Guess What???

Not LOA but at this point the next best thing! Our case now has "in process" by it at CCCWA. That means we should be weeks not months from our LOA! Whoo Hoo!!!!

The end of December/ early January isn't out of the realm of possible quite yet!!! :) :) :)

Samuel's Story

As promised, I've been wanting to share Samuel's story (or what we know of it so far). I am confident that God's story weaved into Sam's story goes far deeper than we may ever know but from our finite perspective here it is so far:


In February 2011 the guys had a retreat at church. So two moms and their kids came to spend the night at our house. I thought I was quite sly to spur one of the mom's on to starting the adoption process. She filled out an initial application, then we did the inevitable... we looked at available children's files. Well, she inquired about 2 little boys.


Oh yes, and Samuel was one of them. For us there has always been this special "drawing" toward our children. I mean really how do you know out of 145 million orphans which ones are meant to be in your family?! I confess I felt a twinge toward this little guy but after all my friend was inquiring, and we hadn't even "settled" from Joy's adoption nor did we think we'd adopt any time soon.


Confession: I later struggled with the Lord through should I just advocate for him. I really thought to myself... this kid is so stinkin' cute I could find him a family quickly... but then why didn't I want to find him a family?! There was 6 weeks of this struggling, feeling like God was saying, he's supposed to be in your family, yet knowing how hard adoption, the grafting of family members is. Plus adding one more child to care for and invest in. (I'm just being honest here... being a parent IS a BIG investment!)

So I called two people I volunteer with at AOW. One has more children than me so I could get her perspective (rather how she survives) and the other I advocate for children with at AOW. It all boiled down to was God saying yes or no. Doesn't it always boil down to that?

Then Joshua and I had a moment... a moment getting him dressed. Weird huh?! As I was getting him dressed he was telling me in that toddler, cute, I'm independent voice that he could do it himself. So I watched him put his shirt on and God spoke into my heart. I was focusing on fixing another person meals, being responsible for their school, more laundry and instead he was focusing on what a blessing this precious child would be for our family. Not just me or Clayton or I but ALL of us. Each one of our children make our family so much richer. They are each so precious and have so many God given gifts and talents. Is it an emotional, physical, and spiritual investment times 6? YES, but oh so worth it!

Can't wait to see how this cutie grafts into his forever family! This is the picture we fell in love with...

 This picture makes me sad....

 This picture makes me wonder who he was grinning that sinister grin at....

 This picture makes me think he'll graft into his family just fine....

Now come on LOA get here SOON!!!

Sweet Girl and a Sweet Dog

I love this girl! Yesterday she had her first middle school tennis match. She had a year of playing being at the top of the totem pole now she is at the bottom being in 6th grade.

We needed to have the conversation that who she is- is not dependant on winning or loosing, how well she plays or does not play anything, not just tennis! I learned this much too late in life and has been a goal of mine to teach my kids early.

She said yes I do know that and get it but why does it still feel bad? It's still just more fun to win that's for sure.
So when she asked to let this sweet dog of ours sleep with her I had to say yes! I did throw in there a "Shh, don't let your daddy know!" He did catch on when I went up there with a camera and MeiLi was nowhere to be found to go for a walk with us. So I guess the post should be titled Sweet Man, Girl and Dog!

And just for fun here is the verse I am meditating on today.
1 Corinthians 8:6
"Yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live."

Ain't that just the truth!! Praying that our dear friend Yi will see that soon. It is breaking my heart that we continue to have conversation after conversation about this verse's truth, the authenticity of the Bible, and still she is content to sit on the sidelines and not take that first step of faith. Please, please pray God will continue to prove Himself to her and make Himself known to her and that everything else she looks to for contentment would feel VERY empty and temporary.

Wow!

We went to an Empowered to Connect conference this weekend. I would really like to bring Karyn Purvis home with me. This should be a requirement for every adoptive family.

No matter how hard I try to say, "Would you please try that again with respect?" It just doesn't sound the same. I can tell you it works though. Now we just need to have the "frequency, intensity, and duration" needed to see real change in reactions and behaviors. I SO wish we would have started out knowing this research with Joshua.

