Another Little Boy Waiting and Waiting

There is another little boy, Patrick, who is in the same foster care program as our Jacob and Levi but unlike our boys, he is still waiting for a family. The director of LWB did a write up on a number of children when she visited our boys' foster care program in June of last year. The first paragraphs were about Levi, Patrick, and Jacob. I read this write up last July and was excited to read about our Jacob. The paragraph about Levi touched my heart but I did not have a clue that he might one day be ours as well. Well, sandwiched in between these two paragraphs is Patrick. Now Aaron is incredibly thankful that there is no way on earth I can bring three boys home together because no one will allow it, not China, not my agency, and not my husband. Just because I can not bring Patrick home, that doesn't mean I can't help him find a family. We would like to do a fundraiser soon to raise money so that Patrick can have an adoption grant which will make it more likely for him to be chosen by a family. He deserves a family just as much as Jacob and Levi do.

So here is the write up about all three boys and this was the first time we learned about Levi.




Our next stop on our trip was to visit all of our foster care children in Kaifeng...

I have known many of these kids for the last five years, and it was very sad for me to visit the home of Nicholas (Levi) this time. He is twelve years old, and has CP in his legs that makes it difficult for him to walk. He is so smart! He has not been chosen by a family yet, but many of his best friends have. He used to be so outgoing and happy, but I was told that he has become so very sad over no one choosing him to be their son. He said to us, “ I am smart, I can draw and sing, I would be so kind to a mama and baba….why does no one want me?” That just about did me in. He sang for us once again (he has a beautiful voice) but with much more sadness and longing in his eyes. Life is so unfair.

We got to go visit Patrick in his school program. I am SO proud of him! He also has mild CP. When I first met him, his speech was delayed and his CP was more obvious. We helped him get intensive PT, and now he is in public school! He helps the teachers in a big way, pulling out chairs, helping with the younger kids, etc. The teachers just love him. I sure wish he could find a family. He is on the shared list. I know the CP diagnosis is so scary to many people, but he is such a kind little boy.

William (Jacob) had also been on an agency list for a long time unchosen, most likely due to his lower limb difference…..and so his file was sent back to the CCAA. He is SO beautiful, and we are all hoping he will get another chance at finding a family. He has a really nice foster grandmother. She had made him little velvet slippers so he can walk on his feet. He loves to go fishing, and the two of them walk down to the stream each day. I am so sad he didn’t find a family. I don’t understand (as the mom of five sons!) why more people aren’t open to boys.


So that was what was written about our two boys and sweet Patrick. Love Without Boundaries also did a blog post on him and I will copy what they wrote below. I know Patrick's family is out there somewhere and they just need to find him like we found our Isaiah, Susu, Jacob, and Levi.


Nine-year-old Patrick is part of our Kaifeng Foster Care Program in Henan and is waiting for a family through China’s Waiting Child program. Currently he attends school, and his teacher says he is eager to learn and improves quickly.

He was visited last week by some of our volunteers. They remarked on how happy and thrilled he was when they gave him paper and markers to draw. He enthusiastically began showing them what he could write. Everyone found him to be sociable and good-natured. In addition, Patrick seems to have a good sense of people, quickly assessing your level of friendliness and then giving you a sign he is friendly too.

Patrick has cerebral palsy, which mainly affects his left hand. He uses his right hand very well. Also he walks and runs comfortably.

In his foster family, Patrick has a younger foster sister with whom he enjoys playing and watching cartoons. His foster family says Patrick is a good kid and will help around the house doing things, such as cutting vegetables and setting the table.

And if you could not tell from the photos here – Patrick loves to strike a pose!

I 800 False Alarm

So I thought we had our I-800 approval but in my excitement did not thoroughly read the document we received from USCIS. It was just our receipt for the I-800 and they are still processing our form. The receipts and the actual approvals come on the same official looking paper and you have to read all the fine print to figure out exactly what you have.

