Will You Say Yes?

"Your life was designed for far more than just the accumulation of things or the accomplishment of daily tasks. You were created for an adventure of trust. The adventure begins by letting go, taking a leap of faith and saying YES to the God who deeply loves you." ~Kay Warren 

"You have a plan for the rest of your life. God has a plan for the rest of your life. Are they the same? What if God’s plan for your life is far bigger, far more risky, and far more fulfilling than what you had planned?" 

~Kay Warren 

"Sometimes God will call you to do a work – a work that He has planned for you to do (Ephesians 2:10). You may not want to do it. You may feel that you are not smart enough, talented enough, strong enough, or bold enough. You may even argue with God like Moses did (Exodus 3-4). You may laugh at God like Sarah did (Genesis 18:12). But if you obey God and depend on Him to work through you, amazing things will happen. People will be blessed. You will be blessed. You may never know the people who are changed by your obedience to speak a word, to lend a hand, or to give a hug. You may never know the lives that are impacted by your obedience to do what God has called you to do. But know this. There will be abundant fruit with your name on it – if you choose to obey." ~Sharon Jaynes

When I think about this adoption process the ways I have been blessed, because we said YES to God, is sometimes overwhelming.  At first, naturally, I didn't really want to say yes.  "We cannot afford another adoption" and "A child with Down syndrome?" were a couple thoughts that ran through my head constantly.  But the more God spoke to me, the easier it was to take the leap and say YES once again.  

Although this is our third China adoption, this process has been totally different than any of the others.  The costs to adopt have increased over the years but I have had such peace and faith that God would be the provider of everything we need.  And boy has He shown up!  We have been blessed tremendously by the love of others who have sacrificed and donated towards bringing Karsynn home.  We have had random amounts of extra money in our bank account after paying our bills that we were able to use for the adoption.  And the thing I am most excited about are my necklaces and Handmade Hope.  Thanks to Matt and Paul, this has been such a huge blessing (a lot of work but a huge blessing) not only to us but to other families adopting as well!  It has been so fun to see it grow and to be able to help other families and organizations raise money as well.  I am very much looking forward to coming home and being able to pick an organization or family each month to donate proceeds to and bless.  It has truly been amazing and I couldn't have done it without the many people who have helped get it going and who have shared with their friends and family! We have also been blessed with a couple adoption grants and I truly believe that God has used my past hurts and how He has turned them into our amazing story to help us earn these grants (we had to write letters with our applications).  Because of all these things, we have been able to pay every fee due and are just a few thousand (out of the, I don't even know, like $28,000 it costs to adopt from China)!  Only God can do such a thing! Are the costs of adopting holding you back from doing so? DON'T LET IT!


Saying YES to God this adoption has also introduced me to so, so many new friends!  I have absolutely LOVED "meeting" these new friends, watching their own adoption processes, and learning about them and their families.  The Down syndrome community has been very welcoming and so helpful to answer any questions and it has been so neat to see all the families stepping up to adopt these wonderful children.  Being involved in these circles has also allowed me to use my past and story to counsel a couple women who learned their child has Down syndrome and were considering aborting.  These women I didn't even know personally, but what a huge blessing!  

I have such an overwhelming sense of peace with this adoption (unlike any before) and I cannot wait to get on that plane to China (even though I am TERRIFIED of flying!)!  I am so excited to meet our girl and learn all about her. I know without a doubt she will impact our family, those around us, and the world...and the blessings of saying YES to God will only continue!  We are waiting to get official approval from China and from that point it is an average of 8-10 weeks till travel!  The country of China is, of course, closed from October 1st through 7th.  There is a very slight possibility (miracle, really) we could travel in September before the closure but it will most likely be right after the closure.  So it's coming quickly!

Is there something God is asking you to say YES to?  You can say "no" because He doesn't force you to say "yes".  You can say "maybe some other time" or "maybe in a couple years when my bills are paid off" or "how about you ask me to do something else God?"  The answer most pleasing to God has got to be "YES"!  Will it be risky? Yes.  Will it require sacrifice?  Most likely.  Will it be scary?  Often.  Will it be worth it?  YES!  Don't wait, you'll be amazed at what He accomplishes! 

