From the beginning of our adoption process, we have talked with the girls to explain everything that we were doing. We wanted them to understand what was happening. Abby obviously understands better than Madeline (although Maddy seems to be catching on a bit now). Abby has been excited since the beginning about having a little brother. She talks about Max all the time, she understood all the "paperwork" I was doing. She even understood about the money we were raising to pay for the adoption-although she said we had to get money from the bank to "buy" Max. We quickly explained that we weren't buying Max, but saving money to pay to go to China to get him.
Through it all, Abby has displayed such a tender heart. When she talks about our family, she always includes Max-without any prompting from us. A perfect example happened yesterday. The girls and I were eating lunch after church. We were talking about what they had learned in Sunday School that day. Abby said she wanted to share a song that they had sung (one they sing every week). She sang, "Jesus loves Abby, Abby, Abby, Jesus loves Abby, He loves everyone." She then sang it over and over again, substituting all of our names. She sang it for Madeline, Mommy, Daddy, then she sang it for Max. I could hardly keep the tears from spilling down my cheeks. She truly has the most tender spirit I've ever encountered in a child. She is going to be absolutely the most amazing big sister to Max.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Sweet Gift
While we were waiting to speak at the church in San Antonio, I had a few moments to visit with John Bentley's daughter, Emily. She is around 16 years old I think. She was such a blessing to me, more than she'll ever know, because she shared little stories about Max.
She said that all of the nannies love him, because while most of the children wake up crying, that Max always wakes up happy and laughing.
She said that one time he was visiting at their house and asked if they (the Bentley family) would adopt him. Emily explained to him that her family couldn't, but that another family would. The next time he visited there, he told Emily that he was going to have a family soon and that he would have a house to live in with his family, and that she could visit him there.
Now that story warmed my heart. Jason and I will never know what exactly Max thinks and understands about adoption and about all that will transpire soon. But he does understand that he will have a family....YEAH!
She also told me that after he received his first care package from us, he was showing her what he had gotten. He told her, "My daddy sent me a backpack, it's mine, and you didn't get one!" He said this with a smile and a laugh. That little boy certainly has a sense of humor.
I could have sat and talked with Emily all night, but then I would have missed out on incredible worship time and hearing John speak. But what a sweet, precious gift it was to hear a little bit about our son. I have carried the stories with me since that evening and often find myself reliving them in my head. I can't wait to meet this little gift.
She said that all of the nannies love him, because while most of the children wake up crying, that Max always wakes up happy and laughing.
She said that one time he was visiting at their house and asked if they (the Bentley family) would adopt him. Emily explained to him that her family couldn't, but that another family would. The next time he visited there, he told Emily that he was going to have a family soon and that he would have a house to live in with his family, and that she could visit him there.
Now that story warmed my heart. Jason and I will never know what exactly Max thinks and understands about adoption and about all that will transpire soon. But he does understand that he will have a family....YEAH!
She also told me that after he received his first care package from us, he was showing her what he had gotten. He told her, "My daddy sent me a backpack, it's mine, and you didn't get one!" He said this with a smile and a laugh. That little boy certainly has a sense of humor.
I could have sat and talked with Emily all night, but then I would have missed out on incredible worship time and hearing John speak. But what a sweet, precious gift it was to hear a little bit about our son. I have carried the stories with me since that evening and often find myself reliving them in my head. I can't wait to meet this little gift.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Special Meeting
Jason, the girls and I had an incredible opportunity last week. We were invited to share a short testimony of 
our adoption at Oak Hills Church in San Antonio, Texas. This is the church the Max Lucado is a part of. Many of you know that he is special to us because our son is named after him. Max Lucado and his wife visited China several years ago and met little Fu Gu. He was then named in honor of Max. We were thrilled not only to share our story, but for the chance to meet Max and tell him that we were adopting his namesake. He didn't know that we were coming, or even who we were. John Bentley is currently in the United States (he is the director of Harmony House), so he and the executive pastor of Oak Hills set it up to surprise Max.
John shared for a bit about the amazing way that God works and about His call to China. The Bentley's story is fascinating. I loved hearing more about their work and their call to China. Then he invited Jason and I up to share a brief testimony of the miracle of Max. We shared how we came to know him back in 2006 (well, how Jason came to know him). We mainly shared about the miracles that have happened since we took our first step of faith into this adoption. God has been so faithful through the whole thing. I still sit in awe as I reflect on all the incredible things that have happened.....I thought I would share a brief timeline for those of you who are new readers and for those of you who may have forgotten.
10/2006 -Jason visits China and meets Max.
11/2006 -I feel compelled to ask Jason if he thinks we should adopt Max. He says no. :-)
-We commit to pray about it. I bug Jason incessantly during this time...
