Meeting the Neighbors

Last night was interesting enough that I wanted to share. We met up with 3 other families adopting in our group. These three families are all adopting for the first time. One family is having their first child tomorrow. There mother is here with them. The second family has 3 boys and is adopting a little girl. And the third has 3 boys in college and they are starting over with a 2 year old! We all went to Wal-Mart together last night. It was such a surreal experience, watching everyone hunt for things they don't know if they need or not. We are all nerves and excitement.  And tomorrow we all become parents together. Such a bizarre experience to meet someone and to know in less than 24 hours you will share is on of life's most intimate moments.

We will all receive our babes at the same time, in the same room, with a massive gamut of experiences. We will spend the next two weeks together as we sign paperwork, travel around and learn to bond with our little ones. And then we all go our separate ways. There are really hardly words for this experience.

There is also a couple going with us that live in the area. They are considering adoption and wanted to see what tomorrow brings. I will be interested to get their perspective. On a brighter note...they helped us order dinner last night, which was such a gift. Eating really is one of the hardest experiences of this trip. Very few people speak English (I sure don't speak Chinese!) so trying to order looks more like a comedy sketch. So it felt good to sit with locals and not feel like such a foreigner...at least for 5 minutes. 

Chongqing Day 1

Hello all...let me say thanks for praying. We had a wonderful, uneventful flight. We are in Evan's province and thankful to be here. We have been wondering around, taking in the sights and sounds. So much culture that the locals take for granted but we are oohing and awing over. We have walked around a mall, found a grocery store and even had McDonald's for lunch.

There is an odd American representation. American music playing everywhere, American t-shirts, stores with American names. But very few speak English. The few conversations we've had are pretty one-sided...on both sides. But everyone has a smile to share. That has been pleasant.

So tomorrow is a big day! At 1pm our local time, we get our baby...so 9pm PST. We cherish your prayers and will have much to share tomorrow. For now, I'll leave you with a Chinese/American sweater we found in a store. It made me giggle.

Love is Worth the Risk

A couple days ago, we had a really bad wind storm. Kris and I came home to an unfortunate event. A baby sparrow had gotten off track and been blown into our front window and it lay lifeless on our front porch. I told the kids not to touch it. Birds are notorious for carrying germs. I grabbed a stick and began to gently nudge it. Nothing. Kris went in to get paper towels while I jabbed at it. He returned and I picked it up with the towel. As I handled it, emotions surprisingly began to well up. I stood there with its still warm body now gently nestled in my bare hands, stroking its fragile form with my fingers, tears in my eyes, praying for God to spare the life of this baby bird. Still nothing. It’s neck was broken and I was helpless to do anything. Kris eventually coerced me to give it to him so he could put it in the trash.

I came inside, my face flush. I wanted to be ten years old again and to have someone else, like my daddy, come and takes care of it for me. Then I could just look away and pretend nothing had happened. But here I was. An adult. Faced with the reality of death in my hands and helpless to do anything about it. As I processed this event, I felt silly crying over a little bird. I didn’t even know about the bird the day before it lay at my feet. As I thought about it though, I began to think of the orphan, so like this baby bird, blown off track by circumstances beyond their control. And I thought of the inescapable truth that lay before all of us.

It made me think of my son all the way across the world, waiting in China to be rescued. Kris and I have been given the great responsibility and privilege of being able to actually do something about the life of this little one. We are able to get our hands dirty and step into his circumstances and actually make a difference. We don’t have to stand hopelessly by, unable to intervene. We can take action.

Our son’s name is Evan. He is 23 months old and was born with bilateral atresia. It basically means he is missing his little ears. Our family has committed to love him and become his advocate. For the last 6 months we have been working with a private tutor learning sign language and preparing our family to bring him home. While we have a long way to go, we are beginning to understand the unique calling before us and the beautiful, courageous community of the deaf and hard of hearing.

But more than anything, we want Evan to feel the warmth of our loving arms around him and to help him heal the wounds in his heart he doesn’t yet knows he bears. We want to step into his loss and help him carry the load as he grows into the man God will have him become. Our heart’s desire is to stop the lie that he is not worth fighting for. Because he is. Maybe I couldn’t help the bird, but God has given me the gifts and resources to help Evan. Our family knows first hand the lives that can be saved by saying yes to adoption. We have seen what love and time can do to heal wounds and hearts.

Right now, we have one thing standing in our way. Money. We have successfully raised $30,000 to bring Evan home. Our family is so close to closing the gap. We now need about $11,000 to make the long trip to China to bring our son home. This covers everything from orphanage fees to plane tickets there and back. We should travel in about 4 weeks and the only thing standing in our way is the remaining funds to bring him home.

I am asking for your help. Can you partner with us to save the life of a child? Are you able to get your hands a little dirty? Maybe you can’t adopt, but can you join with us and give financially? Can you commit to pray for our family as so many new things will be introduced to each of our lives? 

If you would like to give, here are two simple ways you can contribute:

You can give a tax-deductible gift to the Trinity Mark Smith Adoption Fund here: https://trinitybaptistchurch.ccbchurch.com/w_give_online.php

You can also give to us directly through our Give Forward account here: https://pages.giveforward.com/family/page-23t6462/?utm_source=giveforward&utm_medium=share&utm_campaign=dashboard&shareid=3468612

Words do not adequately express the amount of gratitude we have for your generosity. And thank you for taking the opportunity to help one little babe have a family that will do their best to help this little one fly.