Nathan's Final Surgery

Tuesday, March 24, 2015 is exactly 3 months after Nathan's last surgery. It is the soonest he is allowed to have his final surgery. So, we scheduled it for this time so he can be free and clear to enjoy spring baseball and summertime activities.

This is his final surgery to repair the cleft in his aveolar ridge. The doctor will take bone from his left hip and graft it to fill his hole.

He may need surgeries when he is older, but he is finished for now.

We are so thankful to all the doctors and nurses who have taken care of him. We are thankful for everyone who has prayed and supported us during this long and unexpected process. We are thankful to the Lord, Jesus Christ who has blessed and chosen us to be Nathan's parents. We are thankful that we live in a country that has the most extraordinary health care in the world.

Our highest praise to our Lord, Jesus Christ!

Our hearts go out to the children around the world who do not have this opportunity and do not even have their basic health needs met.

They have never heard the gospel and that Jesus loves them.

Everyday 20,000 children die because of preventable health disease or starvation.

We live in the richest country in the world and yet we ignore the cry of these children.

 Easter is approaching and we will celebrate the death and resurrection of our Lord. As we read the Scriptures and contemplate our allegiance to our Lord, the question we should ask is the same question Pilate asked the angry mob, "What do you want me to do with Jesus?"

I ask you, "What will you do with Jesus?" What will you do as children die everyday because we ignore their cry.

What will you say when you stand before the Lord one day and he asks "Why didn't you do something? You're an American. I've given you everything!"" What have you done with your life?"

Chinese New Year 2015

Every Chinese New Year we celebrate with other families we traveled with to China. Our daughters are from the same orphanage, so the kids like to celebrate with their "China sisters".

We enjoyed having dinner with our friends and  reminiscing about our trip to China to bring home our beautiful children.

On Sunday we took the kids to see the "Pandas" movie at our science center's Omnimax Theater.
They thoroughly enjoyed watching and learning China's conservation efforts to save the endangered pandas.

Luke's Progress

We prayerfully made the decision last year to have Luke attend public school so he can receive the special services to meet all of his needs.

When we were adopting Luke we never knew there was a hearing impaired school about 30 minutes from our home.

It is one of the best hearing impaired schools in the nation. They are an oral/auditory language school.They do not use sign language.

Last spring we enrolled him in our school district so they could evaluate him and write an IEP.

They determined he should go to the hearing impaired school, but it's in a different school district. Thankfully, our district already had a contract with them and has several students attending there.

The people we worked with from our district and the hearing impaired school were wonderful to us. They went out of their way to make Luke feel safe and happy - from creating a social story about his school day to even visiting his bus and bus driver before the first day of school.

We have seen Luke progress in his speech in only the few months that he's been there. 

Remember Luke didn't receive his first cochlear implant until he was almost 5 years old and the second one was implanted about 3 months later.

When he started kindergarten in the fall he had only been hearing for about a year and he wasn't really saying anything at all.

Until that time he relied on his sight and sign language in order to communicate. We have to constantly remind him to rely on his hearing and communicate using speech. 

Formed habits are not easily broken.

Luke can now say: no, yes, bathroom, ipad, boy, girl, dog, mom, juice, pencil, scissors, glue, on, off, apple, boat, fish, flower, sun, I, the, and that.

He stills needs prompting and he will need many years of speech therapy, but we are so pleased and excited with the progress he has already made.

More Surgeries For Nathan

This is Nathan Guochang. He's 10 years old and a very brave little boy.

Last August he had a bone graft for his cleft palate on his right avelor ridge.

Unfortunately, he has a very large hole. The largest hole his doctor has ever seen (and his doctor travels around the world helping children).

The bone graft became infected because his hole did not close all the way after the surgery. An infection can happen even if there is a tiny opening and that's exactly what happened.
So, we had many doctor visits to removed the infected bone. At least he didn't need to have it surgically removed.

So the plan was to schedule another surgery right before Christmas.

But there was a change in plans.

The week of Thanksgiving his doctor called to tell me that his hole became larger (probably due to the infection) and he will need three separate surgeries now.

