Our Journey Begins

"In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps."   - Pro 16:9 

What a work the Lord is doing in our family! I stand amazed and in awe of how much our Heavenly Father loves us! Children certainly are a gift from God. They are His reward, but I often feel unworthy of such a priceless reward, yet He has already blessed me with two very unique and treasured girls, and seems to be about to bless us with another. Overwhelming is His love for me! 

Sam and I started this year with no plans to expand our family. Sam was laid off almost two years ago now and has been working tirelessly on getting his own photography business off the ground. I had been focussing on home-schooling my oldest daughter for the first time. I had always had an unspoken desire to adopt, but didn't see the Lord leading my family in this direction. Meanwhile, Emily happened to choose to learn Mandarin for her foreign language. Due to Sam needing to keep July open for photographing weddings, our usual two week family vacation in July got moved to August. Then, an email was sent by a very dear sister in Christ sharing that Nightlight Christian Adoptions was in need of families to host children from Taiwan and Russia for just a couple of weeks in July. It was already June, and they still didn't have the families they needed. I forwarded the email to my husband and started praying. I never mentioned it to him in conversation, but a very dear brother in Christ did. Next thing I knew, Sam was telling me that we could host a child if I wanted. Joy!

 I figured it would be just for the two weeks, but then my little Jing-Qi came. I think it took about 2 to 3 days for me to become attached to her. She followed me everywhere those two weeks she was here, and I felt like I had a third "little shadow". My new and very faithful little friend brought much joy to these two weeks as I watched her come out of her shell, try new things, and smile more and more. One time, when she and Christina were playing with the hula-hoop, she asked me to try. I tried to explain as best as I could, considering the language barrier, that I simply could not hula-hoop. She persisted, so I thought I better explain with actions instead of words. I picked up that hula-hoop and gave it my all. Emily, who was watching, starting cracking up, knowing my hula-hooping limitations. I watched as Jing-Qi walked over near Emily shaking her little fist and saying something angrily to Emily in Chinese. Then, she walked back over to me with a proud smile on her face, like she was my great defender. I couldn't help but smile. Then, as the two weeks passed, we came to the end of her stay. She would point to the day on the calendar with the plane on it, indicating that she was to return back to Taiwan, and say, "Jing-Qi bye-bye. Uh-oh!" Agony! 

It was horribly hard to part with my new little precious gem, but I'm comforted with the thought that the Lord will bring her home to us through adoption. Today was her birthday. We mailed her a card to say "Happy Birthday". Next year, I hope to celebrate with her in person. We are still in the early stages of our adoption. Please pray that our home study will be approved.  I am told we probably still have another 6-8 months to go until we can bring her home, if everything goes well. Please pray that we can bring her home according to our Lord's timing and for provision for the adoption process. We extend our deepest thanks to you for all your prayers.