Basic jist of the weekend is that God doesn't bully us into behaving or obeying. He comes alongside us, has compassion on us, and EVERYTHING He teaches us comes out of (or should come out of) that intimate relationship with Him. When our children feel like we are for them; they feel safe enough to trust us. This comes by LOTS of investment parenting. I know this sounds crazy but I realized it is actually good to feel drained at the end of the day. If I am investing my life into the 5(almost 6) kids then I will feel tired. There again the Christ filled life is about laying our life down for Him.

All children need investment parenting but those that have come from hard places, abandonment, difficult pregnancies, rejection, early hospitalizations need a bit more of us. For those of you that have been to my house you know who those are by how many times they come to just stand by me, hovering or talking.

I am intrigued by all the research in brain chemistry and altered brain chemistry we learned this weekend but when it all falls out I have to parent out of the fact that each of my children is precious. It's their preciousness I have to see when they are acting out of their fears.


It's amazing to me that God can use me to alter my children's brain chemistry and help them heal from the trauma and "hard places" they've had. We really are fearfully and wonderfully made by an incredible God!

 It was so sweet to put into practice these things with each of our children today. I confess our birth children respond faster and simply put easier than our adopted children. That is very normal though, thus we press on with hope for Joy and Joshua to be able to function without fear and anxiety. It still baffles me that Joshua (in an orphanage for 2 years and home for 3) has so many more sensory and fear responses than Joy (home 1 year and in a foster family in China for 8 years).

I have some guesses about Joshua's birthmother's pregnancy and birth because of some muscle weakness he had for the first year home. I also know that he experienced neglect in a Chinese orphanage. AND he had early hospitalizations... no wonder the poor baby suffers from extreme anxiety and sensory issues.

We're getting to the healing point though. He has come so far and now we have an even better direction.

Here's a picture of sweet Faith putting up her bird feeders made at a co op we are in. Her and I got to play tennis, just the two of us, yesterday. I love spending time with this girl!

Lookin' good

Considering it's been about a week since Isaac's fall I think he's lookin' pretty good! Obviously he's back to normal in personality too! Just short a few teeth...

Both Hands Project

We did our Both Hands Project on Saturday. It was such a blessing to have so much help. God is good! Thank you to everyone who gave, worked, and prayed. The widows were blessed and we met our goal to get Samuel home!



Update on Isaac: He is doing a ton better! Thanks for the prayers for him.  It's really been amazing how quickly he is healing. I'll have to get some pictures of him now that he's not so swollen!

This kid needs frequent flyer miles....

to the ER. We had quite a day of it yesterday. The bottom line is he fell off a bike or a skateboard (he can't remember which- as a matter of fact he doesn't remember anything about the mishap), a mild concusion, broken maxillary fixed in surgery, 3 teeth removed under sedation, lots of stitches in the upper gum, and here is what you look like...

Believe it or not I think the swelling has gone down a bit in his lip. His memory is fine except for the actual fall and right before. He had a CT scan and no bleeding and no other broken bones in his face except above his top teeth. Obviously he is still in pain. He's on pain meds and antibiotics and just resting.

We are incredibly grateful for that and even more grateful for an amazing dentist- Dr. Ryan Vaughn at Kids Dentistry in Gainesville. He did the work on Joy's mouth when she first came home. He is INCREDIBLY good with the kids! Without being asked he came to check on Isaac at the ER yesterday and decided that instead of waiting he could do the surgery right there in the ER. I was even in the room... for those of you that really know me, that is really a God thing. I did sit with my head between my legs for most of the procedure. Fortunately there were 3 nurses in the room assisting so they were in my way of seeing.

God is gracious! We are so grateful for the prayers and support of the saints of God. The body of Christ is so wonderful.

Isaac's Birthday and Happy Mid Autumn Festival

Yesterday was the Mid Autumn Festival in China so we decided to celebrate Isaac's real bday with it. Yi bought mooncakes. I mean really how many people have mooncakes with their candle in them. I also made apple pie but he wanted the mooncakes with his number 7 on them. I wish I would have gotten a photo of his face with his big bite of it. Let's just say he opted for the apple pie after taking a huge bite of the cute little mooncakes.

