Our Treasure

First, I would like to say thank you to Linny at  A Place Called Simplicity for caring so much about orphans and making it possible for us, who don't have such a great following in the blog world, the chance to share our story to the many that read her blog!  Thank you, Linny!

My (or our) adoption story began in the summer of 2008.  It was then that the thought of adoption came out of my mouth.  Since then, I've prayed, researched, and prayed some more and simply "maybe wanting to adopt one day" turned into a passion for orphans.  I'm completely burdened by it and I know that the Lord has more for me to do in this life.

We researched many countries, including our own, and always came back to China.  I wasn't 30 at the time, which a requirement of China, so we waited.

We officially started our adoption process in October 2010!!  And I officially turned 30 in November.  I will say that this is quite the roller coaster of emotions!  It's hard to stay overly excited on a daily basis.  Not to say that I'm not excited, it's just life.

Now let's back track a bit...

I will never forget the day after Christmas, 2009.  I finally had time to sit down and "search" again, now that the holiday had passed.  I came across the Philip Hayden Foundation through a blog I found.  I scrolled down looking at all of the tiny faces on the page.

But there was one that stuck out the most!!  A sweet little girl, named Sierra, who is known to have heart disease.  My heart felt incredibly heavy.  I showed her to Dusty, (my hubby), and said that I felt that we are to sponsor this child.  The verse and command, James 1:27 ( Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after the orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.) was laid so heavily on my heart, that even if it wasn't the Lord's timing for us to adopt, I felt that we were responsible to do something.

That's when we started sponsoring Sierra.  We've thoroughly enjoyed getting updates, this past year, on this precious girl.  We found that the ultrasound on her heart has come back normal. And her pictures always had me AND Dusty "ga-ga".  Just silently in love with her.

That's when I said, we should check into her file!  BUT, the only thing we learned then was that her file was not ready yet.

Fast forward to fall(ish) 2010, we received another update, we both stared at the update and we were silent.  If you would've seen our faces you would've said that they were all mush...like the face of someone saying, "Awwww".    It was Dusty this time that said, "We need to check into her file again".  I remember smiling very big, with eye brows raised and I remember being shocked.  This was my man taking the lead!  I didn't waste a minute.

This is what we found out...Sierra had been matched with a family that summer.  The family decided NOT to adopt her.  Why?  Because she had no dental eruption and was not walking at the time of her first birthday.

In my head I was asking, "Oh my goodness, Lord!!  Was she not matched because she's ours???"

I wish that I could answer that question for all of you readers...but the rest of the story hasn't happened yet!  All I can say is that we started the process and we've about finished our home study.  We've written a letter to the original orphanage that she came from, asking if we can adopt Fu Yuyao (Sierra).  This is something pretty new in China, usually you would not be able to ask to adopt a specific child.

From what we know, the orphanage "named us as parents", which sounds like it's a celebration, but it still needs to go to the CCAA.  Not until she is matched with us will we have complete assurance.

Everyone says it, but it's true...adoption is a huge leap of faith.  Our family does not have thousands and thousands of dollars sitting around to adopt.  In fact, we don't have any money sitting around!  It was probably the most faith driven thing Dusty and I have ever done in our lives.  What's logical is not always right.

I was told once, of a Beth Moore bible study, that she said you can be missing out on blessings that the Lord has for you...and that blessings that you miss out on are like unwrapped gifts.

That image is still in my head.

As of right now, I will admit that I'm slightly discouraged with how long it has taken us just to complete the home study.  I get anxious at the thought that we might not get to her by the end of this year.  I can't stand thinking that she's just there waiting, getting older, and missing out on getting to know her forever family.  I know that it's in the Lord's timing, but I was reminded by Linny's Memorial Box Monday post this week that the Lord cares about the little things that matter to us...so imagine how much he cares about the big things!  I was also reminded of the post that I had written a while back on praying specifically.

So, yes, we need prayer...

...that this process will go quicker than we could ever imagine.

...that we will not be anxious, but lean on Him and have peace.

...that Sierra will be matched with us very soon.

...that Sierra will continue to grow strong and healthy (by the way, she totally has teeth now and is walking!)

...that we will have the money that we need when we need it so that we will not go into a huge amount of debt. (the next amounts that we will need is $1800 due to the agency at the completion of the home study, which is any day now...and $890 to send to immigration.)

...that the Lord will show us fund raising opportunities that would be right.

I pray that I will have good news to share about Sierra very soon.  We have hope that she is ours, but either way, this child has a special place in our hearts, and will forever.

Thank you for stopping by.  Please let me know that you've visited.  I always enjoy the positive comments and appreciate them more than you know.  


(I said that I would be talking about what I've learned about forgiveness today, but when I saw that Linny was doing this, I wanted to jump at the opportunity!)