We Are Matched! AGAIN!?!?

Many of you were introduced to our newest daughter a little over two months ago. Since that time, Cindy and I have had many conversations about this adoption and the potential of future adoptions. Through these conversations and much prayer we decided to bring two children home from China. 

Today we are excited to introduce you to our newest 8 year old son. In November we submitted the LOI to China, and have agonized in waiting until pre-approval came this week. 

Our family is blessed to have this opportunity to grow again. God has continually showed His great love and generosity to us, and we are honored to continue to serve Him. 

...and yes, Grant is excited to have a brother!

Grateful

As 2016 comes to a close, our family is in a place of transition. It's fun to think about "this time last year," but for us it's even more fun to wonder what it will be like "this time next year." We are excited that our family will look different for Christmas 2017!

This past week has been full of surprises for us, and we couldn't let it go by without saying another thank you. Even in the middle of your Christmas preparations and celebrations, you were thinking about us. We received several donations toward the adoption this week (our donation graph has been updated), and someone anonymously dropped off Christmas gifts for everyone in our entire family. The kids had so much fun tearing into presents that none of us were expecting. Since we cannot thank you directly, we wanted to say it here: Thank you so much for giving gifts to our family. Your thoughtfulness touched our hearts.

Makeover Video...as promised!!!

We sincerely hope you all enjoy watching this video as much as we enjoyed making it! 

We're still looking for suggestions for our next milestone, so send us your ideas. 

There are still plenty of opportunities for you to give.

Thanks again for all your support!

Milestone #1 has been reached!

We have been blown away this week by the generosity of our friends and family. As we mentioned a few weeks ago, Jason agreed to let the girls give him a makeover as soon as we reached $5000 in donations. This past week we reached and exceeded that goal, so the girls are devising a plan to get this done. As promised, we will be taking a video of the makeover and posting it here on the blog so you all can have a laugh or two. Hopefully you'll be able to see that this weekend!

We are so appreciative of the support you all have given. If you would still like to purchase towels or make a tax deductible donation, we still have a ways to go before being able to cover the entire adoption. We want some input from you guys--How would you like us to celebrate our next milestone? Leave us a comment with your suggestions!

"When you see the need..."

I can vividly remember the time, about 6 years ago, when someone said those exact words to me. I had taken Elsie downtown to Children's Hospital for one of her many blood draws before they could declare she was HIV free. We were sitting in the waiting room--her, oblivious to what was about to happen and me, nervously awaiting and wishing a 9 month old didn't have to go through this. We were alone in the room until a lady, pushing her daughter in a wheelchair, joined us. We had only a few short minutes to chat until one of us was called back for our appointment. She was keenly aware of the fact that my skin was "peach" and my daughter's skin was "brown" (in Elsie's very own words), so it opened up a conversation about adoption. Come to find out, she was a 'seasoned adopter.' They had several children, both biological and adopted, some which were 'healthy' and some with 'special needs.' She did most of the talking since I was so new to the world of adoption, and as we said our goodbyes, she made the statement that would stick with me. "Things are not always easy, but when you see the need, you do what you gotta do!"

I think that's where my family is. As we are preparing for this adoption, we are learning about the challenges as well as the blessings. We read stories of how difficult the transition was for some children--to leave everything they've ever known to start over. The fear they experience at being picked up by almost complete strangers can be numbing. We hear how some families and kids struggle in relationship as they learn to love and trust each other. For some, adjustment begins almost immediately. For others, it can take months or even years until things settle into a comfortable normal. As we charter into this unknown, we know we have a sovereign God who loves and guides us. We're not crazy. (Well, I don't think we are...) Not only are we willing, we are EXCITED to let go of some of our comfort so that someone else might see the unconditional love of Christ.

Interested in seeing a fundraising update?

We've been updating the 'Donation Milestones' page on the blog, if you would like to see where things are. We still have a ways to go before Jason gets his makeover, but progress is being made! We are so very grateful for all of you who are interested in our story. You've been so kind with your comments, shares, prayers, and donations. Thank you!

Moving on to the next step...

I hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving holiday. We weren't able to see our families on Thanksgiving, but had a good time with good friends.

We are so happy to tell you that our home study has been approved! Of course there are still many things to do, and periods of indefinite waiting, but this is one more box checked on our to-do list.

Our next step is to request permission to adopt from the Department of Homeland Security. I have the paperwork filled out already, so as soon as our official copies of the home study arrive, that request will be in the mail. This next step can take anywhere from 8 to 12 weeks. It is not until we have this approval from our country that we can send our dossier to China. So now we wait.

Miranda said the other day, "Mom, I'm glad we have school to keep us busy and to keep our minds off of the adoption. I think I would go crazy having to wait so long otherwise." I agree!

How You Can Help!

"I would love to adopt, but we could never afford it."

This is one of the statements we've heard many times, and we've even said it ourselves. In reality, very few people have a spare $30,000+ just sitting in a bank account. We sure don't. But we began this process in faith that the Lord would provide what was needed to bring one of his 'fatherless' children home. In the last couple of months, we've had some of you inquire about ways you can help, and that is what this post is about.

