Annie sent this message a couple of weeks ago in an email to some of her friends. It is such an awesome description of our latest adventure that I thought it best to share it in its original form. There is no way that I could explain it any better than this.
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I can't thank all of you enough for your overwhelming responses, prayers and words of encouragement! I had NO idea how many of you were actually following our story! When we are in China, we will have a daily blog, including pictures, for the entire adoption trip! I guess it will get lots of hits!
Many of you have encouraged me NOT to stop or shorten these updates. I will try to go somewhere in the middle! BUT...since there is so much interest, and so many of you are believers too...I must share a little more. (OK, not really a LITTLE....this one is LONG!!!!)
First, some people lovingly ask us if we are crazy for CHOOSING to adopt a TEENAGER!!! Fair question! We did not wake up one day, look at eachother and say, "Hey, honey...let's adopt a 13 year old from another country who speaks no English!!" As if the teen years are not hard enough, we thought we would throw in a language barrier for extra fun!! :) Seriously, we ARE scared out of our minds, but we know God will carry us through this. We truly feel that this is what God has led us to do. Also, in James 1:22, we are instructed to "Obey God's message! Don't fool yourselves by just listening to it!" further down in verse 25, it says, "God will bless you in everything you do, if you LISTEN and OBEY, and don't just hear and forget." Finally, in verse 27, it clearly states, "You must help needy orphans and widows..." We know now without a doubt that the reason Charles and I were unable to have biological children is because God's will for us is to form our family through adoption, and He has called us specifically to adopt His chosen children, orphans.
You all know we adopted Mia 4 years ago this coming December from China. You also know we attempted to adopt a precious baby here in the U.S. through CPS last fall semester. That did NOT work out, and it was truly gut-wrenching and heart-breaking. I asked God OFTEN during those months WHY???? Why are we going through this pain????
One of the last days we had with our foster baby, she was sitting on my lap at my mom's house while I was surfing the site that hosted our adoption trip to Mia, thestoryofyou.com. (If you go to that site, click on find a family, then scroll down on the left under we're home blogs to we're home websites, then click on Mia Grace-China... you can see a video clip of the moment Mia was placed in my arms , SCREAMING!!!! and see pics and entries from each day we were there. We will have a blog site there for this next trip.) ANYWAY...God had me stumble on to one of the blogs on that site (Kennedy "Ohana"...you can see their blog on that site as well. If you go to December 2009 on their blog and click on Gotcha Day, you can see pics of their daughter with our Kennedy...named after that precious Kennedy family. Kennedy is the one in the pink coat.) When I first saw the picture of this family's new daughter, standing beside her best friend who came along with her to meet her parents for the first time, I was drawn to her. On that day, while my heart was hurting for the loss I was about to go through of the baby sitting there playing on my lap...and I felt my heart literally BREAKING to the idea of ever attempting a "baby" adoption again, God began softening my heart to the idea of adopting an older child from China.
We always wanted to adopt again from Mia's homeland, but it is an overwhelming and expensive process. However, after our foster/adopt failure, we knew we had to follow our hearts back to China. We STILL have NO idea how we will pay for all that is still ahead in fees and travel, but we KNOW God will provide. He does not call us to do something just to watch us obey and not be able to complete it due to financial reasons. We began discussing the adoption of perhaps a child between the ages of 4 and 8. However, we were both continually drawn back to the photo of the sweet, at that time 12 year old. Her file had not even been created yet in China, so we didn't think it was really an option anyway. We checked into the situation, and the agency said it was possible that her file and our dossier might not even physically be able to be created and logged in to make an adoption possible before she would age out. We decided that door was closing. Yet, we continued to feel drawn to her. About 2 weeks after our foster baby left, we decided to move forward with our paperwork, and request that hers be completed. We knew her file might not be ready in time, and if not, we could adopt another older child. But deep down, we "knew" she was our daughter. We submitted our application in the beginning of Feburary...and fast forward to last week when her file was not listed...again we thought the door had closed. We have asked God all along that if this was NOT His will, close the doors, but if it WAS His will, open the doors and we would continue to walk through them...even though this is scary. As you now know, just 3 days after the door "closed", an unheard of miracle threw it back open, and we are now matched to her, and will complete this adoption before she ages out!
When we were adopting Mia, we were actually waiting for a referral of a child 1 year old or younger, no special needs. God put Mia in our path. She was about to turn 2 and was considered a "special needs" adoption because she had crossed eyes that would require surgery. We consulted a surgeon to determine it was an easy fix, but I was so worried about her being "older". While we were trying to decide if we should move forward, my best friend, Corrie, looked at me and asked, "Would you love a 2 year old any less than you would a 1 year old?" OF COURSE NOT! God gave her those words to say to me to make it so clear to us! BTW, when we got to China 2 months later (as it turns out...more than 3 YEARS earlier than we would have gone if we had waited for a "healthy 1 year old or younger")...Mia's eyes were NO LONGER CROSSED!!!!!!! Never needed that surgery! God put her on the special needs list so we could bring her home immediately! No special need. Hmm...
So...why are we adopting a TEENAGER by choice? Because she is our daughter. Would we love a 13 year old any less than a 4-8 year old? OF COURSE NOT!!! Every orphan, regardless of age, deserves a family to love and care for them, and show them who God is. Kennedy is growing up in a place where Buddhism is the norm, so join me in praying that God will prepare HER heart to know and love Him!
OK, now this is WAY too long! But hopefully somewhere in this email, at least one of you was encouraged or inspired! Please excuse any typos! My fingers are tired!
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Brilliant!
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