It's a Boy. :)

Yes, we are adopting again!  And it's a boy!  And he is 11!  He is living in Guangdong Province in China.  We are so excited to see what God is going to do as we take this journey.  He has been all over this turn of events from the start.

Because I surround myself with the China adoption community online (and offline, as much as possible!) I am continually looking at profiles of waiting children in China.  I've even begun to do a bit of advocating for our agency's waiting children.  So, even though Jim was without a job for many months, and we could not start another adoption process, I was always looking.

The very week that Jim's contract job became permanent, our agency got another child's file.  I clicked on the thumbnail and went to his profile page.  I saw his beautiful smile and read his heartbreaking story, and I just started crying.  I NEVER have this reaction, even though I look at children's profiles all day long, and am often heartbroken over them.  This one just grabbed my heart in a way that no other had.  I knew he was the one.

I showed his picture to Jim and told him the story.  He and I prayed about it, though we knew God would work out all the details if He wanted this to be.  Soon we felt that He had shown us how to work logistics in the house and He reminded us of the wonderful things He had already put into place, such as our children's international school and the Chinese church we've been visiting once a month.  We had discussed adopting an older child at some point, but thought it would be best to wait till Justin was a little older.  But here he was, about to turn 11.  And we knew it would be OK.  We also knew that God had orchestrated the timing of this.  If Jim had gotten his job any earlier or any later, or if the agency had gotten the file any earlier or any later, we would not have found him.

Through the last month we have begun our home study and gathered documents for our dossier.  We've filled out a lot of forms and questionnaires.  We've been to the police station for fingerprints, and to the doctor for physicals.  I've asked teachers and friends to be references for us and for our children.  We've begun to pay fees and looked at the huge amount we still owe, but know that God will work it all out in His way.  The day before Thanksgiving our Letter of Intent to adopt was logged into China's system.  Now we will wait for our pre-approval to arrive, hopefully in just a few days.  And we pray for our boy.

Through the China adoption community, I've been able to meet several mamas who have visited the group home where our boy lives while they were adopting their own children.  Every one of them has had nothing but great things to say.  Two of them even said they'd wanted to bring him home!  He is the only older child who lives there, and is very sweet with the little ones.  Four of these mamas sent me pictures of our boy, and two of them had pictures of him holding their small children, which will be a tie that always binds our families together.

We have also been told that the foster parents are Christians and that they not only pray FOR these children, but that they pray WITH our boy.  Jim and I pray every day that God would be working in his heart, even now, and it turns out that He's been doing that and so much more!  He is already teaching him what it means to pray.  He is already teaching him who He is.  He loves this boy so very much!  He continues to show me that His heart is for the orphan.

During the last month we have struggled with the task of "naming" an older child.  We knew we would keep his Chinese name as a middle name as we did with Caylie, but coming up with an American name just wasn't happening.  Last Thursday I just asked God to please show us what his name should be.  The very next day, I learned that the foster parents call him Samuel.  And I knew.  I told Jim when he got home, and he knew.  Our boy's name will be Samuel, which means "name of God", or "God has heard".  (And I can't wait to find out why they chose to call him Samuel!)

I am so sorry that I cannot post his picture yet.  (I did not know any better with Caylie, and posted hers way too soon!  Haha.)  But just know that he is the cutest boy in all of Guangdong!  ;)

Please pray for us.  We need to be ready for whatever comes.  Our boy is older and has had trauma in his life.  We know that while we can love him and listen and be whatever he needs, it is only Jesus who can heal his heart.  We are honored to be used by Him in this regard, but we know that there may be days that it will not be easy.  Please pray that God would be preparing Jim's and my hearts for whatever will come and whatever will be necessary.  Pray also for our other children, that they would embrace their new brother and be ready for the changes that will come.

 And most of all, please pray for our Samuel's heart as he learns that he has been chosen for adoption.  He may have thought this would never happen, as he's so much older than the babies and toddlers that he's seen be adopted.  I really want him to know that he has been CHOSEN!  Please pray that God would prepare him over the next months to leave all that he knows and become family with us.  As God has orchestrated all of these events so far, we know that He will do the same going forward.  We are very blessed that we'll be able to email and Skype with Samuel and his foster parents on a regular basis before we go to China, and that we'll be able to continue that relationship after we are home with our new son.

Thank you, friends.  We appreciated your support during our adoption process for Caylie, and we know we can count on the same this time!