There's Always Hope...

Last Thursday night I made a discovery 

that would have a HUGE impact on our family 

over the next few weeks.

I was working on our visa applications, and noticed that Jacques'

Canadian passport expires on 8/9/2012.

We leave for China on May 3rd and return May 18th.

No problem, right?

We will be home WAY before his passport expires.

Not so.

International travel requires that you have 6 months 

until expiration on your passport.

UGGHHH!

Throughout this adoption process, 

I have dotted every "i" and crossed every "t".

I have checked and rechecked 

every...single...document.

Multiple times!

What I failed to realize,

 is that Canadian passports expire

every 5 years.

I quickly emailed our adoption courier explaining my oversight.

The next morning I received a message

stating that she would not be able

to help us get our visas.

WHAT?

She said that there was "no way" we could get a new passport

and visa in time to travel.

I called our adoption agency, and they referred me to a courier 

out of Chicago...great place :-)

Denise was hesitant at first, 

but I must have sounded pathetic enough,

and she agreed to help us.

The name of her courier business is,

"There's Always Hope".

My hope is not found in Karma,

nor happenstance

or coincidence.

It is found in the promises of our Lord and Savior

Jesus Christ.

Jesus loves Mackenzie and Lily more than I could ever fathom.

He fashioned them together with the utmost care and love.

He orchestrated things in my life and Jacques' life

that would lead us to each other.

He created our family in a way that the 

sixteen-year-old me never 

would have guessed.

Today Jacques went into the Canadian Embassy to request 

a temporary 6 month passport to travel.

His application was rejected due to the wrong passport photos

and the lack of a Canadian guarantor.

Please join us in prayer as Jacques returns to the embassy tomorrow

with new photos, a new application

and renewed HOPE!

 

Fast Forward

Have you ever felt like someone hit the fast-forward button in your life?  That happened to us yesterday.  I was at the White House with the girls when I missed a call from Emily. The voicemail said, “Hey – I think we have to leave for China May 3^rd.  Can you make that work on your end?” Wow - that’s 3 weeks away.  This is CRAZY!  I thought we didn’t have enough time to prepare already.  And that was with us leaving at the end of May.  Ready or not, I guess, here we come!

God must be up to something – because this in not how we would have planned it!  We have spent months (and when I say “we”, I mean Emily) making sure that every “t” was crossed and every “i” was dotted.  We knew how much time we needed for every step along the way. Or so we thought!  I am reminded again of the words God spoke through his prophet Isaiah.  “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8-9).  

 I actually feel better knowing things aren’t going according to OUR plans!

Peace and Goodwill,

Jacques

Travel Approval!

I am a planner.

I need to have a plan...planning is what I do.

Apparently, China could care less about my silly plans 

or my desperate need to always

have a plan!

With the amazing news that China issued our official 

Travel Approval, came the news that we need to leave for China

as soon as possible.

Translation - Emily's plan - out the window!

Lily has been living the past year 

at a dangerously low oxygen saturation.

Waiting is no longer an option.

Our baby girl needs to come home NOW!!!!

God's plan has always been so much better than anything I could 

ever possibly dream up or imagine.

So tonight, I am clinging to the promise that God has known 

the exact moment

our girls will be in our arms forever...

Today was just the day that I was let in on His plan!

So we are still waiting on a few more things from China, 

but it looks like Mackenzie & Lily 

will forever be in our arms

on Monday, May 7th.

Plan or not...China here we come!

Papa's Perspective

As our trip to China gets closer, my emotions change everyday.  This week, a friend who adopted a child from the same orphanage Mackenzie is in picked up their little girl.  She got to meet Mackenzie, see her nanny, and take pictures and videos of Mackenzie for us.  I spent a lot of time this week just staring at those photos.  Through the tears I prayed for her.  My mind can’t help but wonder constantly about what’s in store for her – and what’s in store for us.  And Lily – her pictures are on our fridge and on the wall in my office. The closer we get to bringing her home, the harder it is to concentrate on chores and responsibilities.  May can’t come quick enough.  

I don’t doubt for a moment that our heavenly Dad feels exactly the same way about all of his children who are still far from Him.  I bet he aches for them.  I bet he longs for the moment his children turn from their selfish ways and embrace the life He has for them.  Jesus told stories about how God is waiting to run towards his children who want to be restored to their heavenly Father.  He described parties that went on in Heaven when one lost child came home. The scriptures are clear that our “God wants all men to be saved and come to knowledge of their Father” (1^st Timothy 2:4).    