So his first surgery was on Dec. 2, 2014. His hole needed to be closed before they filled it with bone again. In order to do this they grafted skin from under his lip and the top of this tongue. "Okay, a skin graft," I thought to myself, "that's not too bad."

But the tissue needs to stay alive and healthy.

This is where Nathan becomes a courageous little soul. Braver than anyone I know.

The doctors sutured his tongue to his palate in order to keep blood flow to the area, to keep the tissue alive and prevent infection. They also attached screws and rubber bands to his teeth in order to keep his mouth closed.

He had to remain like this for 3 WEEKS!

This means NO EATING! NO TALKING! He could only drink from a straw for 3 WEEKS during the Christmas season.

I don't know about you, but I would have gone CRAZY!

Not Nathan! He was a REAL TROOPER through it all! He never complained or cried about anything. He was so very patient!

The Lord really gave him such endurance and patience through it all!

On Dec. 23, 2014 (yes the day before Christmas Eve and 2 days before Christmas Day), he had his second surgery to release his tongue from his palate. HOORAY!!!  He was still on a liquid diet for 3 weeks but at least his tongue was free, he could talk again and he didn't need to drink everything from a straw.

His doctor said the flap they created to close his hole is healthy and healing.Thank you Lord!

So his final surgery is scheduled for March 24, 2015. They will graft bone from his hip again to fill in the hole, however this time his opening is already closed and hopefully will not become infected.

He shouldn't need anymore surgeries for a few years!

Thank you Lord for giving us such a WONDERFUL, PATIENT, and COURAGEOUS little boy!

We are thankful also for all the wonderful nurses in the surgery center and on the hospital floor who were very caring, kind, and helpful to us through all of his surgeries.

A Day at the Rain Forest

Since Luke had a day off of school, we visited the Rain Forest at our Cleveland Metroparks Zoo.
We visit the zoo often because we have an annual family pass to our zoo. The kids enjoy the many variety of animals in the zoo and rain forest along with the many other activities to do here. Our adoption agency, European Adoption Consultants, has their annual picnic here as well.

Here are some other pictures from last November ( another day off of school) . We had great weather that day esp for November. It's ironic that we had a huge snow storm just a week later.

Our zoo has a new carousel, Luke always has to ride the coyote. He loves any kind of dogs.

Nathan

Rebekah

Hannah

 The animal in the background is the Red Panda from Asia. 

Luke always has to visit the wolf lodge every time we visit.

Enjoying the unusually nice weather in November.

Change of Plans

The last few weeks have been crazy in our household.

Nathan had cleft palate/lip surgery on Aug. 19 and had to spend the night in the hospital.

His surgeon grafted bone from his hip to fill in the hole in his palate. He also had more repair on the cleft in his palate.

Nathan's plastic surgeon said he had one of the largest holes and clefts he has ever seen.

10 days after surgery Nathan developed an infection and some of his bone graft had to be removed. We're not sure yet how much was lost, but he will need more surgery to replace the bone that became infected.

While all this was happening, Sarah started her first year at Cornerstone Christian Academy as a junior. This is the first time she has ever entered a school.

During all of this, the supervisor from our school system called us with a chang of plans. They were now considering sending Luke to Millridge Center The School For The Hearing Impaired. It's only about 30 minutes from our home and is one of the best schools in the country for hearing impaired students.

We're grateful for everything our school district has done for Luke. Being at Millridge has been wonderful for him and is where God has planned for him to be all along. Just think of how far he travelled from China to come to one of the best schools in the country for the hearing impaired. We only live 30 minutes from the school!

Luke really enjoys school and looks forward to going everyday. He has a very small class of 8 students and that includes first grade. Everyone can tell he is very smart and will someday learn to speak. The former speech therapist developed a program called Phonics in Motion which helps kids learn their phonetic sounds by putting a motion with each sound.

Duryea Family Update

Well life has been very busy with 7 kids. Just to give you a quick update:

Adam, our oldest, is 21 and he is going  to Kent State University. He is majoring in computer science/ game design and commutes everyday while he is earning his way through college by working at McDonald's where he is a crew trainer.

