I've been meaning to mention for a while now that Blogger started giving me a hard time in the commenting department as soon as I started this blog. In other words, I can no longer comment on my friends' blogs. At all.
I have tried different things and searched the web to see if someone else has had my same little problem and found a fix for it, but no such luck--yet. So, to all of my dear blog world friends, I read your updates, I laugh and cheer and cry along with you (I really do), and one of these days I will be able to let you know how I feel and that I care.
Most of my friends and family aren't bloggers (except my sweet cousin Sara), so they get Marlaina updates practically daily or at least weekly. I know many of you have been praying for Marlaina and I ask you to please keep praying because she FEELS like our daughter but she's not our daughter yet. I'm not even sure if I'm "allowed" to say what I'm about to say, but I'm pretty sure none of you will report me to the blogging police. I only say this because Marlaina is not our daughter yet and I'm still learning blog etiquette.
March 19th is Marlaina's birthday. I pray for her EVERY DAY. I pray that God will allow her to join our family. I pray that her foster family tells her how special she is all the time and that they celebrate her 9th birthday in a BIG way!!! I can't even express my emotions in words. All I can say is that I wish she was with us to celebrate her birthday, but God has her where He wants her to be right now. His plan may be hard for me to understand but it IS perfect. So happy, happy birthday sweet girl. Maybe one day you can read this when you are old enough and you will see one more time how deeply you were loved in America when you celebrated your 9th birthday in China.
Showing posts with label China. Show all posts
Showing posts with label China. Show all posts
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Monday, January 16, 2012
The Way We Roll
Over the long weekend we've taken the time to do some extra reading in our Bibles, catch up on some other reading, play some games, hike in the woods, mountain bike, use our Christmas gift cards to Academy and Michael's from Granny and Pawpaw, cook up some homemade ice cream, juice our lemon crop, make homemade baby wipes and detergent, have dinner around the fire pit, celebrate my sister Suzanne's birthday and watch some Wild China documentary films on Netflix. We've really enjoyed spending time with each other and our families.
We also asked the adoption agency if they could ask the orphanage in Shanghai for some additional medical information on Liu Qingnan. We're still waiting on some information but we were able to get updated measurements--height 126cm, weight 24kg, head 50cm, chest 71cm--and a couple of new pictures!
We love her! She's such a ham for the camera, and isn't the one where she forms her arms into a heart just precious? Apparently she is a few inches shorter than Luke but half his weight! LOL Chinese children often look larger in pictures than they really are because they wear multiple layers of clothing, especially babies. I remember when we adopted Katie she was wearing at least four outfits, complete with split pants (my China friends can tell you all about split pants and the purpose for them).
We pray you all are enjoying the good company of family and friends both near and far this new year. To God be the glory!
We also asked the adoption agency if they could ask the orphanage in Shanghai for some additional medical information on Liu Qingnan. We're still waiting on some information but we were able to get updated measurements--height 126cm, weight 24kg, head 50cm, chest 71cm--and a couple of new pictures!
We love her! She's such a ham for the camera, and isn't the one where she forms her arms into a heart just precious? Apparently she is a few inches shorter than Luke but half his weight! LOL Chinese children often look larger in pictures than they really are because they wear multiple layers of clothing, especially babies. I remember when we adopted Katie she was wearing at least four outfits, complete with split pants (my China friends can tell you all about split pants and the purpose for them).
We pray you all are enjoying the good company of family and friends both near and far this new year. To God be the glory!
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Pre-approval on January 3rd!
I was so deep in thought while crafting my first blog post that the significance of January 3rd didn't even hit the page. Now that I think about it, several things happened over the last couple of months that got us to the 3rd, but we really didn't understand God's plan until that date. Or maybe a little before. But really, we were so engrossed in our own plan that we didn't even think about God having a plan that was different from ours. And scary.
