A Korean homecoming

Here is a picture of our friends the "G" family with their new big baby boy. While mom traveled to Korea I took care of their 3 year old little boy all week. It was good practice getting ready for little ones again. Saturday I took dad and boys to the airport to welcome them home. The baby did great meeting everyone he was smiling and laughing with his big brothers in no time.

Dance

No news so on the adoption. So here is a picture from the weekend of the kids with cousins at our Christmas dance recital.

Needed Space

We built our home seven years ago and moved in around this time. Finally we have finished the downstairs living area. This is much needed space especially with the two little munchkins coming soon. John and I (mostly John) have been working every night to get this project completed. So last night we got to enjoy the fruits of our labor by watching our children enjoy the space. They were having a blast, such joy on their faces. Zarra had the idea to decorate with the streamers. Zane wanted to start bring toys down immediately, so we brought his train table. We ran around, played ball, and ended the night laying on a mound of pillows and blankets, watching t.v. on our little 12" screen. Now we just need to fill this space with more children.

Naveia's Court Hearing

Tonight is the day! That is because Taiwan is 14 hours ahead of us. So it is Wed. the 2nd in Taiwan. Our case to adopt Naveia is in court right now! Court is to insure that every issue has been considered for the best interest of this child. The judge could give a ruling immediatley (rare) or examine it futher with a later ruling. Most often the judges decision happens weeks or months after the hearing. I am hoping to hear in a few weeks that we have become her legal parents.

We received more photos and videos today!

A Thankful Thanksgiving

Together for the 1st time.

Naveia in her coke bottle glasses. She is so happy. We will be getting her some cutzie frames and lenses that are non-magnified. I Love this little girl. Too Cute.....you have to admit he is the cutest little thing.

The pictures say it all. I was praying for a picture of her in glasses and them together. I am Thankful for these little blessings. And to top it off Taiwan wrote us this message "It seems that the siblings could travel at same time." Your continued prayer to bring them home together is working. This would be a BIG blessing. I am keeping the faith that God is going to make this happen. Please continue to pray for this. Super Happy Thanksgiving.

National Adoption Awareness Month

God called me as a teenage girl, to adopt a child. Going through the adoption process has opened my eyes to the huge need (143 million orphans). I only hope that we can use our testimony to help others see the NEED. What is God's calling for you in caring for the orphan? Is it to sponsor an orphan, donate items to meet their needs, or give finical help to a family called to adopt? Is it to pray for, advocate for or foster the orphan? Is it to take a mission trip to serve orphans or are you called to adopt?

I wanted to download this video, but I am not having success. Go to YouTube to see this touching video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2y9OGli2qGs

James 1:27 "Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you."

Follow these website for opportunities to help.

1. http://www.nationaladoptionday.org/2009/index.asp
2. http://www.showhope.org/
3. http://www.projectcarecase.org/index.html
4. http://www.letsrebuildthewall.org/index.html

Court Hearing Scheduled

We received word today that our first court date is scheduled for December 2nd for Naveia and December 25th for Kai. This was bittersweet news because it has been our prayer to have them home before the end of the year, and now that will not happen. I had assumed we had already had Naveia's first hearing. However, we felt blessed to finally receive some news! I am overjoyed to have dates for the BOTH of them. It seems to our continued prayer to bring them home together is getting closer. If we get to bring them home together it is looking like sometime in February, hopefully closer to the 1st. It's completely out of my hands. I cannot even begin to describe to you how hard this process has been. This has been the longest and most challenging journey of our lives. In the end it will all be fulfilled in God great timing. The months to come are going to be filled with great anticipation for the arrival of our children. We also recieved our November UPDATES : Kai seems funny and very intelligent for a two year old. He speaks full sentences and uses the potty. One time while on the potty he asked "get me the newspaper" and then proceeded to "read" it. Ha ha another funny guy. He has a foster sister that lives with him. So he is getting good practice at being a little brother and not an only child. He is very attached to his foster mother. When they told him he was going to be placed with us. He said "mama not go to America, I not go either". Please be praying for his transition and the grieving he is going to have to go through. Makes me so sad. Naveia seems very outgoing and creative. I learned that her new foster family also speaks Vietnamese and that she is picking it up very well. She will have English to add to her list of spoken languages soon. She has a younger foster brother that moved-in in July. So she is getting good practice being a be sister. It sounds like the two of them have a love/hate relationship and she initiates of most fights. She will scold him loudly and stomp her foot. However, when he needs comfort he comes to her and she gives him hugs. No new pictures yet, but they say they are on there way.