Ethan graduated from Cornerstone Christian Academy. He was the catcher of their baseball team and was awarded MVP this year. He also achieved many scholar awards. This summer, he is currently playing on the Lake County Captains Baseball Academy. He is very excited about attending Houghton College in New York this fall where he made the baseball team. He will be majoring in computer science.

Sarah will be a Junior this year and will be attending Cornerstone Christian Academy this fall for the first time.While she enjoyed being homeschooled, she is also looking forward to start a new chapter in her life. Sarah is involved in American Heritage Girls. American Heritage Girls is a Christian scouting program that builds women of integrity through service to God, family, community, and country. She is currently working on the highest award in American Heritage Girls which is called The Stars and Stripes Award. It is equivalent to Eagle Scout. Sarah has a huge heart for missions and orphans around the world and plans to go into mission work in the future.

Hannah is 12 years old and continues to be homeschooled. She will be in 7th grade in the fall. She plays the violin and she loves to read and write stories. She is an excellent student and she loves learning new things. She attends Pioneer clubs at our church and she also is in American Heritage Girls.

Rebekah is 9 years old and homeschooled also. She will be in 4th grade this fall. She loves gymnastics and excels in it. She also is a very good student. She attends Pioneer clubs at our church and is in American Heritage Girls as well.

Nathan is 9 years old and homeschooled too. He will be in 3rd grade this fall. He is becoming a very good reader. When Nathan first began kindergarten he could not remember his letters or numbers. We worked very hard on his letters and sounds for 2 years. He has come a long way and we are very proud of him. He loves baseball and attends Brigades at our church.  He is in a new scouting organization called Trail Life USA.

Nathan had plastic surgery on his nose this past March. He was born with a cleft lip/palate, so his nose is very flat.  The doctor removed cartilage from the back of his ear to build up the tip of his nose. It looks beautiful!

Nathan will have another surgery this summer on his palate. The doctor will take bone from his hip and use it to fill in the hole in his palate. He also needs more repair on his cleft palate which will be done at the same time.

God is so good and he provides in miraculous ways!

Luke just turned 6 in June. He had both of his cochlear implant surgeries last year. His hearing is at normal levels. Even though he is not talking yet, he makes lots of sounds. He receives speech therapy from a cochlear implant specialist and can identify all of his 6 ling sounds. He can say 4 of them.

Luke will be attending our local elementary school this fall. They have set up a program for him similar to the special hearing impaired program at a school that is much farther away. The environment at our local elementary school is very warm and our school system has been wonderful and very understanding of Luke's situation.

We thank our Lord Jesus Christ for His care of our family and all of their needs. As this has been a trying year for finances, he is faithful and has proved His faithfulness and goodness countless of times.

Another Surgery for Luke

We have wonderful news about Luke. We just went to see his ENT surgeon last week for his check-up and he says Luke is ready for his next surgery on his other ear.

On August 26, 2013 Luke will have surgery on this right ear to remove the old implant and replace it with a new one.

I didn't expect it to to be so soon, but since Luke is doing so well the doctor would like to do it right away. The goal is to get him hearing in both ears as soon as possible. He is 5 years old now. It is very important to do this while he is young, so that he will learn to talk and be accustomed to sound.

Please pray the insurance company will cover his surgery costs. The cochlear implant will be FREE! It is amazing that the surgeon "went to bat" for us and convinced the manufacture to give us the second one for free. Our God Is AMAZING! God can do more than we ever ask or imagine.

A BIG THANK YOU to Luke's surgeon, Dr. MEGERIAN,at University Hospital's Rainbow Babies and Children for all you have done for us.

Happy 1st "Gotcha Day" Luke

One year ago today we were united with Dang Fengzheng to become a forever family. We were so excited and blessed to have you as our son. We can't imagine how scared you must have been to meet us. We sent pictures of our family to you in order to help you understand, but communicating to a deaf child about what would be happening to him must have been nearly impossible. It is difficult for any child to understand the how and why their world is being turned upside down, but can you imagine what was going through Luke's mind?

By the way, he had already been abandoned when he was 2 years old. He had already adjusted to a new life, and now he would be taken away from everything he was accustomed to and loved.