The girls and I have been sewing over these last few weeks and are finally ready to begin our first fundraiser! These hooded towels are great for babies and younger children since they are much larger than the baby towels you find in the stores. You can find more colors, dimensions, personalization information, and ordering instructions by clicking on our "Fundraiser" tab at the top of this page.

For those of you who have no need for the towels, but would still like to help, we are partnering with adopttogether.org to accept tax-deductible donations. You'll find a donate button at the top right of our blog. If you follow this link, you'll be able to see our story, a list of fees we have been or will be charged, as well as where we are in reaching our goal.

We know there are some who cannot afford to help financially. That's ok. You can still be a part of bringing our daughter home by praying with us on a daily basis that God will provide what is needed. Pray that government officials, both from the American and Chinese government, will be motivated to keep our paperwork moving. We pray every day for our little girl's safety and for the Lord to bring her comfort, though she may not know anything about Him yet. Join us in these prayers.

You can also help get the word out about our adoption by sharing these links and posts with friends on social media. We want to encourage others that adoption is possible!

Finally, we have decided to have some fun as we hit certain financial milestones. Our first milestone is $5,000 in donations, and when we reach this milestone, the girls will do their best to make Jason as pretty as possible. This will include the use of any makeup and accessories that they think are necessary, AND of course there will be a video of this posted online for your enjoyment.

What do the kids think?

So Mom and Dad want to adopt, and we have shared our heart behind it. But what do the kids think? Are they truly supportive of our decision, or are they just going along with it because that’s what Mom and Dad want to do?

As a mom, I have been so excited to watch each of our children, excluding Gwynneth of course, get behind this adoption in ways we never expected. Before Jason and I made our decision, we talked with the kids first to get their thoughts on this. We know that bringing another child into our family makes things tighter financially, and also takes up more of mom and dad’s free time. With their mouths, they affirmed that they truly did want to move ahead with adoption.

The biggest blessing we’ve observed though, is how the kids’ actions have backed up their words. I don’t say any of the following to boast in my childrens’ accomplishments, but simply to boast in how the Lord is working in their tender hearts. My prayer for my children is that they will bring God glory, in the biggest way possible for them, where they are right now.

When we began the adoption process, we froze all unnecessary spending. Of course we take care of our necessities, but outside of those all other purchases have been put on hold. No trips to the zoo. No more eating out. No impulse purchases on clothing or toys. There has been no complaining from the kids, and most of the time it is them reminding each other, “No, we’re saving money for the adoption, remember?” Miranda and I even talked recently about how easy it is NOT to spend money on things we don’t need when we remember there is a little girl waiting for us in China!

Another example is when Grant came to us willing to sacrifice playing Upwards basketball this year, because he knew that we could use that money to bring his sister home. (I love how the Lord blessed his willing heart. Someone else stepped in and paid for him to play!) We’ve had kids empty their piggy banks in our adoption change jar (in spite of our attempts to make them keep their money). The girls have sacrificed their free time to help me sew items for our upcoming fundraiser. All the kids have pitched in with chores and extra jobs around the house to give me more time to get paperwork done. Miranda is talking about doing a baking project so she can raise a little money herself. They have decided that the best Christmas present they could ever receive is their new sister, so we have opted to skip buying gifts this year. This adoption has even motivated the kids to keep steady, or even work ahead a bit in school so they are finished by the time we return from China with our new daughter. They want to be able to devote as much time as possible to helping her adjust and bridge the language gap.

As I mentioned earlier, my goal in this post is not to make the kids look good, because we know we all have flaws. I simply want to share how the Lord is working in our family. While some of these sacrifices could cause frustration and resentment, I am grateful up to this point they have only brought our family together in unity. As a momma, it is amazing to watch our family unite and work together to reach a common goal.

Homestudy Nearing Completion

Yes, we are approximately 2 weeks away from having our completed homestudy, and we could not be more thrilled. Cindy has done such an amazing job of completing form after form. We received our first draft of the finished study this week, approved it, and sent it on for final approvals. We started this process on September 28th, and God has been blessing already. We are approximately one month ahead of schedule and are excited to see how He continues to move.

We are asked all the time, “How long until your daughter can come home?” That question is hard to answer because there is so much of the process that we can’t complete until the previous step is completed. Here is a timeline of how long it takes based on the agency’s experience, and Cindy has broken down the approximate dates based on our initial application. Pray that God will continue to help us beat these estimated dates. We are ready to have our daughter home with us.

Once our homestudy is finalized, our next step is to begin filling out grant applications. We are praying for the Lord to provide what we need financially and are trusting Him to complete this adoption in His timing. We have also been working on a fundraiser to give some of you a chance to help--we’ll reveal that very soon!  

Choosing

When I started thinking about putting this post “on paper,” I felt a little strange. I mean, people don’t usually get to “choose” their children. And with so many children waiting to find homes, it is hard to select just one. Deep in my heart as I looked at bunches of little faces, known only to me by a tiny little snapshot and a short paragraph of generic information, I wanted to provide a home for all of them! Knowing that would be impossible, my heart was moved by the picture of our future daughter.

