Letter Seeking Confirmation

The hard copy of our LOA - Letter of Acceptance - showed up at our agency on Wednesday.  The actual document is called the Letter Seeking Confirmation.  Our dossier has been translated, reviewed, and matched with Samuel's file.  Then this letter is sent, with Samuel's name on it, asking if we agree to adopt him.  Of course we do!!  We drove up on Thursday morning to sign it.  Now we start the second process with USCIS, which will allow us to bring Samuel to the US.  Planning to make the trip to China in early July!

Soft LOA! And SAMUEL Pictures!!

We received word from our agency last night that our LOA was on it's way!  That makes Day 51 for our "soft" LOA, which is when it shows in the system that it's been sent, but the hard copy hasn't arrived yet.  Not quite a nice as 35 days, but much better than over 100, which sometimes happens!

I must do another shout-out to our agency, AAC Adoption in Berthoud, Colorado.  They care very much about the children they are placing, and they care very much about their families.  I was given our new information on a Sunday night at 9:30, as it was 11:30am in China.  (Thank you, Nicole!)

Now that we have been given approval by China to adopt Samuel, I can finally post photos of him!  I have waited many months to do that!  This first picture is the one I saw back in October.  I cried when I saw it.  I cried when I read his story.  God was introducing me to this beautiful boy and orchestrating the beginning of our family's journey.

Another picture taken on the same day.  Samuel lives in the Guangdong Province of China, in the city of Yangchun.  There is a large orphanage there, but by the grace of God, he does not live in that building.  Instead, he lives in a group foster home called House of Grace, on the grounds of the orphanage.  The House of Grace building is usually where just babies and toddlers live, but through the providence of God, Samuel was placed there, as well.  He has been cared for by godly, Christian foster parents for the past 11 months.  God has shown us time and time again just how much He cares for our boy, and how He is working in his life.  This picture was taken when our agency AAC visited the Yangchun orphanage and House of Grace last August.

The director of the orphanage sent me this one.  She cares about Samuel very much, and was the one who arranged for him to live at House of Grace.   I have been able to talk with her about Samuel on WeChat, which has an in-app translator.  Another blessing!  (And isn't our boy just so cute!)

And here is our handsome boy with my sweet friend Nichole.  She visited House of Grace earlier this year when she adopted her daughter, and gave Samuel some lovin' while she was there.  Love this picture!

And I love this picture, too.  My friend Martha (in the middle) visited House of Grace earlier this year, as well, when she adopted her sweet boy. (Isn't he cute?!)   The other people are Amy and Donald, who were Samuel's foster parents and the main caretakers at House of Grace until recently.  I am so, so happy that Martha got this picture of Samuel with them.  

Ha.  I was going to post this picture of Samuel with one of the House of Grace babies, and remembered that this baby is the same little guy from the previous picture, a few months earlier!  So cute!!

Another picture that the orphanage director sent me.  I think it's pretty recent, looking at his haircut!

 My friend Gina sent me this photo.  It was taken last summer when Samuel was allowed to ride to Guangzhou (capital city of Guangdong Province) for Gina's daughter's "gotcha" day.  He's been to two other "gotcha" days, now.  I'm so glad that he's had the experience of seeing children that he knows going to be with new families and knowing that they are loved and safe.

Donald sent me this one a couple of months ago.  We had sent Samuel that shirt and little car and candy.  (I don't know where the hat came from!)  

Samuel showing the AAC staff around House of Grace, and being silly about it!

Samuel with his new foster mother, Sandra.  She is the one who actually founded House of Grace years ago.  They are looking at some things we had sent to him when AAC visited there in March.  (And being silly again!)

Thank you, friends, for caring about our boy and for praying for his heart.  He has been through trauma and heartache in his 11 years, but our Father is the Healer of broken hearts.  Please continue to pray for Samuel and for our family, as we get ready to bring him home this summer.

Happy Resurrection Day!

Ha.  Typing "resurrection" makes me remember that I used to give that spelling word to my 3rd graders.  Man, they were smart!  But I digress . . .

What I actually came here to say was, "Happy Easter!", which is Resurrection Day!  JESUS IS RISEN!

I took these pictures yesterday, while the kids were coloring eggs.  Caylie knew exactly what to do this year!  I thought a lot about how it will be with Samuel with us next year.

My beautiful girl, ready for church.

And her goofy brothers.

Caylie was very excited about her Easter basket!

The kids sang a song at church.  Caylie is always excited about doing that!