1/2007 -We move forward in faith and apply with an adoption agency.
3/2007 -We are officially approved to move forward with our agency to adopt from China.
8/2007 -Max's file is sent to the CCAA (this is the Chinese government agency that is in charge of adoptions).
-Our adoption agency in the U.S. makes a request to the CCAA for Max's file to be
placed with them.
10/2007 -Unbeknown to us, Max's file is placed with a different adoption agency in the U.S.
Through God's miraculous intervention, we find out within days and are able to switch
adoption agencies. Max is placed on hold for us, under the terms that we return our
paperwork in one week. We also have to pay our agency fees of $8,000. At the time,
we only had $4000 raised. God once again intervenes and in 3 days, people donate over $4000.
-We receive Max's referral. This is such a miracle. China strictly prohibits pre-matching with a particular child, but because of God's grace and intervention, we have been matched with Max.
11/2007 -We send our Letter of Intent (LOI) to adopt Max to the CCAA
1/2008 -We receive Pre-Approval (PA) from the CCAA to adopt Max. This means that based
on our preliminary paperwork, we are approved to adopt him. The final approval will be granted once they receive our dossier.
6/2008 -Our dossier is finally finished and sent to China. Due to numerous complications, it takes months to complete. However, we see God's hand in this as well. Plane tickets to China have skyrocketed because of the Olympics. As we are taking the girls, this would have been problematic.
7/2008 -We are waiting for our final approval. We are in week 4 of our wait. The average lately has been 10-12 weeks, so we are praying for that to be true for us. It it is, we will travel sometime in September or early October to bring Max home.
After the service was over, we had the opportunity to meet Max Lucado. What a blessing. He is one of the nicest people I think I have ever met. He was so interested to hear about Max, and about our story.
our adoption at Oak Hills Church in San Antonio, Texas. This is the church the Max Lucado is a part of. Many of you know that he is special to us because our son is named after him. Max Lucado and his wife visited China several years ago and met little Fu Gu. He was then named in honor of Max. We were thrilled not only to share our story, but for the chance to meet Max and tell him that we were adopting his namesake. He didn't know that we were coming, or even who we were. John Bentley is currently in the United States (he is the director of Harmony House), so he and the executive pastor of Oak Hills set it up to surprise Max.John shared for a bit about the amazing way that God works and about His call to China. The Bentley's story is fascinating. I loved hearing more about their work and their call to China. Then he invited Jason and I up to share a brief testimony of the miracle of Max. We shared how we came to know him back in 2006 (well, how Jason came to know him). We mainly shared about the miracles that have happened since we took our first step of faith into this adoption. God has been so faithful through the whole thing. I still sit in awe as I reflect on all the incredible things that have happened.....I thought I would share a brief timeline for those of you who are new readers and for those of you who may have forgotten.
10/2006 -Jason visits China and meets Max.
11/2006 -I feel compelled to ask Jason if he thinks we should adopt Max. He says no. :-)
-We commit to pray about it. I bug Jason incessantly during this time...
1/2007 -We move forward in faith and apply with an adoption agency.
3/2007 -We are officially approved to move forward with our agency to adopt from China.
8/2007 -Max's file is sent to the CCAA (this is the Chinese government agency that is in charge of adoptions).
-Our adoption agency in the U.S. makes a request to the CCAA for Max's file to be
placed with them.
10/2007 -Unbeknown to us, Max's file is placed with a different adoption agency in the U.S.
Through God's miraculous intervention, we find out within days and are able to switch
adoption agencies. Max is placed on hold for us, under the terms that we return our
paperwork in one week. We also have to pay our agency fees of $8,000. At the time,
we only had $4000 raised. God once again intervenes and in 3 days, people donate over $4000.
-We receive Max's referral. This is such a miracle. China strictly prohibits pre-matching with a particular child, but because of God's grace and intervention, we have been matched with Max.
11/2007 -We send our Letter of Intent (LOI) to adopt Max to the CCAA
1/2008 -We receive Pre-Approval (PA) from the CCAA to adopt Max. This means that based
on our preliminary paperwork, we are approved to adopt him. The final approval will be granted once they receive our dossier.
6/2008 -Our dossier is finally finished and sent to China. Due to numerous complications, it takes months to complete. However, we see God's hand in this as well. Plane tickets to China have skyrocketed because of the Olympics. As we are taking the girls, this would have been problematic.
7/2008 -We are waiting for our final approval. We are in week 4 of our wait. The average lately has been 10-12 weeks, so we are praying for that to be true for us. It it is, we will travel sometime in September or early October to bring Max home.
After the service was over, we had the opportunity to meet Max Lucado. What a blessing. He is one of the nicest people I think I have ever met. He was so interested to hear about Max, and about our story.
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