I am fully convinced, without a doubt, that the Holy Spirit has orchestrated every detail up to this point in our adoption process. When we had our first conversation about adopting again, neither Jason nor I thought we would move so fast. But we were open to the Spirit. So at every new decision point, or every new piece of information, we moved. We cannot look a year down the road and see everything mapped out perfectly, but we are at peace following the Spirit’s leading today.

I began the process learning as much as I could, asking tons of questions (Thanks, Rebekah!), and trying to be as informed as possible. I also began the process with stipulations in my own mind. I told Jason and the kids that I wanted to adopt a child that was Elsie’s age or younger. I also looked specifically for a boy since Grant has asked for a roommate many times. In the day or two after I looked through the list of pictures, one face kept coming back to my mind. What little I knew about her life story kept creeping into my thought process. I could only think about the possibility that this girl was abandoned because she looked different. Though she was not a boy, and though she was older than I had anticipated, the Lord opened my heart for her. I want this Chinese girl, with light skin and blonde hair, to know the unconditional love and acceptance of a forever family.

Anyone who knows me, knows I have trouble making decisions sometimes, especially decisions that carry so much weight. Through the events that happened in those initial first days, the Lord gave me confidence in our next steps. He put us in a situation where we needed to act quickly, and at the same time confirmed answers to a bunch of little decisions we would have to make. I am very much looking forward to seeing how the Lord brings things together. Though I would rush to China this very minute and sweep our girl away if I could, I know I’ve got to be patient as the Lord works out the details for His glory.

What Moved Us to Adopt

Many people have asked us why we decided to adopt again, so in this post, I’d like to explain how we came to that decision. There has never been a time in our 16 years of marriage that we weren’t open to adopting, but there were a few steps that led us take action now.

This year in September, I was listening to the book Counter Culture by David Platt. In this book, David Platt shares Biblical wisdom about current challenges to our Christian culture. One of the topics he discusses (along with many others) is orphans. While listening to David Platt’s words I was challenged in my life of self satisfaction to again remember the call of James 1:27, “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” We are called to actively meet the needs of the orphans of the world. I had become complacent in that call.

The day that I finished the book, I couldn’t get adoption off of my mind again. I knew at that moment that I wanted to adopt again, but also realized that it might make more sense to support or help others adopt. Less than a year ago our fifth child was born, and I wasn’t sure that Cindy was ready to have another child running around the house.

That evening I told Cindy that I had been thinking about adopting again and asked her what her thoughts were. I have to admit that I was surprised, but I shouldn’t have been. I expected her to say, “Let’s give it a year or so.” Instead she was all for it. I told her that I was more interested in adopting internationally if possible, and she started researching agencies.

A week later on Monday September 26th on my way home from work, I get an email from Cindy with the message, “Is it too early to say I want her? :)”

In the next post, Cindy will share why this child was the one that stood out among the rest.

More Progress...

Guest Post! OK, maybe not a guest post, but this is my first post on this blog. I thought I would take a little time this morning and give you an update on where we are at in the adoption process. As most of you know, last week we received our preliminary approval from China to adopt our newest daughter, and I can tell you that this week has been packed full of crazy thoughts and excitement.

A few things have happened this week are:

• We received our passports. The process that normally takes 4 to 6 weeks, took only a week and a half!
• We received both our criminal  checks back from the state and FBI.
• We have both completed our physicals and medical evaluations.
• We have completed over 24 hours of required training for home study.
• We have submitted all required paperwork for the home study. (Here is where I tell you that it is really Cindy who submitted all the paperwork; I just signed and initialed a lot.)
• Our house passed the state’s fire inspection. So things are moving.

This week we also had an opportunity to work with the media department at Miami Valley Christian Academy. They are working on a video project that will give a short story of our journey into adoption. We are very excited about this and can’t wait to see this project completed and share with all.

Throughout the next few weeks, I hope to be sharing the process that we are now journeying through. My prayer is that through this, there might be some who don’t see the process of adoption as an impossible task, but a God given opportunity to love the fatherless. Not everyone is called to adopt, but everyone is called to love the fatherless, the widows, the poor and the helpless.  

If there are questions or topics that you want Cindy or I to write on, please let us know.

We Are Matched!

Two weeks ago, we submitted a Letter of Intent (LOI) to China. This is us providing basic information about ourselves to the Chinese government, and requesting permission to adopt a specific child from their country. We waited what felt like an eternity, but yesterday we received from them a pre-approval letter. We still have tons of paperwork to fill out, both for our country and for theirs, and tons of waiting while the governments run that paperwork, but as long as all goes well we will be bringing home this little girl in roughly a year or so! Please pray with us!

Time To Wake Up This Blog!

Yesterday was the beginning of our second adoption journey. Things have changed quite a bit in our family since the last time we posted here. We have a total of 7 people in our family now and this adoption will make 8! We are all buzzing with excitement around here, adults and children alike. It was an amazing sound to sit at my desk in the school room yesterday and listen to my older ones giving my younger ones a lesson in Mandarin!

We'll be posting here throughout our journey and we invite you to come along. Stay tuned for updates!