Poem

God plans adoptions from Heaven, and he searches the world you see,
for people who long to be parents, people like Daddy and me.
Then, in his own time, he answers the prayer they've been praying so long,
and he finds a child who is waiting, to fill their lives with a song.
You are the child we prayed for, so special, so precious, so sweet!
The one who we'll cherish forever, the one who makes our life complete.

I can't wait to share this poem with Lila.

The most recent adoption news is that we will have a new waiting children list in October. They are sent every few months to the agencies. We will look to see if any of the children might be our little one.

Not much happening (adoption-wise that is)

I haven't posted for awhile. We're in the waiting phase so that's just what we're doing. Meanwhile I have started a new job. I'm in training to be a work-from-home customer service agent. I will be mainly taking orders for infomercial products. I will set my own schedule so can work when I am available. I heard about this from my brother-in-law Jim's cousin Shannen (Jim=the one married to my sister not Gerry's brother) when I was visiting with her at Kyle's birthday party. Her boyfriend is a supervisor (PAL, performance assistance liason) for the company I will be contracted to work for. I'm really excited about this because I have been looking for something that I can do from home!

We're in the midst of a million summer activities. Grace has been to Bible School at the church down the street. It was her first school/daycare type activity being away from us on her own (other than with friends or family) so Mama came home & had a good long cry the first day I dropped her off. She LOVED it! She couldn't wait to go back & now that it's over she says "Hi Bible School" every time we drive by the church (like I said it's just down the street so that at least once a day!) We have been to the zoo, swimming, library, movies, fountains, taking walks, and just playing outside enjoying summer.

Gerry & I had a discussion last night about a little boy on the WC list. He has birthmarks that cover a large portion of his body. I'm sure with my experience in the dermatology world we could easily find a specialist and have it treated. He is only 21 days younger than Grace so we realized that he is too close to Grace's age. Also we really are planning on a girl. Maybe another adoption after this is done for a boy but definitely a girl this time.

Chrissy

Not Her

There were 43 people who applied for the little girl we applied for. Unfortunately our name was not drawn to be the ones to review her file. We are happy that she has found her family and we will continue to wait for OUR special little girl.

Application

Today we submitted an application for a beautiful little girl. She was on a list of waiting children from our adoption agency. This waiting children have medical problems that range from very serious to only cosmetic. We will be notified on Tuesday the 26th if we have been selected to review her file. I will post again then. We are definitely praying that this is our Lila. This is the Chinese symbol for HOPE!

Beautiful Song

These are the lyrics to a beautiful song that expresses so many of our feelings while waiting for Lila. She will be the answer to our prayers. We cannot wait for those first precious days with her.

I Could Not Ask For More, Sara Evans


Lying here with you, listening to the rain
Smile just to see the smile upon your face
These are the moments I thank God that I'm alive
And these are the moments I'll remember all my life
I've found all I've waited for
And I could not ask for more


Looking in your eyes, seeing all I need
Everything you are is everything in me
These are the moments I know heaven must exist
And these are the moments I know all I need is this
I've found all I've waited for,
And I could not ask for more


I could not ask for more than this time together
I could not ask for more than this time with you
And every prayer has been answered
Every dream I've had's come true
right here in this moment Is right where I'm meant to be
Here with you here with me


These are the moments I thank God that I'm alive
And these are the moments I'll remember all my life
I've found all I've waited for
And I could not ask for more


I could not ask for more
than this time together
could not ask for more than this time with you
And every prayer has been answered
Every dream I've had's come true

right here in this moment Is right where I'm meant to be
Oh, here with you here with me


No, I could not ask for more Than this love you gave me
Cause it's all I've waited for
And I could not ask for more


I could not ask for more

Grace is 3

Grace turned 3 on Sunday. Wow, I hope the wait for Lila goes as fast as these past 3 years have. We celebrated with a family party after church. She was so excited about her cake that she blew out the candles before we could sing so we had to relight them & start over. She loved eating her messy, sticky, chocolatey Pablo cupcakes for several days. We had a wonderful day playing, opening presents, eating and playing some more! Gerry and I were both a little melancholy at the end of the day wondering where our Lila is, when is her birthday, when will we celebrate her 1st birthday at home... We can only wait and pray that it will be soon and continue to enjoy our Gracie Grace as much as we possibly can.

Yuan Fen

Tricia is one of the members of the CHI China Yahoo group that I am also in. She always finds really informative articles on adoption and China then shares them with our group. She is a great resource, thanks Tricia! Today she posted the following information. I really liked the message so am sharing it here.

Yuanfen (or Yuan fen) is a Buddhist-related Chinese concept that refers to fate. In English we think of predestination as having to do with events of our lives, but yuanfen is related to fate in relationships between people. It is used positively to connote a blessing, a sense of 'meant to meet', 'meant to be together'. It can be defined broadly as the "binding force" that links two persons together in any relationship. When one meets a person who is hard to find, one can exclaim: "It is yuanfen that has brought us together!" This message speaks of love and the idea that everyone is predetermined to meet. It can be a reminder that it is yuanfen that will one day bring our daughter home to us. Be it God's will, yuanfen, or fate, we know it will happen.