This post is dedicated to the millions of children around the world who are waiting for families of their own, and all those who have a heart for them.

Zoe is now 32 inches tall

Weight 26.7 pounds

I have been blessed with motherhood in two ways.  Both avenues are amazing and miraculous.   There is no thrill that comes close to meeting your child for the first time whether in a hospital room or at an orphanage somewhere across the world.   Your heart is transformed and you fall in love and know that you would do anything for this little life that you hold.   Genetics mean little.  There is no second best way to create a family.

Many adopted children have stories of unimaginable despair that would break the heart of the most hardened individuals, stories that illustrate the terrible injustices heaped upon the young around the world.  The forces of fate that bring adoptive parents and their children together might just as easily have passed them by.  It is an unbearable truth that parents feel when we kiss our dear children good night and hold them tight against pain and sadness.  These precious gifts were once so close to the suffering we watch nightly on the news-the earthquakes, the poverty and the disease.   The thought can be overwhelming for these children are such a huge part of our lives and could just as easily be facing a life with little hope.  Gieseke

As I look at precious Zoe's little eyes sadly staring at an unknown person behind a camera, my heart aches to bring her into my arms to rescue her at this very moment from the world that has been hers for the past 26 months.   I tell myself it is not fair that she must wait for us.   And yet she will be soon in our arms and wrapped in our love.  What, I ask myself, of the others that we will leave behind?   I pray that maybe one person who reads this will be the next to take God's plan to heart.   

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink.  I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?

 "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' Matthew 25:34

We walk by faith, not by sight. II Corinthians 5:7

We received our Letter of Acceptance this week!!!   Our agency called to communicate the big news and to let us know we were to receive the package on Tuesday (March 23).   Dave and I signed the document and we sent it overnight back to our agency who will send it on to China.   Within 2-4 weeks we will receive our Travel Approval from China and then our agency can book our appointment at the consulate in Guangzhou.  Then we will book our flights and hop on the plane to China!

IF I COULD CHANGE THE WORLD…

 

IF I COULD CHANGE THE WORLD…  This week I found  this picture of Zoe’s orphanage in Baotou Inner Mongolia.   It saddens me to see where our daughter waits for us.  The latest report says it could be July until we travel to bring her home, but we refuse to believe it.  We just want to go get her.  Meanwhile our hearts continue to go out to the other children in the world in need.  If you think God may have placed adoption on your heart, please don’t ignore His calling.  There are such blessings that come when children without hope join a family that will love them forever.  If I could change the world, I would find a home for every child without a family, we would all LIVE our faith and together we would watch God's blessings pour down on our world.

WHY ADOPT?  BECAUSE THE CHILDREN ARE WAITING

THERE ARE 143 MILLION WORLD ORPHANS

ANNUAL ADOPTIONS:   12,000

DEATHS OF CHILDREN BY HUNGER:  30,000 A DAY

THERE ARE COUNTLESS MILLIONS WHO WILL NOT BE ADOPTED OR CARED FOR AND ARE LEFT TO FIND THEIR WAY-

ALONE.

PURE AND GENUINE RELIGION IN THE SIGHT OF GOD THE FATHER MEANS CARING FOR ORPHANS AND WIDOWS IN THEIR DISTRESS.
James 1:27

 Feed the hungry, and help those in trouble.  Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon.  Isaiah 58:10 

Happy Birthday Zoe!

January 8 was Zoe's second birthday and to celebrate her special day we ate Chinese at Mr. Lee's Restaurant,  bought a special little cake, lit a candle, and blew it out in honor of Zoe.   We didn't eat it though.   We wrapped it up and are saving it for her when she comes home.   The orphanage agreed to allow us to send a package so we sent disposable cameras, a couple of outfits for her, and Sasha gave one of her stuffed animals to include in the box.  I made a photo album to show her what we look like, translated everything into Mandarin, boxed it all up  and sent it off with prayers that she would actually receive it.  


As I walked through the store praying about what to buy, I could not stop the tears from running down my face as I thought of our precious child waiting for us.   I wonder what it must be like for her right now.   I wonder if she knows that her teary needs matter to us and that she has a never ending supply of hugs waiting for her to claim whenever she needs them.  We with God's help are here to comfort her, love her, help heal her wounds.   She has been a part of our lives since before we received her beautiful picture and our love for her has continued to blossom and grow until we are ready to explode with joy as we grow close to holding her in our arms.


We pray it will be soon.

Exciting News!

Things are definately moving along!   We received our Pre-Approval yesterday which was a huge surprise!   We were told this would take approximately a month and it only took a week.   

This is from CCAA (China Center for Adoption Affairs) and basically is their okay to adopt Zoe!

We are trilled since this is just one more step completed!  Here is the Chinese portion of our approval!

通   知 

巴克基金会收养组织： 

          你们递交的David Ralph Liette 和 Cheryl Annette Liette收养内蒙古（省 

、市、自治区）包头市社会福利院儿童王桂英的申请已收到，经过对该 

家庭的基本情况及其为该儿童制定的医疗康复及抚育计划的审核，中国 

收养中心同意在该申请文件到达（截止日期2010年03月14日，含当日 

）后，按照收养特殊需要儿童的程序处理，特此告知。 

                                                                                                                   中国收养中心 

                                                                                                                  2009年12月14日 

MORE PICTURES!!!