Thankfully, we have a God who can do more than we could ever ask or imagine. His specialty is changing the impossible into all kinds of possibilities. That is what he did for Luke. At first Luke didn't want anything to do with us but, after a half an hour or so he actually allowed me to pick him up and hold him. That's our God! I believe he whispered in his deaf ears that he was safe and these people loved him.

We are thankful to everyone who prayed, loved and supported us. We thank you and we love you for all you have done for us.

We thank all our family and friends who gave us financial support. We thank you for answering God's call.  

We also would like to thank our adoption agency, European Adoption Consultants, and especially Uncle Zhou, Chris and Karla for all you have done for us. We couldn't have done it with out you. Also, a big thank you to Adoption Family Legacy for the grant and loan you gave us. You are all a blessing and very special to us. We love you.

A huge thank you to the director and all the caretakers of the orphanage, and especially Levi for your wonderful care of Luke. He wouldn't be so well adjusted and bonded to us if it wasn't for your love for him.
May God richly bless you always for your love and kindness.

Today, Luke has become a sibling to his brothers and sisters. They play and have lots of fun together. We can't imagine our lives without him.

Also, we will never forget all of the families we traveled with. We love you and will never forget you. You all have a very special place in our hearts. It was wonderful to see Jim, Beth, Scott, Lisa and their little ones at the EAC picnic this year. We hope that we see all of you again.

Update on Luke's Cochlear Implant

Today Luke had his third mapping session. He'll have one more in August and he'll be finished for awhile. He is doing well with his new processor, keeping it on all the time. It will take some time before he learns to talk because he needs to process language. It's the same way a baby learns to talk. He is receiving speech therapy every week. His wonderful speech therapist is leaving for another position, so next week will be her last week. She is very special to us (she's originally from Hong Kong) and we wish her God's blessings.



Luke will probably have his other surgery this year. I was told the doctors' feel he is progressing nicely and should be ready to have the other implant put in this year. We pray again for the insurance company to approve it. It would be beneficial for us to have it done this year.

Luke's First Cochlear Implant Surgery

                                                        Monday, May 13, 2013

Today begins the start of a brand new life for Luke. Today is the day of his cochlear implant surgery.

We had to be at the University Hospital's Surgical Center at 6:45 am. Luke was the first surgery of the day which I was very thankful for since he was not allowed to eat or drink anything. How do you explain to a deaf child that he is not allowed to eat or drink? Thankfully he was very good the entire drive there.

We knew Luke might become upset when they started to prepare him for surgery because of the way he reacted to the sedation he received for the CAT scan. Well, as soon as they put the ID tag on his wrist and I started dressing him in his gown, he started to throw a temper tantrum. I don't know if he remembers something from his past surgery or if he was just scared. Either way we understand that this is a very natural reaction.So, the anesthesiologist had me carry him up to the restricted area and than he carried him to the operating area kicking and screaming. 

After only two hours the surgery was completed and is a success! They had two representative from the manufacture at the surgery also. They also turned on the implant to make sure it was working properly. It does work and Luke will be hearing as soon as his incision heals and the audiologist turns it on again on June 13, 2013. This will be a special day for Luke because he will really hear well for the first time.

The surgeon also said that he could see from the CAT scan that his nerves are alive and his cochlear is not deformed. His deafness could be genetic or could have been caused by a drug used to fight infection but can cause deafness. It was once used in the US in the 1940's and 50's.

On a previous post I mentioned the way God had ordained our meeting a young waitress who had cochlear implants at a Steak and Shake restaurant while we were praying about adopting Luke. When we came home from China we had our first visit with the ENT. He told us about his first cochlear implant patient and how she was going to college and is even a waitress at a restaurant. When we told him that we met her he couldn't believe it. We told him that this was God.  We believe that God encourages us by bringing people into our lives. In every step of Luke's adoption we have seen God's hand bringing us through and being with us.