Good Wishes

Today my good friend Amanda threw us a surprise party for our adoption. We were truly surprised. John thought he was coming to a surprise party for my birthday (which is two weeks away). I had no idea what it would be but thought something was up when John said he needed to come to the church to move something heavy. Deb G. helped decorate in an Asian theme and made some delicious appetizers. A few of our friends and family where there to bless our adoption with good wishes and prayer. We feel so fortunate to have such a loving church family. We have so many things to be thankful for, but right now I am so thankful for the generosity that so many of you have shared with John and I as we prepare to bring our children home from Taiwan. The donations and words of encouragement have meant more to us than you can imagine.

Deliveries

Our documents were delivered in Taiwan, Monday at 12:46p.m.! With all the paper work behind us our part is done, now we just need to sit back and wait. I have lots of things to keep me busy. We just had our basement dry walled...So I think I will be painting walls and trim for the whole month of November. I also have books on adoption I want to get finished up. And with all the Holidays to come, I think the time will fly by. We sent our 2nd care package out. I got a two for one deal. I filled half the box for Naveia and the other for Kai. John made a DVD of us, taken from our home videos. There is one for each of them. And I wrote each of them a letter in a card and had it translated. I hope this brings them joy and hope for their future.

Happy Halloween. From Gypsy and Mario.

Kai's papers ARRIVED!

I am doing the happy dance. After waiting 9 weeks and 1 day, our dossier for Kai has arrived. I am so relieved. A huge weight has just been lifted. Praise God! Monday or Tuesday I will be traveling to Chicago for the 3rd time to get papers authenticated. I am letting Zarra take the day off school to join me. Thank you to all that have joined us in prayer for this. We are now one step closer to bringing our children home (hopefully together).

Home Together

I have a prayer request. It looks like it is going to take a miracle for us to bring the children home in one trip. From adoption agency ” “; “I also want your family to be understanding in that it really does appear that they are processing these two cases separately. More than likely your little girl’s case will process before your sons and that means travel at two separate times. I wanted to give you a heads up on this as this is my gut feeling.” We desperately need prayer to bring our children home together. Our main concern with this is we would be leaving our children (Zarra, Zane, & Naveia) again so soon after bringing Naveia home. Second is the added expense of two trips to Taiwan would be a financial burden on our family. God has already blessed us so much. Remember we didn’t think we were going to get to adopt Kai but God moved mountains. He has blessed us with a miracle of a little son to completing our family. And how great it is that these siblings will be able to grow up and have each other to lean on forever. We are prayerfully requesting that our agency would advocate to the Taiwan courts for the same judge to be appointed to Kai’s case. My hope is that if they have the same judge, he would expedite Kai through the court process so that they can come home together. One problem is that we have not yet received Kai’s official documents from Taiwan to start processing his case. Pray that Kai’s papers arrive soon. I am praying God will make this happen for us and I know he will finish His good work.

Additional Documents

I received a call from our adoption agency this morning. The courts of Taiwan are requesting 5 additional documents. An employment statement, a signed statement from our doctor about our health, State criminal clearance, financial statement and our current I-171H form. All of them must go through the process of being notarized, apostle and authenticated. It has taken me 3 hours to get this in order and moving along. The state criminal clearance will be the one that takes longest to get back but hopefully by next Wednesday. By then maybe Kai's official documents will have arrived and I can take them all to Chicago for Authentication together.