After church there was an egg hunt for the kids.  Tessa and daddy Brad waiting for it to start.

And now there will be lots of pictures of Caylie at the egg hunt - just because she was so cute!  

Big bunny brother Keelan.

Brittany and Tessa.

Johnson family picture for Tessa's first Easter.

All of us.  Taylor, Jim, Caylie, Keelan, Brad, Brittany, Tessa, Justin, me.

 Happy Easter, friends!  

Fair Trade for Easter!

Dear friends who wear "Free2Play" shirts, or who put the "End It" red X on your hands (or anybody who is against modern-day slavery or human trafficking, as we ALL should be) - now is the time to put your convictions where your Easter basket is. PLEASE don't celebrate our Risen Savior by having a slave make some chocolate for you.

Chocolate and coffee are the products most likely to be made by modern-day slaves. PLEASE check the labels for the "Fair Trade" logo. I'm sorry to say that Cadbury Eggs are NOT fair trade. A Google search will show that Cadbury was certified Fair Trade in 2009 for some of their products in the UK, Australia and New Zealand, but not here in the US. The Cadbury eggs that we buy here are actually made by Hershey, which is NOT Fair Trade.  (And please note how many Easter products they have!)

Please make the effort to research this. Please check dates on articles. Please check what country the article came from. And PLEASE check your coffee and chocolate labels. People's lives are worth way more than your desire for a Cadbury Egg.

Little Pink Bunny

Tessa is 7 months old today!  Cute baby bunny is getting big!  

And I didn't realize HOW big until I took her to a friend's house to see their newborn baby the other day. Then Tessa looked huge!  :D

Adoption Update

Well, there isn't really much of an update right now, but I want to talk about it anyway.  Our dossier was logged into China's system on February 28, so we are on Day 26 of our LOA wait.  (Well, it's already Friday in China, so really it's Day 27, haha.)  Our documents have been in translation for two or three weeks, so I hope that part will be finished soon.

Meanwhile, we are still Skyping weekly with Samuel and his new foster mother.  She is a godly Christian lady from New Zealand who founded this foster home years ago, and she is good with him and has become our friend.  But Samuel has had a difficult time dealing with the loss of the foster parents he had since last May.  We've had several rather disheartening reports about his behavior since their leaving, which have made us seek counsel from them, our agency, and others, and spend much time in fasting and prayer about the whole thing.  But in the end, God reminded us that He has been orchestrating these events from the beginning, and He will continue to do so.  He is faithful to complete the things that He has begun, and He will walk through this journey with us.  Sometimes we fear for the future - older child adoption is SCARY.  But we know that it is our enemy who would have us fear.  It is not from God.

Please pray for us.  Samuel has been through such trauma, and will come to us with many issues that we know about, and I'm sure many issues that we don't.  He will come to us without much knowledge of English, nor of American life.  He will come to us with past trauma and deep hurt.  He has been abandoned twice - the second time at ten years old.  (I still cannot even wrap my mind around this.)  And I'm sure he feels the loss of his former foster parents as yet another abandonment, though it was not their choice to go.  He will come to us with only the relationship that we have from Skyping and sending letters and gifts.

 We will need much wisdom and strength, patience and grace.  God is asking us to do more than He ever has before.  It will not be us being so great - it will have to be God's Spirit covering us and working through us.  So please pray for all of these things.  Please pray that Samuel's heart would be healed and that he would begin to see his need for Jesus.  Pray that he would grow to trust us and then to love us.  And that we would have an uncommon love for him, no matter what; that our hearts would be knit to his.

 Please pray for our other children, as well.  Their lives will not be the same.  It will not always be easy.  But God is going to grow them.  He is going to teach them compassion and mercy and patience and love.  He has already given them such hearts for adoption, and I can't wait to see how He uses them to love Samuel as they do Caylie.

 We know that God is going to grow all of us.  He is taking us out of our comfort zones and into a place where we MUST trust Him and look to Him, despite every circumstance.  He is, and will be, faithful.

Our Father's heart is for the orphan.  He tells us this over and over in scripture.  All we are doing is agreeing with Him that these precious lives matter.  All we are doing is saying YES.  We will wait to see how he heals Samuel's heart.  He is making all things new.

"Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you; I will help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."
 Isaiah 41:10

"A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows is God in His holy dwelling."  Psalm 68:5

"And He who was seated on the throne said, 'Behold, I am making all things new.'"  Revelation 21:5

Help, help!

This is where I'm finding myself more and more.  Keelan has his driver's permit!