A Glimpse of Heaven

When we first began discussing adoption, these verses have been some of the "life verses" we keep referring back to:

Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will. Ephesians 1:4-5

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. James 1:27

My personal prayer in preparing my heart for God to reveal His timing for our adoption was for Him to break my heart for what breaks His!  I want to look through lenses as Jesus does to see people as He sees them.  We are all like orphans and He loves each and everyone of us in spite of our little (and big) quirks!  As I scroll over the website of waiting children in China, my heart has truly been broken!  It is broken thinking that each of these children are in need of someone to show them love! It is broken because there are so many children that were put up for adoption because of their disabilities or because they were not the firstborn of their family.  It is broken because of the physical needs they have whether it be needed surgeries or one-on-one attention or simply better living conditions.  It is broken because on the list of waiting children there are several boys and girls approaching the age of 14 and once they turn 14 they are removed from the adoption lists, will never be adopted, and will remain in an orphanage until they are 18 or beyond depending on their disabilities.  My heart is broken that there are children out there that need love...love that so many people take for granted on a daily basis!  Love that I could give them or a mom or dad could provide them, but something more...love from their heavenly Father that they have no clue about!  The very Creator that formed and knew them in their mother's womb loves them and they have never even heard the name of Jesus spoken!  My heart is broken!  

But in the midst of this emotional day I am also filled with hope!  Hope knowing that there are many families that have welcomed a child into their forever family!  Hope that the care takers in the orphanages love these children!  Hope that many families, like ourselves, are in the process of adopting and will help provide homes for these children!  Hope that we serve a sovereign God who has a plan and purpose for every single life!  He knows my name, your name, and every orphan's name!  He knows our hearts and loves us!  I know God has created just the child for our family and I know He is truly working on my heart through this process, drawing me closer to His side, and for that I am ever thankful for this hope-filled "glimpse of Heaven"!


Here is a picture of "Carl" written out in Mandarin Chinese!  This is our future child's new last name!

Paperwork Pregnancy Begins

When we began the process of adopting, we were given a very tentative timeline of  it taking 1-2 years from start to having a child placed in our home.  One huge factor in the length of the process is the estimated 4-8 months of paperwork also known as the "paperwork pregnancy"!  I admit when I heard it was going to take 4-8 months to complete papers, I chuckled!  I thought to myself, "Why would it take THAT LONG to fill out some papers?"  Well, we have begun our first packet and it is very extensive, consisting of home studies, reference letters, physicals, medical information, background checks, reading assignments, 10 hours of online coursework, autobiography of our family, etc. etc....I am praying we will be "paperwork over-achievers" with the goal of getting it done in 4 months or less!  (How's that for a pregnancy?) The sooner we get all of it completed, the closer we are to growing our family and that's one AWESOME incentive to keep in mind!  We appreciate your prayers for 

a speedy paperwork process with few hiccups as possible!

Faith, Hope & Love-Pending

In 2006, after being married two years, Jonathan and I decided we were ready to begin growing our family.  After a three year journey of trying to get pregnant, much prayer and heartache of still having a family consisting of only Jonathan and myself...we accepted the fact that maybe God had other plans to grow our family!  

We prayed God would use us as parents to either our own biological child or to a child in need of a forever family!  We made a promise that even if God should bless us with our own biological child, we would still show the same love of adoption that Christ did for each of us and welcome an adoptive child into our family as well.  After accepting God's plan was bigger and better than anything we could plan ourselves and giving everything up to Him...low and behold...I became pregnant with Sophia Faith!  Every day she grew within my belly was the realization of how great our God is and a reminder that His plans our perfect!  

We were thrilled to become her parents and cherish each moment we have with her (well most of them...there are a few tantrum moments we're not so grateful for)!  She truly is a blessing and God proved that "One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much..." Luke 16:10.  After being a family of 3 for a little over a year the question from family and friends of "When will you have another baby?" was repeatedly asked and in our minds.  After it taking so long to get pregnant with Sophia we were still thankful just to have her and were fine with having only one biological child.  We knew God could use us as parents to a child in need.  Well, let's just say it did NOT take three years to get pregnant the second time.  In fact we were very surprised at what little time it did take for the Lord to use us as His vessels to create Lydia Hope!  

We were a little nervous at the thought of our girls being only 2 years and 2 weeks apart in age, but continued to place our HOPE in Jesus Christ and His PERFECT plan for our lives!  "Now FAITH is being sure of what we HOPE for and certain of what we do not see." Hebrews 11:1  So, there you have it...we have our Sophia FAITH and Lydia HOPE and couldn't be more thankful to be called their mommy and daddy!  

While cruisin' along each day with our family of four, Jonathan and I have always had in the back of our minds the promise we made to our Heavenly Father about adopting.  We knew we were open to the idea of it, but unsure of when or how His plans would unfold.   We knew I felt called to go back into the classroom to teach once the girls were in school but didn't really want me to go back for only a short time only to take off again (Lord willing) to be home with another child.  We prayed for the child God would possibly bring to us, guidance of which area of the world (international or domestic) to adopt from and that God would prick at our hearts so strongly that we couldn't deny it was His timing to adopt!  Well folks...all of those questions have been answered in the last month!  

God has led us to adopt from China! We have applied and been accepted to adopt through an agency called American World Adoption Agency.   Our hearts are filled with joy at the idea of God using our family to become a forever family to a child in need!  Both of our families, church family and friends join us in this journey and we ask each of you reading this blog to pray for us...  

• Please pray for guidance in this long, emotional, yet rewarding  endeavor and that God's hand would be in every decision along the path to bringing our future son or daughter into our home!  
• Please pray He prepares Jonathan and I as parents to love and guide them in a way that depicts the Father's love!  
• Please pray for Sophia and Lydia to be accepting of another child that might not have grown in "mommy's belly" but has grown in all of our hearts.  That they would love and welcome this brother/sister into our family forever! 
• Pray for our community and families to accept this little one and love them just the same and realize what an awesome opportunity is before each of us...showing a child love and providing him/her the opportunity for a family full of love from one another and from their Creator!  

Thank you in advance and we will keep you posted on our journey of Sophia FAITH, Lydia HOPE and LOVE...pending!  We love you all!