If you feel inclined to help get us fully funded, you can click the Reece's Rainbow link to the right of here (the one with Karsynn's picture on it) and donate or we still have about $1000 left on our matching grant (contact me if you want information on donating towards that). Thank you for the continued support and prayers for our journey.  You all mean the world to us! 

DTC!

Yesterday we received word that all our documents are now on their way to China! DTC! Once China receives them we can begin the offical countdown to Karsynn!  Travel can be anywhere from 3 1/2 to 5 months!  So excited!!

Today we also received a $3000 matching grant!  This is great news considering we need thousands of dollars still in such a short amount of time.  If you have been wanting to donate or purchase a necklace or keychain, now is the perfect time because every dollar is matched up to $3000!!  Let me know if this is something you would like to do and I will get you all the information to do so. 

We still have 3 other grants we are waiting to hear back on and should be hearing from in the coming days/weeks.  Praying these come through as well so that we can be fully funded!  Thankful for all of you for praying for us and getting us this far in our process!  

God is so faithful!! 

Approved!

Yesterday we received, finally after 46 days, our approval to adopt a child from China!  There are 13 documents that have to be notarized and then approved by the Secretary of State and the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco and this is the last of the documents we needed.  Once we have the approval from these two places, off to China our documents go (DTC)!  This is always a great relief because this means everything on our end is all completed.  No more going to appointments, having things notarized, filling out paperwork, etc.  Now we just wait.  Once our paperwork is mailed to China, hopefully in a couple weeks, we will then get a date that our paperwork is logged into their system (LID) and from that point travel will be about 4 months!  That means early October is very likely!  Not very far away, really!!

Karsynn's birthday is the end of this month so we had a couple things sent to her.  We sent a photo album of some pictures of all of us so she can get familiar with us along with a letter, a Hello Kitty stuffed animal and a birthday cake!  When she gets her cake we will get some pictures of her with her cake...can't wait!  Love you, sweet girl!

Long Overdue Update

Well hello blogging world.  My apologies for not keeping up to date on this realm of social media.  Between adoption paperwork, making necklaces, my "regular" job, and the family...this is the last thing from my mind.  However, I thought I would take a second and at least update all you who are curious about where we are with our process to bring Karsynn home.

We are currently waiting for our I800a approval from Immigration.  We took our fingerprints on April 6th and are just waiting for that letter of approval in the mail.  With Brayden's adoption it took 4 days after fingerprints to receive approval.  Great example of how things change in the adoption process!

Once we receive that approval we can send it off to the Secretary of State and the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco for their approvals and then we will be DTC (Dossier/Documents To China)!  This is always a sigh of relief because that means everything is done on our end.  Then we just wait until China says we can come to bring Karsynn home.  Right now, it is looking like October sometime could be when we would travel!!  It snows where Karsynn lives and so I am praying that we travel in October and before the weather gets bad.

I have been working overtime to make necklaces and keychains to raise money for our adoption expenses.  We are so blessed of this opportunity God gave us and the support of so many people making it happen!  We are still needing a large amount of money by October (about $19,000) but I know God WILL PROVIDE every penny!  We are planning on taking Kennedi with us because she is at a point where she is embrasing her Chinese heritage finally (if you know Kennedi, you know this is a huge step for her) plus it is a great thing for the adopted child to have another child around.  Karsynn also lives in an area that requires an extra week in China so instead of 2 weeks we have to plan on being there 3 weeks.  These two things add a huge amount to the costs of this adoption.  We are waiting to hear on a couple grant applications in the next month or so and are praying at least one of them come through.  This would be a huge blessings on this journey.

So can you please pray that we can travel by October and that the grants are approved and the funds keep being provided, if you think about us?  We are so blessed by all the people who have surrounded us with love and support during this journey.

World Down Syndrome Day!

Today is a day that has taken on a whole new meaning for us in the past few months. World Down Syndrome Day. A few months ago I didn't even know this day really existed. But God, God has been growing in me over the past couple years this love for those blessed with an extra chromosome.  Maybe its because way too many of those in the US who hear their child has Down syndrome feel their only answer is to abort their pregnancy (somewhere between 70 and 90%). Knowing the heartbreak an abortion can cause, my heart breaks for these parents and for the precious unborn child. My prayer is that I can somehow shine a light on the fact that children with Down syndrome are Fearfully and Wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14) and I have a big feeling Karsynn is going to help others see that.

