Finding Ad for Kimberly

I cannot imagine the horror of making the decision to abandon this beautiful child.  I pray for Kimberly's birth mother and family.  I know they were in an impossible situation.  I believe they must have loved her and I wish I could tell them that she is loved and cared for. 

Our agency located the paper that included her finding ad.  Someone translated the ad and wrote the following at the bottom of the page:
"We found an abandoned baby at the gate of (name) home who is the (it names a village and county).  Her name is Fu Jiu Xin, female, was born on Feb 18, 2009, dark hair, fair skin." 

We will never know her story fully.  This is the earliest known picture. 

Where in the World Are We Going?

Thought you might want to see where we're going. We will be in the southeast portion of China. The port city is Hong Kong. We'll be there a couple of days. Then we'll fly to Nanchang, the capital of Jiangxi Province where our daughter lives. She is from Fuzhou City (not the Fuzhou you see on the map.) in Jiangxi Province. We probably will not be able to visit Fuzhou City or the orphanage. By the way, I think we have decided to call her by her first name of Kimberly instead of her middle name, Mei Ling. We'll stay in Nanchang for about 5 days then fly to Guangzhou, the capital city of Guangdong Province. All adoptions go through Guangzhou (gwon joe). We'll be here about a week. This is where we apply for Kimberly's passport and visa and hopefully do a lot of shopping for souvenirs. Then we'll fly back to Hong Kong and on to Chicago then HOME!!! I am excited about the trip but also ready for it to be over so we can start settling in and just being a family.

Please pray for travel safety and pray for safety of Cate and Reed as we are gone. I am already dreading leaving them behind for so long. Check on Nanna & Grandpa to make sure the kids haven't tied them up and locked 'em in a closet.

China Adoption and Ladybugs

You may not know that ladybugs have a special meaning to those of us in the Chinese adoption community. The Chinese adoption myth is that ladybugs are a sign of good luck. I am not one that believes in luck but I do appreciate the symbols ladybugs represent. The other day I was trying (I say "trying" because as Cate will tell you I bawled through the whole thing.) to read the kids this book called Shaoey and Dot by Mary Beth and Steven Curtis Chapman. Great book that gives kids a little insight into how the babies come to be in need of adoption. The main characters are Shaoey (the first little girl that the Chapman's adopted) and Dot (the cute little ladybug that befriends her and stays to keep an eye on her). The illustrations by Jim Chapman are inspired.This morning as I was preparing a special breakfast for the kids (a bowl of Reece's peanut butter and chocolate cereal!), I found a little ladybug sitting on the cabinet. It probably means nothing, but with all the stress of trying to get last-minute paperwork done so our travel is not delayed, I sure needed that smile. Just as Dot watched over Shaoey in the book, I know that God is watching over our adoption journey. It is in His hands and no matter how long this takes or what hurdles we have to jump, it will happen in God's perfect timing.

God sets the lonely in families...

As I was working on some adoption paperwork this morning and pondering our reasons for wanting to add to our family through adoption, I came across this passage in Psalm 68:

⁵ A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows,
is God in his holy dwelling.

⁶ God sets the lonely in families...


The part, "God sets the lonely in families..." really hit home with me. It struck me that the "lonely" might not just refer to the child. I believe that God has already given us our daughter from China, even though we have not met her yet. My heart longs for her. My arms long to hold her. I know that without her in our lives we would be "lonely."

Finally!

No, we haven't been matched with our baby girl. I have been dealing with the USCIS office in Memphis for almost a year trying to update our I-600A immigration form so we will have all our paperwork ready when they match us with a baby in China. It has been so frustrating. You can't call them. They won't communicate with your social worker. All you can do is email and hope they respond. It took almost a year to finally get enough info from them to find out what they wanted. I have been angry, sad, angry, frustrated, angry, unsure, angry, oh, and did I mention ANGRY! We the letter finally came and they approved us for another 18 months! I now realize that if they had approved us a year ago then we would be starting this process over in another six months. But they approved us on the date they got everything they needed. This means we're good for another 18 months. In the end this may work out to our advantage but it was not easy waiting and wondering. I just pray that we will get our little girl before the letter expires again. It's in God's hands. I shouldn't worry about it.

This is why we keep trying even after almost 3 years of waiting.

Chapman's on Larry King Live

I had a really hard time watching this. I've always liked Steven Curtis Chapman's music. I first saw him in concert in Baton Rouge, LA when he still took up a love offering instead of selling tickets. Then I was even more fascinated with his family when we decided to adopt from China since three of his daughters were from China. When I heard about his youngest daughter's passing it hit home not just because she was his child, but she was from China and she was the same age as Cate. I thought, here is a family who seemed to have it all and I wondered how this would shape their lives and ministry. I cannot begin to understand how hard it is for them to get up in the morning without their precious girl but it is so inspiring to see how their faith is made stronger with each passing day.

If you watch this program you will need a BIG box of Kleenex.
http://theologica.blogspot.com/2008/08/chapmans-on-larry-king-live.html

I couldn't say it any better than the Chapman's...

"According to UNICEF, there are 143 million children in the world who have lost one or both parents.

In America alone, there are half a million children in foster care, and approximately 120,000 of these children are waiting to be adopted. In many countries, children are too often orphaned or abandoned because of poverty, disabilities and disease; every 15 seconds, a child loses a parent because of AIDS. These are staggering facts that can seem overwhelming and discouraging, but I believe that God has a loving plan for each child, and that plan is you and me."

To read the entire article and see a video of Steven Curtis Chapman with his beautiful "Cinderella" go to the following link.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/Music/08/07/chapman.orphans/index.html#cnnSTCText

Legend of the Red Thread

There is a Chinese Legend that says, "An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet regardless of time, place or circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle but it will never break."

Most of you will know that we are planning on adopting a little girl from China. We have been waiting for over two years now. I have recently realized that we still have another 1-2 years to wait due to a slow down in processing in China. This was really hard to accept at first. I believe that God has a specific child in mind for us and we pray for her often. I look forward with great anticipation to the day we meet our Mei Mei (little sister).