Only 5 days before we leave!

Thanksgiving is over and we are all still stuffed! Bags are being packed and plans are being completed - we leave in 5 days .... actually 4 1/2! The jitters have set in - I am never nervous until things actually happen. Now the doubts creep in .... will she like us? What if she truly doesn't want to leave her foster family? What if she kicks and screams and spits on us?

All this is very typical with an older adoption, so I need not be surprised. She will need time to adjust, to grieve, to heal, to bond. I will try my best to keep my eyes on the Lord and watch Him work His miracles - as He has done already with child after child. A week tomorrow, Jing Dong will become part of our family .... forever ... "till death parts us; for better or worse, in sickness and health, in good times and in bad." She will change; we will change - we will become a "new" family as one more adds her dimension, her personality, her flavor to our life. Our home will never be the same.

I am ready - as the Lord beckons us to come, to complete what has been started .... what HE has started.

Wrap us in Your peace, Father, and keep us calm - calm in Your assurance of Jing's place in our family. The Red Thread is being drawn, shortened and we will soon meet the daughter that You have prearranged for us since the beginning of time.

Thank You, Lord!
Mary

Thanksgiving Day - John, Mary
Jeriah(20), Caitlin(14), Grace(12), Nathan(3), Juliana(3)

Travel dates arrive!

We have received our travel dates and are pleased to announce that we will be traveling next Thursday!!

To China: Nov 30-Dec 1
Stay in Beijing Dec 1-2 overnight
To Nanchang, Jiangxi Dec 2 (staying at The Gloria)
Family Day!! Meet Sarabeth Dec 3 in afternoon
Adoption paperwork in Nanchang Dec 4-8
Fly to Guangzhou Dec 8 (staying at The Victory)
Medical Dec 9
Consulate Appt Dec 11
Oath taking and receive Sarabeth's Visa Dec 12
Fly Home Dec 13

The timing is absolutely perfect and we are thrilled that Heritage Adoption Services has so quickly compliled our entire itinerary!

Tomorrow will truly be a day of Thanksgiving! The Lord has filled our cup to overflowing - well, He has filled our HOME to overflowing. Sarabeth is our 6th child - 5 will be at home when we return. What a full and wonderful Christmas this will be! All thanks to the Lord for His grace and mercy towards us.

Off to bake some pies!
Mary

TA has arrived!

Today we received the call we have been waiting for! Travel Approval arrived and we are hoping to travel Nov 30 through Dec 13/15 depending on what date we get for our Consulate Appt. Flights are booking up fast so our flights are on hold. We won't know for sure what our travel dates will be until late tomorrow or Wed. We are hoping to receive Sarabeth on Sunday Dec 3 - that is less than 2 wks from now!

Please pray for Sarabeth's transition, bonding, openness with us - at 6, almost 7 yrs of age, it will be quite traumatic for her. She has lived with the same foster family since she was 4mths old. Pray for the foster family, too - I'm sure they will be grieving after caring for her so long.

Will post more as we get our plans together!

Rejoicing,

Mary and John

Sarabeth at 5 yrs of age last November, 2005. What a beauty!!
Can't wait to give you a snuggle, Sarabeth!

The beginning...

Our journey started last Spring as Mary began to look at Waiting Children lists yet again! This will be our 3rd trip to China in 27 months! Our first trip was for Juliana who is now 3 - her family day was 9/26/04 when they handed us a frail, cyanotic Yi Li Man at the Civil Affairs Office in Nanchang, Jiangxi. Two open heart surgeries later, Juls is vibrant and quite the chatterbox! All praise to the God who has prompted our hearts to adopt these lost children of China! Next, we traveled for Nathan FuJun, who is also now 3 (virtual twins that are just 2 weeks apart in age) - his family day was 8/21/05 at Langfang Children's Village near Beijing. We traveled to Nate's home province of Henan to do the adoption paperwork.

We are now on journey number 3 and so ready for Travel Approval (TA) to arrive! Sarabeth, Hong Jing Dong, is from Nanchang, Jiangxi and is 6 years old. We are using Heritage Adoption Services this time around (3rd agency in 3 adoptions). We sent LOI (letter of intent) 5/8; rec'd PA (preapproval) 6/12; were DTC (dossier to China) 8/9 and didn't get LID (log in date) until 9/5. We are now waiting for TA to arrive sometime next week!! Or so we've been told by our agency.

For those who may not know our family well, we have 6 children. Jeriah is 20 (domestic adop at age 4 days) who is an assistant/youth pastor while he continues to study at Faith Baptist Bible College. Caitlin is 14(bio) loves the piano and hopes to be a pilot someday. Grace is 12 (bio) and knows way too much trivia about Star Wars! Nathan and Juliana are both 3 as stated above. And we await the arrival of Sarabeth into our family!

Will blog more later! Follow us on our journey! Catch the adoption spirit! There are way too many children without a Mom and Dad in this world!!

Peace,
Mary