God has not only placed adoption of a Down syndrome child in my path but He has been opening many other doors as well. I have been asked by the owner of Gigi's Playhouse in Des Moines Moines, Iowa to design and sell some of my Handmade Hope necklaces in their store! Gigi's Playhouse is a nationwide achievement center for those with DS. You can read more about them here. Praying one day we will have our very own local Gigi's Playhouse that I can be a part of! In the past week alone, God has also provided me the opportunity to be moderator of a Down Syndrome Adoption Facebbok page and our agency has also asked me to be in charge of advocating for their DS children they have waiting for families! Do you know China did not feel children with DS were adoptable and so they wouldn't bother using their time and resources preparing their files for adoption? Until recently they realized Americans, and others, will adopt and love DS kids so they began preparing files.  Today there are many adorable DS kiddos ready and waiting for their families.  I couldn't be more honored to have these new opportunities and I can't wait to see what other doors open along the way!!

So as I sit here at the beach enjoying the amazing views and weather I can't help but think of how amazing my life has unfolded to become once I allowed God to lead the way. 20 or even 10 years ago I would not have even imagined I would have 3 children from China and one of them with Down syndrome or that I would be an advocate for the orphan and those rocking an extra chromosome.  I am so humbled God chose broken me to fulfill His purposes!! What is He calling you to be used for? Will you let Him?

I-800a Submitted

I realize for most of you reading this, you have no idea what the title of my post even means.  You'll see many abbreviations like this throughout the China adoption process and for someone who is new to it all, it can sometimes be a bit confusing or overwhelming.  I-800a submitted basically means we submitted our application to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to determine if we are suitable to adopt a child from another country, including a fee of $975.

We should have had this application in the mail last Monday but Katelyn became ill all week and so we just got them in the mail yesterday.  Adoption process had to be put on hold for the week.  What's a week right? Or at least that's what I keep telling myself...

We, along with Katelyn because she is over 18, will now wait for our fingerprint appointment date to go and take our $1000 fingerprints.  Once we receive approval from USCIS, we can get our documents on their way to China.

That's about all the excitement around here.  Waiting to hear on some grant applications we submitted, super busy making necklaces which has been a HUGE blessing, and spending the passing days at the pool at swim meets because it's that time of the year again and I love it!  It has been in the mid to high 70s here...perfect weather to be poolside!  I also went on Thursday to see The Drop Box! If you missed this short showing in theaters, please be sure to look for it when it comes out on DVD!  It is the amazing story of Pastor Lee in South Korea who began opening his home to the many children who were being orphaned on the streets.  He eventually built a "drop box" that the babies can be put anonymously inside the box instead of leaving them to die in the cold.  This man LOVES like God loves.  He puts the needs of these children above his own needs.  Truly a story that will break you and hopefully move you.  You've heard this saying before but "we can't all adopt but we can all DO SOMETHING"!  I hope you get to see it.



Here's your #6 Seeds of Change Devotional, enjoy!

Why do we do what we do for the sake of others?  What motivates us?  How does God view these motivations?  Is the purest motivator a sense of Christian duty to meet the needs of the poor?  Is faith the best stimulus in our doing for the sake of another?  I am fond of Henry Drummond's writing on this matter.  He explains, "We have been accustomed to be told that the greatest thing in the religious world is faith.  That great word has been the keynote for centuries of the popular religion; and we have easily learned to look upon it as the greatest thing in the world.  Well, we are wrong...in 1 Corinthians 13, Paul takes us to Christianity at its source; and there we see, 'The greatest of these is love'."

It is curious to me that in some translations of the Bible, the word love is translated in English as charity, which many of us today understand to mean financially giving to those in need.  It is therefore important to look at the differences between these two ideas, love and charity.  We find in 1 John that if we see someone in physical need and refuse to help him, then the love of God is not in us.  In this sense it is impossible to love without charity.  But the distinction comes when Paul, being inspired by the Holy Spirit, wrote in 1 Corinthians, "And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor and though I give my body to be burned, and have not love, it profits me nothing."  Did he say nothing?  Yes indeed, nothing!  His charity could have indeed returned a blessing to him greater than what he gave, but it did not.  It may have in some way helped the poor recipient, but because it was not out of love, this act of giving was missing the power of God and as a result it profited the giver nothing.

