Final Adoption Fundraiser! :)

Dear Friends,
Thank you so much for your love and support through our adoption journey to Bailey. We are hoping to have some paperwork arriving soon that will indicate approximately when we will be traveling to bring her home. This journey has been twice as long as the one to Brinley but we are nearing the end and will soon begin another chapter in life as our family welcomes Bailey home. We can't wait! :)
Many of you have asked how you can help us. Well, we are coming down to the final days of having the necessary funds to complete the adoption and we could really use some help. We are not asking anyone to pay for our tickets or lodging or paperwork. Instead, we are raising the funds for the Orphanage Fee. Everyone who adopts a child from China must pay a $3,000 Orphanage Fee. This money goes to the orphanage and it helps to care for the children who will remain in the orphanage. Many of them will be adopted someday but unfortunately many of them will not. If we should happen to raise more than the $3,000 we will still be using this money for the orphanage. We will buy any supplies for the orphanage that we can while we are in China. We would love to buy a ton of things that are truly needed for the care of the children! :)
On the right side of this blog you will see a small red square with the words "The Guilin Orphanage" at the top. If you would like to make a donation, you can just click on the "ChipIn" button and you will be taken to a secure area for making your donation.
If you can't contribute or don't feel inclined to contribute we would ask that you please pray for all of the children who want and need families of their own. There are so many!

Thank you so very much for your friendship and for loving our children,
In Him,
Sharon

A Post For Dee

Cute pictures of two of your grandchildren. :)

Itty Bitty Brinley

Everyone thinks that Brinley is a big girl when they see her photos on our blog. However, this picture shows you the real story. LOL She doesn't even come up to the door handle on our sliding doors. LOL This photo was taken just a few days ago.

Passport For Brinley!

We just rec'd Brinley's US Passport! Hooray! We were worried about it getting here in time. We had it expedited and were told that it could still take a very long time....up to 10 weeks. We applied for it on April 30.

One more thing to check off of our list!

Bring Me Hope

http://www.bringmehope.org

A family member has said that Marty and I are "buying another kid from China". It has hurt me more than you will ever know that you spoke these words. I know that you have pain and heartache in your own life and we have both lived in a world that was far from perfect while we were younger.

I hope you will watch this video and understand that we are not "buying another kid from China". We are going to China to bring our daughter home. You have met Brinley and you know how much we love this child. She is as much ours as any of our other children and Bailey will be too.

I feel sorry for you that your compassion for other people seems to have dwindled away as your savings account grew. I pray that God will put adoption and Chinese children in particular in your heart and that you will someday know what it feels like to cry for these children who have nothing and no one. Nothing.....Brinley had NOTHING but a name and the clothes she wore when we received her. Now she has everything.......and none of it can be bought at WalMart. She has a family and she has hope for tomorrow. She sings "Jesus Loves Me" with all of her heart and she breathes in the smell of the stars at night. She is perfectly loved and perfectly made......and so is Bailey.

Our daughters......born in China. I will be praying for you.

Look Familiar?

The photo on the right is the last photo we received of Brinley before we traveled to bring her home in December, 2005.

The photos we received last night of Bailey are probably the last we will receive of her before we travel.

I am ready so ready to bring Bailey home!

New Photos!

We just received three new photos of Bailey! We are so excited! We have been so blessed to have so many photos of our little sweetie while we wait! I'm sad to see that her hair has been cut again but it will grow. She is so beautiful!!!

Thank you so much, Pat, for checking on our little sweetheart! We are so happy that you have Sophie and that all is going well! :)

New Bailey Photos Coming Soon

Our friends who visited the orphanage Saturday have posted that they saw Bailey and they have photos of her. There wasn't any other information. They have been really busy and can't upload photos so I am checking my email and their site every 5 minutes hoping to see the photos.

I'll post them just as soon as I hear from Pat again. Their daughter is from the same orphanage as our girls and she is a cutie pie! Her name is Sophie and she is about the same age as Bailey. She is a Yang girl, too! :)

Please help us help them...

If you have been wondering what you can do to help the children of China, please watch this short video. It could change the life of a child. Someone cared enough to help Brinley and Bailey before we ever knew they existed. It is my prayer that you will be lead to help the other children who wait and who need us.

