Three in a twin

I cannot remember the last time Cherish slept in her own bed. Tonight, I found Daniel, Cherish, and Samuel all snuggled up in a twin bed.

Cherish loves her brothers, and they adore her!

All the children are asleep, and yet there is an empty bouble bed in the boys' room tonight. Why spread out when you can sleep closer in a twin?

Henan Province Donations

"Henan Province is one of the largest and poorest areas within China" (CCAI), and so far, three families have donated 62 long-sleeve onesies, 56 hats, 20 pairs of socks, 5 sets of pajamas, 6 bibs, 1 pair of shoes, along with various other pieces of clothing for the orphans living in Henan Province. We still have room in our suitcase for more winter donations--if you would like to join in caring for orphans. Derek leaves in about 14 days.

Thank you, Families, who donated!!!!!

Happy Gotcha Day Anniversary, Andrew!

6 years ago, a precious little bundle was placed into my arms and melted into my heart. Andrew stopped breathing twice on "Gotcha Day" night, and God allowed me to be his resuscitator. We bonded immediately. Thank You, LORD, for the gift of such a tender, sweet, gentle soul!

WATCH ANDREW'S GOTCHA DAY VIDEO HERE

"Happy Gotcha Day Anniversary, Andrew!

We love you!!"

Happy Gotcha Day Anniversary, Cherish!!

💖 10 years ago today, God placed His precious gift into our arms. What a day! Tears of joy and gratitude still flow as we retell Cherish her story! How precious and sweet our Cherish Rose is! Thank You, God, for such an amazing gift!! 💖

Birthday Week!

It's their birthday week! You will find these two almost always together. They are just about inseparable! Happy 11th Birthday to Cherish, and Happy 3rd Birthday to Samuel!

 🎉🎂🎈

Caught today while playing on the floor:

And tonight:

Big sister noticed all the children in the room (sleeping together by choice) were too excited from the day to sleep...she sangs them to sleep ❤️❤️💙💙💙. God bless sweet Cherish!ght

Travel Approval

Yesterday we received Travel Approval from China--meaning we now have permission to enter the country and finalize Matthew's adoption. We would be receiving Matthew on Christmas Day! What a blessing!

However, as we continued looking at airline ticket prices and routes to get to China--as we had been doing for about two months--the conclusion was that with the prices skyrocketing thousands of dollars per ticket, we would need to travel in January. So, instead of receiving Matthew on Christmas Day, we will be receiving him on January 8th.

I'll be honest. I was struggling last night with sadness. However, with each wave of sadness I refused to allow myself to stay there. I constantly battled my mind with the Truths of Scripture:

God is sovereign.

He is in control.

He knows all things.

He has a plan beyond what I can see or understand.

I have wondered if Mary may have questioned in her heart why she had to travel to Bethlehem when she was so far along in her pregnancy. Why did the God Who had complete control over all the world allow a census to take place? Why did the census have to uproot her from her family and home? Why would God want her to give birth without her mother there by her side? Why did she need to travel far away to give birth in a place she was unfamiliar and with people she did not know? Why did the census have to be now? Why not a month after she had given birth? Certainly God had the power!

God was moving the virgin Mary to the little town of Bethlehem to bring forth the promised Messiah, as the prophets Micah and Isaiah had already foretold.

The census WAS God's plan! The timing WAS God's plan! The move WAS His plan!

My God knows everything. Things don't need to make sense for me to be joyful in the hope of His sovereignty. I can trust the Good God Who has called us into this adoption with Matthew.

He is indeed GOOD and His ways are PERFECT. Always!

Ugly Christmas Sweater Contest

I was challenged by my sweet mentor mom to go all out for our Mom2Mom Ugly Christmas Sweater Contest. I took the challenge. My Christmas sweater threw up all over me! 😉

In the midst of so much stress, it felt so amazingly good to laugh and have fun with sweet ladies.

God bless Mrs. Judy for taking me under her wings!