But how is it possible to be assured that love is our true motivation for giving when we are flawed and fleshly creatures and often do not feel loving towards our brethren?  The Word confirms that "the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it" (Jeremiah 17:9).  Well, I believe that understanding our frailty and the weakness of our hearts is actually the place we must start in order to end up loving as God loves.  We must begin with the recognition that apart from God, we can do nothing!  All things of God, even and especially love, must come back to a complete dependence upon the Spirit of God in order that it may profit our souls now and for eternity.  Only the flowing of the Spirit of God through a man's soul can produce the pure motivation of agape love.

May we consider others better than ourselves; let us make allowances for the faults of others and be quick to forgive and not judge falsely.  May we put gossip and slander far from our lips; there is too much hurtful talk in our churches and in our homes-enough is enough; it is the time for Love.  God desires and promises to impart a full life of peace and joy to those who are submitted to His ways, and He wants to use such souls to impart blessings to others.  We cannot love without love Himself.  May we stay attached to the vine so that we can bear much fruit!  If, out of our dependence on God and His love, we will sacrificially serve and love those in need.  God will perfect His love in us, and we will experience the fullness of God and all the blessings and profit that come from Him.  As Drummond exhorts, "Where love is, God is.  He that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God.  God is love,  Therefore love.  Without distinction, without calculation, without procrastination, love!"

~Scott Hasenbalg

{LOVE}

more pictures!

Just received some new pictures from our agency! Love!!

Moving Right Along

Our process to Karsynn is now moving right along.  We received our finalized home study finally on Monday.  Receiving our home study is really the end of one step of the process and allows us to begin the next step.  We are now officially done with the original agency and have completely switched to the agency we need to be with to help us through the rest of this journey.  We now send a copy of our home study to homeland security for our I-800a application, along with about $1000 for fingerprints (because Katelyn is over 18 and has to be fingerprinted as well), for their approval to adopt internationally.  As we wait for that approval, we send our documents all off for authentication and certification with the state.  Once those all arrive back, we will finally be DTC which means our documents will be on their way to China!  That is always an exciting time because that marks the end of all the endless paperwork.

Here at home we are entering into our busy time which is also known as swim season.  The good news is that this year it is only Bradley we have to get to and from practice (including 5:30am practices) and attend meets of.  Tomorrow is his first meet.  Katelyn is flying through her first year of college already and has recently met the most amazing guy.  She is looking forward to her spring break in a week.  Brayden is doing pretty well in school and we are working hard to remind him that his hard work in school will help him in the future; he thinks his video games will.  We are looking forward to celebrating 7 years with Kennedi home with us next month and cannot believe she will be 13 soon.  We just went to Disneyland and experienced their Chinese New Year Celebration which was a blast!

Here's your Day 5 of the Seeds of Change Devotional:

"When our family stepped out of our comfort zone and into the world of adoption, our lives were forever changed.  Having personally witnessed the plight of orphans in Haiti, China, El Salvador, Africa, and here in the USA, having seen their pain and heard their heart's cry, we knew we needed to respond.  Our journey has not been easy, comfortable, or something for which we were even prepared.  Yet God was calling us to step out, be different, and start responding to the command of James 1:27 to care for orphans in their distress.

I have sat in church services with thousands of Christians, all crying for justice, saying that God is up to something-that a new "thing" is happening.  But we are staying there, in that place, arms raised high but not reaching out.  After we hear the plight of the hungry, the needs of widows, the reality of the fatherless...what?  How do we Show Hope in a world that is so desperate, a world that is truly hopeless?  How do we respond?  Beyond what is comfortable, beyond what is easy, beyond simply enough to cross it off of our list of "Christian" things to do.

If we will respond to the needs of orphans to the same degree that God responded to the need of His orphans, by sacrificing His only Son, then imagine, just imagine what could start happening.  If we respond beyond our ease, beyond our convenience, with our focus on Jesus Christ and Him crucified for us, what would start to happen?  If we respond like a people who have been given the best, the greatest gift in the world, life eternal, through the hardest sacrifice ever made, what would we do?  Would we take the path of least resistance?  Or would we throw ourselves before the Lord, exulting in His goodness and plead with Him to show us what our role is.