Grab Your Kleenex

Okay....I have given you fair warning. You will need Kleenex when you view this blog I am going to tell you about. It is the blog of the Carr family. Johnny Carr is a minister and the weekend that God touched my heart about Brinley was the same weekend that Johnny featured Brinley in his sermon on adoption. He told the congregation all about her and showed her photos to them. Many people were praying for her and for the other children he featured. His wife Beth sent a copy of the sermon to us on DVD and we will alway treasure it.

This is their blog:
http://www.carrfamilyadoption.blogspot.com/

The videos at the begining are of their adopted children James and XiaoLi. Both of them are deaf. Beth teaches deaf children. Don't forget your Kleenex!

This is an amazing family. They inspire me.

We have a new friend!

We have a beautiful new friend and her name is Lilly! Her mommy and daddy received her yesterday in Hunan. She is 18 months old and we can't wait to meet her! She will be living right down the road from us!

Congratulations to Lilly and her forever family!

A poem I love...

Mother Bridge of Love

Once there were two women who never knew each other.

One you do not remember, the other you call Mother.

Two different lives shaped to make you one.

One became your guiding star; the other became your sun.

The first one gave you life, and the second taught you to live it.

The first gave you a need for love. The second was there to give it.

One gave you a nationality. The other gave you a name.

One gave you a talent. The other gave you aim.

One gave you emotions. The other calmed your fears.

One saw your first sweet smile. The other dried your tears.

One sought for you a home that she could not provide.

The other prayed for a child and her hope was not denied.

And now you ask me, through your tears,

The age-old question unanswered through the years.

Heredity or environment, which are you a product of?

Neither, my darling. Neither. Just two different kinds of Love.

-Anonymous

Bailey....Come Home Soon

I sit and I look at these little photos of Bailey and I cry. I cry tears for every second we miss of her life and I cry for all that she is losing and all that she will gain in a few weeks. She has no idea that she has a mommy on the other side of the world who loves her but she does have her NahNah who loves her and takes care of her every day. Lord, please prepare her little heart for the changes that are coming.

Thank you to all of my friends who have asked about Bailey for us at the orphanage during visits......LeeAnn, Erin, Tami, Karen.... and Pat who is there in China now and received her beautiful Sophie Belle last night while we slept. Pat will be traveling to the orphanage very soon on the same train we took while we were there to visit. Pat will be asking about our beautiful Bailey while she is there and is going to ask if she can take some new phots of her for us. We are praying that she will be able to. The last family that asked to see her was denied so we are praying for a different response this time.

Guilin Foster Care

Brinley and Bailey are both from the Guilin SWI in the Guangxi Province. I heard that Grace & Hope for Children was looking for an assistant for their Foster Care Coordinator.
Since we have two daughters from this SWI it is very, very special to me and holds a very dear place in my heart. I prayed about it and decided to apply for the position. The information was posted in the Guilin SWI group on Yahoo and several people applied for the position. It was decided that two assistants will be needed and that these two people will take over as Foster Care Co-Coordinators at a later time. I feel so blessed to be able to say that I was one of the applicants chosen for the position. It is strictly volunteer but I am just so happy to be giving back to the Guilin SWI. Brinley's care was nothing short of phenomenal and from all we can tell and what we have heard Bailey's care is the same.

Thank you, Lord for giving me this opportunity to help. I am so blessed.

May 1.....CCAA Changes.....and hugs

To all of my friends who didn't make the May 1 deadline for LID, I am sending big hugs and love to all of you. I've cried for all of you today. Please know that just because right now you can't adopt from China again, it doesn't mean that you will never adopt from China again. The rules change...they always have. Have hope, have faith and remember that there are so many children out there who lay down every night in their cribs, on hard floors, grass mats or whatever they may have with no one to kiss their cheeks and tell them that they are loved and that they are special. Our Chinese children are precious to all of us but ALL children are precious. God has new adventures waiting for each and every one of you. I am here for you. Thank you for being my friends. I love each and every one of you.

"Forty pairs of little eyes
Stared into this heart of mine
A memory burned inside my soul
One that never has let go
I looked into the face of need
The least of these stared back at me…
I've seen Jesus in the eyes of all His daughters and sons
Every single one"

"Every Single One"
~Geoff Moore