will cover most of what we will owe to our agency and we have a short term fundraiser and three longer term ones.
For the shorter term fundraiser, we have a Noonday show this Sunday. For any of you who do not know about Noonday, it is an amazing organization that allows women around the world to make jewelry and support their family and often help them to be able to keep their children and then people purchase the jewelry here in the states and raise money for adoptive families. Our Noonday show will be open online for a week starting this Sunday, so if you would like the information, please just leave a comment and I will be happy to get the information to you.
The longer term fundraisers we are doing are change jars (we have already had friends that have been so generous with these including two sweet boys at our church who took money that they had been saving up and donated it for our sweet boy!) which we are happy to provide to anyone, our T-shirts at adoptionbug.com and our virtual 5K. You can see information on all of these fundraisers at www.foreverhome.us.
We are getting ready to jump back into a more regular school schedule after the surgery and starting a new co-op with some new friends. Please continue to pray for our sweet boy and God preparing his heart for this big change coming up for him. We are so excited for so many firsts we will get to experience with him once he is here.
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9
On the adoption front, we got our dossier sent off and it should be completed and shipped off to China any day now. We received our fingerprint approval, I800A form, on July 10! Now we just wait on China to (prayerfully speedily) approve our documents and get us LID and Travel Approval! We are so hopeful to travel for him before the end of the year, but trusting in God's timing. It's so hard because every fun thing we do I feel like he is just missing out and I wish he could be here with us to start his life as part of our family. I wonder how he is doing and what he is eating and what he is learning and what he knows and just everything! We already love him so much and we want to share that with him.
We have been doing some fundraising to pay for our travel with our agency, buy our plane tickets when the time comes and pay for five of us in China. We were blessed to receive a matching grant that will cover most of what we will owe to our agency and we have a short term fundraiser and three longer term ones.
For the shorter term fundraiser, we have a Noonday show this Sunday. For any of you who do not know about Noonday, it is an amazing organization that allows women around the world to make jewelry and support their family and often help them to be able to keep their children and then people purchase the jewelry here in the states and raise money for adoptive families. Our Noonday show will be open online for a week starting this Sunday, so if you would like the information, please just leave a comment and I will be happy to get the information to you.
The longer term fundraisers we are doing are change jars (we have already had friends that have been so generous with these including two sweet boys at our church who took money that they had been saving up and donated it for our sweet boy!) which we are happy to provide to anyone, our T-shirts at adoptionbug.com and our virtual 5K. You can see information on all of these fundraisers at www.foreverhome.us.
We are getting ready to jump back into a more regular school schedule after the surgery and starting a new co-op with some new friends. Please continue to pray for our sweet boy and God preparing his heart for this big change coming up for him. We are so excited for so many firsts we will get to experience with him once he is here.
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9
Sunday, May 11, 2014
Who Wants To Run A 5K?
Since I last posted, we have been moving along as quickly as possible with all of our paperwork. We received our completed home study and had all of the immigration documents ready to go, so we sent off our NBC application last week. Now we wait for approval and fingerprint appointments and then, after a few more pieces of paperwork, travel approval! It's so hard knowing that someone else is putting him to bed each night, and that he is missing out on being a part of a family, but I have also had many friends remind me that things will happen in God's time.
So the other two VERY exciting things that have happened is that we received our first grant (YIPPEE!) which is a matching grant, and our wonderful friend offered to put together a virtual 5K for us! The purpose of a matching grant is that we are awarded a grant of $2000 if we can raise $2000. This would then give us $4000 for our travel payment to our agency which includes our travel reservations, hotels, in country travel, etc. This is all very very exciting, but now we need to fundraise. This is where YOU get to play a part!
