Some History and Background

For those of you that know us well and have followed our story this may be a bit repetitive.  For those that have not followed so long then it may educate you a little about us.

Back in about 1996 Robin and I both heard a news story on the radio about the situation with little girls in China.  That evening at dinner it came up and I said "someone needs to do something about that", Robin said "I think we are supposed to do something about it".   Well that night started 6.5 years of prayer, discussion, debate and fights about adopting.

I did not ever see us adopting.  I made a lot of comments about how I could never love an adopted child as much as our biological sons.   I talked about the fact that our boys were reaching an age where we would have some freedom.   I had a thousand reasons why we could not adopt.   The fact that Robin felt so called to adopt and that I did not was a wedge between us.   I was stone cold against it.

Fast forward to 2003, and we end up at a conference that was my idea and the opening entertainment was non other than Steven Curtis Chapman.   He shared their adoption testimony and I had heart surgery that night, performed by God right there in my seat.   My heart melted and I knew we had been called to adopt.  I thought we can do this one time!

So late that Friday night we got home and I was on the computer researching adoption.   We made sure the boys were on board and they were so the next week we started the process.  This led to Laura in December 2004.   While we were in China we knew we were called to do at least one more adoption.   So in 2005 we started the process for Shiyan, due to many delays it would be March 2007 before we could go get her.

Then in 2010 we would be back there again for Maria.  Who would have known that we would be called back yet again and in April 2013 , this time we were back for Shaun. 

It was all in His timing and His will.  We know that each of these children were intended for our family.   We are so thankful for each of them and for the blessings we have found through their additions to our family. 

Amazing the blessing you will find if you follow the path that is before you.   I shutter to think how different our lives would be had we said no to any of these blessings.  If you ever feel called to adopt or to follow God on any other major path, prayerfully consider it and be open to His leading.  You may never know what blessing are out there for you if you are just willing to answer when called.  A great verse to sum all of this up is Isaiah 6:8 "Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "whom shall I send? and Who will go for us?" and I said, "Here am I. Send me!"

If you ever want to learn more about adoption send us a note we will be glad to answer any questions you might have.

Thanks for following our humble little blog.  We hope you get something positive out of it.

Beyond Terrible Two's

For any of you that know us well you know that the past 15 months have been a bit of a roller coaster ride.     We received Shaun 4 days before his second birthday, just in time to receive the full benefit of the terrible twos.  Add to that a dad with a messed up wrist and three surgeries, plus all the day to day things that go with having a large family, it has been a bit of a rush.


I am so thankful that God made it abundantly clear to us that Shaun was the child for us on the day we received his referral.  We had a peace that surpassed understanding about him.  That really helped on those difficult days over the past year.  We feared many days that the terrible twos would become the trying threes.


Shaun is a wonderful little guy and we have all grown to love him so much.  However for the first year he was with us he was angry and destructive a lot of the time.   He would break things and throw tantrums.  His vocabulary was limited and adjustment was hard.   Our house had gates restricting him from getting to the girls rooms, from the TV and entertainment center etc.  It has been an obstacle course around here. But then around the time he turned 3 it was almost like we flipped a switch.   He became so loving, began talking all the time, stopped being destructive.    He loves everyone in the family but is really a daddy's boy.   He is smart, and likes to understand how things work.    He now loves to talk and can easily communicate his needs.  So as we progress gates are coming down and life is slowly returning to the new normal.


We are thankful for these improvements and are so thankful that he is part of our family.   Adoption is never easy, it begins with loss.  The loss of a child for the biological parents.  The loss of parents for a child.  Then just when the child thinks things are settling down along come new parents that don't look like them, don't smell like them and talk so funny.  And these new people upset everything and take the child to a new strange place.  Friends are now lost, food is different, language is different, everything is different!   So children react in different ways and some are like Shaun some worse.   Thankfully most of the time they do adjust, some faster than others.  We are thankful that the terrible twos seem to have stopped for us.


We are thankful that this phase of adjustment is over and that Shaun has made so much progress. 

We are also thankful for all the ways we have been blessed through adoption and are thankful that all of our children have adjusted and are as much a part of our family as anyone.   With healing comes new growth and some times the new part is stronger than what was there before.  

Well that is my ramblings for today.   Stay tuned for more.  Lots happening around, a wedding in the works, lots of family coming in, school starting back up, lots of work stuff, life happens.