All of our parts are different, and I am the last to pretend to know what is right for each of us. That is truly between you and God.  But I am asking one thing.  Be willing to go beyond easy.  Ask God to have His way with your life, even if it means that He must really stretch you, really push you to the limit.  You may find yourself adopting when you thought you couldn't.  You may find yourself serving in another country when you thought you would never go.  You may get involved with the fatherless children in your neighborhood who were orphaned by divorce or death when you thought it would be too much.  I am so glad that our family has walked some of the harder roads, because the difficulties we have experienced pale in comparison to the blessings of the peace, joy, and purpose that God has given, just as Christ could take our place at the cross because of the joy that was set before him.

Really pray, and really consider the cost that has been paid for you.  Our salvation was purchased at an astronomical price, the price of an only Son.  How great is the love of God!  are we willing to share that kind of sacrificial love with the orphans for whom God has asked us to care?  Jesus called us to love as He loved because He wanted His joy to be in us so that our joy "may be complete" (John 15:10-12)."

~Mary Beth Chapman

I am always so glad that we decided we would not play this thing called life "safe".  God has sent me (and our family) on some amazing and humbling journeys that I could have never imagined going on.  Be brave.  Follow God's calling on your life, you won't regret it!

Karsynn Yu Yang 

we are coming for you!!! 

Move over Satan!

For those of you that actually read my blog (or that ONE person who does)...I am so sorry for the delay in my next post.  I had every intention of writing a new post a week and a half ago but we went to Disneyland that weekend and it didn't turn out to be the weekend we expected.  The whole reason we were going to Disneyland was because they do a big Chinese New Year celebration that we have never gone to.  So for Christmas my parents gave us annual passes so we could go.  Ummm yeah well, I had the weekend WRONG! We walked into California Adventure and saw Goofy right away and he was NOT dressed up the way they said he would be.  Hmmmm.  We then look around and there are no lanterns or Chinese dragons to be seen.  Oh goodness my heart sank.  Katelyn looked on her phone and it is actually February 19th-22nd! We of course still had fun on the rides and things...we were in Disneyland so how could you not?!?  However, I guess I had a little too much fun on the rides because I developed tendonitis in my shoulder and couldn't move it on that Sunday at all.  We rode a couple rides and then came home early so Mark could watch his team play in the Super Bowl. Unfortunately they lost in a terrible play at the end of the game.  Poor Seahawks.  Oh well.  We still had a good time in Disneyland regardless and will be returning next weekend for Chinese New Year!

Then I was going to do an update for you all at the end of last week but some things materialized with our adoption that I knew I had to wait and figure all this out before posting.  So here we are as of today...we are changing adoption agencies unfortunately.  Long story short...

we were only using this agency, that we had never heard of prior to this ordeal, because they were the only ones who would be getting "Nissa's" file.

we were on this journey because of "Nissa" and "Nissa" only (or so we thought)

we have been waiting for "Nissa's" file to be prepared since September and still cannot be given a time frame of when to expect it

so we continued down this road, because of the love we have for this sweet girl, giving money to an agency when we hadn't even reviewed this girl's file

the whole time I am leery of this agency and feel there's just something not right with things but we keep moving forward one day at a time

last week (without getting into details) I talk to a few other families and moms who confirm my suspicions and we begin to question the integrity of this agency

we decide we have no other option but to leave our agency because of the things we have heard and lack of trust with them because we were at a point in the process where it was leave now or be stuck for the rest of the process, unfortunately this means the loss of about $1000

but more than that, this means giving up on our little girl "Nissa"

we contacted our agency we used with Brayden (who is wonderful by the way) and they helped pull files for us and look at other children who were waiting

unfortunately when comparing them to "Nissa", none of these children pulled at my heart like she did

was told by another sweet mom that when we found the girl for us we would know

on Monday our 'new' agency told us we needed to tell the agency we were leaving because things in our home study needed to be written a certain way (we were not wanting to tell them until our home study was in our hands because we don't want them to mess around and not get it to us in a timely manner)

Monday night I wrote the hardest email ever to the agency letting them know we would not be continuing.  It's one thing to talk about doing so but another thing to actually do so.  They know how much "Nissa" is a part of my heart and heard from me almost daily about her and her file.  They knew the heart break this is causing.  They knew.

