i did it!!

So here's the thing.

Running is stupid.

Never once do we read that Jesus ran.

Not once.

Did he run on the water?

No he did not.

He walked, like a reasonable person.

Anyway, I did my 5k this morning.

But only because of peer pressure.

Here I am at home, pre-race.

Don't let my smile fool you,

I was desperately grumpy, looking for any excuse out.

Then I went to pick up my friend Mary,

who was cheery and excited.

She's adorable that way.

Then we parked on completely the opposite side of the park

(my bad), and had to walk literally about two miles

to get to where we needed to be.

Way beyond that lake there,

that was our destination.

And let it be known to all that it was freezing cold!

But we finally made it.

Here's Mary and me!

Then the race began.  I was so slow, ya'll.

Toddlers passed me.

Old people with walkers passed me.

A woman with an asthma inhaler strapped to her arm passed me.

Blah!

But I did it.  I finished!

(Yes, I walked some of it.)

Blah.

And here we are at the finish line!!

Woo hoo!

Mary, she's so gracious.

It would appear that we came to the finish line together...

but truth be told,

she had finished a good 7+ minutes ahead of me,

then ran back so we could run in together.

I love her!

I did it, I did it!!

Sweet relief.

Never again!!

Well, maybe.



A few more pics...

orphanage visit {a sobering thing}

It's official.
Isaiah Jack Dong Ji
and
Elijah Andrew Hao Hao
are our sons.

We now have six (gulp) kiddos.
Let the crazy begin.

Just after all the papers were signed for Hao Hao,
they headed to the orphanage
for the sad good-bye.

We had a care package put together for Xiao Dong (HH's brother)
but HH wanted to add a few things.
So they
went to Wal Mart and Hao Hao picked out some
snacks...and shampoo & body wash.

I need to say that this sibling relationship did NOT catch
us off guard.
We have known about it from the very start.
As you may recall, I posted about it a while back.
We did all we could to try to adopt him also.
It went nowhere.
And we were totally at peace that we were at the end of
making it happen.
Though this saddens us deeply, it is just the way it is.
We live in a fallen, broken world and things simply are not always fair.
It's not fair that these boys were left as orphans in the first place.
It's not fair that they have to be separated.
It's just not fair.

They will remain in constant contact via the internet.
Thankfully.

Meet Xiao Dong.

Hao Hao and Xiao Dong...brothers forever, even if they
are an ocean apart.

Hao Hao has no doubt looked forward to being on this is side
of the gift-giving for a very long time.
In fact,
Much to Kelly's surprise,
he had taken most of the gifts we had given him on Gotcha Day,
and passed them to his friends at the orphanage.
My heart.
He's a sweet, sweet boy.

There are so many beautiful faces there.

Kelly said there is no way I could have handled the emotions of the day.
It was too sad to see these tearful brothers part ways.
He said he felt like the bad guy.
Darned if you do, darned if you don't.
It was hard.

But Kel assured Xiao Dong that we will take good care
of his brother...that he can call or skype anytime.
We have given him the phone number of some dear friends in
Beijing who will help him if needed.

It's a sobering thing.
But I am thankful that Hao Hao's future is bright.
And I totally trust God's sovereignty.
He has a plan for Xiao Dong.
And though we all think America is the answer for these kids,
sometimes...it's not.

God is alive and on the move in China and I know that
there is great hope that Xiao Dong will come
to know Him as Savior.

Great hope.

please read...and pray

Hey...I need you guys to pray.
But first, please re-read this post from May 19, 2009, would you?

*******

Look at this darling girl!!

My friend Leah and her husband just adopted her.
Her name is Abbey
and she is one of Macy's friends.
We simply can't wait to see these two girls reunited!

This picture was taken when they visited the orphanage
after their adoption was finalized last week.

But what I'd really like you to take notice of is
the sweet boy in the background.

He is the only older child, out of 30+ kids in the Journey of Hope Project,
that still doesn't have a family coming for him.

He has heard nearly all his friends receive news of
a family coming for them.

He's watched so many other kids eagerly open care packages.

And, as you see in the picture above,
he's witnessed child after child walk out of the orphanage,
once and for all,
with their forever families.

And he continues to wait.

Older child adoption isn't easy.
Sometimes, it's downright HARD.