Well, we were telling this story to the post-op nurse after Luke's surgery and some how it quickly was communicated to Luke's surgeon who happened to be preparing for the next surgery. He quickly came out of preparing for surgery to tell us that the young waitress we met was his patient too. He put in her second implant on the other ear. Everyone is so amazed at Luke's story and is in awe of God's hand upon this little boy.

Just to let you know that Luke is doing very well in his recovery. The next day after his surgery he was playing and back to his normal self. You wouldn't even know that he had major surgery the previous day.We are so thankful that God has given our nation such wonderful technology and the best healthcare in the world. We are also thankful that God has led us to use our resources to help a deaf orphan to have the miracle of hearing.

A New Life For Luke

We have exciting news about Luke concerning his cochlear implants.

 In March, we had a appointment with the head surgeon of the audiology department at University's Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital. The team of doctors have been wonderful to us since we brought Luke home. They have been meeting together every month to discuss his case and to decide the best care for him. Unknowing to us, the head surgeon had been discussing Luke's case with the manufacture of the his implant. As I already mentioned in an earlier post, only 5 of the 12 electrodes in the implant are working. We don't think he can hear enough. So, the doctor has asked the manufacture to replace the implant that he already had from China. They have agreed to replace it for free.

On May 13 he will get a new cochlear implant in his left ear. The doctor has decided it would be best to implant the left ear first (the one without an implant) because they cannot turn it on and put on the speech processor until the incision heals. If we started with the right ear than he would be without any hearing (even the little that he has) for awhile and he may become very upset that we took away his hearing. They will replace the right ear 6 months after the first surgery.

The surgery is outpatient surgery. No stay in the hospital is needed. Amazing!

We are in awe of how God has lovingly directed our paths and is taking care of all the details for Luke. The doctor also said we have very good health insurance which covers cochlear implants. He also said he will be our advocate for Luke.

After much discussion about the surgery, he asked me if I knew any family history about Luke. I explained that with all of my children from China, I don't know any of their history. They are all abandoned. He said," What do you mean by abandoned?" I explained where and why children are abandoned in China while being respectful to their culture. (America is not perfect, we have legalized abortion) (An abortion doctor is being tried right now for killing babies who were born alive).

So our wonderful doctor said, "It's like he's getting a new life."  I said, "Yes, you are right he is getting a new life."

Luke is getting a fresh start on life. How wonderful it will be for him to be able to hear. We don't know if it is the first time or if he was born with hearing, but he will be given the gift of hearing. We are so grateful for our wonderful Lord who love us and has led us to a wonderful team of doctors at Rainbow Babies and Children Hospital. To the wonderful team of doctors : We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all of your love care and concern for Luke.

Our hope and prayer for Luke is that he will one day know and love our wonderful Savior, Jesus Christ, who deserves all of the glory. That will be A Brand New Life for all of eternity!

Update From Luke

I want to tell you all about how much fun my life here in America is.

I've been home for one week now.

I love my mom, dad, and all my siblings. 

This is the picture of when I saw my room for the first time. It's blurring because my family couldn't get a good picture of me. I couldn't stay still because I was so excited. 

I love playing dress up!

 

Ice cream and Popsicle's are my favorite! 

Baseball is fun! 

I love taking baths! In this picture I don't look too happy, but every time I look at this picture now, I laugh. 

We took a quick trip to grandma's and grandpa's house. I tried some spaghetti and a cupcake. They were both really good!

The other morning, I got my first ride on the lawn mower. It was so much fun! My brother even let me drive it.

The swings and sandbox are so much fun.

 Best of all, I even had my first squirt gun water fight with my brother and sisters.   

That's all I have for now! Thank you all so much for praying for me. I love my new life with my family.

Two Weeks Since Luke's Gotcha Day

Luke has had a lot of firsts, since his Gotcha Day.

His first time meeting us.

His first McDonald's Meal!
He loved it from the first bite.

First time being in an airport,

and first time flying on a plane, from Zhengzhou to Guangzhou.
He could not wait to get on the plane.

First doctor's appointment with us.
There will be lots more to come in America.

First time going to church.
What a blessing, it was in China.

First time being part of a family.
...and it will continue

 More to come later on.