What does all this mean? The good news it tells me is that Naveia's papers have entered the court system and they are in the middle of processing our case for her. So it is possible that we could have her home by the end of December beginning of January. But what about Kai? Our case of adopting siblings referred 3 months apart is very rare and I nor my agency has ever seen a case like this before. So we don't know how they (Taiwan courts) are going to handle it. My hope is that we will get the same judge for Kai and he will be expedited through so that the two can come home at the same time. My concern is that Naveia adoption will be finalized and we will be waiting in court for Kai. Then we would have to make a decision to have Naveia wait on her brother or pick her up and make another trip for Kai. I don't want to have to make that decision. If money were not an issue it would be a no brainier but travel to Taiwan with food, hotel, transportation we are guessing is going to cost close to $5000. Then take that x 2, see what I mean scary numbers come out. We had to use the money we had saved for travel to fund the additional adoption expenses that came from our surprise blessing Kai. Priceless... God has provided and blessed us financially throughout our entire adoption journey, so I know he will continue to provide for the last leg of us getting them home.

Praying that Kai's official documents arrive SOON. It has been 7 weeks.

Praying that the additional documents for Naveia will please the judge.

Praying that God continues to provide the finances needed for travel.

Praying that the kids come home together.

Amen!

Hopscotch Video

Here is another video of Naveia. At the end she says she "I can hop like a frog." These videos are such a treasure to have. I get to see her spirit, something you can't always see in a picture. I can't wait to get her home. Syvon (my niece) this video is for you. You and Naveia are going to get along great with your imaginations.

September Update

Our adoption facilitator (Cathwel) in Taiwan gives waiting families monthly updates on their children. This is our first update since being matched with Naveia. No new info on Kai but a few new pictures. They did tell us they are arranging for Naveia and Kai to start meeting once a month. They have never met nor do they even know the other exists. I am so glad they are going to start getting to know each other.

Kai in his home with a foster sister.

Favorite food; fruit, loves food

Favorite activity; blocks, toy cars, and pretend games.

Fear; shy with strangers We got 5 new pictures of Naveia and a video clip. She is busy hula hooping, bouncing balls, hopscotch, and doing front rolls. I must say she seems very coordinated. Maybe she will be my dancer. We did get some updated information on her. The biggest change is that she was moved from the nursing home into a foster family. She is learning what it's like to be in a family unit. I was sad that she had to go through yet another transition in her young life but glad that she is adjusting well and learning new things. I also just learned that she has a crossed eye. I prayed that they would do something now to help with it. My prayer was answered the update says she will be getting glasses. She is now in preschool and enjoys playing with her peers.

Favorite food; Noodles

Favorite Activity; drawing, reading books, and pretend games

Fear; Dark

Still waiting and praying for Kai's official papers to get our court process started.

1st Pictures of Kai

Here he is, our son Kai!

A picture is worth so much. Even if his eyes are closed and the shot is blurry. I will always treasure the first pictures. I can look into this picture and start to fall in love. He has a round face and a nose just like Naveia's. We think he is adorable.

10 Years

I woke up this morning to flowers and chocolates.

This marks a decade being married and together 17 years.

The kids are going somewhere to spend the night. We are going out to a nice dinner and in the morning we are going to play a round of golf. We had bigger plans a month ago. That was before we found out we would be also adopting Kai. So to save money we cut back. No adoption news still waiting. Love today, tomorrow, and always.

Schools In

School is in session. We have a 3rd grader and a kindergartner. For the first time in eight years I am once again childless throughout the days, well at least for a couple months. I am going to use these couple of months to refresh my mind, body and soul. Then I will be recharged to be mommy 24/7 again.

Our Kindergartner

Our 3rd Grader

Adoption News: No news is good news, right. We are patiently waiting on the Lord to do his good work. We are waiting on Kai's official documents. We will be doing another round of paperwork once they arrive. With the papers should be some pictures and maybe a video of him. We are also waiting to hear of our court hearing taking place for Naveia. Our foremost prayer request is that our children are being protected and loved. Then that God would work in the minds of the officials in Taiwan overseeing our case, that they would feel lead to expedite our case through the courts. Still hoping boldly to bring our children home in December. Amen

And his name is.....

Kai Yi-Hsu! The boy's name Kai \kai\, is pronounced kye. John first heard and liked the name from Kai Ryssdal, radio journalist, host of American Public Media's "Marketplace" The most common Mandarin Chinese meaning is "Victory" or "Triumphant". Kai is also a Hawaiian name meaning "the sea".

