Pictures!!!!

Ok, so I promised some pictures. 

            This is from when I first met her. She was sad the she had to say good bye to her foster brother. She what crying when I first met her. I got out pictures and she started pointing at everyone, saying Papa, Mama, big brother, little brother, and little sister. She was very shy but connected with me very fast. As we were walking out the building she was holding my hand.

                Pictures outside the Orphange. 

She was so excited about having a family. 

Next we want shopping. She loves anything new. I had to say no a lot. It was great that she was asking for things. She only wants to hold my hand. When our coordinator tries and holds her hand she will not do it. 

This was after shopping the first day when we were at Pizza Hut. 

The next day (Tuesday) we went to do all our paperwork. I have not stopped praising God since. There was a very small mistake on out POA. If it would have been found we would have had to do a new one. Witch means atleast Nother week in Ch*na. No one found it. 

                Signing the papawork that makes her ours officially. 

                She is happy. 

                A bridge in Tainjin. 

                Very beautiful. 

She is bonding great. Even with Steve over FaceTime. She loves to look me in the eyes and we copy each other. She is leaning new English words every day. She is happy and loves to laugh. 

                She is doing great. 

And boy she can eat. 

And then there was one more..,

Today has been a wonderful day, with a little bit of a rough start. I get to the orphanage and went upstairs to a small cozy room.  Everyone is speaking Chinese. Before I could get the camcorder set up and my camera handed to the coordinator Brea walks into the room. A little boy was following her crying. When I looked at Brea for the first time she had tears running down her face. My heart melted and I was crying on the inside. The little boy was her foster brother and they were very close. 

I got the picture book out and we started looking at our family. She new everyone. They must have told her before. We sat looking at pictures while I asked some questions. 

When we left we came back to the hotel to try on cloths. Praise The Lord they fit perfectly.  She was excited to have new cloths and changed her shirt at once. 

She like pretty things. I brought some brackets for her and she will not take them off.  We went shopping and she asked for everything ( that is new to us, our other three still have a hard time asking for things). She learned very quickly that Mama knows how to say no. 

She is starting to bond. She hold my hand all the time. She likes to keep an eye on everything I do. She keeps asking to see Papa. 

She is a strong girl who will ask for help when needed and the rest she does by herself. She is going to move mountains one day. 

I am still adjusting to the time. I will work on getting some photos on here before I go to bed. 

Sleep...

I am a person who loves sleep. Steve has even gotten into the habit of feeding the kids breakfast so I can have an extra half hour in bed. It is something I have always been able to do with very little problem, except when I travel. 

I have never sleep on planes.  This trip was the first time I ever slept on a plane. It was only 40 minutes at a time. But something is better than nothing. I am just not a public sleeper. 

I am starting to get frustrated with my sleep pattern. I am only getting about 5 hours a night. AAAHHHH. I know the really hard bed does not help. But still I am so tied. 

On a wonderful note, I get to meet Brea at 9:30 in the morning. I am so ready to meet her. She means so much to us. It is hard being away from your kids. I know that we have 9 years to chech up on but we have a lifetime to do it.

Ok, my rant is over. I am going to lay in the dark and pray that I drift off to sleep. 

The Longest Day EVER!!!!!

On Thursday my family and I got up extra early (3 AM) and headed off to the airport.  Traveling to get to Tianjin was what I thought was going to be my hardest part. That was easy compared to leaving my wonderful husband and what I think are the greatest kids in the world. The airline allowed Steve and the kids to go back and wait with me. Having to say good bye was so hard. I have a new respect for parents and spruces that have to travel.

I could see the kids from my seat. 

The flight form Columbus to Chicago was hard. I cried.  I have never left my husband or kids for more than two and a half days. Two weeks is going to be hard, but as Elias pointed out: I will be with family as soon as I get Brea.

Since we upgraded my flight over to Ch*na I got to stay in the lounge in Chicago. As Steve put it, from a picture I sent, swanky. 

It was a long flight to Shanghai after that. Over 14 hours. I slept a couple of time for about 40 mins each. That is the longest I ever slept on a plane. Every once in awhile I would crack open the window to look at the beautiful view. Wow!!!! Bodies such an awesome creator. 

I was in Shanghai for over 6 hours. Everyone was coming home after Ch*nese New Years.  There was probably twice as many people than there were seats.  It was also cold and my coat was packed neatly in my luggage that was already checked. It took everything I had to stay awake. 

