Hong Kong

We made it to Hong Kong! After a total of 24 hours total of travel it was a comforting sight to see beds and a real bathroom! We had a brief skype with mom and the kids from the lobby ( we paid a rediculous price for the luxioury of a place to sleep and shower but an hourly rate for wifi... We drew the line ;) So quick I love and miss you's from the lobby and it was off to bed. We all slept HARD.... tell about 2:30 :)

We are now at the HK airport and just had some Mcdonalds for breakfast. I can't believe in a couple of hours we will be in Peter's province! I don't think it has fully hit me yet. I'm thankfull I'm riding on a cloud of peace, it must be your prayers being felt!

Please continue to pray for Peter! Tomorrow is a big day for him! Thank you Jesus! Thank you everyone who has stood by our side and encouraged and supported us throughout this adoption! May God bless you for being open to be used!

Until tomorrow!

We got to squeeze one a skype this morning from the airport from our favorite Pizza place. Here is a pic:

A Care Pakage for Peter

The past couple weeks have been scary times. Loved ones in our family are sick and in the hospital. We have been praying as a family and have seen God work in bringing one of these precious ones home. Thank you Jesus!

What I did not see coming was what happened the other night. Nathan heard Selah crying and he went into her room, picked her up and asked what was wrong. All she could get out was that she had a bad dream about Peter. He brought her into bed with me, where I snuggled and kissed her and wipped away her tears. We prayed for Peter and she was comforted. The next morning when I got her up I asked "Why were you upset last night? What was your dream?"She said the teachers were not taking Peter to the doctor to take care of him. Now I could not speak. How could I speak to this fear of hers that was very real FOR HER. She lived this. I gave her a hug and said " Selah, Jesus is with Peter just like He was with you. He loves Peter. We will continue to pray for him and once Peter is with Mama and Baba then we can take him to a doctor." For this moment, that was enough for her. As for Nathan and I we are broken yet again.

This morning we got some cheerful news! We got pictures of the care pakage we ordered for Peter! The kids all yelled "Pleasant Goat"! This is a very popular kids cartoon in China. We got him a photo album with lots of pictures. A back pack ( he is coming HOME), a stuffed doll, candies to share and the all important flash card, so we can have pictures from when he was a baby.

Please pray for Peter as this package and photos will be introducing us to his heart. He will be finding out that he has a family! Please cover his heart in prayer!

In other adoption related news we received our LOA!!!! It has now moved on to the next step our I 800 approval. We are looking at a matter of weeks to travel now. So mid/ late March! Hopefully soon I will have an update in the FUNDS needed department. As of a week or so ago we were at $15,000-$16000 to go. But GOD.......is at work and hopefully soon I will have some BIG news to share with you!!!

Adoption UPDATE ... we have been waiting for you!

This week has been a hard one, for more reasons than I can share on hear. 

One reason that I can share and that has been on the forefront of our minds is our LOA ( Letter of Approval) for Peter. The celebration of having our dossier approved a couple of weeks ago was followed by a lot of silence. Where was our LOA? Others were coming and going and still ours remained unsent. 

Such little faith. I wavered. I let the waves of doubt and fear toss me around. Last night was my breaking point. My tears were turning bitter. There was just too much heartache and I told Nathan I needed a night out. So what did I do?

I joined the baby registry at Target :) Something about holding a device that gave some "control" and allowed me to plan and look forward to the future was comforting. 

I then met with a sweet friend for Starbucks and I was able to come home refreshed, with my heart much lighter. I am so thankful that God knows ours hearts, He knows just what we need to get us through, to hold and sustain us.

I made a promise that evening to longer hound my agency about it. I needed to let go. I knew they were looking out for us. Ultimately I needed to trust The Lord and his timing.

This morning Nathan woke me up and started reading to me an e- mail." Wait.... wah....." I was trying to focus my eyes on him and really hear what he was saying.

"Our LOA has been sent! It will be at the agency on Monday!"

The news is STILL sinking in. I am starting to get excited but I don't think it will fully hit me until it is in our hands on Tuesday.

Oh........ Thank you Jesus. Forgive my lack of patience. We sure do love this boy. 

Why do we love?

1 John 4:19 " We love because He first loved us." Thank you Jesus!

  

Sooooooooo we started another T-shirt fundraiser! 

I can love Him and others because He first loved me!

Matt 24:40

 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

So for you Jesus...

https://www.bonfirefunds.com/bringing-peter-home/?r=22415

This is our second go at a t- shirt fundraiser and although I am HIGHLY TEMPTED to be discouraged that this one might not happen either ( we need 50 orders and so far we have 5 pledges), I am putting my trust in Him that He has a purpose even in what may seem" unsuccessful" in worldly terms. He is always after our hearts. If somehow He has touched someone's heart that is all the success we need. 

Oh, and that small thing about the $17,000 we need to bring Peter home... We trust Him, that He has got that too. "We love because He first loved us." He loves Peter even more than we do! He has plans for this little guy, just like you and I! 

( Peter on the left, a buddy on the right)

 If you would like a t- shirt, long-sleeve or hoodie you can place an order at the above link. PLEASE share with your friends and loved ones! 

Thank you and God Bless!

Happy Birthday Peter!!