It's a boy!

God preformed a miracle. I am a bit in shock and somewhat speechless. I got the surprise call this morning. My case worker asked me if we could do a three way call with John. I thought she must have really good news on our court process. Then the surprise of our lives came. "Naveia's little brother IS now available for you to adopt." So we are know adopting a sibling group, like we always wanted. I know we were surprised too.

Back in April when we got Naveia's referral I read her social background history and noticed her birth mother had a baby boy in 2007. So I asked if he was open for inter country adopt. For a long time Taiwan never gave us and answer. Our agency asked about the child numerous times, but never got an answer. I was hopeful but new that the odds were not in our favor and that if it was meant to be God would work out the details. Finally at the end of June we were told that he was NOT available for adoption. The only explanation was that it was a long story and a bit complicated. In the context of Chinese culture, that is the polite way to say, please stop asking, and that I have no more to tell you. I was saddened but not broken as I felt God must have another plan for his child. I had accepted that he would not be ours. I took down the crib and was going to sell it. Just yesterday he was on my mind the whole day. I had finale closure about him as I packed away the cloths I had set aside for him just in case. I was going to send them to Taiwan for the clothing drive and had called a friend to give the winter boys cloths to her grandson. I better save all my little boys cloths now. Because I have a baby boy coming! After they told us today I realized I was thinking of him on his birthday while in Taiwan they were preparing our good news. What a birthday present for him, a family. He just turned two as of yesterday. God is so good! John is going to announce his name to the family tonight. His given name is Yi-Hsu which we will keep as his middle name like Naveia Hsiao-Yu. I am so excited I am just rambling on...

Last Summer Vacation

The kids including my 13yr. nephew and I got away to visit my sister in Atlanta,GA.

Pictured niece, Zarra, nephew, and Zane.

It was my driving marathon. A first for me to drive 12 hours straight through. John could not get away from work so it was just me. We had a great time relaxing before the school year starts. Zane learned how to swim finally. I was so proud of him.

Latest news on the adoption is that our papers were delivered Monday the 10th. Also our care package arrived that day. The next step is our court hearing.

District Court Process

1. District Court Process a. The family court office reviews the case/petition and a Judge is assigned to the case. b. Judge reviews and considers the case and schedules a "hearing". Hearings are handled differently depending on the birth family's situation, the judge's schedule, persons representing the birth family and those representing the adoptive family. The time involved in getting a hearing scheduled depends on the judge's calendar/schedule and that of everyone else required to attend. Hearings can result in--The immediate decision to finalize the adoption (though this is rarely the case, we can hope for this) or - Result in the judge's request for more information (in one case we saw the judge request additional counseling for the birthmother and he scheduled a follow-up hearing. Again, this is rare). -Most often, the hearing just provides a judge with more information about the case and allows him/her to rule on the adoption with confidence. Most often, the judge's decision (final ruling) happens weeks or even as long as months after the hearing.The responsibility of the District Court is to make sure that every issue related to the best interest of the child has been considered. Though lengthy & frustrating at times, the District Court process protects the child, the birth parent, the organization caring for the child, AND in the end protects us as adoptive parents. When the District Court decisions have been made, adoptive families can be confident that the process was handled with consideration and in the best interest of the child. 2-4 MONTHS 2. Part I of Final Decree (first decree). 3. Part II of Final Decree. 4. Household registration change and immigration requirements. 5. New family receives a travel date. I am not the author of this text. Author unknown.

Dossier Taiwan Bound

My mother and I at the TECO building. It has a beautiful view being on the 57th floor.

