One Year Ago Today

December 23,2008

It is hard to believe that it has been 1 year since I got the call from Tiffany. Though we had been told that we could not begin the process until the end of January -when we had been home 6 months with Gracie-Tiffany called to say she had been praying for our Gideon and for us. She had read the story of Gideon in the bible and decided to talk with her supervisor again. After praying and talking they had decided that since no one had expressed any interest in pursuing Gideon's adoption that they had decided to allow us to begin the process right after the holidays. I was ecstatic but knew we had a long road ahead of us. Little did I know that 1 year later we still would not have our little warrior home. We came across many obstacles but today we are on day 58 of our wait for our LOA. We are praying to get our LOA before Chinese New Year on January 26th. We still have the hurdle of finances but we know that God will not dessert us now. His timing will be perfect! I found this quote today and it is so fitting for us:

"God calls us to go where we have never been in order to do things we have never done so we can see God's power in a way we have never seen it before."

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified. Do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:9.

God will be and is with us now and when we bring our boy home. That day is coming!

This picture of Gideon is the first one I ever saw and fell in love with.

God is Good! We Have a LID!

As you know we have been waiting to hear what our LID is so we can start the countdown to our LOA (Letter of Acceptance), the next step to bringing Gideon home. Our dossier was sent Oct 13 and we knew it had arrived because CCAA confirmed this on Oct 22. Well on Thursday Kate called me to finally tell me that we were logged in as of Oct 27th. That means that today, Saturday is day 48 of our wait. Typically it is taking around 90 days. Kate thinks we should hear something before Chinese New Year at the end of January. Hopefully we will get Travel Approval (TA) by mid Feb and travel early March. Not the timeframe I had in mind but again it is all in God's timing not mine. He knows we need more time to get the money together. We had another denial from a grant but are applying for more. We are trying to come up with more fundraising ideas as well. We are of course praying for God's mighty hand to do a big work as we know he can! The verse he keeps giving me is "Put your hope in God for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God." My hope is in him and I am praising him and will continue to praise him always. I will shout from the rooftops how he has made all of this possible for he is a mighty God bringing home our mighty warrior.

Please all of you reading this blog pray for a mighty work to happen with our fundraising. Also pray that out little "didi as the kids call him remains healthy and warm until we can bring him home to his forever family.

Trust in the Lord with all Your Heart

November 17,2008
I was feeling a little down today and I admit was doing some worrying about finances. I was dwelling on the fact that we were still $8,000 to $10,000 short needed to bring our boy home from China. We are planning a fundraiser this Saturday. It is a Scrapbooking fundraiser and everyone I talked with today was telling me that they couldn't make it. My sister was hearing the same thing from the people she talked to. So driving home from work I was thinking about this and what we were going to do. As I drove up one of my songs came on. "The Voice of Truth". This was my song throughout Caleb's adoption and it continues to remind me to only listen to one voice--the voice of truth. So I picked up the kids and we went home. I was on the computer checking emails when the phone rang. It was Roberta from church. She called to tell me that this morning they had received a $1000 donation for our adoption. Praise God! I needed some encouragement and affirmation that He was going to provide and not to worry and there it was. Our God is an awesome God and He promised from the beginning to provide for this adoption and he has. I should never doubt that he will complete that which he has started. He has carried us throughout this journey so why would I think he would leave us now. But that's just how we are--just like the Israelites. Even after all we have seen the Lord do we forget and begin to doubt. "Jesus said, Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me." John 14:1. Lord forgive me for doubting and letting my heart be troubled. I know you will never leave me or forsake me.

Now we continue to wait for our LOA. We have not officially heard what our LID (Log in Date) is so we can't officially count. Our dossier was mailed Oct 13 and our agency says we were probably logged in within a week of arrival so I am guessing around Oct 22nd. The wait for LOA (Letter of Approval) has been as short as 65 days and as long as 185 days. We are praying for the shorter end of course. So we are looking at the end of December for the short end and we don't want to think about the long end.
Our Gideon is well. We had those pictures a few weeks ago from families that were there. We are praying that he stays healthy and warm and that we get him home very soon. We are of course trusting Lord to provide the remainder of the money we need to bring him home. We'll keep you posted on any news.
Our friends the Clarks are still waiting for their LOA and they are over 140 days now. We are praying they hear this week.

Pictures From Friends

Oct 24,2008

It has been a very emotional week. Cyber friends from the Yugan Yahoo group went to Yugan this week to be united with their baby girls. They promised to check in on our little warrior. I received several emails from the group telling me they had done just that and more. They said they kissed him and told him his mama was coming for him. They all remarked what a special little boy he was and his eyes tell such a story. One of the mom's travel mates said she was so taken with our little guy that she spent all her time with him and had to be told to leave. She was even able to get him to giggle. I have not seen any pictures of him smiling but it does make me feel good to know he does smile. It is very overwhelming knowing families are there with my child and I am here. And now he is alone again waiting for us. They forwarded some pictures which I have attached and just can't quit staring at. The wait is really getting to me but I find comfort in my Lord. I have known from the beginning that he has a plan for our little warrior and for us and I have to trust him. His timing is perfect though right now I just don't quite see it. So for now I need to find my comfort in Him and in his word. "Do not be afraid for I am with you, I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west." Isaiah 43:5. Now there isn't anything more comforting than that!

Then Kate called yesterday from All God's Children to tell me that Benjamin confirmed with CCAA that our Dossier had arrived but they did not give him a LID. Kate said she will call me as soon as she knows. I pray it is already logged in so the count has begun!

My other prayer is for our friends Doreen and Scott-they are at 120 days for their wait for LOA! I pray that they will get word soon and that our wait is not as long! I am still praying for LOA by the end of December and travel no later than Feb---It used to be to travel by December. It is all in God's hands and I know he can move mountains! I'll post more when I know more. In the meantime I will try to focus on the one that matters: Our Lord and Savior!

We're Coming Soon!

DTC!

Oct. 14,2008
We are finally DTC! Our dossier was mailed out yesterday 10/13/2008. Kate is hoping for a quick LID and then we can begin the countdown. It seems like the average wait is about 84-85 days but many have been waiting for over 100 days. Last year our wait for Grace was 67 days. I know God can do that again. If so we could have our LOA by the end of December. Our God is the mover of mountains! Oh Gideon we are coming! I promise.

UPDATE FROM YUGAN

Sept. 26, 2008

At the beginning of this week I emailed Angela in China requesting her to contact the SWI to make sure our little guy wasn't effected by the tainted formula. The orphanage stated that they had indeed been using that formula but took all the babies to the hospital and had them checked out. All are fine now and they said they would forward pictures. To my surprise they not only sent new pictures but updated measurements as well. He is quite small but I think so precious. He is 72cm tall, weighs 7.4kg (16.28lbs) and has 8 teeth on top and 8 on the bottom. I was thrilled with the update but it still worries me that they were actually using the bad formula. Who knows what long term effects it could have. I will just have to trust God to keep him safe and to speed up our paperwork. I still haven't heard whether it has gone to China yet or not. Praying it goes soon so we can start the countdown. Maybe we will hear by Christmas yet.