Where You Go

Very soon, I will be taking Lilly with me to China for a few weeks 

while Paul stays home with the rest of our children.  

We are waiting for Travel Approval, but we are packed and ready to go as soon as they give us the word!

I'm taking the daughter who has been studying Mandarin for months so that she can tell her big sister about Jesus, and also "so she won't feel alone when she gets here".  

I'm taking the one who we find sobbing 

in the middle of the night... 

while kneeling in front of this bed:

praying for her sister

because she MISSES her.

And the only other thing to do besides pray 

is to arrange and rearrange these waiting dolls 

just so 

every. single. night.

I'm taking the one who says she will stay with Haven 

for the rest of her life, 

and I do not doubt it for one moment.

This child God has blessed me with - she led me straight to another.  Because it was Lilly who peeked over my shoulder back in April and saw Haven dancing in an orphanage video and said,  "She should my sister."

Yes.  She should.  Sometimes it is that simple.

It was Lilly who would not allow me to believe that we had lost her, and prayed every night for us to be chosen to be Haven's family.

This "preparing a place" is happening in our own home right now.

We are making room, shifting, and preparing.

 Everything is about to change, 

and yet everything we know to be true 

will remain the same:

We are a family.  

We have room. 

And we have been Chosen.

  

Praise God for His provisions.

He has called my friend Becky, the homeschooling mother of 5 children, to offer to leave everything behind and fly to China to help me get these kids home.  

It's not convenient for her to do this - it's actually a little insane for her to even offer.  But I couldn't talk her out of it if I tried.  And there isn't anyone I'd rather see step off that plane to help me halfway through my trip than this woman, whom I love so dearly and look up to in so many ways.

Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from You.

Where You go, I will go.

Where You stay, I will stay.

Your people will be my people...  

...See you on the other side.  

And thank you for making all of this possible.

Bring Them Home

For a long time, I have wanted to share videos of the children, but have not been able to because their Chinese names are spoken in them - and we were not permitted to share those names until the LOA's were signed.  

The LOA's are now a done deal, and we sit here just weeks before travel.  Thank you, Jesus!

And so it is with great pride that we are finally able to share these videos from July of last year of Haven Ma Haiyue, our beautiful little princess...



And Aaron Mao Sigang...our little prince:




As I watch these videos, I see my son and the look in his eyes.

I have to smile, because I know that the medical terms used to describe my soon-to-be 3 year old boy and his development are wrong.  And I do not need a medical degree to make that statement.  I am his mother, and he is perfection.  Just you wait.

Glory to You, 

God of the Angel-Armies...  

Bring my babies home!

The Covenant

"I will not forget you.  

See, I have engraved your name 

on the palms of my hands."

"Lift up your eyes and look around;

all your children gather and come to you."

Stay tuned...

Miracles are coming.