Since we have most things ready for our boys, I am starting to get antsy for our trip. I know from many past experiences that God's timing is perfect but it is hard to wait in the dreary month of March when you just want spring and travel approvals to get here. This is the time of year when I dream of visiting my brother and sister-in-law in Arizona and I wonder why we live where we live.

One thing I am very excited about, besides going to get our boys soon, is that a good friend of mine is starting the process to adopt a baby with special needs from China. There are so many children with mild to moderate special needs waiting for families in China and it makes my heart so happy to know there will be one less child in China and the world waiting for a family.

I 800 and New Picture of our Boys

Today has been an exciting day for us. Not only did we get our I800 approval to adopt Levi but a new picture of our boys was posted on the Love Without Boundaries facebook page here. We may get to travel in April now which is very good news to us. Last week we bought a nice used van so all of our kids will fit in one vehicle. I have been holding off on buying a van for years but now I have finally graduated to being a super cool van driving homeschooling Mom (ha ha ha). Just let me say for the record that you will never see me wearing a denim jumper.

Grandpa is working on the bunk beds and I am going out tonight to pick up the rest of the stuff on our needed list like pillows, sheets, socks, etc. I think "nesting" is an appropriate word here.

Last week we got updated measurements on Levi so we have a better idea of what size he is. He is a little guy for 13 years old at 51 inches tall. Isaiah is 53 inches so he might be losing his spot as the oldest but not the tallest. I had suspected that Levi was very small for his age based on his height in pictures compared to Jacob. We are almost positive that Levi's special need is not actually mild cerebral palsy but a syndrome that causes growth issues, vision issues, and muscle weakness. Thankfully the syndrome is not life threatening but we are planning to take him to a pediatric endocrinologist as soon as he gets home so he can get the treatment he needs.

Well I will close this post with a picture of us with our new van. The kids think our van is very cool! I definitely like the extra room and Aaron is happy to keep driving his Honda Civic to work.

How Did I Get Here?

The last month or so I have been mulling over what has brought me to the point where I want to adopt two more children with special needs. How did I get here? This question has taken me on a trip down memory lane back to my childhood. I believe there are lots of things both big and small that have brought me to the point where I think this is a good plan for our family and what God is calling us to do. I don't have time to share all the things but I wanted to share a couple memories that I feel made a difference for me.

One thing that made a big impression on me as a child was our family sponsoring a child from Bolivia. We didn't have a lot of money but my Mom really wanted to sponsor a child because it was something her family had done. The child my family ended up sponsoring was a boy around my age named Alex. We prayed for Alex and talked about Alex and his picture was on our refrigerator. I knew that Alex's family was very poor and they lived in a one room house with a mud floor. I vividly remember getting letters and even gifts from Alex's mother in Bolivia. One time she sent a picture of a bird that was made out of real feathers and another time we received a small weaving with little people and objects on it made out of embroidery thread. I remember telling my Sunday school teacher that Alex was part of our family and I almost considered him to be a brother to me, albeit a distant one. Alex made a big impression on me and he opened my heart to children who live around the world. Alex gave a face and a name to children around the world who live in poverty and it made me want to do something to help kids like Alex. When I was 13 years old, I decided that I wanted to sponsor my own child with money I earned babysitting. I think it cost $13 a month to sponsor a child back then and that was a lot of money considering I was lucky to make $2 an hour babysitting. My first sponsored child was a four year old girl from India named Marufa. I sponsored Marufa through my time in highschool, college, and on into my married life. Eventually Marufa aged out of the sponsorship program and I was matched with another child to sponsor. All those years ago, I never would have imagined that some day I would travel to China to adopt three different children who had all been sponsored by people who wanted to make a difference in the life of a child.