I am putting the link below where my eloquent friend describes a virtual 5K better than I could, but basically you can somehow move your body 5K (otherwise known as 3.1 miles) and you pay an entrance fee the same way you would for any other race and you get a beautiful medal and you get to be a part of our adoption journey and help one less child live as an orphan. We would love for as many people as possible to participate in this since it is a great way to exercise and to be part of a unique opportunity to help us fundraise and have your donation doubled by our matching grant. You don't even have to do the 5K all at one time. It can be broken up over days or however long you need. We are so grateful to our amazing friend for putting this all together for us and for supporting us in this way. Here's the link:
http://www.foreverhome.us
We have also had friends ask us how they can specifically pray for our adoption. What has really been on our hearts is to pray that our sweet little boy's heart is prepared. No matter how you look at it, it's a scary situation to be handed over to people you do not know, who do not speak your language, who cook differently and act differently and dress differently, and who you have never met before. We know that living in a family will be better than living in an orphanage, but he cannot know that. We trust God to be with him and help him, but we pray that he will specifically be prepared for this and to have a sense of joy and peace about it. We pray that the people around him can be preparing him for this and to help give him an idea of what will happen. We would be so appreciative if you joined us in praying for him.
Well, that's a lot of information for one blog post, so please check out the 5K website and I will keep everyone posted about any progress!
"However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me-the task of testifying to the good news of God's grace." Acts 20:24
So the other two VERY exciting things that have happened is that we received our first grant (YIPPEE!) which is a matching grant, and our wonderful friend offered to put together a virtual 5K for us! The purpose of a matching grant is that we are awarded a grant of $2000 if we can raise $2000. This would then give us $4000 for our travel payment to our agency which includes our travel reservations, hotels, in country travel, etc. This is all very very exciting, but now we need to fundraise. This is where YOU get to play a part!
I am putting the link below where my eloquent friend describes a virtual 5K better than I could, but basically you can somehow move your body 5K (otherwise known as 3.1 miles) and you pay an entrance fee the same way you would for any other race and you get a beautiful medal and you get to be a part of our adoption journey and help one less child live as an orphan. We would love for as many people as possible to participate in this since it is a great way to exercise and to be part of a unique opportunity to help us fundraise and have your donation doubled by our matching grant. You don't even have to do the 5K all at one time. It can be broken up over days or however long you need. We are so grateful to our amazing friend for putting this all together for us and for supporting us in this way. Here's the link:
http://www.foreverhome.us
We have also had friends ask us how they can specifically pray for our adoption. What has really been on our hearts is to pray that our sweet little boy's heart is prepared. No matter how you look at it, it's a scary situation to be handed over to people you do not know, who do not speak your language, who cook differently and act differently and dress differently, and who you have never met before. We know that living in a family will be better than living in an orphanage, but he cannot know that. We trust God to be with him and help him, but we pray that he will specifically be prepared for this and to have a sense of joy and peace about it. We pray that the people around him can be preparing him for this and to help give him an idea of what will happen. We would be so appreciative if you joined us in praying for him.
Well, that's a lot of information for one blog post, so please check out the 5K website and I will keep everyone posted about any progress!
"However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me-the task of testifying to the good news of God's grace." Acts 20:24
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
Birthday Pictures!!
We are so excited to share that we got to see five pictures yesterday of our sweet little boy at his birthday party!! I can't show his face, so I've cropped the picture here so you can at least see his beautiful smile. When I can post pictures of him, though, it will be apparent how gorgeous he is. I absolutely cannot wait to have him in our house and get to wake up and see him every day. We have been doing some preparations for him-a book here, a shirt there, the girls picked out a doggie pillow and blanket for him. It's hard not to go crazy, but I know that we still have time and that we need our money right now for things like fees and the girls passports and saving for our trip. Still, it is so exciting to look ahead and know that prayerfully he will be with us by next summer, by his next birthday and by the next winter.
Adoption is such a mix of excitement, waiting, sadness, joy and everything all over again. I have read so many people's adoption blogs and everyone's experience is so different. I'm learning that is why our relationship with God is so important. God will provide what we need, but what each of us need is different and only God knows what is needed now and what is coming ahead. If you are even considering adoption, though, I encourage you to pray about it and see how God can use your life to play a part in helping the orphans around the world. It is a very worthwhile experience!!!
Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall,
but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. Isaiah 40:30-31
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