All our paperwork was processed smoothly. Praise God! On Wednesday I looked over everything and figured out what I was suppose to do. Then John met me at 3pm to get the documents notarized at our local bank. Thursday I made copies, mailed agency agreements, mailed Naveia's care package and double/triple checked all documents. Finally Friday I left at 5:30 am, drove over 5 hours to the State dept. for apostle and the TECO building for authentication. The only mistake was I had our home study notarized again and the original notary was sufficient. So I had to fill out an additional form at State dept. and pay an extra $4. No big deal. It was a beautiful day. Walking in the city was nice. We had lunch outdoors by the fountains. Did a little shopping at one small novelty store. It just so happen to have the one item I wanted if I found it. A "baby Gund" soft photo album. After a full day in the city. We drove another 5 hours and arrived home at 10:30 pm. It was a hectic and happy 3 days. I was notified that our documents arrived at our agency this morning. Already our paperwork is officially on it's way to Taiwan as of 6 pm tonight. I can't believe it, we turned it around in just one week. Again Praise God! Next we wait to hear of our court date. We will be traveling between 4-8 months (Dec.-April). I am hoping for sooner than later. Keep us in your prayers.

Gifts to our Daughter

I sent Naveia's 1st care package to her Thursday. Sending our daughter gifts helps us to connect to her by providing for her needs and knowing it will make her happy to receive it.

She is getting hand me downs from Zarra's clothing. I laid out all the clothes and each one of us picked a clothing item. I am not sure what size she wears but we are guessing 5T or small 4/5. Also included in the small box; puma shoes, underwear, dress-up skirt, dolphin necklace, ponies, bounce balls, car, magnifying glass, stickers, coloring book, crayons, note book, paint, pencils, sharpener, play-doh, glue stick, beach word book, hair things, brush, shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrush, granola bars, laminated pictures, framed family picture, little lamb silky blanket, disposable camera, and a note to care givers.

Fedex Delivery

Fedex delivered our documents and photos at 10am. I was not expecting them until 4:30pm. It was nice to have something come early for a change. In these photos I believe Naveia is telling us "Hurry and get the paperwork done, so I can come home."

I am going to get busy baby and finish the paperwork faster than its ever been done before. We are getting closer. Praise God!

Paperwork Has Arrived

Our agency called today with good news. Our official paperwork to begin the adoption arrived! We will get them tomorrow and immediately dive into doing our part to get this started. We were also blessed with a 6 min. video of Naveia and many pictures. I will post the picture soon after we get them.

Family Fun

I have not posted in some time. One I just did not want the pictures I posted of Naveia to move down and two we have been busy with my sister's family visiting us. Unfortunately I have no adoption news to post. We continue to patiently wait on the paperwork to even begin the adoption process. Please continue to pray that God is working out the details to get the paperwork into our hands. I wish I could just go over there and get her. But I will do whatever it takes to bring my child home.

It was a blessing having my sisters family here for two weeks. The time flew by and we had a lot of fun. We enjoyed the 4th of July, fishing, horse riding, swim pools, Adventure Zone, The Landing, boating, and dining out. My 3 year old niece loved our kittens. By the way we still have 3 that need homes :) they would even love to live on a farm outdoors if you know anyone.

Just this week we added a dog to our family. Zarra and I have wanted an indoor dog for many years. Finally John gave us the green light. We searched the shelters but he came to us as a stray showing up in MO at my mom’s house. He is a 1 ½ old beagle/terrier mix. He has a great temperament, loves the kids and curling up to take a nap. Zarra named him BUDDY. I bet you have never heard of that name for a dog before ha ha. That is what she wants to name him so Buddy it is.

More Pictures!

Our orphanage apologized for what happened and the director went strait to our child's case worker and found us some more pictures.

I can't get this one to rotate. But is my favorite. She is dressed so funky. Those boots are hilarious.

I am not sure when these where taken but I think she looks older than in the first picture we got. Also looks like she got a haircut.