I can hardly believe it but our agency sent more pictures yesterday.  These have been taken throughout Zoe's life so far and are soooooo cute!  Apparently, all of the children have been taken back to the orphanage for the winter because most homes in Inner Mongolia burn coal for heat and the orphanage is newer, warmer and they don't burn coal.  They feel it is a better environment for the children.   This means she is in the Baotou (pronounced Bow Toe) Social Welfare Institute in Inner Mongolia.  So that explains why the original updated pictures looked like the orphanage compared to all the rest and why she looks so sad in those pictures.  Today our Letter of Intent to adopt Zoe will be officially in China and we will wait on the next step which is our Pre-Approval and the Letter of Acceptance from China. We cannot wait to bring her home and put her little face in our family pictures!!!

Introducing Zoe Mei Liette


At one glance I love you with a thousand hearts

~Mihri Hatun

  Finally!!!! We have our referral for our little Zoe!!! 

 It has been such a long 16 months of waiting and always expecting each month to receive "the phone call" with the big news that our agency has a baby for us.   It is always amazing to watch how God works in our life as we pray and wait and listen to where He is directing our paths and along the way, trusting that He knows the perfect timing and has the perfect plan.  I once again stand in amazement at our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.   

Our agency had been given the opportunity to find homes for some special needs children that another agency did not have enough parents for and our coordinator had told me that she thought there was a little girl on the list for us.  Dave and I happened to be in San Antonio for a few days and I decided to call to check (this was on November 16) and was told that the little girl they thought would be ours was placed with a family whose adoption fell though.   Our coordinator then told me about a little girl 22 months old with a repaired cleft palate who needed a home.   We had not selected this need on our special needs checklist, but as she told me about her I felt we needed to consider this little girl, so when she asked if we wanted to see her picture and file I said yes.  Well of course, when we saw the picture of this precious little girl we ALL fell in love with her.  

We decided to spend some time praying and seeking God and so even though we were so excited we told noone.    As I was praying the next day God gave me the verse in Matthew "Whatever you did to the least of these, that you did unto me." and I just knew this was our daughter.   I don't think I will ever forget the emotion of having this particular scripture given to me at this time.

Here are a few details about our daughter: 

Her Chinese name is Wang Guiying.
Her birth date is January 8, 2008.

Her weight is 26.4 pounds and she is 33.5" tall.

She is in foster care in Inner Mongolia and we are told she could be strongwilled, she is a bit introverted and she has a good sense of humor!!!

Love is not love if it neatly calculates the cost.  It gives all and its only regret is that it has not still more to give.

We are so excited to once again be waiting, impatiently though I must admit, to travel again to China and have our little girl placed in our arms. In Fields of the Fatherless, author Tom Davis reveals why this is so. "Real joy is not always found in obvious places," writes Davis. "Instead, it hides in corners, waiting to be discovered when we sacrifice our desires for God's desires."


“When you reap your harvest in your field, and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it; it shall be for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands,  When you beat your olive trees, you shall not go over the boughs again; it shall be for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow.  When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not glean it afterward; it shall be for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow.
Deuteronomy 24:19-21

We were able to request an update on little Zoe and received these pictures:

Once again we had to then wait to share our big news, since much of the information on her paperwork was not accurate and apparently the orphanage had switched some documents with another child and we were told they "must not know how to measure!" since some of that info could not have possibly been accurate!  Our doctor here caught the errors and could not review the paperwork, as required in order to send our Letter of Intent to China.  And now finally with more than two weeks having passed we can say this is our little girl!!!

As I look at these new pictures I think she looks so sad with the little tear running down her face and so grown up and it makes me think about all the baby months we have not been able to take care of her.  She looks like she has bites on her face like Sasha did when we first met her and that makes me even more anxious to get over there and hold her and bring her home.

Below is a map to show where she is waiting. The small picture on the left is China with the lighter area showing Inner Mongolia and the large picture shows where Bautou City is in Inner Mongolia.

Here is what happens now.  We just completed the Letter of Intent to adopt Wang Gui Ying.  We will wait then for "Preapproval", then the "Letter of Acceptance" and finally a Travel Approval all coming from China and in the meantime we will continue to update our documents here which are expiring.  Apparently at this time all of these steps take anywhere from 3 to 9 month so we could travel by February or it could be summer or fall until we go. Hopefully, it will be soon!

As Christmas comes this song captures our feelings as we hold our precious little Zoe in our hearts here and pray that there are Christians in China that are the hands and feet of Jesus until we can travel to Inner Mongolia.

“Merry Christmas”
There’s a little girl trembling on a cold December morn
Crying for mama’s arms 
At an orphanage just outside a little China town

Where the forgotten are

But half a world away I hang the stockings by the fire

And dream about the day when I can finally make you mine

It’s Christmas time again but you’re not home

Your family is here and yet you’re somewhere else alone

So tonight I pray that God will come and hold you in His arms

And tell you from my heart

I wish you Merry Christmas

As I hang the tinsel and watch the twinkling lights

I’m warmed by the fire’s glow

Outside the children tumble in a wonderland of white

And make angels in the snow

But half a world away you try your best to fight the tears

And hope that Heaven’s Angels come to carry you here

Christmas is the time we celebrate the Holy Child

And we celebrate His perfect gift of love

He came to Earth to give His life and prepare a place for us

So we could have a home with Him above

It’s Christmas time again and now you’re home

Your family is here so you will never be alone

So tonight before you go to sleep, I’ll hold you in my arms

And I’ll tell you from my heart

I wish you Merry Christmas

Brad Avery  “Third Day-Christmas Offerings”

A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, 

is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families . . .

        Psalm 68:5-6a