The plane ride from Shanghai to Tianjin was nice and fast. After about a hour car ride, I made it to the hotel. I was froze to the bone. At both airports in Ch*na I was taxied to and from the plane in a bus (not heated and no coat). Coming to the hotel I finally had a coat but no heat I the van and it was -4. I could not feel my fingers or toes. Thankfully I was kinda use to it from living in Ohio. 

At the hotel I got to talk with Steve, take a hot shower and sleep on a bed that is just a piece of ply board with batting on it.  The bed never felt better. 

I want to say thanks for all the prayers. I know that God is traveling with me. He was my straight over that ver long 30 some hours. He has also put some extra love in my heart for these people and this country. 

Leaving on a Jet Plane...

Tomorrow I leave for China to pick up our beautiful daughter Brea.  We have been doing paperwork for over a year and now it is finally time to meet and bring her home.  Early in our process Steve and I decided that I would travel to China.  I was not planning on going by myself but I am.  Steve and I truly believe that this was God’s plan and we have learned not to question him. 

Over the past couple of weeks things have started falling into place.  We have gotten unexpected discounts and provisions.   I have no doubt that this is God going before and preparing things for me.  This has given me a wonderful peace in my heart.

Tomorrow morning I start my 30 some hour journey to China.  I go straight to Tianjin.  I am looking forward to a couple days rest before I meet Brea.  I might even take a trip to the Harley Davidson store and get some presents for my parents. 

I am spending time with my family today.  Have a wonderful day!!!!! 

News again

I can not believe that I am writing this. A couple of weeks ago God started moving in Steve a I's life again. Unexpectedly we were led to an eight year girl. We have started the paperwork but the best news is that we already have Pre-approval from China. We are starting at the very beginning with our homestudy, so no I do not know when she will be home, but we do know that it will all happen in God's time.

We are so excited to be adding to our family.

Our Adoption Testimony

This is some of what God has done in our family in the past few years.  The journey we took through adoption has been a series of open and closed doors. 

When we got married we knew we wanted children, but we also knew that I might not be able to have them.  Whenever we talked about kids, Steve always made sure that I knew that adoption was an option we had.

               

I had always wanted to have children.  I have had surgeries, taken medication and have prayed for healing.  But that was not God’s plan.  After trying for a couple of years and even trying fertility pills we decided to just wait for God’s time.  It was not long after that I was healed.  During communion one Sunday I had a peace in my heart.  God had answered my prayers, by closing that door, and opening my heart to adoption.  I looked at Steve and told him I was ready to get a hysterectomy and start the adoption process.

                    After much talking and praying we chose to pursue international adoption. We found an agency and started the process to get a baby from Vietnam.  After nearly completing the paperwork, we learned the regular program from Vietnam was in jeopardy.  Believing that this was what we ought to be doing, we pressed on anyway.  When the borders (and that door) actually did close, we were devastated.  There was no way we could get a healthy baby so we started looking for other options, which led us to their special needs program.  The door was open again.  But no sooner had we spread the word about our adoption of a 4 year old special needs boy, that all adoptions were halted from Vietnam.

          We were hurt, confused and even angry.  We did not understand why God had opened these doors just to shut them.  Until then we’d done what we felt led to do, but we thought it was time for us take a break.  In the middle of our break (and before we thought we were ready) we got a call from Cheryl, our Vietnam agent, saying she found a boy from Taiwan and thought of us.  It was hard because Taiwan wasn’t part of our plan.

                   But it was in God’s plan.  Just as fast as the last door shut this door flew open. Everything about Elias’ adoption was fast. We worked with a new agency but still had help from Dick and Cheryl.  God was always one step in front of us preparing the way.

                   Within months we were in Taiwan.  Our plan was simple: to get in, get Elias, and get home.  That is what we did. However we also knew that going from no children to a 7 year old was going to be hard.  We were not as prepared as we thought.  We have learned a lot since then, and cannot express the amount of love we have for him.  We have also looked at our relationship with Jesus differently.  We are adopted children of God through Jesus.  We come as we are and He helps us grow.      

                   We have always thought it would be important to read Bible stories to our kids.  While reading the Bible to Elias, we began to see the stories in a new light.  Aspects of adoption, even international adoption could be found in the stories of Joseph, Moses, Ruth, Esther and so many others--individuals who left their land, their people or their family to go to a completely new and different place.  Elias was able to relate to many of these stories, but for a long time, Joseph and his life in Egypt was his favorite.