There is another memory that I feel also had a big impact on me as a child. When I was around 9 or 10 years old, my Mom had taken my brother and I to a local state park that had a beautiful lake. We loved visiting this lake to go swimming and have picnics. Some of my happiest childhood memories involve spending time at this lake as a child. Well, on this one particular visit to the lake, there was a group of people who had brought children from some kind of children's home in our area. There were a number of kids and most of them were laying on a blanket that was laid out on the grass. The kids had some pretty significant special needs and the people who brought them were trying to feed them all lunch. My Mom is a very outgoing and friendly lady and I don't know what made her think to do this but she got up and went over to talk to the people caring for these children. She asked if we could help since our blanket was close by and they said we could take one of the little boys and help feed him his lunch. He was such a cute little boy, around two years old, and he had hydrocephalus. He could not sit up on his own and he could not feed himself so we propped him up and my mother fed him from a spoon. After we fed him, we spent some time playing with him and then my mother brought him back to his caregivers. This whole interaction involved maybe a half hour at most. I remember after returning home from our outing, my parents actually discussed the possibility of adopting that little boy. They felt it would be too much because he had such high level special needs and would always be completely dependent for all his care. We prayed for the little boy and found out a few years later that he had died from his health issues.

I share these memories just to show that it is not always big events in a person's life that can determine the life choices they make when they get older. As a parent, I want to follow my parent's example and sprinkle my childrens' memories with small actions that show our family's love for Jesus and others. Not everyone can adopt children with special needs internationally, but everyone can do something to make a difference in the lives of children who are in need.

We Got Our 2nd LOA

This afternoon we found out we received our Letter of Acceptance for Levi. This is very good news, although there is still some more paperwork to do before we get our final Travel Approval. We are getting closer to our boys every day and we can't wait to meet them!

Jonah

A sweet little boy needs a family and his time to find that family is short. If a family doesn't come forward to adopt him very soon, then he will be transferred to a mental institution for adults even though he is not mentally impaired. He is listed on the Reece's Rainbow website and that organization is raising funds for him to be adopted.

You can read more about him at one of my favorite blogs, Micah Six Eight. Julia, the author of this blog, has a son who was adopted from this mental institution. This a place that no human being should live in. You can read about it here and here.

Please keep little Jonah in your prayers because he deserves so much better than spending the rest of his childhood in a mental institution.

Getting Ready for Big Changes

We are busy busy here getting ready for our trip to China and our two newest additions. It is hard to believe that soon we will be a family of six. Isaiah and I have organized his closets and room so we can fit in clothes and beds for three boys. My Dad is going to make us some sturdy bunk beds which he has done a couple times before. My family certainly knows what to do with lots of boys which is a very good thing! We are on the look out for a Toyota or Honda van that is in good condition with less than 100,000 miles on it. If you know of anyone selling such a van close to us, please let me know. I will be sad to give up my Camry which I love but we will definitely need some more room. My parents want to buy our Camry so finding a buyer for it is one less thing to worry about.

We are also on the look out for a wheelchair that folds up a bit and an extra backup walker. Levi can walk with the help of a walker but he gets tired if he has to walk for too long so we think having a wheelchair just in case will be a good idea.

My wonderful youngest brother James will be coming with us to China to help out with crowd control. Aaron and I thought that having four kids to two adults in China might be a little overwhelming. Uncle James is an awesome uncle who my kids love to play with and who can also lay down the law if need be.

Right now we are waiting on the USCIS to approve us for two kids instead of just one. I know they have our paperwork because I got a receipt in the mail yesterday so hopefully it won't take them too long to process it. Our agency was really quick about updating our home study that approves us for two kids.

Besides all the China preparations, our life is all about homeschooling, homeschooling, homeschooling. We started our school year last summer and have taken very few vacation days. If I keep on the current schedule, we will be officially done with our year at the end of April with 175 days of school. That will make things so much easier once the boys come home and we can focus on getting used to being a family of six, doing fun learning stuff together, and starting on all those doctor's appointments.