Thank you God – my Father, for making my adoption possible through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Peace and Goodwill,

Jacques

Mackenzie Ty & her Ayi (nanny)

Lily Grace

Only God...

The Shanghai orphanage has very strict visiting guidelines and policies.  When families ask to tour the orphanage sometimes they are told "yes" but often times they are told "no".  When a family is fortuitous enough to get a tour, the orphanage staff decides where the family goes, and what they get to see.  Typically the family is taken to their child's room, and then to a few other designated locations that show up in everyone's photos.  When my sweet friend Tricia offered to bring Mackenzie a gift from us we knew that only God could create the occasion for her to meet our daughter.  From one of our updates we found out that Mackenzie was living in a completely separate building from their daughter Pippa.  

Imagine my pure and utter delight to wake up this morning 

to an email bursting with photos 

of our sweet Mackenzie Ty.

Only God!

Oh how my heart is exploding with love for this precious little girl...

our daughter!

Within a few short weeks, a bedroom fit for a princess

will replace those metal bars.

And the person she will cling to...will be me!

Check out the baby chillin' in the crib next door...

this little one cracks me up!

Blowing kisses...

Perhaps the best gift of all for me lies within this video clip.

The tender, loving touch of a mommy...

Thank you Tricia!

"And my God will meet all your needs
according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:19

A Taggie Full of Love

One thing I never expected about being on our journey to bring our girls home, was the amazing adoption community of women I would meet.  These women have been such an absolute blessing and encouragement to me!  There have been days along the way when I felt like my heart might just explode from helplessness or sorrow.  Without fail, these women have rallied around me - covering my family and waiting daughters in prayer.  You know who you are, and I can never thank you all enough!

One of these women is traveling to Shanghai this weekend to bring home her sweet daughter Pippa!  When Tricia should be focused and concerned about her own preparations and her own busy agenda, she sent me a Facebook message with an offer to bring Mackenzie a gift from us.  I ran out to target, and purchased a pink Taggies blanket that says "Love, Hugs, Kisses".  How appropriate!  Last night I slept with that special gift in my hand, and this morning I spritzed it with my lemon scented perfume before heading to UPS to over-night the package to Tricia.  There is a whole lot of love wrapped up in that tiny 12" blanket!

There are no guarantees that Tricia will be allowed to bring this to Mackenzie or even see her, but I will be praying my heart out that our Little M gets a chance to meet my sweet friend.  Please Heavenly Father, move the heart of the orphanage director, and allow my sweet little girl to experience a mommy's love and tender touch while she waits for us to come!

"And my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:19"

Update on Mackenzie Ty

Our Shanghai Sweetie

Mackenzie Ty!

Once you finish soaking up all that sweetness,

could you please do us a favor

and pray?

From a previous update we were told

that Mackenzie is

"the active one in her group".

There is no doubt that Soleil will have

a perfect partner in crime!

Take a look at Mackenzie's left ankle.

From conversations I have had with other parents

whose children were also adopted from Shanghai,

the string around her ankle

is more than likely to tie her to her crib.

Perhaps this is to keep the children safe from

falling out of their cribs, but the thought

of my daughter being tied up

breaks my heart.



1. Has Nian Shu had any illnesses lately?

She caught a cold a few days ago, runny nose. She gets cold easily. Usually when she has same layers of clothes with other children, other kids are fine, but she catches a cold. So usually nannies put more clothes on for her. But still she caught a cold.

2. What is the best way to comfort Nian Shu when she is upset?

Just give her some snacks and she will be fine.

3. What size clothing is Qiu Yan wearing now?

Because sizes are all different here, we don’t really look by sizes, we look her height. She is wearing clothes for 90cm.

4. Who are Nian Shu's friends?

Her closest friends are: Zheng Hui Jun, Xu Jia Li, Sun Ding Hong.

5. What types of food does Nian Shu like to eat?

She has good appetite. She especially likes some snacks that they usually don’t get, such as chocolate, crackers, etc.

6. What are Nian Shu¡¯s favorite activities to do throughout the day?

Time for free activities.

“Sing to God, sing praise to his name, extol him who rides on the clouds

 – his name is the LORD – and rejoice before him. A father to the fatherless,

a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.

God sets the lonely in families (Psalm 68:4-6a).