Some McDonald's and Off To Guangzhou

Here is another update from my parents:

We got back from the orphanage and thought we would take a walk to the local area.  We stopped at a local park and then had Luke's first McDonald's meal.  Looks like Luke will enjoy the American (fast) food.

 This next part is a couple days later.

 After lunch, it was off to the airport to fly to Guangzhou.  The last step of the journey.  There we will get Luke's visa and final Immigration papers from the US embassy. Our guide Cindy was such a great help in Zhengzhou. She said that we being Christians are so nice to adopt Chinese children.  She could see the love of Christ through us and we will be praying for her.  Thanks Cindy for making the adoption so easy.  It made the transition for Luke much better than expected. God bless!

   

Update On Luke

Mom and Dad say that Luke is doing very well! They are having so much fun with him. He is a happy little boy, who is very smart. He knows a lot of signs and communicates very well. He even tries to talk.

We have skyped with them a couple times, and each time Luke seems very happy. Last night when we skyped with them, he was playing Fruit Ninja on my dad's phone. Each time he finished a round he would hold up the phone to the camera and show us his score. We did the sign for " I love you" and he signed it back! We cannot wait to get him here in America. 

I'll be posting more later. Please keep on praying for all of us.

~Sarah 

We're Going To China

In 8 days!

That's right.

On July 18th, 2012 we got a call from our adoption agency.
They said that we got our travel approval (TA) and they wanted us to leave on August 1st. That's in 2 weeks  from the day we received the call!

A week before we received the call, the agency said that we didn't have TA and we probably wouldn't be leaving until the end of August. Once you receive TA you usually travel within 4-6 weeks after that. But the adoption agency asked the US Embassy if we could be included with the group that is leaving on August 1 and they gave their approval. This is highly unusual!

Isn't that crazy?

Only God can orchestrate that!

So now we only have 8 days till we leave. And I have a lot of things I need to do before then.

Please pray for safe travel and safety for our children while we are away.
Pray that the transition for Luke will go smoothly and that he will understand that we are his Mother and Father.
Pray for our bonding with Luke while we are in China and that he bonds quickly to us.
Most importantly, pray for his young soul, and that he will one day understand that Jesus love him and is his Savior.

We give all our thanks and praise to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ and for all He has done and all He is going to do.

Also, we got some new pictures of Luke. We haven't got any pictures of him for awhile, so he looks a lot bigger now that he is 4. 

How God Led Us To Luke

I remember when the Lord first spoke to my heart. It was when I was a little girl. I was standing  in front of the mirror in our bathroom while brushing my teeth or washing my hands or face. All of a sudden I would hear a voice speak to my heart (not an audible voice): "Why are you hear? What is life?"  I would stop and think about. I knew it had something to do with God. This happened several times throughout my childhood.
I was saved when I was 17 at a play about Christ's life, death and resurrection. When I heard the sound of the nails being driven into His hands and feet and seeing His blood poured out for me, I bowed my head and knew that Christ died for me. God had planted the seed in my heart when I was very young and was drawing me to Himself.

Now, how do I know that the Lord has called me to adopt Luke, a deaf child. The Bible says "My sheep listen to my voice; I know them and they follow me." John 10:27 

It all started when we were adopting Hannah. When we had the opportunity to visit her orphanage, our whole world changed. When you stand in the middle of an orphanage half way around the world, your whole perspective on life changes. "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." Romans 12:2. We always knew we would adopt again. We believed that as long as we were willing, the Lord would continue to put children on our hearts. We can't turn our back on the orphans and say "It's someone else's problem" or " We've done enough."

There is a cost for following Christ. The Bible says "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?" Mark 8: 34-36.

"Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart." Psalm 37:4

While I was looking at our agency's website ( they post several special focus children trying to find homes for them) , I noticed a cute little toddler. He was profoundly deaf. My first thought was "no way, that is too hard." But the Lord kept tugging at my heart and I kept finding myself looking at his picture. I started thinking how sad his life must be; being alone in the world without a mom and dad and being completely deaf. We decided to pray and seek the Lord to see if he was really leading us to adopt a deaf child. I talked with Nathan's audiologist and found out we would all have to learn sign language.We allowed fear to scare us and say, "no this is too hard." But over several months the Lord kept tugging at our hearts. We also found out that most people who are deaf can have either hearing aids or cochlear implants to enable them to hear.