Also Monday night the new list of waiting children in China (called the Shared List and comes out usually once a month) came out.  What timing!  This list is a list of hundreds of children who's files are prepared and any agency can pick them up for their families.  I have a facebook friend who has access to the list and sent me the most stunning 6 1/2 year old girl I had ever seen!  STUNNING!  "Nissa" is cute and seems so spunky but this girl in front of me Monday night was stunning in my opinion.  I had to get my hands on her file!  This FB friend sent me her file and I knew she could be our daughter.  I knew.  

Yesterday was really hard

really, really hard

I woke to two emails from the agency we are leaving saying "well good luck on your new kid".  That's it?  You know how heartbroken we are and how much this girl is a part of our family (she was on our Christmas cards for goodness sake!) and that's all you have to say?  Then I see these two women have "Nissa" posted all over FB looking for her family because "the family we had for her backed out of no fault of Nissa's".  No...it was your fault!  They posted her and commented on her post over and over all day long as to rub it in.  Talk about a knife to the heart.

BUT, Satan will NOT win this battle!  

We know God has gone before us.  He knows exactly which child will be our daughter.  He has known all along.  Maybe "Nissa" was used by God to get us to just consider adopting again and adopting a Down syndrome child.  Maybe God will lead "Nissa" to our family eventually, maybe he has the perfect family for her and it is not ours.  But we know He is faithful and has just what we need in His plans

And we are submitting our Letter of Intent (LOI) today

for this STUNNING girl from Qingdao, China!

"Nissa" will always have a place in my heart.  I pray God has just the perfect family for her and that they find her.  And if not, this agency has 3 months to find them and if they don't her file has to be released to the Shared List so any agency can pick it up, and we WILL be bringing home two girls! Haha!! ;-)

So please just be in continued prayer for our journey if you think of us.  Pray they do not hold up our home study and will hand it over to our new agency as soon as possible (I posted a complaint against them on a "rate your agency" site on FB yesterday and they have someone who is a snoop and reports any negativity back to them), that we get an update with more pictures and hopefully a video of this sweet new girl of ours, that my necklaces continue to sell well (I am making necklaces that a couple friends helped design that you can see on FB here or look us up on Instagram at Handmade Hope), that we receive some grants we are fixing to apply for, and that we can now move forward smoothly and quickly with the rest of our process.

I am certain, it's not an adoption without roadblocks Satan tries to throw at us.  I know that a year from now we will say it was all worth it like we did with our other two adoption processes.  It just hurts my heart right now.  Thanks for your thoughts and prayers.

Day 4 of the Seeds of Change Devotional:

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." ~Hebrews 11:1

Life is too short and full of too many responsibilities to invest in every good idea that comes our way.  As for God ideas, we do not want to miss those and are willing to sacrifice much in order to be a part.  In church work and 'ministry', there seems to be innumerable 'good ideas', but they often accomplish far less good than is anticipated.  Such cases remind me of God's words through the prophet Haggai, "You have planted much, but harvested little." Why? Where did the Israelites go wrong? They were busy building their own paneled houses (individual ministries) and not building up God's house, allowing Him to be the architect.  Far too often we, in the church, invest in things that seem good but are not best because they are not of God.  Still, we foolishly wonder, when the dust settles, why God did not empower our plans and work.

The Lord is our Shepherd, so we need not worry about our path as long as we are willing to follow Him and "do" for His name's sake.  What does this look like?  God recently reminded me that "without faith it is impossible to please God," (Heb. 11:6) and that the very definition of faith is "the substance of things not seen" (Heb 11:1).  In other words...Faith is hope shown!  Showing hope is a God idea and has been in His mind before the foundations of the world.  God calls His children to reveal the authenticity of their faith through obedient and loving actions to a needy world.  Did not Jesus Himself show us the way to walk?

So if we are to "show hope", we must first ask ourselves what are those things for which the Word calls us to hope: the hope of glory, the hope of restoration and redemption, the hope of the weak becoming strong, the lame becoming whole, the poor becoming rich, the hope of joy replacing tears, the hope of a heavenly home...

We must always remember that these actions are to flow out of a continual, daily walk with Christ-a relationship founded on prayer.  Prayer maintains our perspective.  Only in light of our heavenly hope does our work on this earth make sense, remain sustainable, and have eternal value.  To walk in the good works that God has prepared for us beforehand, we must stay connected to the source! 

~Scott Hasenbalg

Wow, wasn't this fitting??