Our First Glance

It started out as a typical Monday morning. I woke early to a cup of coffee and a granola bar, settled down at the computer and started researching the waiting children of Taiwan. Every Monday I update who has found a family and add any new waiting children. With that information I then advocate and pray on the little waiting children's behalf whenever given an opportunity. Well today was different, I found my daughters picture! I was quite surprised when I was on an agency site that is not my own and see a cute little girls face and then read her name. Hsiao-Yu. "What that is my daughter... I think?" I click on her picture and it goes on to confirm it is indeed my daughter. My eyes filled with tears and my heart was pounding out of my chest. I couldn't believe it was her. This is not the way it is suppose to happen. What a blessing, I am so happy to have a picture no matter how I got it. So I was extremely happy but angry and confused at the same time. I contacted the agency immediately to claim that she was my daughter and wanted to know why she was on their waiting list. I also contacted my agency to see why Cathwel has never given them this picture. It is not anything anyone is trying to withhold from us it is just a case of human error and oversights. I won't really go into details, but everyone is doing their part to correct the situation. The other agency took down her picture and information right away. They know she is spoken for and are happy for her. My agency is going to contact Cathwel tonight to find this picture and if there are anymore. All I can say is our orphanage is very busy these days and do their best with what they have. I love it! I love her! I have a face to frame and I can look into this picture and see my daughter. I know it is not clear for you all to see. I only have what I was able to copy, paste and then print on paper. She is squatting down looking at rabbits in a cage. She has a round face with arched eyebrows and a calm look on her face. She is beautiful. Glory be to God for leading me to our daughter's picture.

Kittens

We have kittens that need a loving home. How it all began. On Halloween last year a black kitten starts living in our garage. She is a feral cat and will not let us touch her. She eats our cats food and grows but still won't let us pet her. Towards the end of April I notice her stomach starting to get quit round. I think she is to young to have kittens it must be worms or something. Then to my surprise on May 17th I go out to feed the cats in the morning and up she jumps with 5 wet black things under her. I scream and she is growling. Yep, we have kittens for sure. I am not proud that we were not able to control the pet population by getting her spaded but no one could touch her. The good that has come from it is my kids have been fascinated by the kittens over the past 5 weeks. And my daughter has tamed the mother through handling her kittens. We can now pet her. Zarra really loves animals. She has made them elaborate playgrounds in the house using cardboard boxes and toys. It is so cute and fun to watch them play. She also makes them obstacle courses and is training them well. Zane on the other hand loves them a little to much some times. He often hears us scream "ZANE let go of the kitten" as he shoves it under a pillow or lets it hang from his shirt by it's poor little claws. The kittens love him anyhow. We already have two cats and the mother that showed up last year. So we are not keeping any of the kittens. If you are interested in taking one off our hands. That would be great! Give me a call and you can come and get one.

Home Study Update

Last week we all had to get physicals proving our current health. None of us had been to the Dr.'s office since the beginning of our adoption back in 2006. We have to get fingerprinted for the third time. So we sent the forms and fee in, now just waiting on a set date to go to St. Louis and be printed. Friday our social worker came to our home for a visit to update our home study. We have been busy getting our side of the paperwork ready. When those official documents finally get here I want to get them finished and into the hands of our Taiwan judge ASAP.

We can't live for the future we have to live in the here and now. So we are enjoying our summer. "This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it." Lots of baseball. My cousin, all the kids, and I stayed the night at a hotel last week. It was a little mini vacation but a lot of fun. The kids played at Boonkers, had their last night of VBS, and did a whole bunch of swimming.

$ Garage Sale $

I had a very successful garage sale fundraiser this weekend. The money raised will go towards our travel expense to bring our daughter home from Taiwan. It brought in $726!

I sold all of our baby items. I had been holding on to them just in case we were matched with an infant. It was not sad at all to get rid of these items, it was more of a relief to declutter our storage space finally. Also many friends donated items that really helped raise the total. Thank you to the Hofmiester's, Jenkin's, Walrath's, Burton's, Teresa, Fink's, and Spee's.

Here are the kids at their little concession stand.

When can you bring her home?

This is the most popular question I have been asked. I wish we could bring her home right away. So we would not miss another day of her life. With adoption it is never that easy. We are waiting on paper work and contracts to sign first. Once we get the paper work it is a mad dash to get all the offical signitures. Then they are quickly returned to Taiwan and our case will be appointed a Judge in their court system. During the court process there will be a hearing , a ruling, 2nd ruling, then the date set to get her visa to leave the country. The date of that appointment will determine our travel date. We will get notifiyed about 3 weeks before it is time to travel. Most of the time it take 7 months for all this to happen. So to answer the question she should be home by Christmas. It could happen sooner (with lots of prayer) but it could also take longer. We always have known this is how it goes. So while it is hard not to be able to go get her right away. This is the way it is to protect children’s rights and make sure all is legit in an adoption.

