7 months ago today.. a letter to my daughter

Grace,
    7 months ago today your Daddy and I saw your sweet little face for the first time.  You are so incredibly beautiful.  Your eyes sparkle, they hold a sense of mischievousness and joy.  Your smile lights up the room, and your giggle is contagious.   Your daddy and I fall in love with you more each day, every time we think our heart is completely full, it grows with love for you!
   7 months is a long time not to be able to hold you, to smell you hair, feel your fingers in my hand, listen to you sleep, to comfort you when you cry, to make you laugh or so many other things! 7 months since we got our phone call saying we had a referral for you, 7 months has changed our lives.
   We can not be with you today, but like so many other days I am writing you a letter so that someday you know how much we love you, not a moment of our lives did we not think of you, pray for you, and long to be united with you!
   Can I tell you a secret?  you have an incredible Daddy.... he loves you so much.  When he talks about you his face lights up, when he looks at your pictures that Aunt Ashleigh sends he studies each one so that he does not miss one moment.  His love for you Grace is indescribable.  Watching him love you more each day has been a blessing to me, he lives out what unconditional love is.  He is your daddy every moment of the day, even if he can not be with you.  Never forget how important you are to him Grace.
   I may have missed so many of your firsts... the first time you rolled over, the first time you sat up on your own, the first time you had a fever, the first time you smiled, the first time you crawled.  Your scrapbook will not be the same as your some of your friends, but these first 7 months your scrapbook will be filled with memories from so many sweet people that have taken care of you.  They dress you up, snuggle you close, take lots of pictures, play with you, take you for sleepovers... they love you.  Your story is so unique and special.
   Today sweet girl I remember the moment my heart changed.  I pray that God will bring you home soon.  I miss you terribly.  It is not easy being so far away from you, praying each morning that this will be the day that we get the phone call that we get to bring you home.
  7 months ago we said yes to being your parents, and praised God for the gift of your life.  Today we are still praising God for his wonderful plan.  You are such a special gift!
   Love you always

  Mommy XOXO
 

Grace's Room

We thought we would give you a sneak peak of Grace's room!

View from the hallway

crib all set up with the beautiful play mat that Grammy made for Grace

2 closets to fill... in between the doors is the Chinese character for love

Now all we need is one sweet little girl to fill this room with smiles, giggles, love, laughter and lots of mess!

(picture taken at easter time)

We still do not know when we can bring Grace home, but we are praying it will be soon!

living a life of love for others

I had an interesting comment come at me the other day " You would not be so concerned about what is happening with His Hands if you were not adopting with them." 

The words went straight to my heart... and I prayed they were not true. 

Over the last couple of months we have been asking you to support us in our adoption journey, and also to support His Hands Taiwan an organization that is in great need of support as they maneuver through the new laws passed in December.

Our prayer has been that as you follow our adoption process that we would inspire you to think of different ways that you can be apart of the process of taking care of orphans ( James 1:27).  That may mean you get involved in the foster care system , you give to an organization that takes care of orphans ( His Hands, Show Hope etc) or you support an adoptive family ( like us!) 

His Hands is incredibly important to us.  We have seen first hand the amazing work they do, their passion for taking care of young women in crisis pregnancies, the loving care they give to each and everyone of the babies in their care.  We are in awe of the work they do each day, and think their ministry is incredibly important. 

I encourage you to read an incredible blog post from a friend of ours.  ( He is a great writer, and has been a great support throughout our adoption journey).  He is encouraging us to support His Hands Taiwan and has arranged a specific way for everyone to be able to do just that. ( check out the post for specific information)

Please join with us in praying for His Hands Taiwan.  Not because we are adopting through their organization, but because what they do is incredibly important!

Blessings!

Sacrifice

Easter is always a time of reflexion for me.  A time to remember the sacrifice that God made for me, because of his unending love.

This Easter I have been reminded of someone else's sacrifice that has greatly changed my life. There is a young women that over a year ago decided to choose life for her baby, who made one of the most selfless decisions of her life... she chose to give her child up for adoption, to give her a life that for whatever reason she could not give her child.  That decision gave us the opportunity to love a little girl who is so special to us, to be able to provide a home for her, to love her unconditionally, to teach her about Jesus. 

I have been surprised by the negative views many people have about biological parents in an adoption situation.  It breaks my heart that it is so easy for us to sit back and judge a situation that we have no idea about.  

My challenge to you today is to stop and think about how you view parents who choose to put their child up for adoption. Do you look down on them?  Do you automatically think the worst possible things about them?  Do you assume they abandoned their child because they are reckless and heartless?  Do you assume they are a young irresponsible teenage girl who has no idea who got her pregnant? 

