Blessings.

The little blessings jar that Olivia received as a gift in her co-op history class, was filled to the brim with blessings.

Blessings jotted down on little pink note paper.  
One by one.
Each of us sharing our many March blessings.

Passing the jar during Easter dinner.
Each of us taking a turn, selecting a pink note, reading the blessing.

Reflecting on how little we deserve, but how much our Lord has given.

"Count your blessings, name them one by one,

Count your blessings, see what God hath done!

Count your blessings, name them one by one,

And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done." 

Today we celebrated what we don't deserve, but what He so freely gave...

...by grace alone.

through faith alone.

in Christ alone. 

What a glorious Easter!  

 

Why China?

Well, here's the semi-quick answer to that question.

it was evident that international adoption would be the right path for our family and China clearly stood out.  There were several reasons why our hearts were drawn to a China adoption.

We desired to adopt a child with special needs and China's Waiting Child/Special Needs program appeared to be the most stable. 

We had a heart for China long before we began our adoption journey...

Four years ago, through Holt International, we began sponsoring a very special girl in China named Xiao Yun.  This bright girl is two years older than Olivia and really enjoys sports, especially badminton.  She loves to read, is a hard-worker, gets along well with her teachers and is a leader at her school.  (Can you tell I'm very proud of her.)

Through regular updates given to us by Holt, we've been able to follow our sponsored "daughter's" progress through the years as she's grown into a beautiful young lady.

So you see, our hearts were already in China long before we began our adoption.

But you're adopting a boy, right?  Don't most people adopt girls from China?

During the 1990's this was absolutely true. 

At that time the children were primarily healthy, infant girls.  However, several factors changed the adoption process in China.  

China's economy improved, which enabled more children to join adoptive families in their birth country.  At the same time, the number of applications to adopt dramatically increased.  Children with special needs began to outnumber other available children and the timeframe to adopt lengthened.

Today, couples who would like to adopt a healthy, infant girl from China will have about a six year wait or longer.  At the same time, it has become much quicker to adopt a child with special needs.  The timeframe is usually between 9-12 months.  And now, more boys need homes than girls.

Check out some of these cuties on Holt's China adoption photolisting!

His Plan & our part.

Why are we adopting?

That's a great question.

For the answer, we have to go back quite a few years; 17 to be exact.  After Tim and I were married, we truly desired to start a family right away.  An exciting next step in our marriage.

We looked forward to the day when we'd be showering a sweet, little bundle of joy with love.  We were incredibly confident that our home would be filled with the beautiful sounds of a precious baby in the not too distant future; or so we thought.

After almost two disappointing years of trying, we began the process of domestic adoption.  Adoption was a natural next step for us.

We were happily in the midst of completing our home study, excited at the thought of becoming parents, when I became pregnant.  Surprise!

We were completely surprised!

We contacted our adoption agency, discussed whether we'd like to continue the adoption process along with the pregnancy, and made our decision.  Absolutely!  After all, what could be better than one precious child, but two?

Then on a beautiful October afternoon I gave birth to Olivia and, after bringing her home from the hospital, our illusion of parenthood gave way to the reality of first time parenthood.  It was so wonderful, yet so overwhelming.  We knew we needed to put our adoption on hold until we got through our rookie year of parenting.

Soon after that year, I became pregnant with Julia and then we had Ross and finally, along came Ella Rose.

Through the years, God continued to keep the idea of adoption flickering in my thoughts; a quiet whisper that would act as a gentle reminder.

The quiet whisper finally became a loud call.
I would have dreams of a child I didn't know.
There was an ache in my heart for a child that I couldn't see.
Then,
Tim and I began, once again, to discuss adoption.
God was working in both our hearts.

The children so desired for our family to adopt.
They prayed,
and prayed,
for the child they knew God already had planned for our family.

There was such a restlessness for another child.
In my heart.
In Tim's heart.
In the hearts of our children.

Missionaries often talk about being called to the mission field and I often wonder if the call to adopt is similar.  So strong that it's impossible to ignore.

God's plan for us was obvious.  He wasn't giving us a gentle nudge; it was more like a massive push.

So it was time.  Time to do our part.

With only the money for the adoption application fee, and incredible faith that God would provide, we set out on the journey of adoption.
This journey to Logan. 

(Check out the "Why Adopt?" tab at the top of this page for more information about our adoption.)                   

This Amazing Journey.

We're so happy that you've joined us on our journey to Logan!

We officially began the adoption process on October 5, 2012.  
It's been an amazing trek so far.

Now, almost six months after we first began the adoption process, I'm so thankful for the time to be able to bring you up to date on what's been happening and excited that you'll be able to share the remainder of the journey with us, especially our much anticipated "Gotcha" day!

Logan's adoption timeline is a great way to trace our adoption process so far.  Each time I add to the timeline, we draw another step closer to meeting our son!

I hope this journal gives you a better understanding of our journey so far, insight into how we got here and a clear view of where we're headed.

Thank you for coming along!  What a joy it is to travel this journey with the love, support and prayers of friends and family.