The day started off with great hope and anticipation! The night before I received a message that the cake we were ordering would be  delivered ( it was already in the AM in China). The orphanage staff would be preparing for Peter's party around 12pm.

I thought back to when I first heard about our sweet little guy. The orphanage had prepared his paperwork when he was 6 months old and still he waited. When our agency came to start a one-to-one program with his CWI, they had expressed concern to our coordinator about him finding a family, since he had yet to be chosen. 

So today, especially today, was going to be a big day! It would signal a shift, a change on day that had gone unnoticed before. He is CHOSEN! He is LOVED! He has a family that will travel a world away for HIM! Maybe the fullness of that change was not quite felt in the moment of icing glory!!

However I know the staff felt it!! The celebrated by painting the kids faces with face paint make up!! 

Happy Birthday to our little guy Peter!!! We look forward to celebrating your birthday and EVERYDAY of life with you!

All for 1 because of 1!

This Fundraiser has now closed!

To say Noah (our 7 year old) is excited to have a brother, would be an understatement. Even before Selah was home he was asking if we could adopt a little boy too. He has faithfully prayed for his brother. Now that his brother is soon to come home he in for the fight! He has been coming up with ways he would like to raise money to help his brother come home.

One of the ways we talked about raising funds was adoption t- shirts! We sat down and wrote down his favorite colors, ideas, and Bible verses. We worked with great people at Fund the Nations and decided on this design!

All for 1 because of 1... 

"For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, "Abba! Father!" Romans 8:15

 We are so excited about these shirts! The reminder and encouragement they bring and the testimony they are to bring! Glory to Him!!!

  How this sale works...  we will collect orders and when we get to our minimum goal of 25 shirts sold we will place the order and get them out to you! Please place your orders by clicking on the paypal link on our blog. We can also take orders in person.

Shirts are $20 a piece add $5 if you need shipping.  All adult sizes available, Youth sizes are available M and up are in classic Jade color.

Introducing....

Now that we have been granted PA (pre-approval) from China we can now share with you about our soon to be son......

                                                       Peter Benjamin Qiulin Coriell !!!

 The bottom picture is the first picture we saw of our little dumpling. How could you not fall in love!!!  I always find it amazing hearing the stories of how God puts families together. So I am going to share with you about how God brought us and Peter together.

 It was back in April when we were all sitting around the table for dinner. Nathan and I had been talking about adopting again. The nagging feeling in our hearts would not go away. We prayed if this was not God's will that he would take this feeling away, instead it only grew stronger with every day! Nathan had the brakes on and for good reason. We had just celebrated 1 year with Selah being home. Could we do this again, so soon? The major question that we and everyone else asked us, " How you  afford this?" We did not have a clue. As crazy as it sounds, we just felt that God said "Go!" So that spring evening when we sat around the dinner table and Nathan announced to our children that we would be adopting again we were filled with excitement and hope.




There were lots of talks and prayers and questions. We knew we would be adopting a little boy. While in process to bring Selah home we were shocked by the amount of little boys available for adoption. Everyone knows China for their one child policy and the preference for boys, . Unfortunately when comes to special needs chances of abandonment equal out, no matter your gender. We will probably never know the reasons why our children's birth parents could not keep them, all we can do is give educated guesses. So we will encourage them to view their past through the lens of love.
We knew love was calling us back. I placed a call to XQ our China adoption coordinator to let her know where we were at and to ask some questions. In this conversation she mentioned our agency would be developing a one-to-one program, in which she would be heading to China in the coming weeks. When I got off the phone I said to Nathan, " Wouldn't it be great if their partnership was in Chengdu." Why of all the cities in China that one came out of my mouth, I don't know... but looking back, I see God at work.

During this time we headed to Dallas for Selah's hand surgery. On the way back down I checked my e-mail and XQ was announcing their partnership with Chengdu CWI in Sichuan province. I immediately gave her a call and we talked about her trip. She asked me a few questions which left me wondering if she had a specific child in mind for us. We would have to wait though, some of the children's paperwork needed to be sent to the CCCWA and also during that time the CCCWA would switch the computers system over causing everything to be at a stand still. During this time I wavered. The thought of choosing one child out of many was a heart wrenching thought. How could we choose?  Deep down I knew we were being called to adopt a child from Chengdu, it also seemed that XQ had a child in mind but she was remaining tight lipped! To say my patience and trust was tested would be an understatement. Lots of trials hit hard in the weeks to come. I would question again, should we be doing this?

Then on July 4th after a cry/prayer session why I cried out to God to set Peter's file free I got an e-mail and then another and another! My inbox was filled with pictures and videos and most importantly the file of a precious 2 1/2 year old Qiulin (pronounced chew-lean). Nathan through a strange twist of events was coming home early and we together watched videos of a sweet, smiley little guy with a hand/limb difference, something that he and Selah will share.

We are still unsure of what exactly the name of his condition is. We just so happened to be in Dallas again when we got the PA for Peter. So we shared his file with Selah's doctor for her review. She was not willing to give a diagnosis without seeing him in person (which we understood). It really does not matter what the condition name is. What matters is this little guy will soon have a new name.  A name that means he belongs, that he is wanted and loved and he is fatherless no more! Thank you Jesus! Thank you!!!