It’s Here!

I know - it has been forever since I posted, but I just can't get my thoughts together enough to post! Trust me, my thoughts are all over the place!

( I can't imagine why...)

We got some good news today, we received our USCIS 797 - our approval to bring an orphan home! CCAI emailed us and it looks like we will travel after Chinese New Year. I am mostly excited about the travel period, hopefully it will be a little bit warmer and it gives me just a little longer to prepare and get the house ready (which I desperately need - where is one of those TLC shows when you need them?) however, we are getting awfully close to his first birthday (February 27th) and we would really love to be with him on his birthday! Prayer request number one!

No new updates from China, although I would LOVE a new picture of him and those sweet cheeks. I think tomorrow I am going to try to get one more care package in the mail for him and his foster parents - some chocolates and lotion and shower gel for the foster parents and maybe a toy or little teddy bear and a photo album for our little guy. Prayer request number two!

I have two plastic tubs that are quickly filling up for this trip. I have not finished our shopping for the necessities, but I am getting close. I really hope the weather is much warmer while we are there, it would make packing so much easier! Prayer request number three! If anyone has any traveling or packing tips, I would love to hear them!

Also, with homeschooling the girls, trying to find a way to make living here with four children feasible (enough beds, space, ect) and also the packing and mental and emotional preparation of bringing home another child, I am feeling a little overwhelmed. I am trying my best to stay in the WORD but we are also battling a two year old and sleep schedules so my quiet times aren't so quiet. I am also facing a few health problems. I know this is all Satan and his way of attacking my family and trying to deter us from following the Lord with obedience. This is my final prayer request! :-)

Hopefully I will be posting with TA real soon! J

An early Christmas Present

Look at this precious face. I just want to kiss it! He has grown 1 inch in height, gained 2 pounds and his head grew by 1 inch since our last update in November! But he still does not have any teeth! What could they be feeding this kid? We still have not received our paperwork from the USCIS. Our agency has contacted them and they say they should be finished with our 797-C (we are still old school) by the end of this month. So while we do not know exactly when we will travel, we are holding out hope it will be in the next month or two and especially before his first birthday, February 27th. We are praying faithfully for this little boy of ours and cannot wait to see God's plan continue to unfold!

It’s Not About Me

Can I just be honest? Those are some hard words to swallow! Many of us today are taught and trained that it is all about us. Even as Christians, we may ask God to do His will in our life, often hoping and expecting that it will be what we want, not truly what the Lord wants for our life.

I am soooo guilty! I knew that God called us to pursue this adoption, but I had my own plans about how it would go, what our referral would be and what SHE would look like. I had expectations created in my mind that were my plans, never considering that God might have a different plan. I really thought that if I prayed that God would give me the desires of my heart, never expecting that his desires might differ from mine. And boy did they ever!

Many of you know that it was our girls that God used to encourage us to consider adopting a little boy rather than a girl. And slowly, over time, our hearts began to change without us realizing it. Before we knew it, we were changing our adoption petition to include a boy. Then after reading blogs about special needs kids and watching a foster home in China care for children with special needs our hearts slowly opened up to the possibility of bringing a child home that needed some extra care and medical attention. After praying about it, we switched into the waiting child program for a little boy, with one special little boy in mind. I contacted my agency about this little boy, they jotted his information into my folder and told me it would be unlikely but if they ran across his file they would let me know. Time passed and the 3^rd anniversary of our LID passed without even noticing. A few days later, I realized it had been 3 years since we logged in with China and became overwhelmed with a desire to begin seeking God for some answers. Answers about the future of this adoption, whether this little boy my heart wanted so bad was to be ours and how to really pursue him. October 31^st, Jeremiah and I sat in our bed and prayed together, diligently seeking God and HIS will for this adoption. We asked him to open or close doors where they need to be opened and closed and to let us be at peace with his decision.

It was three days later that God showed me once again that it is not about me!

