I Found Baby #3

I found baby #3. Yes, I did say baby #3... we have yet to find Amaris, baby #2, but I believe that God is going to show me my promised baby in a supernatural way. What an exciting day that will be. I have waited for Amaris( Uh-mare-is). We chose this Hebrew name because it means "God has promised." I will share this story in another post.

As for baby #3, her name is Jessica. I have spent over 100 hours researching information on her, her special need (heart condition), and everyone that may have visited her in Xi'an.

I found her the week of her 2nd birthday. Within days, I knew everything about her with the help of a Facebook friend, and people who were friends of friends. Yep, I contacted everyone that had visited her foster home. I had multiple pictures of her and had already fallen deeply in love with her. I already loved Jessica as much as my 16 and almost 4 year old daughters.

The only thing I couldn't seem to get, no matter what I tried, was her Chinese name. But, I really didn't need it, I was sure I had her file photo... and, with the information I had, I was 100% sure someone could find her at the CCCWA.

I shared this information with our current agency and social worker, but our agency wanted me to wait until our social worker arrived to our home. It should be just another week or so. Oh, it seems like FOREVER!

We Chose our Agency, but God Chose a Different One

Thanksgiving Day 2010

While I had 3 agencies in mind for our next two adoptions, I really had no sense from the Lord where He was directing us.

Would we go with our agency that helped us bring Gabriella home? Would we go with Madison which is one of the only agencies right now helping families to bring two children home at a time, or would we go with a smaller agency that I had built a great relationship with over the last 3 months.

Because there were no feelings any way, we decided to go with the familiar, an agency that we had worked with in the past. On Thanksgiving Day, we started our paperwork for adoptions #2 and #3.

Within 3 weeks working with this agency, nothing seemed to be going right and a feeling of anxiousness was coming over both of us... not about the adoptions, but about our choice in our agency.

But, even if that hadn't happened, I was already getting the sense that God was clearly directing me to a totally different agency, even different from the three I had placed in my mind as logical choices.

I KNEW that I had heard from the Holy Spirit because I knew NOTHING about this agency and had only heard the name a handful of times. But, not only that, I felt the Holy Spirit tell me that we would have a "heart" baby and a "developmental delay" baby. These thoughts were so real, but I knew they hadn't come from me. When I went to google Wasatch, interestingly enough, I couldn't find ANY information on this agency.

I prayed for wisdom and told Jason not to be surprised if our daughter(s) end up with Wasatch. He thought we should just switch agencies now, especially since EVERYTHING seemed to be going wrong with our current agency, but for some reason, I didn't want to move until God directed me further.

How in the World Did God Send a Ladybug?

Three weeks after I prayed that God would send a ladybug when it was time for us to start adoption #2 and #3, His ladybug waited for me in my doctor's office.

I had called my doctor to schedule an appointment for that morning because I felt like there was a piece of glass embedded in my foot. They gave me two appointment options. Because it was snowing, I took the later appointment time, quickly finished up with breakfast and got ready to skadaddle.

While getting ready to get out the door, I felt very strongly that God said, "If you take the later appointment, you are going to miss out on your blessing." Okay, how many of you eat your breakfast and hear this? I picked up the phone and called them right back. I accepted the earlier appointment.

I got Gabriella in the van, but felt like God had said, "Don't forget your camera!" It was SO REAL, that I got out of my vehicle and prayed over it (I thought maybe I was going to be in a car accident or something due the heavy snow and ice). It sounds a bit awkward, but I couldn't really understand why I needed a camera for the doctor's office, but I went inside and got it anyway.

When we got to the doctor's office, we waited just a few minutes before going in. When I sat down in my particular room, there was a real live ladybug crawling on the wall just 3 feet from my eyeballs. I asked the gal how long the ladybug had been there... she told me it had been there a couple hours but she was planning to let her go shortly.

I ran to the car and grabbed the camera, documented the incident and bottled my bug to take more photos of when we got home. I now knew why I needed that camera. God cares about the littlest things... because He knows how important they are to us.

While my husband believed we should start our paperwork with or without the bug, he was kind enough to let me pray. I wanted him to know, as well as our family and friends, that we indeed had God's blessing. Those of you in the adoption world know that even your family and closest friends want to share their own opinions about YOUR FAMILY adopting, and many times, their opinions just don't line up with what you believe God is clearly directing you to do.

While hearing people's thoughts can be valuable, we have also learned that there are far more blessings when you seek the Lord and HIS WILL and follow HIS lead and direction.

We are blessed by this little ladybug today. She is the beginning to our next adoption journey to Amaris and her sister.

Now, the question is no longer, "When will we adopt?" But rather, "Which agency will help us bring both of our unknown daughters home?"

Lord, Send Us a Ladybug!

As Jason and I began the adoption process for our very first daughter, we KNEW we would eventually bring a second daughter home. But, as we began our paperwork May 1, 2009, we both felt that there might actually be a third daughter now. In fact, I felt like the Lord had even told me she would be our "gift". As we prayed that summer, we asked for a fourth daughter. The Lord confirmed her too. 

We want so desperately to start our adoption to the one we will call Amaris (which means: "God has promised"). Just a year ago, we were DTC (Dossier to China for Gabriella, November 2009). Gabriella came home July 2010.

Just three weeks prior to us leaving to get Gabriella, we had some significant changes in our life. In the natural, people aware of our circumstances, might think they we are "crazy" to adopt so soon. But, our hearts are telling us otherwise.  It seems as though the Lord has given us the go ahead to adopt Amaris and watch His miracles unfold. 

What would our family and friends say?

Three weeks prior to leaving for China, my mom passed away. As a result of her death, my husband and I began raising my sister's two boys that my mom had cared for, Jordan (17) and Corban (12). They joined our two biological children Kai (18) and Tyanna (16). A week after celebrating my mom's life on earth and her entry into Heaven, I lost my job of 11 years. While this was perhaps meant for evil, my husband and I had already decided two years earlier that I wouldn't be returning to work... so, this just happened to be more of a formality. I was already planning to give my notice.

We packed one final time and flew to China to pick up our waiting, special needs 3 1/2 year old daughter, Gabriella.

While these changes impacted our life, especially for the first 5 or 6 months following my mom's sudden death, I wanted our family and friends to know that God was still blessing our family with our upcoming adoptions. I wanted people to know that God was still on His throne and that even the recent changes in our life weren't going to change HIS heart for His orphans or our calling. We knew our heart hadn't been changed.

I prayed, even though we were in the dead of winter, that God would send me a real, live ladybug when HE felt it was time for us to start our adoption journey for our next two little ones.

I knew He was already restoring the hurt in our hearts, blending our new family together and blessing us for a new beginning. Now, we wait... we wait for the arrival of that ladybug. She will come... I am confident of it!