As the Lord continued to change our hearts, He continued to put people in our path to encourage us. People who were deaf, knew sign language, taught sign language, etc. One day while I was at the YMCA, I was studying sign language (from a book) and the woman sitting next to me said she used to teach sign language. She actually brought me a sign language video the following week.

After about 9 months of praying, we decided to give the agency a call about the little boy. They said he had been adopted. We were very disappointed and confused. Did we hear wrong from the Lord? The next day   the adoption agency called back and said they found another little deaf boy for us. Do we really still want to adopt a deaf child? He was 3 years old on June 21, 2011. He was abandoned when he was 2 years old. He is very bright and wants to learn. So now we stand at a crossroad. We have a choice. God is a gentlemen and He does not force us to do something. The choice is ours. We could say   "no" and choose a different special need or we could say "yes" to something that is difficult, but we believe the Lord is calling us to do. Of course we were thrilled. The agency wouldn't let us look at his picture until we made our decision. We were given an adorable, beautiful little boy to love and nurture. In our flesh we wouldn't have pursued  adopting a deaf child. But, we believe the Lord was using the toddler from our agency's website to  mold and prepare our hearts for Luke.

As we continue to wait for the day when we leave for China, I sometimes allow fear to overtake me. We know  our lives will change and never be the same again. It's easy to stay where life is comfortable. We know there are challenges that lay ahead, but we know we have a Savior who will walk that road with us. When fear overcomes me, I  have to continually tell myself "this is not about me." "Life is not about me!"  Pastor Spansel reminded us a few weeks ago of The Westminster Catechism " What is the purpose of life?" To glorify God! This is what we are called to do.

Our children are so blessed to have siblings from China. They have walked and will continue to walk with them through their struggles. One time Ethan wrote a poem about Nathan and how he struggles with his communication skills (his difficulty in learning to speak) . His teacher was so blessed by Ethan's love for his brother. We are so blessed that our family is so close and the older siblings love to spend time with their younger sisters and brother.

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. James 1:27


The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’ Matthew 25:40


learn to do right! 
Seek justice, 
    encourage the oppressed.
Defend the cause of the fatherless, 
    plead the case of the widow. Isaiah 1:17


A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, 
    is God in his holy dwelling. 
⁶ God sets the lonely in families,
    he leads forth the prisoners with singing;
    but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land. Psalm 68:5-6


But you, O God, do see trouble and grief;
    you consider it to take it in hand.
The victim commits himself to you; 
    you are the helper of the fatherless.Psalm 10:14


You hear, O Lord, the desire of the afflicted; 
    you encourage them, and you listen to their cry, 
¹⁸ defending the fatherless and the oppressed, 
    in order that man, who is of the earth, may terrify no more.Psalm 10:17-18

Fundraiser T-Shirts

 We have decided to raise funds through Adoption Bug with Shaohannah's Hope.

The way it works is that you can buy a Show Hope or Adoption Bug t-shirt through Adoption Bug. Adoption Bug has set up a store for us in our name on their website. A portion of the money goes to Shaohannah's Hope (also known as Show Hope) and we get a small commission to help support our adoption.

This is a great way for anyone who wants to support adoptions and help orphans around the world. Shohannah's Hope was created by Steven Curtis Chapman and his wife, Mary Beth as a ministry to care for the needs of orphans. They also help families who want to adopt by providing grants for adoption.

Click Here to visit our store.

Click Here to learn more about Show Hope.

Happy "Gotcha Day", Hannah!

March 31, 2012

We can't believe it has been 9 years since we made the wonderful journey to China to bring our beautiful baby girl home. We will never forget the day they placed you in our arms. It was the most wonderful moment of our lives; a moment in time that we continue to relive everyday. We are so thankful that God has blessed us to be your parents. You are more precious to us than ANYTHING in this world! We thank God everyday for the wonderful care you received from the orphanage, for your nanny and especially for your birth parents.