XOXOXO

Miss "K"

Thinking about you a lot today, Miss K (as a friend of mine has nicknamed you).  

Wondering what you are doing.  

Hoping you are not sick and that you have been staying warm in the cold weather.  

Praying you still have that sweet smile on your face and are playing with many stickers, drawing many pictures and still dancing like you are in your video.

Wish I could share your picture to the world!

Cannot wait to have you home with us.

There are so many people here at home who are praying for you and helping to bring you home, I can't wait for you to meet them!

Your sister, Kennedi, has been talking about going to China with us to meet you and take care of you and she said she is bringing pennies for you to help you learn to count. 

We are working hard so that the day arrives faster than later. 

We love you.

There's nothing really exciting to share on the adoption front.  Just mounds of paperwork.  Home study paperwork, dossier paperwork, grant paperwork.  I have a huge file folder to try and keep it all organized but it is so much that I may need a second folder!  Soon, the paperwork will all be behind us and things will seem less chaotic.  I am not good with having things "pending".  I am the type that likes to have all my ducks in a row and things checked off my to-do list.  Hopefully by April or May (my goal anyways) all our paperwork will be on its way to China and I can breathe some.  For now it's signing our life away (worse than buying a house), appointments to physicals, notarizing, and finger prints.Our home study should be done by mid-February and then it is off to homeland security for our finger prints (Katelyn included since she is 18), wait for approval from them, and then more authentication of our documents before they can be sent to China.  We are now working on our next payment due of $6900 by the time our documents go to China so prayer for that would be appreciated!  We have already seen God move mountain after mountain and know that He is faithful.  His hands are all over this adoption and we are so blessed to be traveling this road.

Here is #3 of the 30 devotionals from Seeds of Change.  I hope it moves you like this book has moved me!

After my daughter Emily and I went on a mission trip and served orphans in Haiti together, Emily, only eleven at the time, started praying and campaigning for our family to adopt.  Eventually, I agreed to be open and pray about it.  As I listened for God's voice and searched His Word, I discovered that we, as Christians, are all called to the work of caring for orphans-the least of the least.  And so, it became clear to my own heart that God was calling me specifically to simply put one foot in front of the other and start down the path towards adoption.  It seemed to me, just as the Scriptures say, that God was indeed "calling me by name".

During my journey, God reminded me of the verse found in Luke 12:48, which says, "From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked."  When we came face to face with the orphans of Haiti, we came face to face with Jesus.  Although more was being required as a result of this new knowledge, I can honestly say that God has never required anything of us without giving us sufficient grace to accomplish it.  For where God guides, He always provides.  I realized that it was time for me to answer the simple question:  now that I've seen the face of Jesus in these orphans, what now?

So in March of 2000, I found myself, a very scared mother of three, waiting in a hotel room in China.  Our whole family was together to receive our newly adopted daughter into the family.  I was so fearful and full of questions.  Am I too old?  What if I feel differently about her than my other children?  What if she screams?  What if she won't eat?  What if...?  What if...?  Finally it was time to meet the newest member of the family.  What happened in those next few moments was nothing short of a miracle.  Here in front of me was an orphan, a nameless little person in tattered clothes and mis-matched socks tied on with rag strips.  The moment they handed me that tiny bundle, she became Shaohannah Hope Yan Chapman, my daughter.

As I held her in my arms, realizing that she did nothing to deserve my love, I finally got it.  Shaohannah, in an instant, became a beloved daughter, a princess, an heir.  God was right there with me whispering, "This is how I view you.  You were an orphan, and I adopted you into my family."  Oh what a wonderful God, hiding His treasures among us, and through them, showing us His face and His love for us!  For a long time I struggled with depression, and still do in some ways, but in the midst of that struggle and the craziness of having a new baby, I experienced-and still do-an underlying peace like never before.  And I cannot imagine our family, devoid of the love and impact that have now come as a result of our three beautiful treasures, who each came to us through adoption, God led us to them in unique and amazing ways, and He has used their lives to ultimately draw us closer to Himself.