                   We knew that one kid was not enough, so we started the search for a little girl.  We found Jade who was from Ch*na and had mild intelligence delays.  We really doubted our ability to parent a child with physical or major special needs, but we felt that we could handle her needs.  Most mild mental delays exist because the child has had a hard life. With time, patience and the security of a stable- loving home, these can be overcome.

                   Here God had opened the door for us, but the paperwork was a struggle to get through.  Nothing seemed to be going right.  We could not give up, but we were tired of all the hang-ups.  Then we came across a little boy that just spoke to us.  I made some calls and found out that we could add him to Jade’s adoption but if we had been any further along this door would have been closed.  For some reason, the decision to adopt Abram was an easy one.  We had a peace about him and we knew he was from God. After that, paperwork got easier.

                   For us, the idea of going to Ch*na for three weeks was our Mt. Everest.  We left and went to get Jade first.  Even with the high elevation, cold weather and the smell of burning coal everywhere, I had none of the breathing problems we feared she would. We knew God was watching over us.

                   When we first met Jade, she was in survival mode.  She smiled but did not really interact with us.  We tried to let her walk, but she was too overwhelmed.  So we carried her until we got back to the hotel.  Steve thought he noticed something wasn’t quite right.

                   Steve and Elias left the hotel shortly after we got back.  I was left alone with Jade.  It did not take long to see that there was indeed something wrong.  She had trouble walking, keeping her balance and even coloring or using her hands.  This is not what we had signed up for.  There was something physically wrong with our child and I was scared.   

          I had to get up and walk around. I had tears in my eyes. I gave her a snack and I cried.  Not very openly, but I was bawling on the inside. This was not the girl we expected.  I was scared and alone.

          When they got back, I told Steve that something was not right with Jade. She was not responding to much of anything. She was not walking right, frequently falling down, and having trouble with her fine motor skills.  We were prepared for mental special needs, not physical.

          That night after the kids went to bed, Steve and I went into the bathroom and talked, cried, got angry and finally prayed.  Why did her paperwork not mention this? What other things were they keeping from us? We did not know why we were not told about this and why they did not send us the video that they had taken of her which would have prepared us for this.  We were scared and still had another kid that we were suppose to pick up in a week. We were alone.

                   Jade was our daughter and we were going to keep her no matter what… Early the next morning, we went and signed the paperwork. According to Ch*na she was now ours.  But what about Abram? What could have they kept from us about him? What was the truth about him?

          After many talks in the bathroom or off to the side away from the kids, Steve and I decided that we needed to call our agency.  From what we knew we expected Abram was going to have some behavioral problems and emotional things to work through. We knew that if we met Abram we would not be able to give him up. Now everything we thought had been turned upside down. Jade could not even take 10 steps without falling. How could we take care of another kid? What good could we do if we could not handle it?

          We called and asked what we needed to do to stop Abram’s adoption. This was the hardest call I have ever had to make in my life.  That night was a very, very hard night.  We could not sleep. We were alone in the middle of Ch*na. Satan was at work.

                    About 11:30 that night we got a phone call. It was our main coordinator in Ch*na.  He had called Abram’s orphanage and then called us back to tell us he was told that Abram was a sweet, healthy kid.  He gave us 24 hours to make our decision.

          The next morning God started talking.  I think He was talking the whole time, but we were not ready to listen.  We were not alone.  God had shown us that he had the perfect plan, and we needed to stay out of His way.  I reminded Steve “Abram is a God thing. He has always been a God thing.  God’s plan is for Abram to be part of our family and that is what we need to do. He will provide and take care of us.” 

                    We took a leap of faith and continued on as planned.  After that things got easier for us. We had a peace in our hearts.  We were still stressed and overwhelmed but through it all, we knew that everything would work out.

                    We went to Abram’s province and he was brought to our hotel room.  Then we sat around for hours watching and playing with all three of our kids.  It felt right.  There was a sense of completeness with our family that both Steve and I felt.  Abram, as it turned out, was a sweet, healthy little boy.

                    Jade was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy shortly after we came home.  She also has no sign of intelligence delay. In fact she is very smart.  We are so proud of the progress she has made.  She is a strong and determined girl.

          It has been so amazing to see how God works.  He had the perfect plan for our family the whole time.  He made these kids to be a part of our family.  It was hard at the time, but all the closed doors were put in place to change our hearts or lead us down a different path.  Maybe even to humble us a little more.  We now praise God for both the open and closed doors.  Our children are a blessing and we thank God for them every day.