But really,
is it fair that any of us should have it easy
when this boy just wants a home to call his own?

If you feel God possibly calling you to adopt this boy,
please email me or contact WACAP.

And I would love it if all of you would join me
in praying for him!


UPDATE:
After much prayer, it turns out that WE are
this sweet boy boy's family!


*******

May 3, 2010
So today, almost one year after that post,
that sweet boy...our son...is finally the one who gets
to leave with a new family.
My heart leaps with excitement for him.
Although there are so many challenges and difficulties
that await him with the huge changes in his life.

Today, at this moment, my newest guy, along with his new
little brother and dad, are returning
to the orphanage to say
his final goodbyes, just like he saw so many of his friends do.

It is bitter-sweet.
Our new boy has a bright new future,
but he also leaves behind
a biological brother, who is too old to be adopted (by China law).

My heart aches as I think of how this might
hurt his heart...how he might try to hide that hurt...
or reveal it with unleashed emotions.

As you go through your evening...and during the night (should you awaken),
would you please pray
for this very special...and difficult day?

And also ponder this...
there are thousands...millions...of boys
and girls just like our Hao Hao,
who long for a day, that they too can leave with
their very own family.

easy to ignore?

"...orphans are easier to ignore before you know their names.
They are easier to ignore before you see their faces.
It is easier to pretend they're not real before you hold them
in your arms.
But once you do, everything changes."

Radical,
by David Platt

143 million....without a family

I read this post on my friend Cari's blog,
who got it from another blog.

It really moved me.
I hope it does you as well.

Awhile back I was sitting in a new class that we had just begun at our church. The instructor was doing one of those ‘getting to know you’ types of deals where they go around the room and each person has to tell something about themselves. I remember him asking us to ‘tell the one thing that was most important to us in the world- the one thing we could not live without- but it couldn’t be God or family- because everyone would say that- it was a given”.

There was a quiet hush around the room, you literally see could see people pondering their thoughts, searching desperately in their minds or something- the one thing- they couldn’t live without.

What about you?

What is THE one thing you couldn’t live without besides God or your family?

Go ahead, take your time…

Think about it for a minute…

Now I truly hope some of you are not thinking your mascara or your blackberry… if so, I give up.

Perhaps some of you are thinking 'food and shelter'…

That is a good answer…. Those are things you cannot live without- yet every day, almost 16,000 children die from hunger-related causes--one child every five seconds.

Which got me to thinking even more….

Food, shelter, family, God…

If it is a given that family and God are the ONE thing that we Christians realize we do not want to live without -and food and shelter are another thing we know without question we cannot live without- then why is it that if we know these things- only 34% OF CHRISTIAN FAMILIES CONSIDER ADOPTING and ONLY 1% OF CHRISTIAN FAMILIES ACTUALLY DO??

In the past, we have actually had one pastor laugh at us and say we were crazy for spending so much money on an adoption…

In the past we have had another pastor tell us that the church doesn’t get involved with adoptions or they would have to help everyone…

How can this NOT be a priority for the church?? How can it not be a given that we should be concentrating on these things? Because we can preach the gospel until we turn purple, but until people have their immediate needs met, until people actually witness Christs love they will not be able to believe the truth.

So what's stopping us?

Is it because it is a inconvenience?
Is it because we are afraid?
Is it because it is too much work?

Is it because it might cost us something?
Is it because we might have to make a sacrifice?

Isn't that exactly what Jesus did for you?

And are you willing to stand in front of God one day and tell him that?

I once read this quote from Mahatma Gandhi and it broke my heart... He wrote:
“I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.”

That is something that I would like to change...

And it needs to start now, today.

I want you to know that I do realize that I am probably preaching to the choir here…

I am quiet positive that most of you who stop by my blog already have a heart for adoption...

You ARE doing something besides shaking your head, mumbling how unfortunate for them and then looking the other way.

This was so obvious to me after the AMAZING comments I received after my last post.

But just in case... just in case -as in God not 'google' led you here- and you have felt God stirring your heart towards adoption...

What’s stopping you? (and if it’s the money, go get that pickle jar!!!)

"If only 7 percent of the 2 billion Christians in the world would care for a single orphan in distress, there would effectively be no more orphans”.