Our God is faithful to accomplish so much through our small steps of obedience, pouring out His blessings in the process.  I have found that obedience to God is the treasure map to untold riches and treasure. Those of you who are involved in orphan care and adoption are already aware of the incredible riches that were hidden to you beforehand.  For those who are not yet engaged in this work, I encourage you to answer God's invitation to know Him more profoundly by joining Him in loving orphans; God may desire to show His faithfulness to orphans through you.  When we respond to God's invitation to step into this ministry, we quickly realize that we are the ones most blessed because the treasures hidden in secret places become ours.

Take a few minutes to sit and ask God to clearly show you what steps of obedience He might have for you to take.  Is there anything God is asking you to do right now, regardless of how big or small, that you can obediently do in the joyful knowledge that He loves you?

~Mary Beth Chapman

File...where art thou??

Well nothing much has happened in our process recently.

Actually not much has happened in many waiting family's process recently and there is a lot up in the air in the China adoption community.

The adoption side of the Chinese government shut down at Christmas to re-vamp their system and website.  Things were suppose to be back up and running on the 5th and since then things have been well...sparse to say the least.

So that means we still have not heard word on her file and we really have no way of knowing when that will come.  We have been waiting for it since September but I have been reassured that her orphanage is a very good one and they are working on getting it done.

The good news is we are moving full steam ahead with our home study and dossier so that when her file does come we will not be behind with the process at all.  We have our home study interviews next weekend, have taken our finger prints, and have our physicals coming up.  Things seem to be moving very quickly with the paperwork...which means fees are coming due.

Trying to remember that we are trusting God with this journey He has placed us on.  Even though we have adopted twice before, the fear of the costs, and the trip, and the adjustments to our new life are all overwhelming some days.  This is a new special need for us as well and so that adds another factor into this journey of our's.  However, I know more than anything that this little girl is our daughter, that God has placed her before us, and that there is great purpose to her life and this road we travel.  I cannot wait to show you her picture and tell you more about her and the story!

Until then... I will leave you with the #2 of the 30 Seeds of Change devotionals:

An Invitation to Know God

"God's heart for orphans is huge.  Throughout scripture God shows this.  He calls Himself the Father to the Fatherless, He says He delights in setting the lonely in families, and He asks us to care for the orphans, the fatherless, and those who don't have a family.  But also we know God loves orphans simply because we know God loves us.  For while we were still worthless, abandoned, hopeless orphans, God showed us His great love by adopting us into His family, and giving us the "Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, 'Abba, Father'" (Romans 8:15).  As John Piper says, "Adoption is the visible gospel."

God desires that we show his love to the world by going out and in the same way caring for orphans in their distress (James 1:27).  This is not about you fulfilling your responsibility.  This is not, "You better do it or else."  God comes to us as a Father, full of love.  We are not His children because of what we've done, what we've accomplished, or because of any merit of our own.  God clearly says that He predestined us to be adopted into His family, to become His children, "according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise and glory of His grace" (Ephesians 1:5-6).  He did this to glorify Himself because He loves us and because He gets the glory!  "How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!" (1 John 3:1)

When I was in China worshiping at an orphanage singing, "Open the Eyes of My Heart, Lord...I want to see you," the Lord spoke to my heart and said, "Open your eyes, I am right in front of you." And when I opened my eyes, I saw this little orphan girl who had crawled into my guitar case while I was singing and was now sitting there staring up at me.  I had said I wanted to find God, and He answered by showing me that He is there, right where He said He would be, among the poor, the needy, the orphan-the least of the least.

God has poured out His love to us.  At some point in our lives, He revealed himself to us, showed us our need for Him, and now here we are-no longer orphans-but fully adopted sons and daughters.  As we recognize the love of God for us, as we recognize Him rejoicing over us, we simply say, "I want to respond to Your love, what can I do?"  And I believe God says, "Let me recreate that love in your heart.  I want to show up in you, My people, My church."

We pray for revival; we pray for God to move in powerful, earth-shattering ways, and I believe God is saying, "I want to show up infinitely more than you want Me to."  I believe the millions of waiting children represent innumerable opportunities for God to show up and reveal His glory through us, His church.  And that's the invitation from God, "Come and know me, and I will make myself known through you, members of my body, the church, as you care for orphans in their distress."

What are the things you want more that anything else in this life?  How might God answer your heart's deepest desires through serving and glorifying Him among the needy?  What would you say to God in response to His invitation to know Him by loving orphans?  What are some practical ways you can begin answering His invitation?

~Steven Curtis Chapman