2012 August Newsletter

2012 Aug Newsletter: Zoey's Story

We are home!

Hello friends- We are home.... ahhhh... soft beds. We feel so thankful for such kind, brave, amazing friends who greeted us at the airport in the middle of the night. Thank you for the sweet welcome home for us & our kiddos.

We are all wide awake in the middle of the night...maybe we should have done more research on how to transition the kiddos with the jetlag/time change. You can be sure we will be in for some major adjustment this week. We are all exhausted, but happy to be home & sharing our life with BJ & J. We are praying & looking to God as He knits all of our hearts together.

We brought Lucas home tonight. This was a big step with J. He had mentioned to our guides that he was scared of the dog. What great fun to see J snuggle up in our laps & watch us pet Lucas. J then stretched his little arm out & gave Lucas a scratch. He was so excited & celebrated with Mama and Baba. What joy to walk this road. We are thanking God for every opportunity to build connections with our kiddos.

Much love from all of us...

Hey Y'all! It is getting late here in China. We finally have little people in bed and we are trying to finish packing for flights in the am. We will have about 30 hrs of travel between flights and layovers. We would really appreciate your prayers. It feels a little bit overwhelming on this side of things. We are sad to leave China. Each of us has fallen in love with China. What a privilege to be here and to see God change our family in this way. We are so blessed and we will never be the same. Both Jacob & BJ are precious additions to our family. Our hearts are full and we are exhausted.... looking forward to sleeping in our own beds eventually!! Much love from all of us!

Happy Birthday to the one we love!! What a great way to celebrate Art's special day. It was our official consulate appointment day. We got to take oaths on behalf of our new children & complete our paperwork for here in China. What a blessing to call Art my husband and daddy to these kids. He is such a hero to all of us & we are so thankful to God for making him the leader of our family. We certainly will never forget this special time here in China. We will start our flights home early Sun AM. Today was a better day. BJ is changing so rapidly it is shocking. J is starting to acclimate a little bit to correction from us...so tricky when you are trying to build trust & comfort levels. We had dinner with a dear friend from this area. He helped us celebrate Art's bday over some great food & dessert. We treasured this time. We are all sleep deprived & ready for bed. Good night from China. With love & gratitude for your prayers.

Please continue to pray for attachment & bonding with both kids. We have lots of ups & downs. We are joyful & exhausted. Enjoy the pics. We need to go to sleep. We are so grateful for your prayers. It means more than we can put into words.

Ni Hao Y'all!!! We made it to Guangzhou. We LOVE it! This is such a unique & special place. Wow... we look forward to exploring when we can this week. We already had med appointments for the kids today. We had the same flight as our friends with the 10 kids. We are staying just a few doors down from them in this hotel again. Our trips have connected so much. What a blessing. We even had family church together on Sunday. It was awesome. OK.... more pics to come soon. Thank you for praying for our family. Only one week left in China. It is hard to believe it is coming to an end.

This process has been such an incredible blessing and we know we are just starting the road of parenting/discipling these kiddos. God has used it to teach us so much about our own adoption... how HE came to us, paid a price for us on the cross, how HE loves us & pursues a personal relationship with each of us.... every time we look at Jacob .... we long for him to feel safe in our arms, loved completely...protected & cherished... we know he doesnt understand it yet or feel any of that yet, but what an amazing journey it will be as we lavish love on both of them... teach them... guide them & help them to know the love & security of a family...what a privilege.... there are so many stories to share with you & not enough space... we see the gospel of Jesus Christ every time we look in these precious faces.... how HE places the lonely in families...HE doesnt leave us as orphans but calls us HIS own. Thank you for praying... much love from all of us .... we fly tomorrow to Guangzhou for our final week in China...