ADOPTION DAY! Hey guys, I want you to meet someone very close to us, his name is Liam Matthew and he is our son. Liam was adopted on June 18, 2018. We were told, even though our hearing was scheduled as such, Liam may still have to wait for another hearing. Well, God said something different that morning. God gave the judge wisdom and discernment and the judge granted the adoption! Liam now can have health insurance, a birth certificate and the works. We cannot thank the Lord enough for what he has done for our family. He restores and unites, He heals and mends the broken hearts and the broken pieces. Jesus, you gave us a hope and a future and you gave us our son Liam. We thank you for all of our precious six children, each and everyone of them-precious. Thank you.

Ten Day Count Down!

Romans 8:25 New International Version (NIV) 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. Today marks the ten day count down until your adoption is final. L. since you've been home with us you've been a blessing! Your love, affection and kindness have been remarkable. You never protest brushing your teeth; although you dislike showers very much and you're a sleepy head who likes to sleep in the morning and not wake up for school! I told you that today marks the very last day of school for all of us and now we can all sleep in the a.m. I pray from now until Adoption day, that we all rest some and take in all that God has done for all of us this past year as a family. No words can really describe the excellence of God. He has called us to a higher calling, He has called us together, He has called us to be a family. I am praying for the next ten days to be special, calm and edifying for all of us-all 8 of us. Your brothers love you, your sisters adore you and your parents treasure you. Lately, you've been under the weather and have this awful cough. You've taken to the nebulizer and the Albuterol fine, for some reason you were so impatient yesterday that you decided to up the inhalation process by swallowing the Albuterol! We were all very fearful of the side effects-by God's grace you are fine today. Phew. Kid, please don't scare us like that again!

God is in the WAITING.....

Genesis 29:20 20 So Jacob served seven years to get Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her. May 18, 2018 was your original adoption date but it got pushed back and so we wait some more for that final day. Throughout the waiting it has been so much fun getting to know you and see you grow a whole inch taller, shoe size bigger! Your giggling has gotten louder and you adore the outdoors a whole bunch. You ride your tricycle around and around the house. You love trains, planes and baseball! Just recently you insist on running around with a baseball bat in your school bag and you often run around from base to base trying to make it to home plate. Soon my son, we will get there-together as a family. Blessings-we love you L. so much it hurts. xox

Meet our little Mystery Boy

Here you are in China at two years old. How handsome you are and well cared for by all those who loved you and believed in you. They knew God had great plans for you and saw to it that you'd be adopted someday. Mommy and Daddy got a phone call for you because you are from the same town as your sister Faith and actually look a whole lot like her at this age. It is amazing how the Father puts families together-what a mystery really. Thank you for this child Lord, this child I waited for and prayed for silently, in my groaning you heard my prayer and answered. You set aside this one, Ysmael in Chinese to be our son. Still you appointed a time and special day for this union and we had to wait for such an occasion, such a boy as this.

The many many faithful servants along the way....

The Lord says, “My eyes shall be on the faithful of the land, That they may dwell with me; He who walks in a perfect way, He shall serve me.” A faithful man will abound with blessings Psalm 101:6 Daddy and Mommy cannot thank God enough for you; you are a true miracle of God. We could never fathom that God would give us another child from China, one as wonderful and mysterious as you! You have the most beautiful eyes and smile. You are super silly, rambunctious and loud...how you love, love to sing! It must have been because of all the faithful servants and missionaries who visited you while you were in the orphanage recovering. They must have sang to you. God sent them to care for you as he knew mommy and daddy needed the time to learn about patience and faith. We do not know the names of these faces, a few of many faces that we have seen in pictures who have cared for you, held you and made you smile. It was God Himself holding you through these kind and willing servants, strangers who loved you because you are so loveable. Thank you Lord for caring for L. through these amazing people. Bless them and continue blessing them because of their faithful hands and feet.

God made you Perfect!

For since the beginning of the world Men have not heard nor perceived by the ear, Nor has the eye seen any God besides You, Who acts for the one who waits for Him. Source: Holy Bible (Isaiah 64:4 NKJV) You were created by God-Perfectly in His image you were created L. God planned a life and journey for you like none other. It started with heartache when you were first born because you had a slight medical issue with your tummy and and backside. By God's grace, you were seen immediately by medical personnel right after you were born with careful medical attention. Your bio mommy surrendered you because she feared it would be too much for her to bare emotionally, physically and financially-she felt unfit for you. We know your bio mommy was not unfit, she was chosen to have you and give you all of your beautiful qualities and class. Your bio mommy loved you so much that she surrendered your to God. You arrived to a people who equally loved you and cared for you, they called you Ysmael (God listens) and saw that you continued your medical treatments, surgeries (multiple) at a Christian Orphanage and Medical Center (Show Hope Center) in Zhengzhou, Henan China.

A New Year and A New Thing...

Happy New Year! Yes I am blogging again-a whole year later! Probably because I could not blog about all the bad news and the change of events that had followed our foster care experience. To make a long story short C was reunited with his grandmother! It was very painful...but God blessed us with a puppy and a kitten that year to comfort us through the time of loss. A lot of time went by, a few updates, and prayers concerning C...mostly the why God questions. God stayed silent most of the time but He called me out of the house and out of homeschooling our five kids. I got a job teaching first grade, specifically special needs children and enjoyed our new season very much! Our kids are all attending a Christian private school now, and blooming in every which way. And I have received a lot of great peace and awesome joy. I learned a lot about the Lord gives and takes away moments. I learned about serving more and serving harder, especially serving the children and families in the community. Its blessed me more than I have blessed them. I even began to take down C's room, the canopy, the clothing and toys we'd bought him last Christmas-I felt a great freedom to be honest. And as much as I wanted to give away his 'Thomas the Train' I couldn't. I don't know why...everything else I could part with, just not the trains. I'd have our nephew over and he wasn't that interested in them and so I couldn't keep them for him. I'd just tuck them away and sigh at when I'd be able to send them away to somewhere else. Until one day; we got a phone call for a child who needed a home. We had surrendered our foster care license and so this was unusual and different. This was for a private adoption of a little Chinese boy, from Faith's Province! How could this be? A child, with special needs that we had once checked, 'no'. And so what do you think we said this time? Well, we prayed and prayed first, and then we moved forward with a certain yes!!!! Right now, we're still in the process, and it is all too unreal! His face, his eyes, his heart-our kids' heart for him...its like the perfect fit. All put together by God...all of it, just too incredible for words. Of course I have shortened it quite a bit, but I needed to catch the blog up to speed as to where we are today-one year later. God used all of it...the court battle, the trials of fostering and losing...He used it all for our good...for this child's good. Hallelujah. That's the only word that really sums it up-Hallelujah. He took our shame, pain and healed it and then He sent a baby on the Nile to replace the one He took away for someone else's good. Our baby boy is just under five years old, and he is our miracle for sure. I hope to update you some more...but obviously, there is much to work out as we are not done with the adoption process yet. I pray blessings over all of you. Keep the prayer chain going as He is faithful to hear every one of them. P.S. Guess who likes Thomas the Train? Yep, we have a trains and planes kind of boy! Hallelujah! Scripture: Revelation 21:1–8 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.