He kniT us together

This is our story of what has taken place of over the last 5 weeks. The weekend before we got "the call" John agreed to up our age preference to 0-4 years old, but he said she would have to just be turning 4 at referral no older. This was an answer to prayer! We sent our agency the update on Monday April 13th. That same day in Taiwan, they sent her file to the agency to be put on their waiting child list. Then the next day our case manager saw our update and saw that this little girl was just about to turn 4 and thought this could be a divine match. Now we get "the call". I wanted to accept her with the little information we had. John being the engineer he is needed to make a more informed decision. So being very optimistic about her. We requested additional medical information. We thought it would be a couple days, a week at most to receive an update. It was so hard for me to hold back my excitement all this time when I knew in my heart all along that she was the one. This was my “marathon” and the last mile of the race is always the hardest and most important. The finish line was in sight, with God’s great grace I hung in there; even when my mind was weary He would pull me back. I just wanted to go to sleep and not think about it until there was an answer. I heard the Lord calling " You're almost there. Don't quit. Stay strong. Keep the faith. Keep going…you'll make it…, It will be worth it!” Then finally a month later we got the update. We had our questions and concerns answered. We immediately submitted a formal request to accept her referral. Next we had to wait yet another week to hear that the orphanage had granted us approval to move forward with her adoption. This was it, we had finally been chosen for our little girl we have waited so long for. We have no picture of her yet. But from a physical description she has a chubby figure with a round face. Her personality reads that she is friendly, talkative, and curious.

From the very beginning of our adoption God had started to knit us together. The day that our file was put on our orphanage’s waiting list, was also the day she became legally free to be adopted. That very same day she was sent to live in a nursing home where she still lives today. I believe it is definitely a match God has knit together and I know she is the child He has always intended for us.

Time to Celebrate!

We have been matched with our little Asian angel GIRL from Taiwan!

She just turned 4 years old on May 4th. The long wait to be chosen for our child is over. Praise God! I will post our story of how it all came to be soon. For now I will reveal her name;

Naveia Hsiao-Yu H. Naveia (nuh-vay-uh) Hsiao-Yu (her first given Taiwanese name) H. (security reasons, if you know us you know our last name)

I know you want to see her. We can't wait to see her face too. I hope a picture comes soon.

Waiting....

The picture above is a celebration waiting to happen. It has been set up collecting dust since Christmas. At Christmas I bought this frame and wrote a note in it, it says "Dear God, A daughter lives in my heart. I pray that you will soon give us a face to frame. Patiently waiting for our little Asian angel. Love Mommy". When we get "The Call" we are ready to celebrate God's blessing upon us.

The most difficult part of adoption is waiting. In the beginning I had to wait on my husband to agree we could start the process. Then we had to wait for clearance from the government that we would be approved to adopt. Once we got on the waiting list the "plan" was it was going to be 3-14 months waiting to be matched. I could handle that and we happily waited. Then we got close to waiting 14 months and they moved the projected wait time to 18-24 months. I was disappointed, but could handle it. Then we got close to 18 months and they moved the projected wait time to 24-30 months. I started to second guess that maybe Taiwan is not where our child is from. I felt it was unfair that there are children around the world waiting for a family and here we are a family waiting for a child. So I began looking into other countries, US foster system, but nothing felt right. God made it clear I am to wait it out in Taiwan. So we continue on waiting in faith, 28 month now. Our children have gotten older over this long wait. So after a year of me asking John if we could up the age on our child preference to 0-4 years old. Last month he finally agreed, but he specified she would have to be just turning 4 at the time of referral no older. This was an answer to prayer!

I know I can trust in God's promises. He placed the desire to adopt on in my heart over 15 years ago. I know it will happen in His always perfect timing. God is so faithful, even when I'm not. I have to submit to His timing even if it means waiting a long while. Keep us in your prayers that God's promise for this child will be fufilled.