Bittersweet

We received an update and some great pictures of Piper Jia Yu today! We all felt happiness mixed with sorrow. How wonderful it is to see her so happy and see how she's changed and grown but how sad to think about all of the "firsts" we have missed. Poor Benji didn't believe it was her at first because she has changed so much. Emily couldn't get over all of her teeth! I'm not complaining though; I'd gladly receive pictures of her sweet face everyday if I could but it also makes me want to get her home all the more. Here's the latest photo...can you stand the cuteness?????

Camp Geneva Rocks!

Benji recently went to a week long day camp at Camp Geneva - (www.campgeneva.org). He had a blast making new friends with campers AND counselors, swimming, playing games, and singing songs about Jesus! At the beginning of the summer I didn't even think this camp so close to home would be an option for a child with Down syndrome but a friend from church, whose own kids went there said she was sure they'd welcome him. So, I contacted them and they said "We'd love to have him!" They have a special needs coordinator who got to know him before he came and let him come out to check it out the week before he started. The counselors welcomed him with open arms and once again Benji demonstrated his "rock star" (as he likes to call himself) qualities as he waved, hugged, and high-fived them everyday. This was inclusion at its best and in my opinion, a little glimpse of heaven. Thanks Camp Geneva!!

Here are a few photos of the week and no, I didn't hang out and stalk him, they were taken by his counselors.

Introducing Piper Jia Yu

I think as I was typing my last post, I got an email saying we had pre-approval! Yippee!! I'm so excited to share with you our beautiful daughter!! Here are some favorite pictures:

1 Step Closer

We are 1 step close to bringing our baby home! Her file is now in the US and we have accepted her referral. We completed some paperwork to be sent to China with our intent to adopt her and once they grant us the pre-approval, I can officially introduce her! The adoption agency asked that we not publicly announce anything yet so I'll hold off on pictures until then. Many of you have asked how long it will be until she's home and we really don't know but are guessing it could take anywhere from 5-7 months.

Now, for the hard part...finances. This adoption will cost around $20,000. Ridiculously expensive??? You betcha. Worth every penny? Absolutely. Some very kind and loving friends have asked me to set up a paypal account so they could contribute to Jia Yu's adoption. If you feel a tugging on your heart and would like to join in this venture with us and help one more orphaned child be united with her forever family, we'd humbly accept your donation. Thank you.

If you could commit to pray for our family, we'd love that as well. If you just enjoy following our journey and rejoicing with us as we move forward, we'd also love that! Please do not feel obligated AT ALL. For those of you who know me well, you know I hate to ask for money and this is really uncomfortable for me, but I also want to acknowledge that there are some wonderful people out there who have orphans and/or children with Down syndrome on their hearts and want to use this as a way to minister to them. Thanks to you all for your continued support. We are so blessed.

It is Well

It has been forever since I've updated this blog!! We've been so busy with our new life in Michigan that I haven't had the energy to update. So if anyone is still reading this, here's a little recap of what's been going on in the past couple of months.

We moved to Holland, Michigan in December and absolutely love it here! It's hard to be away from family and friends but hey, it's a heck of a lot closer than China!!

Emily and Benji have adjusted well and are in a local charter school. Emily skipped 3rd grade and is excelling in 4th grade(even tested up to 5th grade in some subjects!). That's what she gets for having a genius as a father :) Benji is doing well too. He's fully included and we didn't even have to ask for it!! They just do it at this school!! It's great to be in a school with an administration that understands special education and best practice. We miss our "Moberly","Fleace", and "Harper" (Benji's previous teachers)but still keep in touch with them.

I am working for Head Start as a mental health specialist. I work with kiddos that have behavior or developmental concerns. I'm really enjoying it and love that I'm on a school schedule. I'm looking forward to Spring Break and summer vacation with my Em and Benj!

Dennis is working for Bethany Christian Services (Benji's adoption agency). He is the intake coordinator and also has helped them out with a huge grant.

Our house still hasn't sold. Ugh! There are now some issues with the renters' credit so please keep this situation in your prayers. We have to move out of our current rental in May and were hoping to buy a new home here.

Things are looking really positive for adopting our foster baby!!!! We now have an agency we are working with and they are working on obtaining her file. We have a ton of paperwork ahead of us but it is so worth it. We are so anxious to have that sweet baby back in our arms.

I'll update more later when we get official news about the adoption. Hopefully it will be soon!!

Preparing a Place

After leaving China, I've wrestled with whether we made the right decision in leaving our foster baby. Through my tears one evening, my very wise husband reminded me of this verse:

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. -John 14: 1-3

This verse rings so true with our situation. We have left China to prepare a place for our baby. Had we stayed in China, we would not have met the requirements to adopt from China. Crazy, I know, but we would not have met the income requirements. Our baby still would have been listed for adoption and we, her foster parents, would not be able to adopt her. This separation is temporary but our family is eternal.

All this being said, she still has not been listed for adoption and there are no guarantees that we will be selected as her family but we remain hopeful. We are doing everything we can to reunite with her. God knows the desires of our hearts and we pray every day as a family that she will be in our arms soon. Please pray for this with us!!

As for Benji, he is doing AWESOME!! We know we made the best decision for him. Despite being born in China, he is American through and through!! He has improved so much and his favorite thing to tell us is "Thank you home from China; I love you whole much!!". What a confirmation!

Emily is doing great too and though I feared she may fall back into the materialistic American culture, she has not. She is as sweet as ever and is such a generous, selfless little girl. We are blessed, very, very blessed.

The Broken Road

Our sweet baby's hands wearing the bracelets we got her. She kept 1 and Emily has the other.

Since deciding to move back to the states, many of our friends have asked what we felt our mission was in China. Why would God choose to send us there for only 3 months? The answer is simple...to meet our daughter. We went to China open to the possibility of adoption but had no idea that was to be our mission there.

In many ways, our road in China was a broken one. There were a lot of struggles but those struggles (our Northern stars) were what led us to our baby. We were happy to help out our friends at Swallow's Nest by fostering one of their babies so they could bring in more medically fragile babies. What we didn't expect was to immediately fall in-love with our foster baby. We bonded to her and she bonded to us so quickly.

Saturday was the hardest day of my life. I had to say goodbye to my precious baby. We spent the day soaking up every sweet moment we could. At one point we all sat on the couch just holding each other and it felt perfect, like this was the family God has intended for us. Our friend, the director of the foster homes, was so thoughtful and came to pick her up so we wouldn't have to go out and say such a public goodbye. Emily was sweet to give the baby her blanket, the one she grew up with. We all gave her a hug and kiss and told her we loved her. Dennis walked them out to get a cab and Emily and I just held each other and cried. After she left, my arms longed to hold her and my chest felt cold, I was used to the warmth of her body snuggled up next to me. I couldn't look at her empty bouncy seat and crib and Dennis was so sweet to put them out of my sight.

Our friend Clay said it to me best...."Many people who spend some time in China and go back home, leave a part of their heart in China but you are different.... you are leaving a big chunk of yours here." That's exactly how I feel, like a big part of my heart was left there. Our hope is that she will soon be listed for adoption and we will be selected as her forever family. This hope is what keeps us going and tempers the sadness and grief. Thank you God for blessing the broken road that led us straight to her.