Our agency called late Tuesday evening telling us they had a referral for us to consider. He was a little boy, 8 ½ months old. Immediately I knew it was NOT the little boy my heart wanted so badly, the one I had prayed for God to bring home to us for the last six months. This door he closed. I anxiously awaited the email with this little boy's information, medical records and pictures. We downloaded all our information and Jeremiah was thrilled. God had answered our prayers, almost immediately. I, however, was greatly disappointed. I dove into a time of tremendous grief as I grieved the loss of someone that was never really mine to begin with. We were faced with decisions I had not really thought about. The little boy I desired had a special need that had been repaired. The little boy referred to us needed surgery. So we began contacting specialists, our pediatrician and our insurance company. Throughout this time, Jeremiah was receiving confirmation almost daily that the Lord had sent this little boy for us. I was too blinded to see anything past what I wanted to see.

A week went by and I just could not accept this referral without knowing that I had tried to get the little boy I so badly wanted. I put one final plea into my agency, asking them if there was any chance I would bring home the little boy I wanted. They told me it would be nearly impossible and the authorities in China did not like agencies pursuing particular children. So the story I wanted God to write for our adoption was now impossible and I had to begin praying about my heart - for healing, for accepting God's will and if I would be willing to love another child.

Of course, I am completely willing to love another child! It has just taken me time to grieve the loss of someone that was not mine to begin with and prayer that the Lord would open my heart to loving this little one he has sent us. I also know that God's plans are bigger and better than our own, so I am thrilled to see His plan unfold and the blessings that will come forth from it! As fear and anxiety creep up in my mind, I am constantly turning those thoughts over to the Lord knowing He is fully in control!

As a child I used to love to sing this song:

I cast all my cares upon you.

I lay all of my burdens, down at your feet

And anytime I don't know what to do

I will cast all my cares upon you.

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." Isaiah 55: 8-9

Two days left....

Tomorrow is the BIG drawing over at Wild Olive Tees! Be sure to go and check it out on their blog, sign up to win a shirt for yourself and a gift certificate for a friend! A simple, stylish way to spread the Word while you shop this holiday season!

Wordless Wednesday

Care Package

Off it went, our little care package. We feel like we are going to be traveling soon, so we wanted to send just a "heads up we're coming soon" and this is what we look like! I chose a pretty small box as suggested by our agency so it wouldn't get held up in customs. That meant not much would fit! So a little warm outfit, a scarf for the foster mom a couple of cameras to give us as much documentation of his time there as possible and some pictures of his forever family! We crammed it in there and sent it off with lots of love!

What we know about our Boy!

Born Feburary 27, 2009 and was found on March 21^st, 2009 at the east end of the Anyang County Public Security Bureau Cuijia Bridge. After some warm-hearted people found him and reported him to the police, the Anyang County Public Security Bureau Cuijia Bridge Police Station conducted a search. As they were unable to locate his birth parents or other relatives, he was declared an abandoned baby. On April 27 the same year, officers from the Cuijia Bridge Police Station brought him to the Anyang City Social Welfare Institute. He had congenital heart disease. According to his physical condition, his birth date was estimated to be February 27, 2009. He was named An Meng Qiao.

Since An Meng Qiao entered the orphanage, he has received heartfelt care. When he was two months old, his head could follow the movement of a sound, and he could smile. Now Meng Qiao kicks, turns around, and plays by himself nonstop in his crib. His arms and legs are strong. When he was first placed with his (foster) family, he didn't like baths, but after he was placed in foster care and often had two baths a day, now he doesn't cry during his baths. He has a good personality, and he is sweet and doesn't bother people. He is active and cute. An Meng Qiao lived at the orphanage until June 2009, and he has good life habits. Every day his life follows a regular routine and his schedule and diet are stable. Now he wakes up at 6:00 am and goes to bed at 8:00 pm, with a nap from 12:30 pm to 2:30 pm. He sleeps on his side or on his back. He has five meals a day, and in addition, he also has two meals at night, 200 g each time. His main diet is milk.

In summer he has one to two baths a day. An Meng Qiao is a cute little baby.

A few more sneak peeks!

The first two pictures are referral pictures. We believe these were taken around five months of age!

I think I want to squeeze those chubby little cheeks!

The next two pictures are update pictures we received after we accepted the referral. We think these may be around 7-8 months of age. He looks like a healthy little guy, doesn't he? "What is that thing that keeps flashing in my eye?" "I want my hands on it!"

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He is going to fit right in! I think I am just loving these ears! And look at that Foster Mom's face. Doesn't it look like she loves him???