Just before Thanksgiving my adoption friends Carol, Mary Ann, Bonnie and Jeanne encouraged Darrell and me to consider going back to China (we adopted our daughter Katie from China 6 years ago). For those of you who don't know, we were certified by the State of Texas to adopt domestically back in May 2011. After 7 long months we didn't understand why we didn't get a match. After all, we didn't box ourselves in. We asked for a child age 3-12, gender didn't matter, ethnicity didn't matter. We didn't understand why God called us to adopt but wasn't sending us a child. We were becoming impatient.
On November 22nd my friend Carol sent me a link to a site called Wonderful Waiting Kids. On November 24th I sat in the floor of my Aunt Cheryl's living room and scrolled through picture after picture of precious children.
On November 28th God led me to her. A precious, beautiful girl named "Marlaina" to whom I became instantly attached. Here's a younger picture of her sweet face. She'll be 9 in March.
Darrell, on the other hand, was not so attached. He was in the throws of seminary finals and had a lot on his mind, least of which was the scary thought of adopting a special needs child from China. Not to mention the cost. Yikes!
After about a week of prayerful consideration, conversations with amazing Annie Hamlin, prayers over our current children and their feelings on the adoption and, well, pretty much all out abandon to follow God's scary call, we did it. We picked up the phone and called Madison Adoption Associates. The next few weeks were scary, I guess because of all the unknowns. But we trudged forward in complete faithfulness and then--January 3rd--PA!!! PA is pre-approval from China in the world of adoption abbreviations. It was time to start a blog to keep up with all the milestones. And time to truly begin falling in love with this beautiful girl named Liu Qingnan (Marlaina).
We are amazed at the outpouring of love and encouragement received from our family and friends. We are humbled that complete strangers who prayed for Liu Qingnan now pray for us. We are thankful for our cheerleaders inside and outside the adoption community who leave us comments, send us emails and give us hugs. Most of all, we glorify our God in Heaven who leads us to do scary things in His name and for His purpose, who provides for us when we think there is no provision, and who holds our hands with each step we take. And then we realize it's not scary at all.
Just before Thanksgiving my adoption friends Carol, Mary Ann, Bonnie and Jeanne encouraged Darrell and me to consider going back to China (we adopted our daughter Katie from China 6 years ago). For those of you who don't know, we were certified by the State of Texas to adopt domestically back in May 2011. After 7 long months we didn't understand why we didn't get a match. After all, we didn't box ourselves in. We asked for a child age 3-12, gender didn't matter, ethnicity didn't matter. We didn't understand why God called us to adopt but wasn't sending us a child. We were becoming impatient.
On November 22nd my friend Carol sent me a link to a site called Wonderful Waiting Kids. On November 24th I sat in the floor of my Aunt Cheryl's living room and scrolled through picture after picture of precious children.
On November 28th God led me to her. A precious, beautiful girl named "Marlaina" to whom I became instantly attached. Here's a younger picture of her sweet face. She'll be 9 in March.
Darrell, on the other hand, was not so attached. He was in the throws of seminary finals and had a lot on his mind, least of which was the scary thought of adopting a special needs child from China. Not to mention the cost. Yikes!
After about a week of prayerful consideration, conversations with amazing Annie Hamlin, prayers over our current children and their feelings on the adoption and, well, pretty much all out abandon to follow God's scary call, we did it. We picked up the phone and called Madison Adoption Associates. The next few weeks were scary, I guess because of all the unknowns. But we trudged forward in complete faithfulness and then--January 3rd--PA!!! PA is pre-approval from China in the world of adoption abbreviations. It was time to start a blog to keep up with all the milestones. And time to truly begin falling in love with this beautiful girl named Liu Qingnan (Marlaina).
We are amazed at the outpouring of love and encouragement received from our family and friends. We are humbled that complete strangers who prayed for Liu Qingnan now pray for us. We are thankful for our cheerleaders inside and outside the adoption community who leave us comments, send us emails and give us hugs. Most of all, we glorify our God in Heaven who leads us to do scary things in His name and for His purpose, who provides for us when we think there is no provision, and who holds our hands with each step we take. And then we realize it's not scary at all.
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