Here is a picture of my kids with my parents and Uncle James. My Mom has volunteered to be my substitute homeschool teacher when we need to go for all those medical appointments and she has also volunteered to provide one-on-one tutoring for Levi if we need it. My family is the best and it is because of their support that we feel we can manage adopting two boys with special needs at one time. I thank God for giving me such a think outside the box, not afraid to be different kind of family!

A Video That Has Spoken to Us!

We Have Another Son!

We are excited and thrilled to announce that we just got pre-approval to adopt another son! We will be naming him Levi and you can read more about him on the Love Without Boundaries blog here. Last week, after we submitted our Letter of Intent to adopt him, we found out the amazing news that both Jacob and Levi are foster brothers. We were happily shocked and we finally understood why we were so drawn to this child. God had planned for him to be part of our family all along! I am so glad my two boys will have each other during the difficult adoption transition. It is so hard for these children to lose everything and everyone they are familiar with. My boys will have each other for support and I am amazed at how God has brought all this together for us and them.

Memorial Box Monday: In the Nick of Time

This is my first Memorial Box Monday post. This whole Memorial Box idea originated with Linny at A Place Called Simplicity and it is a way for us to remember how God has provided for us in the past, especially when we face difficulties or trials in the present or future. "In Joshua 4, God tells the Isrealites to collect stones and set them as a Memorial to remind them of God's power and provision. He then tells the Israelites to use those stones as a memorial; that every time they see them to tell their children and their children's children the stories over and over again, continually reminding them of God's faithfulness." You can read more about Linny's Memorial Box idea here. I actually prefer having a bowl of stones where I write little words or phrases to remind me of how God has provided for our family. These little stones are the inspiration for half of my blog's name.


This story happened a number of years ago when we lived in our prior home. We had finally decided to replace our old peeling kitchen counters and my Dad was going to install them after they came in. I had picked out the new counters I wanted and had measured my older counters about ten times to make sure the new counters would be cut to the right size. I placed my order at Lowes and was told it would be about two weeks before they came in.

It was a week day morning when the counters were suppose to be delivered to Lowes, all cut and ready to be installed. That morning, I woke up about 5 a.m. and had this terrible sinking feeling that I had measured my counters wrong. I got up, found my tape measurer, and went to the kitchen to measure my counters again. There was a back edge on my old counters and when I got out to the kitchen I saw the mistake I had made. All along I had been measuring from the inside edge of this back L shaped piece and not the outside edge. How had I made such a stupid mistake. I was so upset with myself because I knew my new counters had been cut to the wrong measurements and would never fit. That would be almost $400 down the drain.


When Lowes opened up at 6 a.m., I called the man I had ordered the counters from and he was actually in to work already. I explained my mistake and he told me that the counters hadn't been delivered yet and he would call the factory to see what was going on. He called me back a few minutes later to deliver the wonderful news that the factory was behind and my counters had not been cut yet. He told me how lucky I was because my counters were scheduled to be cut in the next hour or so. I was so happy to hear this news but I knew it wasn't luck that had saved my counters. I don't normally wake up at 5 a.m. two weeks after I order something with the thought that I have made a mistake. I knew without a doubt that the Holy Spirit had woke me up at 5 a.m. so that my counters could be saved in the nick of time.

This was not the first or the last time that God helped us with things for our home. One thing I have been surprised to learn about God over the years is that he cares about the little things and the big things in our lives. He knows I am a homeschooling mother who spends most days teaching my children in my home and this home is important to me. Kitchen counters are not important in the grand scheme of things but my feelings are important to God. He knew how upset I would have been if I had wasted $400 on ruined kitchen counters that were my fault. What a gift those saved kitchen counters were to me!



I have to add a disclaimer to this photo. This was a picture of my old kitchen which was taken after I had cleaned and decluttered our house from top to bottom to get it ready for real estate photos so we could sell it. My kitchen is never this uncluttered or clean normally.