 

The women who gave life to my daughter is not the person you imagine her to be.  I have very little information about her, I may never get the chance to meet her, but I have seen a part of her heart.  You see the sacrifice she made for Grace reminds me every day how special this woman is.  

If you think of the moms who have chosen adoption for their children, would you pray for them?   If you know someone who is trying to make a life changing decision like this, please be there to encourage them and to love them.

I will always be grateful to the woman who chose life for my child, I will always remember the sacrifice she made for Grace.

Blessings!

The "I" Word

Infertility

It is one of the most common topics when you announce you are adopting. 

 

  " You're adopting, so does that mean you can not have kids?"

  " did you try to have your own kids?  Did you try everything?"

  " Don't worry lots of people get pregnant after they adopt"

  "Why can't you have your own kids?"

It is my experience that infertility has nothing to do with adoption.  Families adopt children because they LOVE children, NOT because they can not have children.  Yes adoption is one of the many ways to grow your family but people do not decide to adopt solely because they can not biologically have a child.  

When we made the decision to adopt it was not because we thought it would be easy, or because we thought we had no other option.   We made the decision to adopt because for us it was important.  We wanted to expand our family by giving a home to a child who needed one for whatever circumstance.  We knew in our hearts that this was what God was calling us to do.  We knew that it would be a totally different experience than having biological children but we also knew that this was exactly what we wanted. 

the adoption process is not for everyone.  I have some wonderful friends in my life who are huge supporters of our adoption but do not feel called to adopt.  I also know that just because a women has been told she can not have a biological child does not mean adoption is the right option for their family.

So will you do me a favor?  When you talk to someone about adoption instead of asking why they can not have children, ask them why adoption is so important to them.  or when you see an adoptive mom in the grocery store instead of thinking about how her body is broken and labeling her as infertile, smile knowing that she is a mom no matter what brought her to this point.

I must say mothers day is only a month away and I am incredibly excited to celebrate this year with my Mom, Grandma's and Mother in Law.  I am incredibly privileged to be mom to my sweet little girl Grace.  Her smile lights up my day, her giggle makes me laugh out loud, everything about her is incredible.  She may not have been born of my flesh, I may not have held her in my arms yet, but she is my daughter.  She is the child that God gave to me.  

Blessings!

What can we do?

For those of you following our adoption journey closely you will know that we are blessed to be working with an organization called His Hands Taiwan.

His Hands Taiwan is a ministry started by two women who had a vision to counsel, care for and house unwed mothers in crisis pregnancies.  That vision grew to include providing refuge for babies and facilitating adoptions to Christian families domestically and internationally.

In December of 2011 the government in Taiwan passed new laws that have changed the way His Hands operates.  They have some big requirements they need to meet before May.

One of the things they need to do is become incorporated in Taiwan.  They have submitted the application but to qualify they need to have $350 000 in a bank account at all times.  They need this money before May.

I am not asking you for money ( some have you may have bailed on this blog post already)  instead I am sharing my heart ( maybe that is what I should have called the blog).  I would love to dig $350 000 dollars out of my back pocket and send it to His Hands for this need.  I would love to snap my fingers and all of the paperwork would be taken care of, the applications approved.  I would love to wipe away all the uncertainty that they are experiencing at the moment, but that is not within my power to do so.  

This post however is not about my shortcomings.  In the last few months I have been learning a very important lesson.  To make a difference you have to start somewhere.  I can not solve all of the problems in the world, but I can do something. 

 I can pray... I can take all of the burdens and lay them at Jesus feet and believe in His ultimate power to calm the storms in life.  

I can give up a new shirt, or pair of shoes, eating out or something else to give to an organization that could really use the money to change someone's life.

I can volunteer my time

I can educate myself on important issues and become an advocate for different organizations and causes.

I can do something everyday.  I can make a choice to do something that may seem insignificant at the moment but for someone it may be life changing.

If you want more information on what is going on with His Hands send me an email or check out their website at: http://www.hishandstaiwan.org and if you feel like you can give to His Hands Taiwan in their time of need there is a pay pal option on the website, or if you are in Estevan, you can contact Estevan Alliance Church office for information on how to give. 

My challenge to you... what can you do to change the world today?

Blessings!

on to the next step!!

We are excited to update you with some good news.  Our paperwork was approved and returned from TECO (Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Vancouver)  This is a major step!  That very afternoon Social Services was able to send everything to Taiwan.  Once the paperwork is received there it will be presented to the courts in Taiwan.
  We have an idea of what the court process will entail, but we are also very aware that it is different for every family.  Pray for favor with the judge, that the changing laws will not require anything extra from us (or any other families) patience to wait for God's perfect timing and peace that ultimately He is in control!

Grace in the dress we sent for her (February 2012)

Thank you for your love and support.  We appreciate your prayers, emails, messages, and hugs!

Blessings!