Isaac has been wanting an electric guitar. Yes, that's just the kinda boy he is. We opted for the Paper Jam version. He absolutely loves it!

A little vacation

Every year we go camping with Clayton's family in the fall. This year we went to Mammoth Cave and Jellystone for a little vacation. Here are some of the fun pictures. One of the favorite things to do is the campfire!

The kids (and moms) participated in a family dance night. Karoke was also a fun time for the kids to participate in, and parents to watch.

We also participated in the spaghetti head competition!

 

Braces

Guess who got their braces off today! Before without gum...

And after with the gum! Her sister, Faith, bought this for her yesterday in preparation for today!

 She is SO excited! As I was sitting with her in the orthodontic chair I was thanking the Lord for those that have sacrified their lives and their comforts so that she is with our family. You see her God story is that people from Australia raised money for her to have surgery. Not just any surgery but 2 surgeries that are considered top-notch by her cardiologist here.

I stand amazed that I get to parent her and am very grateful that we were sitting in an orthodontia chair and not a hospital bed having heart repairs!

All my kids have really lived up to the quote, "I thought I became a parent to raise children but really I had children so they could raise me."

I am so amazed at our Grace as she has started middle school. She has had opportunity to live out a godly, Christ focused life with her peers and is standing the test well. We have been helping pick up children to come to church on Wednesdays and two of the girls that are her age made decisions to commit their lives to Jesus a week ago.

Grace was so excited! She was giddy and couldn't sleep saying that she doesn't think she's ever been this happy! I'm so grateful she has such an eternal perspective at such a young age.

Faith has also had opportunity to befriend one of the girls that is her age that we pick up. I have watched her share her life with this little girl making her feel so comfortable at church.

And little man Joshie seems to have some things going on in his heart too. Yi and I are going through the Firm Foundations lessons together. Her in Chinese and me in English. As Yi was looking at her book Joshua tells her, "Yi, you need to teach me to read this so I can go to China and tell people about Jesus." I'm not kidding y'all he said it. It seems God is giving him his mama's love for China. He has pretended to be a pastor teaching with his Bible more than once. Now he is on me about buying him a Bible in Chinese. He was quite upset when I went to Walmart and didn't come back with one :)

Soon I am going to be sharing parts of Samuel's God story too. The part that we know and what God has done in our lives. God is starting to formulate some things in my heart and remind me of His faithfulness even at our lack of faith at the beginning of this journey.

Guess What?

Check out the side bar!

We got a grant approval letter from Show Hope today! For $3500... thank you Show Hope!

Also, very excited to be helping at their booth for a concert on October 1st. The kids are SOOO excited to be seeing SCC... for free nonetheless!

Now we just need that LOA and we can start planning that trip to bring Samuel home. Whoo Hoo!

We also started rearranging the boys' room yesterday to fit 3 boys. It looks great, thanks to a handy husband who can do miracles with a small closet. We just need to make the 3rd bunk now. We are going to use our vertical space well!

Isaac's birthday

We had a family party on Saturday and 5 boys over on Sunday for a party! I am VERY tired (add to that an Insanity workout Monday a.m. with a friend)! But Isaac had a very fun time with his friends and family.

 Joshua doesn't look too happy in this picture but he really did well. He didn't always handle it being Isaac's day and not his very well at all! He kept reminding me and himself that Isaac would share his new toys!

 Clayton played Legos with all the boys for several hours before cupcakes and swimming.

Happy Birthday buddy, it's so hard to believe you are 7 years old!

Look who is swimming!

Yesterday we took a much needed break after school and spent the whole afternoon outside swimming. I found the boogie boards in the attic. The kids had a blast and so did I.... only I just sat myself on the deck watching Joshua.

And here is a play Grace and Faith put on for History. Cleopatra rolling herself up in a carpet to get to Julius Caesar in Rome.

 The royal dog made an appearance in this photo!

Then I had to get these two making an appearance as Luigi and Mario.